the game when pre-ordered. GameStop, EB Games and Game gave away codes that would enable the player to download a Stone Cold Steve Austin character for free. Other stores gave away cheat codes to unlock certain superstars and arenas such as The Rock when purchased at Play.com, and two backstage areas, Vince McMahon's office, and the Dirt Sheet studio, if the game was preordered at Amazon.co.uk. If the game was preordered at HMV, players got a free Rey Mysterio DVD. The game was announced in June 2009, and was originally slated to have an American release date of November 10, 2009. However, the release date was subsequently moved forward to October 20, 2009. A playable demo for the game was made available for attendees of WWE's SummerSlam Axxess fan convention on August 22 and August 23. However, unlike previous years, there was not a wide release of the demo. ReceptionWWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 was met with mostly positive reception from numerous video game publications. The majority of positive reviews were for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. GamesMaster magazine rated the Xbox 360 version with 90%, giving it the publication's GamesMaster Gold Award, calling it a "true return to form for the evergreen series". Oliver Hurley from the PlayStation Official Magazine rated the PS3 version an 8 out of 10, mentioning that while gameplay was "much the same as ever" and that it lacked the "punching power" seen in UFC 2009 Undisputed (also produced by THQ and Yuke's), the game's create modes "makes this the deepest, most playable WWE game yet." IGN reviewer Greg Miller rated both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions an 8.5 out of 10, mentioning that while the game "still stumbles" in areas and that it "might not be the greatest wrestling game of all time", the improvement in gameplay, presentation and create modes makes this wrestling game "the best the world's seen in years." Both 1UP.com and VideoGamer.com declared WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 the best game in the series to date, with the former calling it "ultimate wrestling gamer's sandbox". The game has also received some criticism. Game Revolution's Nick Tan questioned the game's tagline with restrictions in the Story Designer and create-a-superstar modes, and instead declared it as "Your World Now. Some Restrictions Apply." The UK version of Official Xbox Magazine was heavily critical of the game, rating it 6 out