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27-495: Backstage Assault is vastly different from other games of its genre. Previous wrestling games such as WWF SmackDown! and WCW Mayhem featured backstage areas as auxiliary fighting locations. In Backstage Assault , all of the gameplay takes place in backstage locations. There is no ring, and it is not possible to go into the main arena in front of the crowd. All of the matches are conducted under "Hardcore Rules". As in traditional wrestling, one person can win by pinfall (holding

54-568: A PlayStation 2 version of Backstage Assault was pushed back to Spring 2001 while a reader asked PSM in their March 2001 issue if the WCW 2000 game that was the featured cover story from the May 2000 issue was simply a port of Backstage Assault for the PlayStation 2 and if it was still happening in the magazine's Q&A section. PSM confirmed that WCW 2000 had become WCW Backstage Assault and a PlayStation 2 release

81-493: A motion-capture studio, twenty-two rooms for composing, fourteen video editing suites, three production studios, a wing for audio compositions, and a quality assurance department. There are also facilities such as fitness rooms, two theatres , a cafeteria , coffee bars , a soccer field, and several arcades. EA Vancouver is a major studio of the American gaming software giant Electronic Arts (EA) which has many studios around

108-686: A bestseller in the UK upon release, and again three months later. It also received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 units in the UK. EA Canada EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Burnaby , then EA Canada ) is a Canadian video game developer located in Burnaby , British Columbia . The development studio opened as Distinctive Software in January 1983, and

135-509: A long running series of WWE video games from THQ, then continued by 2K Sports and rebranded as WWE 2K . The game was also re-released under the Greatest Hits budget range. The game's main story mode contains three main parts, first with the Pre-Season (for created wrestlers), but after ten in-game years of playing the Pre-Season, players are allowed to skip it. By playing and advancing in

162-601: A match may begin in one room, it can end anywhere the players can gain access to. When beginning 'Hardcore Challenge' or 'Hardcore Gauntlet' mode, they are confined to the Truck Arena for the first match. The player may return to rooms they had already visited as they progress through the modes. They do this by walking through open doors. Winning matches in these levels makes them permanently available in Exhibition mode. Players inflict damage on each other to facilitate meeting one of

189-515: A match, they are only offered one further chance to win it. Losing the same match twice ends the campaign. Players can save their progress in between matches. If the player successfully wins the title, they will be added to the High Score chart if they are in the Top 10. Levels, moves and most hidden characters are unlocked through this mode. While players cannot defend the title, the character they used will be

216-448: A score of 27 out of 40. Lamchop of GamePro called SmackDown better than Acclaim 's WWF Attitude in terms of graphics and "speedier" gameplay, but thought that Attitude has its full commentary and character voices than the former. In another review, The D-Pad Destroyer praised the Season mode and called the title "one of the best wrestling games in the history". The game was

243-509: A series of matches against random opponents. The first match will always be in the Truck Arena. After this initial victory, players may choose which connecting room (and therefore which opponent) they shall face next. The difficulty level and number of matches the player must play is determined by which title they choose. The final match will also be in the Truck Arena, and will be for the selected title. Players earn points based on their victories, moves performed and general skill shown. If they lose

270-516: A series of restructurings and layoffs within EA. In 2011, EA Canada acquired Bight Games, a maker of freemium games. Games developed for publishing by EA Sports : Games developed for publishing by EA Sports BIG : EA Graphics Library or EAGL is a game engine which was created and developed by EA Canada. It is the main engine used in some of EA 's games, notably the Need for Speed series, and

297-514: A title developed by Yuke's as part of D3 Publisher 's Simple series and released several months in Japan beforehand. WWF SmackDown! received favorable reviews according to video game review aggregator GameRankings . Daniel Erickson of NextGen was positive to the controls, graphics, and game modes such as Season and Referee mode, but criticized its "shallow" arcade-like quality and create-a-wrestler mode. In Japan, however, Famitsu gave it

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324-480: Is also Electronic Arts 's largest and oldest studio. EA Vancouver employs approximately 1,300 people, and houses the world's largest video game test operation. It is best known for developing a lot of EA Sports and EA Sports big titles, including EA Sports FC (formerly FIFA ), NHL , SSX , NBA Street , NFL Street , EA Sports UFC, and FIFA Street titles. As well as a number of NBA Live and NCAA Basketball titles between 1994 and 2009. The campus consists of

351-525: The PlayStation by THQ . It is based on the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and is named after the company's weekly SmackDown! television program. Originally released on March 2, 2000, the game received a direct sequel released several months later, entitled WWF SmackDown! 2: Know Your Role . The first WWF game on the PlayStation to be published by THQ, SmackDown! marked the start of

378-481: The World Championship Wrestling license for the PlayStation and Nintendo 64 platforms. WCW Backstage Assault received "generally unfavorable reviews" on both platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic . Daniel Erickson of NextGen was negative to the PlayStation version. Lamchop of GamePro ' s reviewed Nintendo 64 and Playstation versions. While generally positive to

405-508: The back of the opponent's shoulders to the ground while the referee counts to three), submission, or knock out. But these win conditions may be met anywhere, and the use of objects as weapons is encouraged. It is not possible to end a match by disqualification or count out. As gameplay is limited to only two characters, all matches are one-vs-one with no possibility of outside interference or teamwork. The game takes place in an arena with seven connecting levels, having sixteen rooms in total. While

432-516: The designated champion next time they play the same mode. 'Hardcore Gauntlet' offers the player one chance to win seven matches on normal difficulty. They may not save their progress between rounds. Beating the mode earns a high score, and may unlock hidden characters. 'Exhibition' mode allows the player to play a single match against the computer or a second player. It has only three match types, two of which are exclusive to this mode. Normal matches are standard. 'First Blood' matches are won by causing

459-400: The game, Lamchop also commented that the fans of wrestler games would pick up the title in their collection, while others would avoid or pick them up as rental titles. The May 2000 edition of PSM featured a cover story on an upcoming game titled WCW 2000. An interview with the game's producers: senior producer Chuck Osieja and producers Gary Lam and Ian Vechere of EA Canada . In the interview,

486-579: The globe. EA, based in Redwood City, California, had acquired Distinctive Software in 1991 for $ 11 million and renamed Distinctive Software to EA Canada. At the time of the business acquisition, Distinctive Software was noted for developing a number of racing and sporting games published under the Accolade brand. Since becoming EA Canada, EA Canada has developed many EA Games, EA Sports , and EA Sports BIG games. EA Seattle , formerly Manley & Associates,

513-513: The late 1999 WWF roster following SmackDown! ' s premiere, including the then-newcomers The Dudley Boyz . Yuke's, the developer of SmackDown! had previously created the Toukon Retsuden series of wrestling games in Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling . Despite this, the game engine used in SmackDown! is not based on contemporary Toukon Retsuden titles, but rather The Pro Wrestling ,

540-419: The momentum drops again. The color of a player's name will change from white to yellow to red to flashing red as they take on damage. The more damage they take, the harder it will be for them to resist losing. Players can bleed if they take on took much damage. The primary gameplay mode is called 'Hardcore Challenge'. The player will choose one character to pursue a specific championship with. They will then play

567-422: The opponent to bleed, but can only be played on one-player mode. 'Human Torch' matches can only be played with two players. This match type is limited to the Truck Arena, and requires the winner to set their opponent on fire using the flaming barrel near the exit. In August 1998, EA and Kodiak Interactive entered into a long-term multi-title development agreement that involved Kodiak developing games for EA based on

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594-479: The producers describe a game to be focused on Hardcore Rules in a "Hardcore Challenge" that would progressively unlock more WCW stars and fighting environments, much like what would become Backstage Assault. Later in the magazine, Stephen Frost writes that WCW's newest game will feature "an extremely high polygon count", take place without a ring, and will be released in Q4 2000. The November 2000 issue of PSM indicated that

621-645: The season modes players gain rewards such as unlockables or attires, but instead of unlocking new characters, players unlock new body parts to put on new creations, to play as that "unlocked" character. Once players build a creation, they must fight in a Pre-Season year to build their skills and make their alliances. The story mode contains no voice-overs, instead the characters meet each other backstage with mouths that move to no voice and on-screen cutscene text. The game also lacks play-by-play color commentary. WWF SmackDown! has many match types including Single, Tag Team, Hardcore, Steel Cage and many more. The game features

648-416: The three win conditions. They do this by executing strikes, grapple moves, holds, hitting them with weapons, or causing the opponent to run or fall against a hazard. Some moves can be reversed, inflicting damage upon the person who initiated it. Successfully performing moves and taunts without interruption will increase momentum. When a player achieves "Max Momentum", they may perform their finishing move before

675-456: Was also used in a few sports titles from EA Sports . Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 and Need for Speed: Underground used the first version of the EAGL engine, (EAGL 1) Need for Speed: Underground 2 uses EAGL 2, Need for Speed: Most Wanted and Need for Speed: Carbon uses EAGL 3, Need for Speed: ProStreet and Need for Speed Undercover uses EAGL 4; Need for Speed Undercover uses

702-402: Was closed in 2002. Half the jobs were moved to EA Vancouver. EA acquired Black Box Games in 2002 and Black Box Games became part of EA Canada under the name of EA Black Box . EA Black Box later became an independent EA studio in 2005. After its acquisition, EA Black Box became the home of several franchises, such as Need for Speed and Skate . The studio was later shut down in 2013, after

729-448: Was still on target for Spring 2001. The PlayStation 2 version of WCW Backstage Assault was likely never released due to WWF 's acquisition of WCW in March 2001. WWF SmackDown! (video game) WWF SmackDown! , known in Japan as Exciting Pro Wrestling ( エキサイティングプロレス , Ekisaitingu Puro Resu ) , is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and released for

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