TeamXbox: So where exactly do you feel that the bar needs raised in order to make the Fight Night franchise stand out?

Fight Night Round 4 team: Fight Night Round 3 had many strong points, but what it didn’t allow you to do really well is box…to use boxing fundamentals, that is. They [Round 3] had good head movement, but you couldn’t really use footwork, pump the jab, use angles and sidesteps, etc. Essentially, you can’t box effectively in Round 3 and be successful against a player that uses parries and haymakers. So, we felt that it was necessary to shift the balance to the boxing fundamentals.


TeamXbox: Okay…but what about those gamers who aren’t interested in using boxing fundamentals? You know, those guys that just want to exchange punches for two straight minutes?

Fight Night Round 4 team: We know there are those that want to relive Gatti versus Ward in every single fight they have. To a certain extent, there’s nothing we can do to prevent people from doing that. But what we wanted to make sure is that if I’m fighting somebody, and I’m a hardcore boxing fan, and my opponent is being Micky Ward—face first, brawler, throwing punches left-and-right—that I can effectively use footwork, pump the jab and win the fight strategically. As opposed to always getting sucked in to what an opponent is doing. Beating each other’s faces in has its place; we just wanted to make sure that the tools were in the toolbox to box effectively as well.






TeamXbox: It’s always interesting to see how EA’s sims of March Madness or the Super Bowl play out. We’re curious who’s the pound-for-pound best boxer of all time according to Round 4? Like, is there a guy that all the testers use to dominate?

Fight Night Round 4 team: The obvious answer is that, because Tyson is in the game, he’s the favorite. That’s not because it’s imbalanced or because he’s easier to use. It’s just that people LOVE to use Tyson. We’ve seen it in demos with players that pick up the game for the first time. You can feel a grin come over their face when they choose Tyson. Like “Oh my god…I’m Mike Tyson!! I’m going to kill you!” [chuckles]

The highest rated boxer in the game is Sugar Ray Robinson, though. And that’s mainly because he’s universally accepted as the pound-for-pound best fighter in history. But keep in mind, style makes fights in Round 4, so pretty much anybody in the game can give Sugar Ray a good fight.


TeamXbox: Speakin’ of Tyson, do you think it was the death of his beloved trainer Custamatto or the conniving Robin Givens that fueled his downward spiral?

Fight Night Round 4 team: It was actually Barbara Walters’ interview [laughs]. But in terms of boxing, there was only one credible contender for Tyson during his heyday, and that was Holyfield. But Tyson didn’t fight Holyfield until he was used to just beating up on guys—boxers that just crumbled underneath Mike’s intimidation. The problem was, Holyfield was one of those guys that didn’t get intimidated by anything. And by the time the fight rolled around, Tyson had already developed bad habits.