TNA Impact! is geared towards a quick-paced, high-impact style of play, with less emphasis on
submission maneuvers. It supports up to four players at once on a console, with
online support—which includes tournaments—currently standing at one-on-one.[4][5][6] Online play is, however, limited to the
PlayStation 3 and
Xbox 360 versions.[7] Scans of the actual wrestlers were used for the game in place of hand-painted textures to include small details, such as skin texture and specific scars.[8]Finishers are accessed by building up the "Impact!" meter displayed on the screen. In the same area a color-coded damage indicator shows the condition of characters. The game also features mini-games for escaping pin attempts and submission holds.[7]
Midway introduced downloadable content which enabled players to expand the game, making TNA Impact! the first professional wrestling video game in history to offer this service. The first downloadable content was in the form of new wrestlers that players could add to the game, these being
Curry Man and
Petey Williams. These were bought for 100 Microsoft points from the Xbox Live Marketplace and as an extra gift the player could download
Mike Tenay free of charge.[12] This feature was only available for
Xbox 360 and started on November 6, 2008, but the content was initially glitched and made Curry Man come out as Christopher Daniels in his entrance and Petey Williams comes out as
A.J. Styles and have the model of Senshi in the ring. These glitches were later fixed.
The story mode's main character is a wrestler named
Suicide. During every iMPACT! episode after the August 2008 version of iMPACT!, the words "whoissuicide.com" flashed on the screen for less than a second. On the website, it shows that Suicide is being taken from the game to real life television.[13] At the Final Resolution pay-per-view in December 2008, Suicide first appeared on TNA programming.[14] At
Destination X 2009, Suicide competed in his debut match in TNA, which was an Ultimate X match, and became the new
X Division Champion.
Several TNA wrestlers were involved in the game's production. The self described "
hardcore gamers"
Samoa Joe and
A.J. Styles both took part in meetings with Midway staff to brainstorm gameplay ideas, and Joe, Styles,
Christopher Daniels,
Senshi,
Sonjay Dutt, and
Jeff Jarrett were all a part of the
motion capture sessions.[4][17] During the October 2006 tapings of the weekly TNA Impact! program, members of the TNA roster were "scanned" for the game and audio samples of the
Impact! Zone crowd were recorded.[18] The
Liverpool Olympia in Liverpool, England was used for reference photos, used to inspire the unlockable 'London' venue in the game.[citation needed]
Other features
Classic TNA highlight matches were featured in the video game as TNA Extras with two matches being filmed as Midway games exclusive matches being a Knockouts Gauntlet Match and a Six Way
X Division Match.
The game was praised for its realistic graphics and simple control scheme but criticized for its limited and repetitive movesets, poor entrances, lack of championship belts, and inconsistent
AI.[42][51]GameSpot was generally positive to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,[31] and PlayStation 2 versions.[30]
As of February 2009, TNA iMPACT! had shipped approximately 1.5 million units.[citation needed]
Mobile tie-in
In 2008,
Longtail Studios created the game
TNA Wrestling for Verizon Wireless mobile devices to coincide with this release. The game was re-released in 2009 for iOS.
Midway Games originally announced a sequel to the game, but was later cancelled after Midway Games filed for bankruptcy in February 2009.[52][53] In July 2009,
Time Warner (through its
subsidiaryWarner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) purchased the majority of Midway. The TNA license was not included with the purchase.[54] Later in September, TNA president
Dixie Carter said that TNA was looking for a new video game partner.[55] In November,
SouthPeak Games acquired Midway Games' TNA video game license in its quarterly report.[56] The company later published TNA Impact!: Cross the Line for
Nintendo DS and
PSP, releasing it in June 2010.[57] The game was essentially the same as the 2008 release, with the addition of several new characters and the removal of older ones, such as
Christian Cage who departed TNA in 2008.
^
abLane, Scot (October 14, 2007).
"TNA iMPACT! Interview 2"(Video). GameSpot. Red Ventures.
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abWatters, Chris (September 12, 2008).
"TNA iMPACT! Review (PS2)". GameSpot. Red Ventures.
Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
^Villoria, Gerald (September 17, 2008).
"GameSpy: TNA iMPACT! (Wii)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment.
Archived from the original on July 22, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
^Bedigian, Louis (September 22, 2008).
"TNA iMPACT! - 360 - Review". GameZone.
Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
^Miller, Greg (September 9, 2008).
"TNA Impact! Review (PS2)". IGN. Ziff Davis.
Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
^Miller, Greg (September 8, 2008).
"TNA Impact! Review (PS3)". IGN. Ziff Davis.
Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
^Miller, Greg (September 16, 2008).
"TNA Impact! Review (Wii)". IGN. Ziff Davis.
Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 15, 2022.
^
abMiller, Greg (September 8, 2008).
"TNA Impact! Review (X360)". IGN. Ziff Davis.
Archived from the original on August 9, 2019. Retrieved August 9, 2019.