THQ&A - October 10, 2008

[Smacktalks]

rated-r-583: Will the new tag team improvements be available in six man tag matches?

Bryan Williams: Yes. All of the new tag team improvements will be supported within six-man normal tag team matches. In fact, the new tag team improvements will be supported in all normal-ruled tag team matches, such as the aforementioned normal six-man tag team match, one on tag handicap match, one on trio handicap match and tag on trio handicap match.

M_uNiT2k5: Will the online of '09 for the PS3 version support headsets this year?

Bryan Williams: Yes. The PlayStation 3 version of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 will support the headset online.

GloatingWalnut: When you create a stable will you be able to give the team a tag team finisher?

Bryan Williams: Yes. In fact, until your Superstars have been formally legitimized within the game as a stable or tag team, you won't be able to perform a tag team finisher during gameplay. It's one of the many perks to creating a stable or team. Similar to all other moves in the game, tag team finishers can be assigned within Create A Move-Set.

Deadmantombtone445: Do the CAWS have a new character selection screen this year instead of that black box showing your character inside it?

Bryan Williams: Yes we do. In WWE SmackDown vs. 2009, CAS characters will no longer be confined within a box or any other enclosed structure. CAS characters on the Superstar Select Screen and match up or versus screen will appear as a render similar to the default WWE Superstars and Divas.

Mr.Rangers: Do abilities have to be unlocked in career mode to be added to a CAW Superstar or can they be assigned as soon as you have created one ? Also, we have seen a little of career mode and to me personally it looks sort of like the season mode that was in Here Comes The Pain, were you trying to recapture that style or is it something completely new ?

Bryan Williams: You are correct in that abilities need to be unlocked in Career Mode in order to assign them to CAS characters. There is a helpful menu within Career Mode that clearly explains how to unlock each one of the abilities, so there won't be any guessing involved.

BestGamerAliveMVP: Will we have the choice of using the original stats for the superstars we put in career mode?

Bryan Williams: Whomever you choose to progress through Career Mode with (CAS or Superstar/Diva) will start out with minimal attributes. One of the things we really wanted to stress with Career Mode was a sense of character growth and accomplishment. This allows players to take their characters and build them up from the bottom to the top.

ShawnDamian: Does CAW Mode contain more in Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009 than it did in Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008 in terms of CAW parts such as hairstyles, clothes, boots, shoes, and necklaces?

Bryan Williams: Yes. We update Create-A-Superstar with new parts every year. We've added roughly 30% new parts to Create-A-Superstar this year, ranging from clothing to shoes, accessories, hairstyles, etc.

Stormruin: In career mode...if we have already taken a CAW through and raised their stats will their stats reset automatically if we decide to take them back through or will we have the option to start over or raise them more?

Bryan Williams: Attributes for your CAS or WWE Superstar will never be reset. However, once your character has reached an overall of 100, you won't be able to build them up any further.

Stormruin: Can we go for the tag team titles in Career Mode?

Bryan Williams: Yes. Players can compete for both the WWE Tag Team and World Tag Team Championships.

PaintMeBloodRed: Will there finally be more than 2 animated ways to throw your opponent from the top of the Hell in a Cell structure?

Bryan Williams: You can actually throw an opponent off the Hell in a Cell ceiling in a few different ways. You can grapple your opponent near the ceiling's edge and toss them off, but the best way to toss an opponent off the ceiling is to use an Ultimate Control Grapple. You can use the Chokeslam, Lift Up, Samoan Drop and Piledriver Ultimate Control Grapples to manually throw your opponent off the ceiling. Just hoist the opponent up, walk toward the ceiling's edge and bombs away!

Jeff_Extreme_Hardy: Is the Elimination Chamber in the game?

Bryan Williams: Yes. The Elimination Chamber is a featured match type in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009.

wwefnfurlife: Now bryan/cory, this im sure has been asked a ton of times, but, when will the hell in a cell have the ability to get weapons under the ring. as of now the space is small, but in real matches, there is always weapon use, when will this factor into the sd series???

Bryan Williams: You'll definitely see these improvements implemented sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, that's all I'm at liberty to say for now.

wwefnfurlife: any chance of the armageddon hell in a cell returning....

Bryan Williams: The Armageddon Hell in a Cell match type will be available in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009.

baseballjohny29: In the career mode.......is the mode over once you've won a title, or are you able to continue career mode and defend those titles?

Bryan Williams: What's so cool about Career Mode is that there is no end. You can play through as many years and collect as many titles as you'd like. This is something we have distinctly seen as a fan request. And yes, Career Mode will feature title defenses.

KNIQKNAQ98: For the blood system is it the same as the previous year and if so I was wondering for future Smackdown games could make it so like when a superstar is bleeding and the more blood he spills it could affect his stamina?

Bryan Williams: The blood system is similar to previous iterations, but you'll definitely see some subtle visual improvements. Whether big or small, we like to make sure that everything in the game receives some kind of improvement, and bleeding is no exception.

KNIQKNAQ98: For future SD games is there a way we could transfer our CAWs to the next game?

Bryan Williams: I can definitely say that we've had plenty discussions about this feature. The big roadblock we have is that we want to continue improving our Create-A-Superstar mode. The more improvements we make and the more parts we remove and add make this carry-over feature near impossible. If we chose to keep the Create-A-Superstar mode exactly the same or near the same as the previous year, then we would be able to support this. However, we don't want to cheat you guys out of all the improvements we can make in the mode. We want this creation tool to be the best in the business. So in short, this is a difficult feature to add for us, but we are currently coming up with clever ways to help users out with this in the future.

[big_daddy]

rated-r-583: Will the new tag team improvements be available in six man tag matches?

Bryan Williams: Yes. All of the new tag team improvements will be supported within six-man normal tag team matches. In fact, the new tag team improvements will be supported in all normal-ruled tag team matches, such as the aforementioned normal six-man tag team match, one on tag handicap match, one on trio handicap match and tag on trio handicap match.

M_uNiT2k5: Will the online of '09 for the PS3 version support headsets this year?

Bryan Williams: Yes. The PlayStation 3 version of WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 will support the headset online.

GloatingWalnut: When you create a stable will you be able to give the team a tag team finisher?

Bryan Williams: Yes. In fact, until your Superstars have been formally legitimized within the game as a stable or tag team, you won't be able to perform a tag team finisher during gameplay. It's one of the many perks to creating a stable or team. Similar to all other moves in the game, tag team finishers can be assigned within Create A Move-Set.

Deadmantombtone445: Do the CAWS have a new character selection screen this year instead of that black box showing your character inside it?

Bryan Williams: Yes we do. In WWE SmackDown vs. 2009, CAS characters will no longer be confined within a box or any other enclosed structure. CAS characters on the Superstar Select Screen and match up or versus screen will appear as a render similar to the default WWE Superstars and Divas.

Mr.Rangers: Do abilities have to be unlocked in career mode to be added to a CAW Superstar or can they be assigned as soon as you have created one ? Also, we have seen a little of career mode and to me personally it looks sort of like the season mode that was in Here Comes The Pain, were you trying to recapture that style or is it something completely new ?

Bryan Williams: You are correct in that abilities need to be unlocked in Career Mode in order to assign them to CAS characters. There is a helpful menu within Career Mode that clearly explains how to unlock each one of the abilities, so there won't be any guessing involved.

BestGamerAliveMVP: Will we have the choice of using the original stats for the superstars we put in career mode?

Bryan Williams: Whomever you choose to progress through Career Mode with (CAS or Superstar/Diva) will start out with minimal attributes. One of the things we really wanted to stress with Career Mode was a sense of character growth and accomplishment. This allows players to take their characters and build them up from the bottom to the top.

ShawnDamian: Does CAW Mode contain more in Smackdown Vs. Raw 2009 than it did in Smackdown Vs. Raw 2008 in terms of CAW parts such as hairstyles, clothes, boots, shoes, and necklaces?

Bryan Williams: Yes. We update Create-A-Superstar with new parts every year. We've added roughly 30% new parts to Create-A-Superstar this year, ranging from clothing to shoes, accessories, hairstyles, etc.

Stormruin: In career mode...if we have already taken a CAW through and raised their stats will their stats reset automatically if we decide to take them back through or will we have the option to start over or raise them more?

Bryan Williams: Attributes for your CAS or WWE Superstar will never be reset. However, once your character has reached an overall of 100, you won't be able to build them up any further.

Stormruin: Can we go for the tag team titles in Career Mode?

Bryan Williams: Yes. Players can compete for both the WWE Tag Team and World Tag Team Championships.

PaintMeBloodRed: Will there finally be more than 2 animated ways to throw your opponent from the top of the Hell in a Cell structure?

Bryan Williams: You can actually throw an opponent off the Hell in a Cell ceiling in a few different ways. You can grapple your opponent near the ceiling's edge and toss them off, but the best way to toss an opponent off the ceiling is to use an Ultimate Control Grapple. You can use the Chokeslam, Lift Up, Samoan Drop and Piledriver Ultimate Control Grapples to manually throw your opponent off the ceiling. Just hoist the opponent up, walk toward the ceiling's edge and bombs away!

Jeff_Extreme_Hardy: Is the Elimination Chamber in the game?

Bryan Williams: Yes. The Elimination Chamber is a featured match type in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009.

wwefnfurlife: Now bryan/cory, this im sure has been asked a ton of times, but, when will the hell in a cell have the ability to get weapons under the ring. as of now the space is small, but in real matches, there is always weapon use, when will this factor into the sd series???

Bryan Williams: You'll definitely see these improvements implemented sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, that's all I'm at liberty to say for now.

wwefnfurlife: any chance of the armageddon hell in a cell returning....

Bryan Williams: The Armageddon Hell in a Cell match type will be available in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009.

baseballjohny29: In the career mode.......is the mode over once you've won a title, or are you able to continue career mode and defend those titles?

Bryan Williams: What's so cool about Career Mode is that there is no end. You can play through as many years and collect as many titles as you'd like. This is something we have distinctly seen as a fan request. And yes, Career Mode will feature title defenses.

KNIQKNAQ98: For the blood system is it the same as the previous year and if so I was wondering for future Smackdown games could make it so like when a superstar is bleeding and the more blood he spills it could affect his stamina?

Bryan Williams: The blood system is similar to previous iterations, but you'll definitely see some subtle visual improvements. Whether big or small, we like to make sure that everything in the game receives some kind of improvement, and bleeding is no exception.

KNIQKNAQ98: For future SD games is there a way we could transfer our CAWs to the next game?

Bryan Williams: I can definitely say that we've had plenty discussions about this feature. The big roadblock we have is that we want to continue improving our Create-A-Superstar mode. The more improvements we make and the more parts we remove and add make this carry-over feature near impossible. If we chose to keep the Create-A-Superstar mode exactly the same or near the same as the previous year, then we would be able to support this. However, we don't want to cheat you guys out of all the improvements we can make in the mode. We want this creation tool to be the best in the business. So in short, this is a difficult feature to add for us, but we are currently coming up with clever ways to help users out with this in the future.

WOW learned so much

Edited October 13, 2008 by big_daddy

[XxTool7723xX]

was it necessary to quote the entire post?