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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%
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%
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%
Ready to Rumble ready to return
EA's Facebreaker K.O. Party doesn't seem to have met with the task of imitating Ready 2 Rumble Boxing. According to this new announcement, the next Wii game to attempt the feat may be ... oh, hey, Ready 2 Rumble Boxing! Ready 2 Rumble Revolution was first announced back in 2006, but that's too long ago to count. This time, however, the announcement from Atari is for real, with screens and everything. Unfortunately, those screens show off the new character designs, which are based on celebrities and also awful.Revolution is developed by the wrestling game company formerly known as AKI, and thus is actually quite likely to be good. Of course, it stands no chance of competing with Punch-Out!! in terms of sales or hype, but Ready 2 Rumble used to be decent fun.[Via NeoGAF]%Gallery-38364%
Ready 2 Rumble Revolution punching out Wii in March 2009
Though we don't know much at the moment, CVG is reporting that Atari will release Ready 2 Rumble Revolution on the Wii in March of next year. In case you're among the sad few unfamiliar with the franchise, Ready 2 Rumble was a cartoonish boxing game ... really Facebreaker before Facebreaker was Facebreaker. (Oh, and before you panic, we captured the pic above from one of those older R2Rs.)The series has typically featured mini-games to train your boxer like pill popping and weight lifting, as well as celebrity cameos like Michael Jackson and Hillary Clinton. They've been replaced in R2RR by David Beckham, Brad Pitt and John Travolta. Go figure.
Former Midway employee suing Nintendo over Wiimote technology
In yet another patent infringement case this week for Nintendo, former Midway employee Pat Goschy is suing the money printer over a patent he holds from eight years ago involving motion controls similar to the Nintendo Wii remote, according to some local news station (via Go Nintendo - did anyone catch this news last night?). To validate his case further, Goschy has released a video on YouTube from 1999 where he shows off his system, which appears to be two wired sticks with accelerometers used to play the Dreamcast version of Ready 2 Rumble. Goschy's video is embedded above. Warning: while the sight of the Dreamcast may excite you, the effects of Sega's final console might be counterbalanced by Goschy's lack of pants. [Via Engadget]
Ready 2 Rumble 2 Return on multiple platforms
Though esteemed game designers fight to deny it, a great deal of modern games are built upon the solid foundation of human beings punching each other in the face. Swords, guns, and uncharacteristically aggressive dolphins are occasionally added to the mix, but handheld weapons simply pale in comparison to the might and satisfaction imparted by unassisted knuckles hurtling into an opponent's surprised jaw. Upholding this fine tradition is 10Tacle Studios, which today announced a third game in the Ready 2 Rumble boxing franchise. Further details are practically non-existent, save for the fact that it will be appearing on "various videogame platforms." The Ready 2 Rumble series, which first stepped into the ring during 1999's Dreamcast daze, was adored for its amusing characters, over-the-top boxing action and, as mentioned earlier, its entertaining depiction of people punching each other. In the face. The game will be developed in conjunction with AKI Corporation, the Japanese group responsible for several entries in the Def Jam and WWF Wrestlemania franchises.
Let's Get Ready 2 Rumble on 360?
While you may not have seen a Ready 2 Rumble game since 2000, by no means does that indicate the series is not going to see the light of day again. Publisher 10tacle Studios of Germany announced that it will be working with Japanese developer Aki. Michael Buffer will also return as the announcer with his trademark catch phrase. While details are a little sketchy in regards to platforms and release date, would you like to see this as a more playful counterpart to the Fight Night franchise? While we're here, did you ever play either game on the Dreamcast?
