My writing is nothing, my boxing is everything

We’re now into 2009 and my roots as a realist have emerged. When other people were looking ahead and making resolutions to better themselves or their community I was sitting eating my body weight in fudge and contemplating what would destroy my wallet in the year ahead.

The game at the head of the list took me a bit by surprise I must say, but the more I thought about it the more excited I got. The game is Fight Night Round 4, but the thing is I know virtually nothing about the game. All we have seen is one teaser trailer and that’s it. So am I an idiot for desiring a game I know nothing about, basing expectation on nothing more than blind faith? Well kinda, but let me explain.

Fight Night Round 4 can only be one of the games of 2009, I’m pretty confident about this. Firstly Fight Night Round 3 was utterly sublime and one of the underplayed gems of the generation. It managed to get the balance between the fun of an arcade fighter and the patient skill of the sport in reality, absolutely perfect. A joy to play, its gameplay brilliance was matched by its stunning good looks. It was the first sports game to introduce your jaw to the carpet this generation and can still be used to show off the good looks of the Xbox 360/PS3.

The great guys and gals at EA have a strong foundation to build upon, so strong, in fact, that it’d be hard to mess the sequel up. The fact that since then EA has tightened up their online multiplayer package means the one weak spot of the prequel (multiplayer) becomes one of the major plus points of the new title! The thought of lag free Fight Night action over Live or PSN makes me giddy like a schoolgirl… a schoolgirl at the side of the ring baying for blood, but a schoolgirl nonetheless!

I know all this praise is just setting me up for a fall and if fate decides to destroy me I’ll be back here in summer bemoaning the ineptitude of the developers, but I’m not jaded enough in this industry (yet) to not get excited about a potentially awesome game. Particularly one that nobody else is talking about, as it feels like an exclusive club and the only method of entry is nailing your colours to the mast for a game nice and early. If we’re right then we’re officially the coolest kids on the internet, if we’re wrong then… well… it’ll be embarrassed faces all round.