WrestleMania XXI: Online play pinned down?

For wrestling fans, there's nothing like pile-driving an opponent into submission, especially when he or she is halfway across the country. THQ's WWE WrestleMania XXI, released today, was billed to let gamers do just that through the game's Xbox Live support.

Unfortunately, consumers who unwrapped the Xbox game and tried to use its online features have been slammed into an unwanted reality. Currently, WrestleMania XXI's online features won't even step into the ring.

News of the possible glitch began to spring up on forums around the Web, as disgruntled gamers explained their situations. Said one forum poster, "Anyone else who has the game having this problem [connecting to Xbox Live]? Any other game I can connect with, but this game doesn't even TRY to connect. It just says, 'Your Xbox console cannot connect to Xbox Live. Do you want to start the troubleshooter?'"

Attempts to wrestle online in the GameSpot offices met the same fate. Prerelease versions worked online, albeit with some lag issues.

When trying to play the Xbox Live portion of the game, players are receiving the "Could not connect to Xbox Live" error message. Attempting to sign in to users' Xbox Live accounts causes the game to immediately display the error message, indicating that WMXXI isn't even going through the standard procedures to connect online. However, when attempting to connect through the Xbox dashboard or another Xbox Live-enabled title, Microsoft's online service works just fine.

THQ is currently working with Microsoft to remedy the issue. GameSpot will have more on this story as it develops.

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