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GDC09: Punch-Out!! Wii hands-on
click to enlarge Little Mac is definitely back, and he brought Doc Louis with him. He's also hauling a heck of a lot more pixels this time around, and we're happy to report that Punch-Out!! is indeed still fun to play. The Nintendo booth (the largest and lone major gaming publisher on the show floor) was showing off Punch-Out!! on a few stations, although sadly without the Balance Board functionality that's coming to the game.It did show off four of the thirteen total fighters, including Glass Joe, Von Kaiser, King Hippo, and the newcomer, Disco Kid. He looks like what you'd get if you crossed Mike Tyson with Ric Flair, and pulled him through a Disney movie animation wringer. He likes to primp, check himself out in a mirror, and pose for the crowd. Little Mac learned the lesson about the dangers of vanity long ago, so there's no such worry. Head after the break and start training, Punch-Out!! comes out on the Wii this May.%Gallery-33783%
Touch Ruminations: Punch drunk
In Touch Ruminations, former DS and Wii Fanboy Lead David Hinkle talks about whatever he feels like. He's a jerk like that. This week, he talks about Nintendo of Europe's one-two punch of Punch-Out!! news and what it means to him. The opinions expressed here belong to the author and don't necessarily reflect those of Joystiq, Weblogs Inc. or its affiliates.I actually had to change this week's column at the last second. I had this whole other column planned, then Nintendo of Europe had to go and drop a big old bomb on us earlier today. So now, I'm going to talk about Punch-Out!! and all of the confirmed info and what I think about it. Sorry.%Gallery-33381%
The Hoff has a sense of humor (when paid to)
We don't find the celebrity parodies in Ready 2 Rumble Revolution so much "funny" as "disgusting." But we're changing our tune a bit, thanks to a well-placed endorsement from David Hasselhoff, who is himself a parody (of David Hasselhoff). In this trailer for Aki's boxing game, The Hoff is presented with his pugilistic double. We don't want to spoil the reaction, because we don't want to dull the impact of a fine Hasselhoff performance. But we will say that we appreciate a somewhat disgraced celebrity more when he is willing to make fun of himself. It's a win-win for Hasselhoff -- he gets to improve his image a bit, and make a little cheeseburger money in the process!%Gallery-38364%
VC Friday: Super Punch-Out!!
Yesterday, Nintendo announced that Super Punch-Out!! would be available on the PAL Virtual Console at the next update. Now that the week's Virtual Console update has been posted, we realize that Nintendo meant just Super Punch-Out!! Somehow we think the lack of options will be okay with most of the audience, just this one time. We love when Nintendo does these themed releases. It was great when Metroid and Super Metroid came out just in advance of Metroid Prime 3, although it might have backfired -- who needs to go buy a new game when you just got Super Metroid? Video of Super Punch-Out!! appears after the break, to tide you over until the game is downloaded -- which will then, in turn, tide you over until the new Wii game comes out!
New Punch-Out!! in Europe May 22, Super Punch-Out!! on Virtual Console tomorrow
Nintendo recently announced a May release in Europe for Next Level Games' updated Punch-Out!!, and now we are pleased to say we have a specific release date. PAL gamers will be knocking croissants out of Glass Joe as soon as May 22!However, if that isn't soon enough for you to start uppercutting giant stereotypes, the press release also announces that Super Punch-Out!! for the SNES will be released on the PAL Virtual Console tomorrow! This is the first Virtual Console release for the SNES sequel in the world, and we hope it signals a worldwide release as soon as possible.%Gallery-33381%
Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson cover Fight Night Round 4
There will be plenty of butterfly floating and bee stinging in the ring this summer, as EA announced that Muhammad Ali will be one of two cover athletes for Fight Night Round 4. The boxing legend will share the space with powerhouse and controversy magnet Mike Tyson. We just hope Ali knows to duck out of the way should Tyson's eyes flash red before schooling "Iron Mike" in a lesson of sweet science. Both will be playable in the upcoming title, which is currently in development at EA Canada. Also, eager players who lay down a pre-order for Fight Night Round 4 at GameStop will net early access to the game's demo, giving them some extra time to live out pugilistic dreams before the rest of the world laces up.
Punch-Out!! doesn't force motion control
Nintendo sent out just a bit of info about the upcoming Punch-Out!! that finally (partially) answers the biggest question we had about Next Level Games' delightful-looking refresh of the NES game: how do the controls work? Are we to use motions to simulate punching King Hippo in his gelatinous core, or will it hew more closely to the classic control scheme of the NES game?Both! Here's how the control schemes work, according to Nintendo's press site: "Punch-Out!! uses the Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers to simulate throwing punches. Use the Nunchuk to throw a left punch and the Wii Remote to throw a right punch." And for people who care too much to throw their hands in the air, "Fans of the NES version and core gamers will be excited to see Nintendo has also included the option to play Punch-Out!! using the classic layout from the original NES controller. Use the 1 and 2 buttons along with the cross pad to throw hooks and jabs or to dodge." Unsurprisingly, it sounds like the whole game will be closely modeled on the NES Punch-Out!! The press site describes the ability to earn "Star Punches" that, when used, take more health away from the opposing boxer. And trainer Doc Louis is back! Get out your pink sweatsuit!%Gallery-33381%
3 Trailers 4 Ready 2 Rumble Revolution
Are you ready for three Ready 2 Rumble Revolution videos? How do you even prepare for something like that? We're imagining a Rocky-style training montage before sitting down to take on these videos -- we aren't sure how punching a side of beef or running up stairs will help you watch Internet videos, but who knows? Your Ready 2 Rumble video endurance may improve as your physical endurance does.The first trailer shows the awful "Syphon Cruel" versus the (faintly) James Brown-ish "Fight Machine." Next on the bill is "Mal Function" against circa-Staying Alive John Travolta in the form of "Fever Friction," followed by "Mosh Deck'em" versus "Kaiser Kong." Developer AKI has done an exemplary job of designing punchable characters.%Gallery-38364%
New mousecloning software lets you mouse multiple screens [Updated]
Update: Despite evidence that Blizzard was okay with this app, on the Customer Service forums, Malkorix tells users he "strongly advises shying away from this program." Use it at your own risk, folks. Update II: The folks behind MouseCloner have informed us that while the app did originally use "prerecorded x/y coordinates" (which is what Malkorix found a problem with), they have specifically recoded the app to use only mouse position, in order to stay away from questions about scripting. To our (and their) best knowledge, the app is safe to use, but as always, you use third-party programs with your client at your own risk. You can find more information and ask more questions on the Mousecloner forums. Original Post: Now here's a subject with my name written all over it. Those of you who followed my exploits over on the official forums will likely remember my responses to multiboxing questions with a nice, clear stance on what Blizzard does and doesn't support with regard to multiboxing tools. It was good for the multiboxing community -- and bad for anti-multiboxing trolls -- to have readily-available blue responses to those kinds of important questions. Even Tom Chilton (a.k.a Kalgan) has come out in support of the practice. For those of you unfamiliar with it, multiboxing is the act of playing more than one WoW account/client at the same time. There have historically been a number of programs used by multiboxers that help with client-switching or keybinding to make controlling two or more accounts easy.
Take-Two announces Don King Boxing for Wii, DS (again)
Fans of punching and trying to dodge the punches of others, your day has come: Take-Two has announced Don King Boxing for both the Wii and DS. Sure, the company announced the game way back in 2007, but we had no idea the game was actually still in production until we received a slight update last month. Now, Take-Two is finally getting around to reminding us about the pugilistic title's existence with a release date, new screens, and a new trailer. The game is set for release on March 31 for both DS and Wii, with the latter version supporting Nintendo's Balance Board peripheral. After watching the above trailer, we have to say we're pretty interested in the game. You see, one of our more darker pleasures in life is punching people in the face. We like to do it in video games because, well, it saves us from going to jail.%Gallery-40316%
Ready 2 Rumble Revolution: Fake Nic Cage vs. Some Guy
The latest Ready 2 Rumble Revolution trailer features the character we previously called out as our favorite, The Impersonator. It's kind of hard not to be impressed with the sheer randomness of a boxer who looks like none other than Nicolas Cage in Honeymoon in Vegas-era Elviswear. Not necessarily "this is definitely a game to buy" impressed but at least "hey, look at this thing in a video game" impressed.The other fighter, "Dragon Chew", isn't quite such a hit (pun unintended). Is he Bruce Lee? Some other martial arts star we can't identify? It's actually starting to bother us. And then one of you will tell us and we'll feel a combination of total humiliation and relief. The trailer is after the break!%Gallery-38364%
Kate Winslet loves to play Wii with the kids
When she's not busy falling in love with Jack Black or being in another Leonardo DiCaprio movie (when's our chance?) Kate Winslet likes to school chumps her kids in Wii Sports. At least, that's what she recently told the celebrity watchers at E! during the SAG awards. Despite the presence of the more popular bowling minigame, Kate is a big fan of the tennis and boxing bits, calling the overall package "fantastic." Just keep an eye on your kids and pets, Kate. We don't want to read a sad story about your dog or anything.[Via What They Play]
Ready 2 Rumble boxart, videos enter the ring
First of all, it would appear that the boxart for Ready 2 Rumble Revolution has leaked onto the net courtesy of GameStop's site (image has been pulled from their site, but peep it on the right). Love it? Hate it? Indifferent?Second on the agenda, IGN has uploaded four new trailers of boxing action and they feature a variety of different aspects of the title. We've got character intros, as well as individual looks at some of the combatants included in the game. We're not sure how to feel about R2R Revolution yet, to tell the truth. For one, if looks like the gameplay is spot-on with the original games, but on the other hand, it looks a little too slow to us. That is, in these new trailers. But, hey, at least we aren't stuck having to play as David Hasselhoff Dewie Streudel or anything. There's other boxers to choose from, aside from the celeb knockoffs we've already seen. Check out the trailers past the break.%Gallery-38364%
Tabula Rasa Night of Champions event
In this week's Weekend Wrapup for Tabula Rasa, we get word of the most recent Friday Night Fights results, but we also get a bit of an announcement for a new finale event regarding the long-running in-game boxing tournament.FNF: Night of Champions will be a special event that will play host to the largest gathering of former FNF champions ever in one spot. The only problem is locating all of these former champions for the event! You can check out the current list of champions over at the PlanetTR forums, and keep an eye out for more info on what may be the largest Friday Night Fights ever.
Super Punch-Out!! and rare Ogre Battle rated by ESRB
That copy of Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen you stashed under the mattress to partly fund your early retirement just got a whole lot less valuable. The ESRB has rated the rare Enix RPG for a Virtual Console release, along with another, more widely known SNES gem: Super Punch-Out!!. Is Nintendo planning to release the classic pugilist title alongside its modern Wii equivalent, as it did in the case of Super Metroid and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption? Perhaps!Those aren't the only surprises in the latest ESRB ratings: Lonpos, a launch title for the Japanese WiiWare service no less, has also been classified. As it's been a while, here's a reminder of what it looks like:%Gallery-19077%
Don King Boxing makes a surprise comeback
Hey, remember 2K Sports' Don King Presents Prizefighter? Kinda? The licensed boxing game was announced last December for release last spring, back before Facebreaker bombed and Punch-Out!! made other Wii boxing games irrelevant. Despite not hearing anything at all since Balance Board functionality was revealed, the game has not been cancelled. Nintendo Everything posted some new screenshots from a mysterious source, indicating that work was being done. We found the screens' origin -- at an official site that had quietly appeared in December for the boxing game, now titled a much less confusing Don King Boxing. It looks -- okay. It's not going to divert anyone's funds away from Punch-Out!!, that's for sure. It's automatically better than Ready 2 Rumble in that it is devoid of Hasselhoff caricatures. And the vaunted Balance Board training, which is supposed to be a real workout? Looks like the Rhythm Boxing game from Wii Fit. According to GameStop, Don King Boxing is scheduled for a release on March 31, 2009. We'll see how that works out.%Gallery-40316%
Pacquiao vs. de la Hoya bout marks the launch of Event TV HD
While you and your crew kick in a few bucks to catch the Pacquiao / de la Hoya fight tonight, keep in mind you're witnessing the launch of a new network, Event TV HD. The new high definition version of TVN's linear Pay-Per-View net promises to bring boxing, MMA and wrestling action in crisp 1080i and 5.1 surround. That usually includes All Day Event tickets if you want to see a replay, or themed programs during the week. TVN sells its package to cable, satellite and other providers who then pass the PPV on to you, so when Pacman takes this, remember who was responsible for bringing it to you.[Via Multichannel News]
Prepare for a Ready 2 Rumble Revolution trailer
Yesterday, we brought you gameplay footage of Ready 2 Rumble Revolution, featuring a few of the game's off-putting celebrity caricatures. Now we've got a trailer packed full of ugly funhouse-mirror versions of people you probably don't like anymore! Our "favorite" is Nicolas Cage in Elvis regalia. We spotted a School of Rock-era Jack Black easily enough, but we don't actually recognize a lot of the other ones, except as "ugly boxer."The graphics in the trailer actually seem pretty good, which makes it that much more of a shame that they're used to display these guys. The good news is that we won't feel bad about punching them repeatedly in the face.%Gallery-38364%
Wii Warm Up: Ready 2 Rumble with Hasselhoff?
Ready 2 Rumble is making a Balboa-esque comeback on Wii, but here's the catch: Ready 2 Rumble: Revolution will follow an example set by Celebrity Sports Showdown, by having only caricatured celebrities as fighters. That means no Afro Thunder, Boris "The Bear" Knokimov, or any of the other original cast.While fighting as a moobed Simon Cowell wouldn't be our first choice, if the game is as fun as the Dreamcast titles were, we'll suck it up and get throwing haymakers. What do you personally make of AKI wheeling in the slebs? Would the fact the original line-up is totally missing color your decision to buy Ready 2 Rumble? And who did you use back then? We were Angel Rivera experts.%Gallery-38364%
First gameplay footage makes us doubt our Readiness 2 Rumble
We're not sure we understand what has happened with Ready 2 Rumble Revolution. The last Ready 2 Rumble game featured some exaggerated celebrity characters as well, and we found it kind of funny. But there is nothing funny about the caricatures in Ready 2 Rumble Revolution. That Hasselhoff-esque boxer is, in fact, kind of upsetting. The good news is that, aside from the substitution of these abominations for Ready 2 Rumble's cast of wacky stereotypes, this looks a lot like the classic boxing game we know and kind of like. After the break, a video featuring what looks like custom characters -- a possible escape from the offensive appearance of Dewie Strudel.%Gallery-38364%
