navychiefmatt09 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Ok. About a year ago I was wandering around a mall wasting time and walked into Gamestop. I ended up buying the UFC 2009 game. I went home...Played it for about a half an hour and realized that that game engine could be used as a platform for a wrestling video game. Think about it. You start in HS like on the Campus Legend mode on the NCAA Football series, get recruited by a college, do a 4 year career in college, work your way into the Olympics or World Championships, retire when you want to or (just like the football games) export your wrestler to the UFC games if you want...(personally...I'd retire). So I emailed USA wrestling to see if anyone had thought of using the programs already out there for this and I got an email back saying that they were looking into it. So...Who out there would play a game like this and should wrestlers around the world start pushing for our own game..? I was also wondering...as a side effect... I have noticed that a large majority of the men and women who come through me to join Naval Special Warfare got interested after playing a lot of Call of Duty (sounds dumb but it's true)... Does anyone think that a truly awesome game on a system like XBOX (or even better XBOX Live) might get more kids into the sport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fearless fly Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 only if checking for oil is part of game... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soup45 Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I'd play it rright now. That sounds like an awesome game. Don't know if it would get kids started wrestling though. It's much easier to let your fingers touch buttons than getting away from the front of the TV and doing what tis required to be good at this sport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navychiefmatt09 Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 I'd play it rright now. That sounds like an awesome game. Don't know if it would get kids started wrestling though. It's much easier to let your fingers touch buttons than getting away from the front of the TV and doing what tis required to be good at this sport. I definitely agree with that. At some point parents have to step up and be parents and pull the plug on the XBOX or PS3 and get the kids outside to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwilly Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 I have previously worked in the video game industry. I worked directly with the games manufacturers, developers, and hardware makers. I have also wrestled in HS & College. It WON'T work. The reasons are the same that wrestling struggles to grow now. A pocket of wrestlers will buy it, but even that pocket isn't large enough to make it close to profitable. I understand the passion people have for wrestling, but honestly if you don't coach after college you dont't wrestle anymore. People play basketball, softball, golf, run, flag football, etc. But people don't wrestle. Look at the older age division participation at weekend tourneys. It is non existant. So if we lose interest after HS for most people, how are you going to draw others in? BTW XBOX is targeted to 18-40 year old market. Guess how many in that age range would be interested? Not enough to make money I am not slamming the idea & did not mean to come off as dismissive, I just wanted to give you a realistic outlook. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navychiefmatt09 Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 I have previously worked in the video game industry. I worked directly with the games manufacturers, developers, and hardware makers. I have also wrestled in HS & College. It WON'T work. The reasons are the same that wrestling struggles to grow now. A pocket of wrestlers will buy it, but even that pocket isn't large enough to make it close to profitable. I understand the passion people have for wrestling, but honestly if you don't coach after college you dont't wrestle anymore. People play basketball, softball, golf, run, flag football, etc. But people don't wrestle. Look at the older age division participation at weekend tourneys. It is non existant. So if we lose interest after HS for most people, how are you going to draw others in? BTW XBOX is targeted to 18-40 year old market. Guess how many in that age range would be interested? Not enough to make money I am not slamming the idea & did not mean to come off as dismissive, I just wanted to give you a realistic outlook. Ah...yes... and how many people live vicariously through the characters they create on video games. It works both ways...You can't play NFL football/College football..so you play the video games... You can't be a SEAL or Army SF... so you play Call of Duty... Can't handle MMA... Play UFC.... Can't really play golf....Play Tiger Woods (which I'm buying as soon as the new one with Augusta National is out...) To be perfectly honest... The people who make video games are either losing boatloads of money on games they release or are completely overpricing everything. Call of Duty: Black Ops was 59.99 the first week it was out. The second week it was 54.99... by the time I got it it was 39.99. In a year it will be in the 24.99 pile and 2 years from now it will be 19.99 at walmart or target. There are tons of games out there that are money pits. What makes this so easy is that the program is almost complete. Alter some of the UFC games and change the graphics to fit wrestling... Even better. When they were making the Beijing Olympics game, they initially had wrestling as a sport. They used the same engine needed for the judo section of the game and reworked some of the graphics. These companies release games all the time that they know aren't worth the effort and are going to flop financially. The Olympic Games are always a huge financial flop. And USA Wrestling's technology department is already looking into this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwilly Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 You just proved my point. How many viewers did NCAA Bowl games draw? How may people are watching NFL playoff today? I will be buying Tiger Woods as well. I play 60+ rounds of golf a year, and enjoy it. How many viewers watch The Masters? Now, what time will the wrestling NCAA Finals be televised? 11pm on ESPNU? Hardly a national ratings draw. Just facts. Black OPs grossed over $1 Billion btw, hardly a money pit. That is more than any movie ever will. I am just saying, if they could have made $ on it, they would. It's the same reason you won't be seeing a syncronized swimming, water polo, or field hockey game. The demand isnt there. They could probably use the same engine that runs FIFA for field hockey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navychiefmatt09 Posted January 16, 2011 Author Share Posted January 16, 2011 Even the XBOX itself is a huge money loser. But they are sticking with it. It costs about $522 to build and test a premium XBOX. The avg retail price is $399. Xbox has only 36 of it's over 736 games that have sold and shipped more than 1 million copies. They release games like bowling, tennis, table tennis, fishing, paintball, cricket and so on. Bottom line is that they rely on the huge titles to make up for the losses from most of the hardware and software they release. Companies do this all the time. Walmart does it. They lose money on books all the time. They openly admit that they use stuff like books, $5.00 DVDs...etc to get people into the store to spend more money. They always make up the losses. Almost like covering the spread. Wrestling's huge problem is people saying things can't be done... Does anyone remember way back in 1993 when UFC was a tiny local event. There were the founders of what we know today saying they wanted to challenge boxing and grow the sport. Now they are a billion dollar industry and boxing is dying. Wrestling doesn't need to survive... it needs to thrive. It should bother people that video game companies see fit to release games like leisure suit larry but not wrestling. the only way wrestling gets bigger is when people concerned for it's future do something about it rather than just talk. Wrestling is growing slowly. according to the NWCA website there are well over a quarter of a million wrestlers in HS...add the college teams, Women's teams, Club teams, and USA Kids Wrestling programs and you have a huge group. By comparison the US Navy's Force Strength right now is Just over 330,000. FYI...there are facebook groups and petitions out there to get a Water polo game on PS3 or XBOX...it's already out for Iphone and PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Guru Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Wrestling is the third largest high school sport in the country (neck and neck with girls basketball) in terms of participation numbers. For the most part, kids play video games. Kids wrestle. I think it could make money. It would probably be difficult to capture the intricacies of the sport though, which may lead wrestlers to think the game sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dwilly Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Yes kids play video games, but you are forgetting what market segment Hardware is targeted to. Wii is for 4-15 year olds. Xbox & PS3 main market is adults. I am 35 & play daily with 3 -4 friends that are my age or older. my point is that more adults comprise the user #s than you think. Knowing what I know about games & the industry, it won't work, but hey...start a software company & pirate the engine to make the game. I think wrestling is a great sport, but at the elite level it's boring. 3-2 scores & defense is what wins in college. Who wants to play that game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baguba14 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I was thinking the exact same thing a few weeks ago when I was playing UFC. I would for sure play the game all the time and I know quite a few people who also would (some wrestlers, some not). I hope that USA wrestling really looks into it seriously because I personally think it would be a success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrestlingfan4life Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I'd play the hell out of that game if they came out with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TripleB Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 It should bother people that video game companies see fit to release games like leisure suit larry but not wrestling. LSL was made by some guys from Madison!! Okay, here's the deal. College wrestling is boring. I don't think it would translate well because of that. Plus how would the game handle completely different rules and moves? Freestyle and Folkstyle are pretty much two different sports.What if the game focused on Freestyle/Greco and you could pick that? Build in qualifiers and what not. Plus how would the game handle completely different rules and moves? Freestyle and Folkstyle are pretty much two different sports. I semi-like the idea of a game, but if it's not done top notch it might hurt more than help. The Pride (or was it UFC) VG for Dreamcast was awesome but it did nothing to push the sport here in the states at a time when was still considered dead by many. I played the game to death, but rarely watched the fights b/c of availability. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gavitwrestler130 Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 I would play it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navychiefmatt09 Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 LSL was made by some guys from Madison!! Okay, here's the deal. College wrestling is boring. I don't think it would translate well because of that. Plus how would the game handle completely different rules and moves? Freestyle and Folkstyle are pretty much two different sports.What if the game focused on Freestyle/Greco and you could pick that? Build in qualifiers and what not. Plus how would the game handle completely different rules and moves? Freestyle and Folkstyle are pretty much two different sports. I semi-like the idea of a game, but if it's not done top notch it might hurt more than help. The Pride (or was it UFC) VG for Dreamcast was awesome but it did nothing to push the sport here in the states at a time when was still considered dead by many. I played the game to death, but rarely watched the fights b/c of availability. I like the idea of freestyle/greco. I think you could do all three. I mean you can change the game rules on Call of Duty, NCAAF, MLB...right.. Freestyle and greco is easy... set em up the same, then remove any of the lower body stuff from that event. Has anyone ever looked at how many move combos are on the newer UFC games...it's nuts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeBoWrestler130 Posted January 18, 2011 Share Posted January 18, 2011 Haha I have been thinking about this for a looong time lol! I like a lot of the points being brought up here from both sides, but I gotta say it possibly flopping is a risk that should be taken. If they could create a game that does the sport justice, then I would absolutely looooove it as would many other people. With that being said, I feel that the techniques and manuevers in wrestling would be far to difficult to replicate in a video game. There is just way too much going on, and they would have to make it really simple and less free to control complex wrestling scenarios (ex press x for takedown, y for sprawl; this would just not suffice for true wrestling fans). How would you be able to control scrambles or create mis direction and above all working in ties would be a nightmare!!! I feel that because of this, a lot of people would be turned off to the game. But who knows, maybe with the right company they could really create something unique, very unlikely though. Plus it would be very hard to get a good gaming company to be on board to develop it, so than the game would fall into bad hands and really do some damage to fans. In the end, regardless of the challenges, it is a risk I feel should be taken as I previously stated. Gotta have faith, no matter the odds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navychiefmatt09 Posted January 18, 2011 Author Share Posted January 18, 2011 Haha I have been thinking about this for a looong time lol! I like a lot of the points being brought up here from both sides, but I gotta say it possibly flopping is a risk that should be taken. If they could create a game that does the sport justice, then I would absolutely looooove it as would many other people. With that being said, I feel that the techniques and manuevers in wrestling would be far to difficult to replicate in a video game. There is just way too much going on, and they would have to make it really simple and less free to control complex wrestling scenarios (ex press x for takedown, y for sprawl; this would just not suffice for true wrestling fans). How would you be able to control scrambles or create mis direction and above all working in ties would be a nightmare!!! I feel that because of this, a lot of people would be turned off to the game. But who knows, maybe with the right company they could really create something unique, very unlikely though. Plus it would be very hard to get a good gaming company to be on board to develop it, so than the game would fall into bad hands and really do some damage to fans. In the end, regardless of the challenges, it is a risk I feel should be taken as I previously stated. Gotta have faith, no matter the odds. You know what... It could have settings.. Like the NCAAF games.. There's a family mode that only uses a couple buttons... Have the basic skills on the buttons... use the joysticks and triggers to make it more complex... Seriously... Check out how complex they made the UFC games... It's like all the combo moves from the old mortal kombat games on crack... You may want to patent that last one though.... "Gotta have faith, no matter the odds" Great Quote. We could always convince some company to release it when the next COD or Halo game drops....That way they cover the losses...just in case... but hey...200,000 copies at 40 bucks per....or say 50 bucks and donate the extra 10 bucks to a wrestling charity like the "Living the Dream" fund... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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