Rabid fans wait in neutral corners around the world in eager anticipation of Electronic Art, Inc.’s (EA) release of Fight Night Round 4. Roughly 50 of the sport’s greatest champions and current contenders can be matched up for an exhibition or, for the more goal-oriented gamer, players can contend for titles online. According to EA, the game will also feature a “legacy mode” where you can design your own boxer, train him, and try to win a world title or two.
I was raised on Pong and Atari, so I feel qualified to write an article about video games. I must disclose, however, that I consulted extensively with my 10-year-old son before writing this piece. Originally, I thought about collaborating with one of the hundreds of forum room members who are actively writing about Fight Night Round 4, but after coming across names like “Varmint Kong” and “Iisgonnagetyousucka,” I figured my boy was the safer person to approach.
The game will be available the first of July, but the demo mode version is up and running for those who have pre-ordered the game. I had the opportunity to examine the demo recently and thought I would share my assessment (also known as my best guess) as to how the developers appear to have programmed the three judges.
The Xbox 360 game demo allows for a three round exhibition between Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton. I selected Manny as my fighter against the computer controlled The Hitman. On May 2nd, the real Manny dispatched Hatton in two rounds; however, my Manny couldn’t do the same and the fight went to the cards. The three judges were unanimous in their decision: Hatton won the first two rounds and I won the third. Rematch!
The second fight was a shorter affair with my Manny knocking Hatton out in the second round. I love it when history repeats itself. Not perfect history mind you because both fighters were dropped in the first round. The trilogy will have to be perfected another time though because I appeared to have suffered an injury to my right thumb.
In less than 20 minutes, Hatton and I went 4 1/2 rounds. The judges’ scores were unanimous with every round. As stated above, Ricky won the first two rounds by what appears to have been a higher percentage of connected shots. In the third round of the first fight, the round I won, my connect percentage was lower than Hatton’s but I put Ricky in some sort of stunned mode at the end of the round. In the first round of the rematch, both fighters found the canvas; however, the round was mine for what appears to be nothing more than damage inflicted. The Hitman had a higher connect percentage but I found that magical stunned mode twice.
It appears to me that defense and ring generalship are not part of the judging equation. Instead, the game will first run through a Compubox type analysis for each round based upon the fighter’s connection percentage. It then moves on to some sort of damage rating that may or may not trump the punch statistics. The latter ability is impressive because I would have suspected a simplified scoring system driven exclusively by number of punches landed. The bottom line is that percentage of shots landed is good, but stunned mode is better.
Regardless, the game’s scoring program is no different from reality in one important way–a fighter loses control over his destiny if the fight goes to the scorecards. This has nothing to do with good judging or bad, good programming or otherwise. It has to do with the simple truth of pugilistic life–the only way to guarantee a win is to knockout your opponent.
