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HDTV Listings for October 7, 2006
What we're watching: Plenty of HD sports tonight, depending on where you live, it's either Nebraska vs. Iowa State or Oregon vs. Cal on ABC's Saturday Night Football. ESPN & ESPN2-HD have Tennessee vs. Georgia and South Carolina vs. Kentucky on tap, while the Dodgers try to stay alive against the Mets on Fox. If all of that isn't enough, we've got two prime time boxing matchups, with 7-foot tall Russian heavyweight champion Nikolai Valuev defending his title against Monte Barrett on HBO as Diego Corrales battles Jose Casamayor for the Lightweight title on Showtime.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Uwe Boll does something awful to another critic
Anti-filmmaker Uwe Boll has beaten another one of his critics completely senseless -- and this time it was in a boxing ring, not a darkened cinema. Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka of Something Awful infamy was the second to fall to the raging Boll's flying fists in a PR-driven series of boxing matches. Like any dignified artist, Boll vowed to silence critics by punching them in the face, proving once and for all that ... well, we're not sure what exactly this proves. We know he's a good boxer, at least. In a video interview after the match, Kyanka amusingly points out that he now detests Uwe Boll not as a movie misdirector, but as a human being. According to the pummeled pundit, Boll offered to give his victims training beforehand and promised that his punches would be just for show. Quite apparently, that was not the case (video embedded after the break). Regardless, it now becomes clear that critics played right into Boll's gloved ham-hands. The selected participants arguably never stood a chance, something the video game violator well aware of in his struggle for Pyrrhic victory. Punching out a critic does not make his films any less craptacular and the whole fiasco has made him look like a fight-makes-right psychopath. 1UP contributor, Albert Art, snapped some pictures at the event and even conducted a brief interview with Boll. When asked why he continues to make video game films, Boll responds with an enlightening, "I keep doing video game based movies because look why not, all the comic-book get made into movies, even comics that sold 2000 copies there are movies out from it, why like big famous videos games shouldn't turn into movies." That about says it all. [Thanks, albertart and VGM!]Read - Something Awful's forum respondsRead - Albert Art's event coverage and interviewWatch - Video interview with Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka after the matchWatch - Boll's previous boxing match
Wii Sports and the games within
We've been speculating on exactly how many different games will be included in the Wii Sports title for awhile now and even wondered if the game would be bundled with the system, so it's nice to finally be able to report a concrete number. Coming in with 5 total sports, Wii Sports will include Nintendo's take on golf, baseball, tennis, bowling, and boxing (sans Mario and the crew). The addition of both bowling and boxing is very welcomed by the Wii Fanboy staff, in case you wanted to know (you didn't).So previous rumors of a compilation of over 30 games is out and the airplane game previously rumored to be included is out, as well? Bowling is pretty much a gimme in terms of thinking how one would play the title using the Wiimote, but what about Wii Sports Boxing? Well, we had an idea about how one would play a boxing title on the Wii and are fairly sure our previous theories on the matter will prove true, causing many to cringe at the extra $40 US they'd have to drop just to be able to punch with both hands. Personally, we can't wait to get home on November 19th, open our Wii box and mess around with the Mii channel, maybe even going so far as to make an avatar to throw down in Wii Sports. One thing is certain: we will be the greatest bowler of them all.
Internet casino sponsoring "Raging Boll" event
Widely known for his anti-masterpieces, House of the Dead, Bloodrayne and Alone in the Dark, German film director Uwe Boll drew plenty of internet ire in June by sending out a public challenge to his (many, many) detractors. Like any civilized and intelligent human being, Boll decided that the best way to deal with those that disagreed with his artistic vision for videogame adaptations was to punch them in the face, grr! The invitation urged haters to fly to Vancouver and meet the German in the boxing ring for a one-on-one session of metaphorically rich pummeling. Internet casino Goldenpalace.com has issued a press release stating that they will be the ones to sponsor the event, now dubbed "Raging Boll."Naturally, the prestige gained from having your event backed by an internet casino cannot be overstated. The joint's CEO, Richard Rowe, notes that Boll's attention grab is refreshingly ridiculous. "We receive so many outlandish offers for advertising exposure that it is refreshing to see something that surprises even us. That is why we decided to get involved. This has gotten so much attention so far, and we can't wait to see how it will turn out." Before starting proper on 23 September, Uwe will stop off in Spain to battle Carlos Palencia Jimenez-Arguello, a critic who has already vowed to Kill Boll (challenge video embedded in the latter section of the post). After that bout, Boll will face Something Awful's Richard "Lowtax" Kyanka, Jeff Sneider from Ain't It Cool News, Chris Alexander of Rue Morgue and Nelson Chance Minter from Website Critic. All the fights will be filmed for inclusion in Boll's Postal film, no doubt rendered vaguely entertaining by showing his face deteriorating over the course of the event. It may even prove to be beneficial to his career -- a few brutal blows to the head might be just the thing to bring him to his senses. Perhaps then he'll realize how difficult it is to hold on to credibility when you've got boxing gloves on your hands.[Via GameSetWatch]
Wii gets Ready 2 Rumble
Midway seems to have nothing but love for Wii, lately -- the rumors about their games for Nintendo just keep rolling in. Thanks to the translators (read: people who dig on Babelfish) at Nintendo Wii News, we've learned that Midway wants to bring the boxing game to Wii for a little motion sensor-pounding action. From Jeux France:According to our information, Ready 2 Rumble 3 would be under development exclusively on Wii for the account of a large American editor. Very inspired by the capacities of the console, the developers should be useful of both pads (Nunchaku and remote control) for mimer of the virtual fists.Once we stopped laughing at "mimer of the fists," we realized this game could give us a really good excuse for accidentally punching friends in the face. Does that come in a preorder?[Via Nintendo Wii News]
Wii Fight Night mockup
This video is a mash up of promotional footage for Wii Sports Tennis and Fight Night Round 3 (we're assuming it's the Xbox 360 version in action). It's not the greatest compilation in the world, but might help you realize how a game like this could be done on the console. More or less, this is exactly what we had in mind for a boxing game.
HDTV Listings for June 17, 2006
What we're watching: The NHL Finals continue, as Edmonton looks to pull off another miracle and force a deciding Game 7 at Carolina. However, the big sporting event of the night is the middleweight title fight between Winky Wright and Jermain Taylor. The younger, bigger champion Taylor vs. the more experienced, defensive-minded Wright. Which style will win out?HBO will also show the recent light heavyweight fight between Antonio Tarver and Bernard Hopkins prior to the Wright-Taylor bout. The sweet science is on display at 9:30 p.m on HBO-HD.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
Game immersion and you: TV Fighter
With the Nintendo Wii interface, gamers are beginning to recognize the importance of a this new level of innovation. However we are also beginning to understand that it's going to take some time for developers to bring this type of immersion into a more unambiguous experience for everyone. Tucked away within the bowels of E3 was SDW Games and their TV Fighter. As you can see from the picture, the gamer controls it with boxing gloves. Theoretically, this could have been really fun, but what is it about cheaply made peripherals that seem to completely take away the experience?
HDTV Listings for May 4, 2006
What we're watching: The NBC Thursday night tour continues with new episodes, you know the drill. In NBA Playoffs action the Bulls, Suns and Pacers all want to keep playing, while the Heat, Lakers and Nets don't, we'll see who comes out on top there (BTW, if you missed LeBron's tightrope walk down the baseline -- not a travel -- for the win last night, you have no one to blame but yourself).We'll be checking out boxing on ESPN-HD tonight, as Sergio Mora takes on some guy whose name we won't even try to pronounce, hope he can fight.Our traditional high-def listings continue below.
HDTV Game of the Week: Fight Night Round 3
This is a game I've been waiting for since the impressive demo Sony used to advertise their PS3 at E3 last year, and EA's Fight Night Round 3 has not failed to impress. Every bone cracking punch, every drop of sweat and blood, almost every boxer you could ever want to fight is ready in glistening 720p. If you were waiting for the "next generation" feeling to hit you, put your gloves on and find your mouthguard because it is here.
