WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2011 preview.

(From Guardian Unlimited)

There's an interesting contradiction at the heart of every wrestling game. The action, in real life, is fake -- punches are pulled, storylines are scripted, matches are pre-planned. In game, on the other hand, that make-believe world becomes fully realised. That's supposed to be a real grunt of pain you're hearing when a chair crashes into your opponent's skull.

Wrestling is a world replete with absurdities and inconsistencies, but it must present an interesting challenge for developers -- the more realistic they make the game, the less it must seem to represent what really occurs in the ring.

It's just as well, then, that developer Yuke's have had plenty of time to decide how best to interpret this pantomime pugilism, with over 10 years experience of making grappling games of one form or another.

In 2011, they find themselves in the enviable position of being able to release a title for a franchise with no real …