Suspicious Glowing Gloves!

“Small Glowing Hand/Glove Combo”

It floated there before me
Defying physics theory and scientific hokum.
Made of felt and glittery, see?
From another planet it had come.

Did it come in peace I asked
Why did it glow so fantastically?
Should I run, could I be arsed
And would it probe me scientifically?!

It glowed and floated, alone in it’s thoughts
A single half of a pair of something sinister.
Lord only knows what here it sought,
So at that point I called up the Minister.

Government bods and gents of suit
Sallied forth and soon had things under control.
And by noon I was given the Whitehall boot
Too lowly to be needed in any further role.

And now, 20 years have passed by
The world is run by alien hand/glove combos.
And I must say, I did at least try
To fight back with my super atomic toes.

I failed!

El coste del LHC del CERN ya alcanza la cifra de 3.900 millones de euros (hace un año y medio se hablaba de solo 3.000 millones, ver LHC FAQ). Aún así es mucho más barato que cualquier otra instalación similar gracias a aprovechar el túnel del LEP y parte de su infraestructura. Su entrada en funcionamiento se está retrasando porque se están encontrando problemas inesperados, que indican que su fabricación no ha sido realizada con el cuidado necesario (quizás por las prisas, quizás por el bajo coste). Más aún, entrará en funcionamiento con una energía muy inferior a la inicialmente esperada. Por ejemplo, esta semana se están revisando las soldaduras entre uniones de cobre en la parte no superconductora de los 10.000 imanes superconductores del LHC. Se ha encontrado una soldadura incorrectamente realizada. ¡Una soldadura! Sí, pero suficiente para tener que revisar las demás. Estas soldaduras defectuosas impedirán que el LHC alcance su energía máxima ya que no podrán soportar la corriente máxima que habría que aplicar a los imanes superconductores. Parece increíble, pero así es. No sé, pero a mí me parece que lo barato acaba saliendo caro. Nos lo cuenta, como no, Adrian Cho, “More Bad Connections May Limit LHC Energy or Delay Restart,” News of the Week, Science 325: 522-523, 31 July 2009.

Esta semana los técnicos del CERN están chequeando las 10.000 soldaduras con objeto de evaluar la corriente máxima que podrán soportar de forma fiable, así como determinar la energía máxima de los haces de protones que se podrá alcanzar en el primer año de funcionamiento de la instalación. En el mejor caso, las demás soldaduras estarán perfectas (a mí me parece que algo poco probable) y este chequeo solo supondrá un retraso más para el reinicio del LHC (que se esperaba para noviembre).

Un retraso más. Otro retraso más y otro más aún. Esto parece la historia interminable. Hemos de recordar que en el año 2000 se suponía que el LHC entraría en funcionamiento en el año 2005. Espero equivocarme, pero ahora parece que no lo hará hasta inicios de 2010.

Un recorte en energía más. Y ahora otro más. El LHC del CERN se diseñó para alcanzar 14 TeV de energía máxima (dos haces de protones cada uno con 7 TeV), lo que significa que se observarán colisiones entre 1 y 2 TeV de energía máxima (ya que colisionan entre sí los partones (quarks y gluones) que constituyen los protones). Hace unos meses se decidió reducir esta energía a un máximo de 10 TeV. Los nuevos problemas parecen limitarla a unos 8 TeV o menos. El LHC tiende a convertirse en un Tevatrón “mejorado” (alcanza una energía de 2 TeV).

Quizás convenga reforzar el punto anterior. En el LHC colisionarán haces de protones. Cada protón es un “saco” de partículas, 3 quarks de valencia y millones de gluones y de pares de quarks virtuales. En una colisión protón-protón en realidad se produce una colisión gluón-gluón (las mejores para observar el bosón de Higgs), quark-quark y hasta quark-antiquark (ver figura de arriba). En un protón con una energiá de 7 TeV es muy difícil que alguno de sus millones de constituyentes alcance un 1 TeV, además que lo haga otro de los constituyentes del otro protón que acabe colisionando con éste, y que además ambos constituyentes (partones) colisionen. Recuerda que un protón tiene un “tamaño” de unos 10^-15 m. y un partón sólo alcanza unos 10^-18 m., es decir, ocupa un volumen mil millones de veces inferior. El resultado es que es muy poco probable alcanzar colisiones de más de 2 TeV (prácticamente imposible). Con un LHC a energía reducida que alcance, digamos 7 TeV en el punto de colisión (haces de protones de 4,5 TeV), difícilmente se observarán colisiones partón-partón de más de 1 TeV (similares a las más energéticas que se observan actualmente en el Tevatrón). ¿Tanto para tan poco?

¿Retraso o recorte? Esta es la cuestión. Muchos quieren que el LHC se ponga en funcionamiento cuanto antes. ¿Para qué? Para descubrir nuevos fallos y poder resolverlos cuanto antes, así como calibrar todos los detectores y aprender más sobre el funcionamiento de esta máquina. Al mismo tiempo, nadie quiere un LHC funcionando durante un año a solo 4 TeV, incluso 8 TeV están en el límite de lo no deseable (le daría una oportunidad única al Tevatrón para acumular luminosidad y ganar la partida, por ejemplo, en la búsqueda del Higgs).

No sé que opinarás tú, pero a mí me parece que lo barato acaba saliendo caro.

My son loves science, but not the usual watered down levelized science textbooks. He wants more detail then they usually provide. I found Real Science 4 Kids last year and we did level pre-1 biology and chemistry. The textbooks were great but the labs were a bit lame and tedious at times.

I looked through the 8 content standards he needs to cover for the next 2 levels. He does half this year then half next year. We decided to focus on physical science this year. Next year he would do life science and earth/space science although we did one of them already.

We’re going to use Real Science 4 Kids level 1 physics theory. Also Heat & Energy, and Machines & Motion from the God’s Design series. The God’s Design series books will be able to use for several years focusing on different aspects as he advances. Eventually we hope to have the entire series. I’m also ordering Human Body from the series for his health standard this year.

I was able to order the textbooks and teacher guides from Rainbow Resource for $161.19 including shipping. Considering these 7 are pretty meaty science books and guides, that’s not bad. I wanted to use a Scholastic Human Body activity book but it was out of print. I found it on E-bay, but the price was double what it was originally. Oh well. It was still less than $20 and I really wanted to use it.

Previous: Part I – Game Features

Gameplay

So, what’s the actual fighting gameplay like in FNR4?  After all, that is the most important part of any game.  In my opinion, it is very good for a boxing game, but there plenty of  room for improvement.

The gameplay in FNR4 is good but could be a lot better

The best parts

The best part is the new physics theory system, which allows a variety of punches from different angles creating different impacts.  Some of the punches can still appear a teeny bit mechanical at times, but it’s hard to complain.  Gone is the stupid parry system from FNR3.  The computer AI is also quite good, especially on the higher difficulty levels.  You can’t just keep throwing wild punches recklessly or else you’ll get countered all day.  You really have to take your time, figure out your opponent’s weaknesses and then exploit them.  It makes the game tactical – you can keep your distance and jab your way to an easy victory, or you can take risks and go for the KO – it really is a risk-reward system.

Counterpunching

One aspect of the game that has been emphasized is the counterpunching.  When you dodge or block an opponent’s punch with perfect timing, you’ll get the opportunity to connect with a counterpunch, which not only does more damage but has a chance of generating a critical punch or instant knockdown.  I must say it is done very well in FNR4, where time feels like it slows down, and there is a flash of light and enhanced sound effects upon impact.  It adds to the technical side of the game, requiring players to think before they throw.   Head movement, accurate punches and well-timed blocks have all become highly important.  This goes a long way towards making a realistic boxing simulation.

In FNR4, if you miss, you will pay

Too many punches

However, this is where FNR4’s biggest problem in terms of gameplay comes in – it still plays too much like an arcade game rather than a simulation.  Due to the speed with which stamina and health replenishes, coupled with the lack of damage caused by ordinary (ie non-critical) punches, you’ll find a tendency to throw punches all round, every round.  They are not reckless punches, but because you can throw a lot of punches without getting tired or hurting your opponent, you generally will.  As a result, there is rarely a round where I end up throwing less than 100 punches.  In a 12 round bout, even when using a boxer with punching power over 90 in both hands, I can easily end up throwing over 1,000 punches, connecting over 50%, and yet still not knock the opponent out.  Even when you stun an opponent, they recover with amazing quickness.  In real life the effect of a single punch can linger for an entire fight, but in FNR4, they only last for about 10 seconds, no matter how devastatingly hurt a fighter is.  The lack of realism can be frustrating.

On the other hand, throwing a lot of punches almost always guarantees a unanimous decision victory.  The only times when I have lost rounds were when my boxer got knocked down.  Even against aggressive opponents, the AI doesn’t throw nearly as many punches as you would expect.   It would have been better if the AI adjusts the opponent’s punch output according to your own.

Therefore, if you want a bit of excitement, you’ll have to take risks and throw haymakers (which cause more damage but are slow as hell).  However, the chance of a haymaker causing a knockdown or critical punch seems to be rather random.  And when they connect, they don’t necessarily do much damage, even though it looks powerful enough to knock anyone out cold (especially since the opponent staggers backwards).  Yes, you can wear your opponent down and finish them off in the later rounds, but if you want a quick KO, you essentially have to keep throwing haymakers and hope for the best.   Even then you might not succeed.  I could land 4 or 5 of Iron Mike’s trademark crouching left hooks in quick succession on an opponent 2 weight classes below and still not do much damage.  It can look like a Rocky movie sometimes.

You have to throw a lot of punches or be lucky to KO someone

Knockdowns

The probability of the opponent getting up from a knockdown is also quite arbitrary.  They usually will get up after an initial knockdown, and depending on their ‘Heart’ rating, may get up from a second.  Few get up after a third.  When a KO is coming, boxers will usually try to get up and then fall, prompting the referee to call an immediate halt, or they just get counted out after a little struggling.  No one ever gets knocked out cold.

Again, this is disappointing.  A bit more variety would not have hurt.  It gets to a point where you can immediately tell after the first few seconds following a knockdown whether your opponent will get back up or not, and the way in which it will happen.  The game-makers could have, for example, allowed referees to end a fight immediately after a brutal knockdown without administering a count, or call a fight when a boxer is seriously hurt but not knocked down, or when they are being battered defenselessly without fighting back.  That’s the type of realism I was expecting.

Pushing and clinching

Pushing and clinching are integral to the sweet science, and FNR4 has implemented both adequately, but not exceptionally.  Pushing is a button and clinching is another on the control pad, which makes it easy to execute.

Pushing can be valuable to free up some distance or pin your opponent against the ropes or in a corner, but it’s not as effective as you think it could be.   It is best utilized offensively when your opponent is hurt but they are blocking all your punches; a push can mess up the accurate guard or cut off their escape route.  Defensively, a push is effective when you are up against an inside fighter who has got you trapped.  While these sound good on paper, you’ll find that they don’t appear much in actual gameplay.

Clinching, on the other hand, is a double-edged sword.  Anyone who has seen a real-life boxing match knows it happens a lot, particularly in the higher weight classes.  However, in a boxing game, you don’t want to turn your fight into a bore, so clinching becomes a rarity.  In FNR4, your opponent tends to only clinch when you have them hurt, and boy, are they good at it.  You can hurt your opponent 4 or 5 times in a single round and yet be unable to administer a knockdown.  It adds difficulty to a bout but not realism.

The big improvement in clinching is that it’s not always the same animation – the type of clinch you end up in depends on the positions of the boxers.  It’s a little thing but it adds to the overall package.  However, unfortunately you are unable to throw punches in a clinch like they often do in real life.

Special and illegal moves

Of course, no good boxing game would be complete without special and illegal moves.  FNR4 allocates a button on the control pad for each.

You’ll now be able to execute Mike Tyson’s crouching left hook, or Muhammad Ali’s famous shuffle with ease whenever you want.  However, it is a shame that each boxer only has one special move they can execute (to the head or to the body), and the variety is somewhat limited.  Moreover, the damage a special punch can inflict is sometimes not worth the risk of throwing it.  They take a long time to throw and are easy to counter.

Illegal blows, on the other hand, are the same as always.  An obvious head butt or low blow will do some damage, but not enough to warrant continuous use.  Once will earn a warning, twice a point deduction, and if you keep it up a disqualification loss.  It’s all very arbitrary – the first one’s always a freebie, even though it’s probably obvious enough to earn an immediate DQ in real life.  It’s rather pointless really.  If they really wanted to spice it up they could have added illegal blows in clinches, and have signature ones such as the Tyson ear bite!

This was the type of move I wanted to see!

Cuts and swelling

The cuts and swelling in FNR4 is not as obvious visually.  The commentator will mention it, but you don’t see much more than the odd bruise or trickle of blood on a fighter’s face.  I would have liked it more if the damage on a fighter’s face is corresponds closer to the Damage meter.  You won’t see any closed eyes, grotesque swelling or deep cuts caused by punches (or head butts) in the game like in real life.  Darn.

The worst part about it all is how a fight can end due to cuts or swelling.  If your boxer has a low cuts/swelling rating, it can all end in a hurry.  No warning from the referee, no checks by the doctor – you can be dominating the fight or be in the middle of a heated exchange, and ‘poof’ – suddenly it’s all over and you’ve lost.  On top of that, the fighter’s face doesn’t even look like it’s bad enough for the fight to be stopped at all.  It’s probably the one thing that has been handled worst in the entire game.

Between rounds

The ‘mini-game’ in between rounds where you can distribute the points you earned in the previous round is both good and bad.  It’s good because it rewards the user for being smart with both offense and defense.  On the other hand, it’s bad because it’s unrealistic and it feels like a bit of a waste of time.  In real life, you don’t get to choose whether you replenish your health, stamina or recover from damage.  Besides, the computer generally does a pretty decent job of choosing which meter to use your points on, so I usually just choose ‘auto’ and let it do its thing.

Your corner doesn't do much in FNR4

I would have liked to have seen the trainer getting in your face and giving you some constructive advice, or the cutman working a cut, pressing down the swelling or applying Vaseline, the fighter spitting out blood and rinsing his mouth.  Stuff like that to bring out the brutality of the sport and the pain and damage of the punches landed.

So at the end of the day, while the fighting in FNR4 is fun and can be addictive, there are still a lot of problems that can be fixed.  Most of them are minor, but can really add to the realism of the game if EA just put a little more thought and effort into it.

Next up: Legacy Mode!

A few days ago, I applied for a tutoring job on Craig’s List. I received a reply back. The person had a daughter coming to the US and wanted a physics theory tutor for the three months she’s here. He would send a check to me and I was to take my share of the money and then send the rest to the nanny.

Berkeley Parents Network outlines very clearly why this is bad. The short of it is that the check you receive is counterfeit. It will initially go through but eventually will be revealed as a counterfeit. The holder of the bank account (you) is responsible for any check that you deposit, even if you were innocent in the fact that the check is a fraud. So not only do you lose the money that you spent but also you lose that money you sent to the scammer.

Be cautious of this scam, regardless of what you do. I’ve seen it for dance, physics theory, etc.

Satu diantara banyak rahasia untuk Lulus dan Lolos
dari Ujian Nasional 2010 adalah buku ini
“ Rahasia Lulus Ujian Nasional 2010
Fisika , dibedah sesuai dengan
Standar Kompetensi Kelulusan Ujian Nasional (SKL)

Kelebihan buku ini :
1. Fokus kepada Standar Kompetensi Kelulusan per point SKL dari 34 SKL (tidak dimiliki oleh buku paket,buku-buku persiapan unas sekarang dan juga pada banyak jenis LKS atau Lembar Kerja Siswa)
2. Tiap SKL diberikan dasar teori lengkap, variasi soal dan pembahasan
3. Satu diantara variasi soal adalah yang PASTI keluar pada Ujian Nasional 2010 dengan KETEPATAN 90%
4. Diberikan Prediksi Ujian Nasional 2010 dengan KETEPATAN 90% pada tiap SKL
5. Dibahas dan diberikan penyelesaian Ujian Nasional Fisika Tahun 2009 versi Propinsi Jawa Tengah dan Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta dan langsung fokus kepada SKL masing-masing
6. Pembahas adalah pengajar senior utama yang menguasai perkembangan Ujian NAsional Fisika selama 10 tahun

Boleh dikata “ hanya dengan buku inipun ….bisa mengunci nilai fisika pada Ujian Nasional 2010 dengan nilai boleh dikata diatas 8…. So …
1. Fisika bukan mata pelajaran yang menakutkan untuk tidak lulus Ujian Nasional 2010
2. Dengan standar nilai kelulusan yang dinaikkan pun jadi 5,75 atau 6 pun kalian tidak perlu merasa khawatir karena FISIKA terasa MUDAH …….
3. Fisika bukan lagi mimpi buruk mu …………..

Komentar :
1. Yana Yulianto (SMA 1 Pati Jawa Tengah) “ mudah banget untuk lulus fisika ..nilai fisikaku 9,25 unas kemarin….lulus mapel menakutkan ..wow ….
2. Firda (SMA 1 Pati Jawa Tengah) “ tak sesulit yang kukira..fokus kepada buku ini selama 6 bulan sejak November ternyata aku lulus dengan nilai 9…..luar biasa ..padahal aku semula takut dengan fisika ini …
3. Suliz ( SMA 1 Tayu Pati Jawa Tengah) , jadi terasa lebih mudah ..kuasai variasi soalnya dan pelajari..hanya diminta belajar buku ini 4 bulan ..lulus fisika sih biasa tapi dapat nilai 8,75 …waw bagiku itu luar biasa ..nilai tertinggiku untuk lulus unas 2009 ini …
4. Dito ( SMA 2 Pati ) . excellence buku ini …smart dan kreatif ….sangat inovatif buat siswa yang susah untuk belajar fisika, dan benar – benar tidak faham fisika. Aku semula juga gak ngerti fisika…tapi dengan belajar buku ini …aku jadi suka fisika …dan yang hebat lagi ..aku yang gak bisa fisika pun bisa lulus dengan nilai 9,75..ayahku ..sampai geleng-geleng …
5. Imam (SMA 3 Pati) “ kok bisa ya …hanya dengan buku inipun …aku dapat nilai fisika 8.75..hebat banget buku ini
6. Danang (SMA 1 Juwana) aku hanya katakan satu untuk buku ini …hebat ! …..nilai fisikaku jadi 9 di ujian nasional
7. Elizabeth – pengajar bimbingan belajar : bisa ya ada orang memprediksi ujian nasional dengan ketepatan di atas 90% ….salut deh …
8. Nunik Nur Cahyaningsih – pengajar SMA : luar biasa…..! buku ini bisa jadi buku wajib yang harus dimiliki oleh anak SMA di Indonesia untuk lulus ujian nasional 2010
9. Bambang Priyadi – orang tua atau wali siswa “ terimakasih yang luar biasa untuk buku karya hebat ini ….anak saya lulus uan dengan nilai 8,5 ….buku ini harus jadi referensi yag wajib dimiliki ……

Tahun 2009 kemarin buku ini jadi ajang uji coba keberhasilannya hanya untuk kalangan sendiri..tapi sekarang di jual untuk seluruh generasi muda SMA di Indonesia yang mau dan belajar merasakan nikmatnya belajar fisika dan Lulus dengan Nilai Memuaskan dengan buku ini
Segera miliki buku ini …….dengan cara mudah
1. Transfer dana pembelian buku sebesar Rp. 50.000 ke rekening BNI atas nama Dimas Heri Yulianto ( pemilik lisensi buku ) di no rekening 0157700526
2. Konfirmasi via sms di no 0858 6686 5710, nama, alamat, tanggal transfer, dan email
3. Bukti transfer di kirim ke : dhym66@yahoo.co.id
4. Setelah semua verifikasi selesai, buku segera dikirim
5. Terimakasih

Bagi 20 pembeli pertama dan tercepat mendapatkan BONUS “ Rahasia Lulus Ujian Nasional Matematika 2010” yang dibedah dengan lima rahasia oleh pakar matematika yang mengupas habis pelajaran TERSULIT di UJIAN NASIONAL 2009 setelah FISIKA

They dropped by this week.

Up in the air, Junior Birdman!

Backpack crutch cabana!

An anecdote:  During the airshow, a family stopped by at my little spot to watch too.  After the Angels had done their low show, their ~5 year old asked, “If light travels faster than sound…. <semi-incoherent gibbering as he tried to figure out exactly what it was he was curious about> … where did the sun come from?” Dad took it upon himself to try to answer. It took him a little while to compose his own thoughts, but in the end, his answer was far more correct than it was erroneous. I saw them again as I gimped back up the hill, merrily picking darkberries off the side of the trail.

Back to work! Gotta get this balance back up and running!

[Note: only PS3 version played]

My first video game review!

Overview

Few boxing fans would disagree that when it comes to boxing video games, it often feels like the makers have no idea about the sport.  Games on other popular sports, such as basketball, football and hockey have made leaps and bounds over the years to the point where they can be said to be realistic simulations – but for some reason realistic boxing has been stuck in the mud.

The eagerly anticipated Fight Night Round 4 (FNR4) set out to remedy the perceived problems of the hugely successful Fight Night Round 3 (FNR3), which was revolutionary in terms of graphics but still relied too much on button mashing rather than the sweet science.  To some extent it succeeds, especially in terms of the gameplay and the increased realism of the visuals, but it still fails when it comes to being a standout boxing simulation.  The so-called biggest selling point, the new Legacy Mode, is also ultimately a huge disappointment (reviewed in Part III).

Features

physics theory System

The greatest contribution FNR4 brings to the table is this ‘physics theory’ system that was hyped to the max before the game was released.  Back in the old days, boxers looked like 2 robots going at it mechanically.  Each fighter had a very limited set of movements, each of which looked exactly the same every time.

The new ‘physics theory’ system is said to revolutionize the boxing game by applying real-world physics theory.  Punches are longer just ‘hit’ and ‘miss’.  You’ve now got glancing blows (which do less damage) and partially blocked punches that slip through the defense (that can still do damage).  Your punching arm can get tangled up in your opponent’s.  A jab that fully extends will do more damage than one that connects with a bent elbow.  You get the point.

Another related feature is improved inside fighting.  Before, there always seemed to be an invisible barrier between boxers, never allowing them to truly get on the inside to stick it to their opponent with close range shots.  Well, you can now in FNR4.  Fighters can sometimes look like they are leaning against each other at close range, much like their real-life counterparts.

In short, the result is fighting action that is a lot more fluid.  Bobbing and weaving becomes very important.  A boxer’s height and reach becomes more relevant than before.  Styles really do make fights in FNR4.  You can choose to box your way to victory by staying on the outside and peppering your opponent with jabs (which can be as boring as hell), or go for the knockout by sticking close to your opponent and rocking them with jolting uppercuts.

While I wouldn’t go as far as calling the new system perfect, it is a substantial upgrade on what we had before.

Total punch control

FNR4 gets rid of button-mashing completely by implementing what it calls ‘total punch control’ (TPC).  Punches can now ONLY be thrown using the right analog stick.  For an orthodox boxer, a jab is a flick of the stick towards the upper left, a straight towards the upper right.  A hook is a quarter-circle, an uppercut a half-circle.  You CANNOT alter the button settings to go back to the more traditional style of allocating buttons for specific punches (not yet anyway).

Personally, I like the IDEA of this punch control system, but I can fully understand why it would seriously irk many gamers.  Flicking a stick is about as close to throwing a real punch as you can possibly get, so I understand why EA would endorse this control system.  However, the system is HARD and FRUSTRATING.  In the heat of battle, the last thing you would want is to throw the wrong punch, but with TPC (ironically) it happens all the time.  You get better with experience and practice, but you never feel like you have 100% control of every punch you throw because some punches are executed so similarly to others that it’s very easy to mess them up.  It becomes particularly frustrating when playing the training mini-games which I elaborate on below.

As I said, I don’t mind the system, but EA should have at least allocated a traditional button configuration for those that can’t stand it.  Apparently this will be available soon via DLC (downloadable content), which will be downloadable online from EA Sport World.

Health, Stamina, Damage

I’ve never been a fan of having stamina/health bars at the top/bottom of the screen for the players to see.  I’d much rather want to know that my opponent is in trouble from their movements and the look on their face rather than judge it from a couple of bars on the screen.  For me, it takes away the realism and often reduces games to a mechanical exercise of trying to lower the health bar to zero.

However, FNR4 still endorses this system, and I guess it’s acceptable.  Boxers have a health bar (which will result in a knockdown when it reaches zero), a stamina bar (which gives you the energy to throw punches) and a block bar (which, when reduced to zero, makes you unable to block).

Note you can still get flash knockdowns, which instantly reduces the health bar to zero (unless you get back up), and there’s also the old concept of ‘stunning’ your opponent – which can be attained by reducing the health bar close to zero or scoring a critical punch.  Your opponent will wobble around with his health bar on red and be unable to replenish his health or block bar for a given period of time.  Step in with a few solid combinations and you’ll score a knockdown.

In between rounds, you get to see a damage bar.  When the damage bar is full, the doctor will stop the fight.

Gone from FNR3 are the mini-games of reducing swelling and sealing cuts between rounds.  It was an interesting idea but got too tedious after a while.  The new system allocates points to a boxer depending on how they performed in the previous round (eg extra points for scoring a certain punch percentage, stunning the opponent or getting a knockdown).  These points can then be distributed to increase health or stamina or reduce damage.  It’s a good system in the way that it rewards boxers for boxing smartly, but it’s not realistic and it’s not fun.  And since the AI does a good job of allocating the points for you automatically, I generally tend to skip it.

Knockdowns

To get up from a knockdown, you have to shift the left analog stick until the indicator is in the middle of the balance bar, then push up on the right analog stick to stand up.

I suppose that is also an attempt at a realistic simulation of a boxer who has just been knocked down, but it doesn’t depend enough on skill – if you have enough ‘Heart’ (rating), you should be able to get up easily from the first knockdown (say at the count of 3) and struggle to get up if you are knocked down for a second time.  But your ability to get up seems to be heavily reliant on your Heart rating.  If you don’t have enough Heart, all the skill with the analog sticks won’t be able to get you back up again.

AI

The computer AI in FNR4 is pretty good.  You don’t get the feeling that you’re constantly fighting the same opponent because the computer will tend to utilize the physical strengths of the boxer and adjust to your style mid-fight, so you can’t keep using the same strategy.   There are those who like to attack, and others who like to stay back and counterpunch.  There are orthodox boxers and plenty of southpaws.  You’ll have taller and shorter fighters in the same division.  Some are more susceptible to uppercuts, others hooks.  It’s not perfect – you still want a bit more variety and adaptability from your opponent, but it’s already a substantial upgrade from FNR3 and most other boxing games.

Boxers

One of the biggest selling points of FNR4 is the number of licensed boxers in the game (around 50!).  Many gamers will buy the game for the inclusion of Mike Tyson alone, but it’s good to see they’ve also got many boxers from the lower weight divisions and a good mix of current and former boxers, legends and lesser-known fighters (they’ve even got Anthony Mundine!).  The full list can be found here.

Iron Mike Tyson is back!

The obvious ones missing from the list are guys like Floyd Mayweather Jr (who reportedly wanted more money than all 50 other boxers combined!), Oscar De La Hoya and Juan Manuel Marquez (just to name a few), but you can create your own versions of them using the ‘Create Boxer’ feature.  However, unless you use a photo and tweak with the sliders a fair bit, you’re unlikely to create one that closely resembles the real life counterpart.  Even if you do use a photo, there are still some difficulties, especially with the choice of hairstyles, which are simply too limited.

If you want a realistic version of a boxer not in the game, your best chance is to go to EA Sports World and grab one uploaded by someone else (who obviously has more time on their hands than you).  And from what I can see fans have not stopped at real-life boxers, creating guys like Rocky Balboa, Bruce Lee and even Barack Obama and Michael Jackson!

Unfortunately, there is a limit on the number of boxers you can have on your roster overall, so you can’t download them all.

Graphics and sound

FNR3 was revolutionary in terms of its graphics and sound for a boxing game.  FNR4 makes minor improvements, but I don’t think you can say it made great leaps.  That said, it’s still one of the most visually and aurally impressive sports games I’ve ever see – the sweat running down the skin, the lights and shadows,  the movement of the ripped muscles on the back and arms; even little things such as the crowds and the speckles of blood on the glove tape as the fight goes on.

What I liked the most personally were the slow-motion replays of knockdowns, coupled with the bone-crushing sound effects.  Sure, the buckets of sweat that fly off the bodies from each connected punch are a bit over the top, but it’s there for added effect.

Check out the muscle movement

Oh, and the game features some awesome music, extremely addictive.  You’ll soon find yourself singing along.

Cut-scenes

One of the weaker elements of FNR4 is its fixed animations and cut-scenes.  I’m talking about the ring entrances and introductions, the between-round instructions, the ‘getting up from knockdown’ sequences and the post-fight celebrations.  It’s not that they are done badly, but there is so little variety that you feel like you’ve seen everything if you just see it once.

The ring introductions are generally pretty cool, especially if you are a belt-holder (or multiple belt-holder).  But they are always the same.  If you create a boxer, you get a couple of options in customizing your ring entrance, but there’s not a whole lot of variance.

The ring introductions are similar.  And it seems you’re always fighting under the same couple of referees.

In between rounds, your corner doesn’t have much to say except a few mumbles.  That’s rather disappointing because it would be good if they could give you some constructive feedback.  I suppose the focus is on the new point distribution system, so they’ve kind of forgotten all about it.

Another sequence lacking in variety is when boxers get knocked down and are trying to get back up.  It doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of them and they don’t seem to correspond with the force of the knockdown.  A boxer can get clobbered in the head with a vicious shot (and pounded with 3 or 4 power shots on the way down) and yet still get up at the count of 5 as though it was a flash knockdown.  On the other hand, a boxer can get dropped by a seemingly light combination and stagger around the ring like Zab Judah.

The most disappointing of all are the end-of-fight sequences.  Whether it’s a knockout win, a decision or a loss, the cut-scenes always feel exactly the same, just with different boxers.

Commentary

The in-fight commentary is provided by Joe Tessitore and the colour commentary by Teddy Atlas.  Both are adequate, and at times what they say hit the mark.  It’s unreasonable to expect never to hear the same thing twice, but I tend to hear the same comments in every fight my created boxer participates it.  On occasion I even hear the same conversation in different rounds of the same fight.  I’m not sure if it’s attributable to my fighting style, but it does get a little repetitive.  A minor complaint but in general I think it’s good enough.

Online

I haven’t really explored the full capabilities of online play in FNR4.  As I already mentioned, you can download boxers created by other users, but of course you can also play against others in online bouts and tournaments.

But perhaps the best part about having online capabilities is the DLC (downloadable content).  The first package is coming out in early August 2009, and details of what will be included can be found here.  The main change is the ability to use the traditional punch system that utilizes the buttons on the control pad.  This change undoubtedly comes from the complaints that EA has received regarding the arbitrary use of the right analog stick, so it’s good to see they’re at least listening.

Next up: gameplay!

The Richter scale for earthquakes is as follows:  if I is the intensity of an earthquake and I₀ is the intensity of the shaking without an earthquake, then the magnitude R of an earthquake is defined by  

        R = log[I/I₀]

The Loma Prieta quake measured 7.1 on the Richter scale and the Hokkaido quake measured 8.2.  How many times more intense was the Hokkaido quake?

Solution

Let 

        I_L = The intensity of the Loma Prieta quake

and

        I_H = The intensity of the Hokkaido quake

        We write

        log(I_H/I_L)  = log(I_H/I₀ / I_L/I₀)

        =  log(I_H/I₀) – log(I_L/I₀)

        =  8.2 – 7.1  =  1.1

By exponentiating both sides with base ten, we get

        I_H/I_L  = 10^1.1  =  12.6

We can conclude that the Hokkaido quake was more than 12 times more intense than the Loma Prieta quake.