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POSTED:
Feb 22 2009, 01:22 AM
by Alain "sk88z" Quinto
Before I get into these introductions, I just have to say, if you’ve never had lobster sashimi, it’s quite an experience. A good friend of mine, Elliott, celebrated his birthday Saturday night and our group of friends, who all met as QA testers at EA years back, got together for some sushi and some drinks. I’ve always considered myself pretty worldly and I’ve had my share of sushi living on the west coast, but when they served Elliott his lobster and it was still moving, it was quite the sight. It was fully broken apart into quarters and its legs were still moving. Many were like, “this is crazy”, while us gamers in the group were like, “That’s pretty cool”. Love my friends.
While I’m not planning on taking the community leaders coming to Vancouver tonight for any lobster sashimi, we’ll definitely be talking dismantling as we get ready to talk all things boxing for the EA SPORTS Fight Night Round 4 Community Event. (Ok, I’ll work on my transitions ;)
For the last couple of months we’ve been planning our event and looking for some of the most influential boxing, sports, and regular gamers in the community and I’m pretty excited to get them together here in Vancouver. We’ll begin tonight with a meet-and-greet at the G Sports Bar and Grill where we’ll be setting up some Xbox 360’s and playing some Fight Night Round 3 over some beer and burgers.
Before we get there though, let’s meet some of these gamers coming in from all over North America, in no particular order:
Read in your best Michael Buffer voice:
He’s a 41-year-old that wanted to stay at the hotel in Disney World and play the arcade machines rather than go into the Magic Kingdom, he’s that hardcore a gamer ;) A 3rd degree black belt in Moo-duck-wan Kickboxing and who’s favorite games are NHL 94 and Wing Commander. Hailing from Lititz, PA and representing XboxSolution.com where they cover every gaming corner, please welcome Rich “Colonel Blair” Reed!
From Stephens City, VA and representing StickSkills.com, he’s been a gamer since the days of the SNES and who’s favorite boxing games are Fight Night Round 3 and Ready 2 Rumble, welcome Douglas “AirUpThere06” Veney.
Making the trip from Valrico, FL our next community leader is one of the voices on GamertagRadio.com, a site dedicated to the Xbox Live community and brings together online gamers. Since she’s gamed on her old Atari, her choice of gaming spans the RPG, music, action, and sports genres…pretty much a little bit of everything. A huge fan of the Legend of Zelda and Halo series, bringing her perspective to the event is Mandy “Ladyluck34” Paez!
Our next leader has a love of boxing that goes back to when he was trained as a kid. He puts Mike Tyson’s PunchOut on the SNES as his all time favorite game yet will pick up pretty much any boxing title, except for that Buster-guy’s title since he knocked out Tyson! A gamer for almost 22 years who’s also a big Oscar De La Hoya fan, from TQCast.com and hailing out of Temecula, CA, let’s hear it for Adrian “Desz” Martinez!
Representing VideGameShow.org, he is a well respected member of the community and he, too, has gamed since the day s of the 2600. He’s a huge fan of Round 3 and also spends much of his time playing WOW, Rock Band 2, and NCAA Football. He’s been at community events in the past representing Microsoft, though as a free-agent, he’s spreading his wings and very excited to be one of the first to get a taste of the next boxing title. Please welcome, Chris Paladino!
When he’s not skiing on the hills of Veil, our next community leader spends much of his time serving up to 10,000 unique visitors on 5WGaming.com covering the gaming industry with slight lead towards the sports genre. An original PONG owner and gamer for over 30 years, he’s a huge fan of Fight Night Round 3. Making his way from Highlands Ranch, CO, please welcome Shawn Drotar!
Our next community leader represents 360sync.com and covers the full genre of gaming for all things Xbox 360, of course. He grew up gaming with Mario and Sonic and lists Goldeneye 007, Halo, and many of the Sims titles as all-time favorite games. A huge Muhammad Ali and Roy Jones Jr. fan, please welcome Devin “Daking” Kofsky!
Representing OperationSports.com, AllHipHop.com, and TheGamerStudio.com, our next community leader has gamed since the days of the Odyssey 2000. A big fan of the Fight Night series, he’s also been known to spend a lot of hours playing GTA, GOW, and Madden. Hailing out of Atlanta, GA, and cheering for Floyd Mayweather, let’s welcome Jacob “Complex” Walker!
Also representing OperationSports.com, he’s gamed since the 2600 he received as a Christmas gift like many lucky kids and claimed Pitfall as his first ever video game. You can catch him working the sticks in NHL 09, MLB: The Show, and Mass Effect and pins Mike Tyson as the sole reason he got hooked on the sweet science. His favorite boxing game is Evander Holyfield Boxing, hailing from Kingsville, ON, Canada, let’s hear it for Henry “Money99” Dyck!
Since he was 4 years old and gaming off the Atari as well, our next community leader is making the trip all the way from El Paso, TX. A fan of the Fight Night, NCAA Football, and Madden titles, he all time favorite game is Knockout Kings 2001. Representing PastaPadre.com and Oscar De La Hoya, and with one of the coolest last names I’VE ever seen: Armando Pioquinto!
He’s a junior at the University of Alabama majoring in Management Information Systems, he represents NextGenLeagues.com and has gamed since the SNES. A huge sports-gamer, his favorites include MVP Baseball 2005, Madden 2005, and NCAA Football 09. His favorite boxer is Muhammad Ali and favorite boxing game is Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out, from Tuscaloosa, AL let’s hear it for Tim “Cheeesehead20” Mackey!
Representing MaxBoxing.com with a membership of about 10,000, this next community leader has been gaming for 25 years since a tender age of 4. You can currently find Left 4 Dead and Street Fighter 4 in his console and chooses Boxer’s Road 2 as his favorite boxing game. A long-time fight fan, trained in both boxing and Muay Thai, making the trip from Charlotte, NC, please welcome Tyrone “Darxide” Kirk!
Our other invite from Canada, representing Xbox-Sports.com he’s a huge fan of the Fight Night series and hosts a great Fight Night league on the site. He’s also a huge NHL 09 fan and an active and vocal gamer in the sports gaming community. Hailing from Renfrew, ONT, please welcome Robert “p403n1x” Hagen!
Sweetpatch.tv, YouTube.com, EASPORTS.com, and OperationSports.com, he’s a moderator for a number of EA SPORTS titles and a huge sports-gamer who’s videos have been seen over 1.7 million times! For the past 21 years since the age of 6 he’s gamed on practically every system and puts FIFA as his all-time favorite of favorite games, next to Zelda, Punch Out!, GTA, Madden, and Fight Night. Let’s welcome all the way from Bristol, CT, Robert, “wepeeler” Smith!
He’s a late edition to the mix, and has made the journey all the way from Maple Ridge, BC, Canada, representing TotalGamingNetwork.com, please welcome Adam Kreutzwieser ;)
And last, but not least, he’s one of the loudest boxing voices in the boxing community. He’s been a gamer since the late 80’s claiming his favorite game being Fight Night Round 3 next to Title Bout Championship Boxing and World of Mixed Martial Arts. A former Golden Gloves winner, he represents EastSideBoxing.com, BoxingBanter.com, FightNightNation.ning.com, BoxingScene.com, and can be found in the IGN Fight Night Forums, let’s hear it for the one and only, Demetrius “POETICDRINK2U” Egerton!
We’ll also be welcoming our EA SPORTS World team who will be covering the event and we’ll be sharing some of the fun moments from the Community Event on our Inside EA SPORTS Blog where we cover a lot of our “Behind the Scenes” action. I’m really excited to meet these guys I’ve communicated and gamed with for months and have been looking forward to getting their thoughts on the new game once they get a chance to play it.
No matter where we are from, at the end of the day we are all gamers with a passion for games and I think it’s very cool when we decide to bring in voices from our community and are given the chance to provide their opinions to help improve the overall quality of the games we play. Look for their feedback here and on sites they represent over the next weeks as we begin to reveal the details of one of this year’s most anticipated games of the year!
POSTED:
Feb 20 2009, 07:05 PM
by Jason "PrimeTimeSA" Thompson
If Fight Night is my favorite title, Career Mode in Fight Night is my favorite feature. Career Mode in Fight Night is crucial. I actually think it is more important than Dynasty Modes in other sports games because it is just you in Career Mode. In NCAA Football/ Basketball you can have an injury or a bad recruiting year and the Dynasty suffers but it is not really your fault. Madden, NBA Live and NHL have similar issues. Don’t get me wrong, I love these games but Fight Night’s Career Mode is different. In Fight Night you have no excuses.
Back and better than ever is Career Mode in Fight Night Round 4 (FNR4). To capture the realism of a career the producers of FNR4 have been speaking directly to the community and to boxing legends like Sugar Ray Leonard, Lennox Lewis and Winky Wright. This is the fourth and I think the most exciting video we have released from these interviews leading up to our BIG FNR4 Community Day because it deals with Career Mode and the goal of every Fight Night fan: Defining a Legacy.
Check out the video below:
How do you define a boxer’s legacy? What are the factors that the professionals use in gauging whether, at the end of a boxer’s career, he is a legend or just another boxer? That is what FNR4 Producer Mike Mahar asked and the answers given by the panel are brilliant because they really nail the truth. The single biggest factor in defining a legacy is “Who did you fight?” Of course your record counts but all three seemed to be less impressed with the overall record than they were with a guy’s record against the best. I could not agree with Sugar Ray Leonard more than we he described fighting the best at the peak of their career because without these “defining moments” you can not be a legendary boxer.
This idea is at the very core of FNR4 and maybe even all of the EA SPORTS titles. You have to play the best to be the best.
All of this discussion had me thinking of Joe Calzaghe who retired earlier this month. For more than 10 years he held the WBO Super Middleweight Title and was 46-0 in his 16 year career. With three more fights (presumably wins) he would have tied Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record. Is Rocky Marciano a legend? Clearly Marciano is the type of boxer we are talking about when we talk about boxing legends. So if that is true, my question is this: “Is Joe Calzaghe a legendary boxer?” I have met a lot of fight fans that say he is not. What do you think?
POSTED:
Feb 20 2009, 11:42 AM
by Will "raczilla" Kinsler
1. It’s Fight Night Round 4 (FNR4) Community Day! What is a Community Day? Glad you asked. It’s an opportunity for several of our biggest fans to visit EA Canada where Fight Night Round 4 is currently in development. They will be able to play the game before anyone else and give their feedback directly to the development team to make sure it’s the best Fight Night ever. While not everyone is able to attend, we’re going to give you a sneak peek into what it’s like to be at EA Canada during the event.
2. The Community Guest List. The people behind some of your favorite websites will be at EAC checking FNR4 and we will bring you their thoughts on the event with video updates throughout the event on easportsworld.com, fightnight.easports.com and on insideblog.easports.com. In attendance will be: Robert Hagen from www.xbox-sports.com; Demetrius Egerton from www.easports.com, fightnightnation.ning.com, fightnight.sportplanet.gamespy.com, www.boxingscene.com, www.saddoboxing.com, www.boxingbanter.com, and www.eastsideboxing.com; Douglas Veney from www.stickskills.com; Adrian Martinez from www.platformation.com and www.TQCast.com, Devin Kofsky from www.360Sync.com; Shawn Drotar from www.5WGaming.com; Chris Anthony Paladino from www.videogameshow.org and www.cpaladino.com; Mandy Paez from www.gamertagradio.com; Armando Pioquinto from www.pastapadre.com; Jacob Walker and Henry Dyck from www.operationsports.com; Rich Reed of www.xboxsolution.com; Timothy Russell Mackey from www.nextgenleagues.com and many more…
3. You can “be” there too… Okay. Maybe you will not physically be there at the FNR4 but with our updates beginning on Monday morning at 9am ET on www.easportsworld.com and http://insideblog.easports.com/ as well as fightnight.easports.com. Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter where we’ll be posting updates throughout the event. Links to our Twitter pages are below.
Dewiel
sk88z
Raczilla
Mamboking-
PrimeTimeSA-
Closphoto
Who knows, if you follow the updates and get involved maybe we will invite you to our next EA SPORTS Community Day!
4. Meet the FNR4 Game Designers. So who is designing the most anticipated boxing video game in history? Find out and get their thoughts from our Community Day.
5. Raczilla v. PrimeTimeSA II. In one of the biggest grudge matches we have ever seen (endured) here at www.easportsworld.com raczilla (Will Kinsler) and PrimeTimeSA (Jason Thompson) will face of in a rematch of Ali v. Tyson. In the first fight Tyson won in unanimous decision after 12 rounds with both fighters tasting the canvas during the fight. Will the rematch be different?
POSTED:
Feb 18 2009, 11:36 AM
by Jason "PrimeTimeSA" Thompson
Take a look at the video below as Lennox, Sugar Ray and Winky discuss recovering in professional boxing.
For 36 minutes you had one of the toughest dudes on the planet smash
his fists into your face and kidneys. Your face is swollen, your nose
is bleeding, your jaw is bruised and it hurts even to breathe. The good
news? The other guy looks worse than you. You have just won a title
belt and it feels great draped over your shoulder. The entire arena is
chanting your name and 50 sports journalist are fighting to hear
anything you have to say.
The bad news? Your manager is already asking you when you want to fight again. How much time should you take to recover?
In
the previous EA SPORTS Fight Night games the idea of recovery time was
not a big point of emphasis. There was a little spread in terms of time
before your next fight in career mode (4-8 weeks) and, if there were
consequences for fighting too soon, I never noticed any. Your goal was
basically to make as much money as fast as possible. That was fun but
not very realistic.In creating the best and most anticipated boxing
game of all-time Fight Night Round 4 (FNR4) is going to include the
very real issue that champions have to address in real life: How much
is enough time between fights?
FNR4 Gameplay Producer Brian
Hayes recently sat down with Lennox Lewis, Winky Wright, and Sugar Ray
Leonard and asked the question - "How long does it take you to recover
from a tough fight?" If you have not seen this interview, STOP READING
and watch it right now.
"...they had to use hypodermic needles to draw blood from my ear" - Sugar Ray Leonard.To
hear Sugar Ray Leonard say, even after a brutal fight, it may take him
"a couple of weeks" before he could physically fight again makes me
think these guys may not be human. (A couple of weeks?) Lennox Lewis'
point about the mental aspect was a good one. To be a truly great
champion, you have to invest everything - body and mind - to the
opponent. Just because your body has healed doesn't mean that you are
mentally prepared to defend your belt. For Lennox, even a short and
relatively easy fight still required a significant amount of time to
recuperate.
Sure it is tough on the Champ, but the emotional
investment can be even greater on the contender. Winky Wright's
description of the emotional investment he had in his first Sugar Shane
Moseley fight was very insightful. Imagine how tough it would be to
feel like you had to prove something in the ring and not just win the
fight.
So you have the physical component, the mental
component... and then there is the publicity component. It is easy to
forget that, to get in the ring for a championship bout, there are a
large number of press and promotional obligations that fighters have to
endure leading up to the big fight. Lennox went out of his way to
emphasize how hard this part is. It is exhausting, distracting and time
consuming but absolutely necessary. Without media, promotions, and
publicity you are a nobody.
So how much time is a realistic
amount of time to allow for recovery after a fight? In my opinion, the
time after a short, early-career or amateur fight is probably something
measured in weeks. For big-arena, main event, title fights it would
probably be measured in months. Add on to this the fact that every
fighter is different. There are some guys that just heal faster and
take less time to train. Winky Wright is one of these guys. There are
others, usually the more cerebral fighters like Lennox Lewis, who just
need more time off to fight effectively.
How much time do you think a fighter needs to recovery between fights?
POSTED:
Feb 16 2009, 12:00 AM
Fight Night Round 4 Community Day
The Fight Night Round 4 Community Day will be hosted in the Vancouver area from Feb 22nd to Feb 24th. It will be an exciting, action-packed event as we'll be inviting key community leaders from around the world to hang out in Vancouver as Fight Night Round 4 continues to gain momentum as one of the most anticipated sports games of 2009.
Stay tuned for more details and know you'll be able to follow along as
we'll be sharing the event live with the Get Inside EA SPORTS blog,
twitter and video as we get pumped about Fight Night Round 4!