The OXM Report: #FightNight Champion Video Preview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ01-24R0gk#ws)
Exclusive Full Spectrum Punch Control Walkthrough - Fight Night Champion (http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-full-fight-night/708547)
Fight Night: Build a Champion or Create Your Legacy
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1141300p1.html (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1141300p1.html)
Legacy mode makes me want to purchase this one on release.
Trailer #2:
Fight Night Champion: Trailer #2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwXWWPHkZdg#ws)
OT, I know, but how about that Mark Wahlberg fighting movie? Are you interested in that?
It's funny that you mentioned that movie tonight. I was on BoxOfficeMojo.com checking out the box office numbers for last weekend and noticed that "The Fighter" made "only" 12 million dollars. It's gotten good reviews, but Mark Wahlberg kind of annoys me (back from his Marky-Mark days). I'll definitely check it out when it airs on HBO though. Do you plan on seeing it in theaters?
It probably won't make it to the island, but if it does I will. I will definitely put it in the netflix Q.
Bare Knuckle video
Fight Night Champion: Bare Knuckle Fighting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDNB4cWHfoE#ws)
Producer Video: Stamina, Endurance and Corner Game
Fight Night Champion Producer Video: Stamina, Endurance and Corner Game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhVyAzsqBQA#ws)
Nice.
Demo is due out on February 1st g::t
Fight Night Champion is set to have a typically structured demo, four boxers in two different matchups, but EA Sports turned in a surprise with the announcement that it will be enabled for head-to-head online play for a limited time. With the demo arriving on XBL and PSN a full month before release this is an especially significant development that could influence the way demos are handled going forward.
The constrained development cycles inherent with sports titles have typically taken them out of consideration for early betas. There has simply been no way to fit in a beta close enough to release that would represent a near final product and still be able to implement changes in the game following completion of the beta. The hard dates required by licensed sports limits such an opportunity from being realized.
The Fight Night Champion demo will become a beta of sorts however under the guise of a demo and that could result in more immediate improvements and a better online experience out of the box come release day. EA Sports has always done a commendable job of taking community feedback from early demos and implementing them into patches but the online play element has the potential to take things to a whole new level.
The challenge for developers as the generation has progressed has been to create a demo that is compelling enough to generate sales while avoiding any complete satisfaction that would make someone determine they didn’t really need to spend the money on the full title. There has been experimentation in several different ways such as timed demos, very limited play duration, and even those linked to pre-orders with varied levels of success.
What EA has decided to do here is allow for the game to be experienced in a totally different way than just taking on the CPU, and in doing so emulates the Need for Speed Hot Pursuit demo from a few months ago. The actual draw of a competitive sports title of this nature for many people is the head-to-head gaming and in particular finding that experience online. Having both options available will allow for the CPU AI to be tested while also tracking the styles being utilized online which can expose completely different issues with the game.
Limiting the online play to two weeks accomplishes a few different goals. After those two weeks are up the demo becomes far less appealing and the anticipation will build again towards release day. It also will provide EA will a great deal of data about how the game is being played and testing of the server can lead to tweaks to improve lag or disconnects. Online performance can be tested to an extent that simply could not be completed internally.
Arriving four weeks before the game will provide for plenty of time to make those server improvements and even get a jump start on a patch that could then be ready much closer to release day. Usually the wait would be a month or longer for something discovered early to be taken care of in a patch and in that period of time frustrated consumers are inevitably lost.
From addressing exploits to improving online performance the developers will be getting a head start thanks to the demo for Fight Night Champion. Of course all will be moot if the gameplay doesn’t generate the level of interest EA is expecting or should gamers find themselves burned through the hype after the few weeks with it. This is certainly an interesting experiment regardless and if successful may very well become a staple of demos in the future.
Source: PastaPadre (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/01/25/online-enabled-demo-a-breakthrough-for-sports-gaming)
Demo Gameplay:
Pacquaio vs Cotto Fight Night Champion DEMO GAMEPLAY (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB5jWkXCqAQ#ws)
Tyson vs Ali Fight Night Champion Demo Gameplay (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voZdvGt-tGc#ws)
Love the new camera - now you can actually see the fighter's footwork.
Downloaded the demo this morning. Here are some quick impressions after one 3-round fight with Pacquiao and Cotto:
- Wow!!! Graphics and movements are incredible. The fighter's don't have the "cartoony" look that they've had in the past.
- Analog punching is much more responsive. It's also much easier to throw combos.
- Dynamic camera does a nice job of focusing on the action.
- There's a referee in the ring!!!
I can't wait to play some more tonight.
Gameplay Controls (Xbox 360):
(https://www.digitalgamingarena.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xboxgamingnation.com%2Fdgaorum%2Fgallery%2F1_02_02_11_11_34_41.jpeg&hash=fbf4c897a6e6d9a3efba6557ca156f467301f787)
(https://www.digitalgamingarena.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.xboxgamingnation.com%2Fdgaorum%2Fgallery%2F1_02_02_11_11_34_20.jpeg&hash=d4443efaf05e95bb6fec09718419ae1c71e8c752)
I got the demo let me know if you want to spar a little online.
Ted, what do you think of the demo? I played Round 4 tonight to see how it compares and I decided to cancel my pre-order for FNC and here's why:
- The game seems to be too fast. Punches come in so quickly that it's hard to see who is hitting who. What's strange is that the hyper-speed punches are matched with sluggish foot controls. I realize that the developers wanted to make punching more responsive, but they went a little too far. I've heard people refer to FNC as "Rock'em Sock'em Robots" and I don't completely disagree. Round 4 had a slower pace and a more tactical element to it.
- I mentioned my concern about "Full Spectrum Punch Control" when it was first announced (link (http://www.sportsgamingnation.com/sgnforums/forum_posts.asp?TID=2643&title=fight-night-champion-m-rated)) and I was correct in worrying about it being a glorified button system. The old analog controls mimicked the punch motion they represented and just felt more realistic to me. I also think the new punching system is the main reason for the slug-fest-type gameplay.
- There's no improvements to the presentation or commentary.
The game definitely has potential and I'll be curious to see what changes are made to it before it's released. One of the reasons EA put the demo out so early was to get feedback from the community before the finished product was released. There's a very good possibility I may still buy the game, but EA's going to have to fix some things first.
I agree with all your points. I never played 4 so I can't compare to that though.
Fight Night Champion 360 Demo Receives Tuner Update
One of the features making its way into Fight Night Champion is the ability to put out “tuner†sets that allow for the gameplay and settings to be adjusted without going through the lengthy patch process. Mixed response to the FNC demo and the opportunity to test out the feature brings about the first tuner update going live for the Xbox 360 today. The original plan never included releasing a tuner for the demo so this should be seen as an added bonus though unfortunate that those on the PS3 won’t get the same chance to try it out.
There are three areas being tinkered with in the tuner in response to direct feedback provided by the community. The stamina regeneration rate is being slightly reduced, the stamina loss for missed/blocked punches is being slightly increased, and the overall punch power and health loss from each punch is being increased.
Despite the issues experienced again this shows the potential of an early demo almost acting as a quasi-beta and one made even more significant due to the inclusion of online head-to-head. If the FNC team can get the game more properly balanced for release then it will have proven quite valuable.
Source: PastaPadre.com (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/02/08/fight-night-champion-360-demo-receives-tuner-update)
I think those are positive changes.
I hope that makes a difference to my experience. My pre-tuner thoughts are that it looks fabulous, I don't hate the game by any means but everything happens very quickly and I never know quite why I'm losing. I haven't won a fight yet, only salvaging a single draw in a Tyson-Ali fight because I had The Greatest on the floor in the 2nd.
He didn't catch me with anything big, our landing percentages were as near as makes no difference the same and I felt well in control of proceedings, but the 1st and 3rd were scored 10-9 Ali. In Fight Night Round 4 I could always tell I was losing and I always knew why, even if I didn't always have the first idea of how to stop it, so I'm a bit perturbed to find that I don't get the same feeling with Champion at the moment. Perhaps it'll come.
http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/02/19/fight-night-champions-story-mode-is-short (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/02/19/fight-night-champions-story-mode-is-short)
ESPN’s Jon Robinson has offered some independent perspective on what to expect however by tweeting (http://twitter.com/#%21/ESPN_JRob/status/38321116418289664) that the mode will last just 4-8 hours depending on individual skill level.
The actual tweet
Fight Night's new Champion mode only lasts 4-8 hours depending on skill. Most people will blow through in one night. Cool but short.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Still have not even touched the demo. Looks like I may never touch this game. That is pretty weak when you consider the time length of fights, training and cut scenes.
This video convinced me to order the game...again:
Fight Night Champion Sim Settings pt1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzODtLskn_k#ws)
I'm really on the fence with this one.
My copy just shipped, so there's no backing out for me now. I think EA will fix many of the gameplay issues via tuning updates and patches.
Some more simulation gameplay footage:
Fight Night Champion: Sim Settings Mora vs Manfredo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1idscJ0RFI#ws)
My copy is waiting at home for me. Between this and the MLB 2K11 demo, my 360 should be pretty busy tonight.
There is something about those punching sounds that I hate. Especially that big boom.
The retail game has a simulation mode where all the cinematic crap is disabled, so there's no big booms, flashes during counter punches or screen effects when you're hurt. It makes the game MUCH more enjoyable.
Oh that's good.
I have to admit that I'm enjoying the retail game much more than the demo. One thing that prevents you from just going in and slugging is the one-punch knockout. I've gotten overly aggressive a few times and wound up on my ass because of it.
I can admit when I'm wrong and my initial negative reaction to full spectrum punch control may have been wrong. After some time with the game, I'm really enjoying the new controls. I had some doubts about my purchase, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the game. I'm getting ready to start my career soon.
FNC Blog (http://www.ea.com/fight-night/blog/dlc)
I just wanted to start off with a huge thanks to our rabid fighting & gaming community for their constant feedback on the official Fight Night Champion Forums (http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/categories/show/79.page). The developers have been reading the feedback non-stop and working on getting out the first Title Update to coincide with the DLC package set to launch at the same time.
We are still looking at locking down the exact release date and we’ll be sure to share that with you once that has been determined.
Do note, however, that we’ll be revealing all the DLC details this Friday during our Live Chat from 4-5PM PST. Click this link and enter your email to remind yourself to join us for Friday’s DLC Reveal: http://www.ea.com/fight-night/1/chat (http://www.ea.com/fight-night/1/chat)
As far as the Title Update is concerned, based on feedback from the community, here are some of the following adjustments that will be made:
Punch Accuracy Reduction: Overall accuracy will be reduced and accuracy tracking a moving target will be reduced. Users will notice lower connect percentages and a better ability to use head movement defensively.
Hit Reactions Intensity Increased: Bigger hit reactions across the board and increased punch offsetting â€" i.e. punches thrown off target when a boxer is hit in the act of punching.
Combination Punching Adjustments: Bigger difference in combination speed between boxers with low and high Combination Skill rating.
Improved Weave Input Detection: Reduced the instance of weaves happening unintentionally.
Health Loss Adjustment: Regular punches do more damage and combination punching is more effective.
Stamina Recovery Adjustment: Less stamina recovered between rounds.
Perfect Block Counter Window Disabled: Pending simultaneous release of Tuner Set.
Opponent Counter Freeze: Fixed a bug where the a Perfect Block would sometimes freeze the opponent’s inputs.
Late Guard: Fixed a bug where the guard went back up late if you threw more than one punch out of the block.
Please note that we are investigating pushing out a Tuner Set at the same time as the TU along with further game improvements, so please continue to provide your feedback in our forums (http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/5445397.page). We hope that you’ll be pleased with the hard work the team is putting in post-launch. Thanks!
DLC Details
http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/25/fight-night-champion-dlc-details (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/03/25/fight-night-champion-dlc-details)
I don't give two shits about the DLC, I just hope the patch and tuner update come out on the 29th too.
The patch is out for PS3 users. I'm going to check if the XB360 patch is also available when I get home.
"We are wrapping things up with Title Update #2. When we have a specific release date, you will obviously be the first to know. Couple things I can tell you...- One Punch KOs are working again.
- OWC has been balanced so that new CABs aren't at such a disadvantage when they start out.
- OWC has new match-up logic to favor match-ups between boxers with similar OVR ratings.
- Numerous factors have been tweaked to reduce the effectiveness of jab-spamming, especially to the body.
- Stamina loss is greater when moving backwards (most noticable over multiple rounds).
- Having your back to the ropes/in the corner has a bigger impact on movement speed.
- Max Stamina Loss/Recovery overall has been adjusted.
- Some previous patch/tuner-set changes have been rolled back for Offline gameplay.
- Weave sensitivity has been much improved.
- A variety of other bugs have been fixed.
We've been playing it as much as we can, trying to fight like different types of a-holes/jerks to grief each other with very little success. We look forward to getting it in your hands as soon as we can and hopefully you can all have fun beating some cheesy spammers down too."
Dev Team Update June 23rd, 2011
Just wanted to provide the community with the latest details on the upcoming 2nd Title Update set to be released June 28th barring any issues with Sony/MS. To prepare for the TU, it was necessary to make some changes which included rolling back some of the tuning changes made has affected online play which some of you have noted in the GD forums. Please note that this will change again on June 28th with the TU with some of the tuning changes that previously existed that will now be a part of next week's update.
Here's what you can look forward to with next week's Title Update:
Fixed One-Punch Knockouts
• Pretty self-explanatory this one. One punch KOs are happening again.
Health and Knockdowns
• Boxers with low health can now be knocked down without automatically entering the “critical health†stun state.
• Cumulative punching can, in effect, cause knockdowns without being so predictable.
Locomotion Updates
• Boxers can now move forwards with their guard up as fast as opponents can move backwards with their guard down
• Movement speed near the ropes or corners is affected. Makes it more difficult to consistently run throughout the course of a fight.
• Weave input sensitivity has been improved.
Stamina Updates
• Long term stamina loss for moving backwards is significantly higher than stamina loss for moving forwards.
• Short term stamina loss for throwing several punches is more significant.
• The effect of low stamina on boxer power and toughness is more significant. When a boxer’s stamina bar is low, they are weaker and more susceptible to damage than before.
• Stamina loss for high output punchers is more significant overall.
Hit Reactions
• Tweaked hit reaction strength such that punches to the body do not offset opponent punches as drastically.
• Reduces the instance of what some users felt were, “forced missesâ€.
Judges Scoring
• Judging logic tweaked to favor clean, effective punching more than previously.
• In general, most judges will favor the boxer who lands fewer, more significant punches over the boxer who lands higher numbers of less significant punches.
• Big punches and stuns have a bigger chance of swinging a round in favor of a boxer.
Legacy Mode
• Fixed issue where game would sometimes hang when attempting to import created fighters into Legacy Mode.
• Alternate Weight Class DLC boxers can be imported into Legacy Mode. So can George Foreman.
Fixed the Online Leaderboards Cheat
OWC Match-Up Logic
• Prioritizes match-ups been boxers with similar OVR ratings.
• Matchups between boxers with too large a difference in OVR will not be made (no more hunting for easy fights).
• OWC Boxer Ratings have been balanced so that new boxers aren’t at as big a disadvantage starting out.
Offline Gameplay
• Rolled back a subset of previous tunerset updates that were adversely affecting offline gameplay difficulty.
• Improved the effect of Offline Gameplay Sliders for Punch Accuracy and Punch Output (as much as possible).
Again, thanks for everyone's patience as the team works to improve the game and we hope you will be pleased with the update next week.
Are you still playing this one?
Quote from: Ted on June 24, 2011 @ 12:55:33 AM
Are you still playing this one?
I've been holding off on this and NASCAR 2011 until the patches were released. I'm looking forward to playing this again on Tuesday.
Dev Team Update September 7th, 2011
Fight Night Champion â€" Tuning Update
With the release of the latest Tuner Set, the following updates have been made to gameplay in Fight Night Champion.
1. Facial damage has been increased. Swelling, cuts and bleeding are more prevalent and damage now has a bigger impact on fights â€" PROTECT YOURSELF.
2. Judges Scoring has been tweaked to address some scoring irregularities noticed by community members.
3. Stamina loss has been tweaked slightly overall in response to community feedback â€" increased for some actions and decreased for others.
4. Stamina loss for offline CPU opponents has been corrected. CPU stamina loss is now more equivalent to user stamina loss.
I never did get this. I probably should.
It's definitely worth the $28 Amazon is selling it for (http://www.amazon.com/Fight-Night-Champion-Xbox-360/dp/B004CVQUGQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1315572267&sr=8-1).
Dev Team Update September 22nd, 2011
"New tuner set to be released overnight: The facial damage tuning in the previous tuner set was too high. This update brings it down slightly to prevent referee stoppages from happening too often/too easily."
- The Devs