Posted at 9:35 a.m. - Thursday, October 9

In just a few short days, TNA Wrestling's biggest pay-per-view of the year, Bound For Glory IV, will be held at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates.  In an effort to reach as many fans as they can, TNA Wrestling has given me access to wrestlers (see my previous posts which include interviews with TNA founder Jeff Jarrett and TNA wrestler and comic-book geek, Alex Shelley) and other talent.

Now I have an interview with the San Diego Studio Head of Midway Games, Scot Lane, who talks about the partnership between Midway and TNA in creating their newest wrestling title 'TNA iMPACT!'

[The MotorCity MachineGuns in TNA iMPACT! Image courtesy Midway Games]

Geek To Me: Can you give me an overview on the game?

Scot Lane: We’ve brought the action of TNA iMPACT! to the home console systems by recreating the iMPACT! Zone and most of the TNA Superstars.    You can wrestle in several game modes including tag team, free for all, and TNA’s trademark Ultimate X.

G2M: What makes TNA iMPACT! unique from other wrestling games?

SL: TNA iMPACT! runs at 60 frames per second which equates to extremely smooth and fluid animations as well as very responsive controls.  Our TNA game is very accessible and within minutes, you’ll feel very powerful.  TNA’s trademark Superstars and matches also help separate us from the competition.

G2M: Can you describe the game mechanics?

SL: The basic mechanics are; you can use the direction stick to move your player around and punch/kick/grapple.  Once in grapple mode, you can perform a series of powerful moves by simply pressing a button.  Of course, one of the keys to gameplay is our reversal system.  Every move can be reversed so when playing you have to calculate the risk of each move and try to time it so it is harder to be reversed.  We also have context sensitive spots throughout our arenas, meaning you’ll get different things to happen when you are near corner posts, fences, or outside the ring.

G2M: How did the partnership between TNA and Midway Games came about?

SL: This was a partnership that made sense from the get go.  Midway has a long history of this type of fast action, arena style fighting game – members of this team made some of the first arcade wrestling games ever.  And TNA has been absolutely a dream to work with. The entire team at TNA has had a “do whatever it takes” attitude in helping us put a great product on the shelves.

G2M: Which wrestlers, if any, were involved and what were they able to contribute to the creation process?

SL: Several have been involved, Samoa Joe and AJ Styles have had the most involvement.  They have been involved in the design from day 1 and we’ve gotten great ideas from them.  On top of the design, we’ve had many of the guys in for motion capture shoots to help us really capture the flavor of TNA.

G2M: Any funny stories you can share about wrestlers and game developers working in a room together?

SL: We have an artist that is one of the biggest wrestling fans on the planet and when Joe first came to the Studio, he begged Joe to give him a chop across the chest.  Needless to say, Joe didn’t really want to, but after a few requests, our artist walked around with a welt on his chest the exact size of Joe’s forearm and hand.

G2M: When it comes to fighting games, like TNA iMPACT, what do you feel makes a successful game?

SL: We know we are compared to fighting games, but first and foremost we are a wrestling game.  I think to be successful, the game needs to be pure and authentic, and we have built off the solid foundation that TNA represents and built up from there. It all starts with player movement; the movement has to be fluid and responsive.  Next it goes to the combat (punches, kicks, grabs, throws, dives, etc…) and the combat has to feel good, and once the combat feels good the game starts to feel good.  You have to have strong graphics and enough for people to do so they keep coming back for more.

G2M: Are there any significant differences in the game play between different platforms?

SL: Not really, all platforms are similar.

G2M: Where can fans give Midway Games feedback on this, or any other titles?

SL: They can check out our TNA forums on Midway.com, we check those out regularly, as well as other popular wrestling gaming sites.

G2M: Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions Scot.  I look forward to seeing the game at Bound For Glory!

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