Why oh why...

Well I have been really looking foward to this one for a while...and still am...to an extent. It seems THQ delayed the release to make rather startling changes to the game(well startling for wrestling game fans I guess) WWFwrestlinggames.com has several interviews up with the makers of RAW and the soon to be makers of WM X8 for the CUBE...among the changes for RAW(dont know if these were ever posted, so sorry if they were)

-Blood has been taken out and replaced with sweat
-No Royal Rumble(originally THQ.com had this listed as a feature of the game on the official site but took it down soon after)
-No fighting in the crowd
-No tag title division
-No backstage area fighting
-No defending of the belts in exhibition mode
-King of the Ring w/ 6 superstars..yay
-4 Hidden characters
-You have to complete all matches for a particular title division in one sitting and there are no save options, ie you would have to play the 12 matches leading to the WWF Title all at once in order to get the belt
-No ripping of music in this game

and I think there were a few other changes..graphically this looks to be the best WWF game ever but if your looking for more than graphics and exhibition matches this aint your game.

This still should be a cool game, but at least we got Mania on the CUBE coming out fairly soon.

These details are nothing new. This info has been out there for at least a month.

Plus most of those aren't changes. They just weren't in the game to begin with.

As far as the quality of the game, it's only speculation at this point. Fortunately, we will have a plethora of reviews to influence our buying decision within a week.

I was thinking of getting a x-box just for Raw and Obi-wan. Well Obi-wan was a flop and now raw looks to be garbage. Glad i got gamecube because half the stuff not in the raw game is important. No rumble, no tag team mode, no saves. Thats crap

You misread what he said. He said Tag Title.

There are 8 game modes.

1 vs. 1
2 vs. 2 Tag Team
2 vs. 2 Tornado Tag Team
Triple Threat
Fatal 4-Way
Battle Royal
2 vs. 1 Handicap
3 vs. 1 Handicap

Yea CAPT, you misread what I wrote. The tag mode is def in there in full effect, just the title division and tag titles are not. But I have seen the graphics CAPT and while I never got into Star Wars and don't know much about the game, I know for sure this is going to be a great game for XBOXers to own, and it's a pretty good reason to ge one. The graphics are phenomenal if I didn't already say. ;-]

Flay-Let's say all of what I mentioned in my original post was never ever inended to be in the at all. Wouldn't you think it would behoove THQ, working with the power of the XBOX to add this stuff in?..modes that are easily put into games that have already come out for the less powerful N64 and PS nad PS2...I know this is their first attempt with the XBOX but tons more could have been done. At the very least the delay in the game could have resulted in Eddie Guerrero and K-Kwik being taken out from the game. Anyway thats my opinion. This game will still rock.

Flay-any word on how many CAW's you are allowed to make?

I will probably rent this game (much like I did with Just Bring It), but I am disappointed with no cell matches at all or ladder matches or table matches, etc. That's my biggest disappointment in this game. I will be waiting for Wrestlemania X8 more than likely which will hopefully be as well done as No Mercy and all the games before it.

Well, I prefer they work on the grappling system first and then add extra modes if there is time. And they have perfected the moves and grappling system from IGN's description:

"I can only think of one way qualify the depth of the available moves lists in Raw. It's even more comprehensive than what we saw in the last N64 wrestling game WWF No Mercy."

No idea. I would imagine a limitless number due to the capacity of the HD. Also, the options seem to be there. Here is a quote from IGN:

"The team at Anchor did themselves a favor by following the system laid out in Aki/Asmik's N64 wrestling games like WWF Wrestlemania 2000, but they took things a step forward in terms of customization. The result is, you have options in Raw for you custom wrestler that you didn't even know you wanted."

Wonder if the blood and other things are in there but takes cheat codes to unlock them?

Man, ripping my own music would have been nice.. Ohwell.