"I've been working on the mode for over a year now and I'm still excited about it. "I think people will be surprised, but I also think they're going to be excited," adds Hayes. And if we weren't going to water it down, it had to be mature."Ī move that Hayes knows will shock a lot of consumers. But the catalyst for it all was that we wanted a new Champion mode, and we didn't want to sugarcoat it at all. "Then some of the ancillary benefits were, great, now we can finally do real damage in gameplay. So we laid out our vision for Champion mode and we said, if we do this, there's no way this can be T. if you're going to tell a story about boxing, it's not going to be, 'Hey, I just got an e-mail from your rival and he's really upset.' There are a lot of fighters who we drew inspiration from, and they've been through some real mature experiences. Being an unlicensed sports product and being in the world of boxing where there is a lot of stuff going on. Not topless mature themes, but it's gritty. "Essentially what we wanted to do with Champion mode necessitated this being an M-rated game," explains producer Brian Hayes. Then between rounds, it didn't take long for my cut-man in the corner to drop F-bomb after F-bomb, even referring to my white opponent as a "cracker." There he was, boxing in prison, hands wrapped but no gloves, ring surrounded by other prisoners cheering and shouting (no visible shanking), while dressed in their orange jumpers.
That's right, prison (and it has nothing to do with Mike Tyson being in the game).īut when I sat down to view a clip of the new Champion story mode last week at an EA media event, that's exactly where I found the game's lead character. What I didn't expect was the game to start out in prison.
When I heard "Fight Night Champion" was going to be EA Sports' first M-rated video game, I figured they were just going to play up the blood and gore factor of the sport. Now, if only I can see the fight that left this much blood on Pacquiao.EA Sports"Fight Night Champion" is EA Sports' first M-rated game.
EA SPORTS FIGHT NIGHT CHAMPION FULL
In addition, an all-new control scheme, dubbed Full Spectrum Punch Control, will deliver the most realistic punching system ever seen in a simulation fighting game, while still delivering an accessible experience that will make 'Fight Night Champion' the most user-friendly title in the franchise's history."
'Fight Night Champion' will enable users to move, attack and dodge with the speed and power of the best champions, contenders and pretenders in the world of boxing. After the disappointing sales of EA's "Fight Night: Round 4," it looks as though the game is boosting the violent imagery in hopes of upping the shock value, saying in the briefing that "Champion" will tap into the darker side of the sport with scenes of added brutality while at the same time "redefining the single player journey for the category."Īccording to EA, the game will also feature "a refined physics-based animation system that incorporates improved locomotion, punching and stamina mechanics.
The Pacquiao photo is from the newly announced "Fight Night Champion", a boxing game in development at EA Canada and scheduled for release in 2011 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.