GAMES: Come out swinging! Fight Night Champion

I've had some Xbox 360 issues lately...so that might account for some of the minor issues I bring up about Fight Night Champion. Just FYI

BOXING!

It's my first day with the new Fight Night game and I am excited. I wish I didn't have to work or that I would have been smart and rented it earlier...or later. Whichever, because it's sitting at my house right now, calling for me to pound some faces.

First off you start right in on a prison fight...one where you have been headbutted to near unconsciousness by a skin head. It's a little of a trial-by-fire, because it's a franchise game that has had it's control scheme adjusted for this edition. So that's an uneasy place to throw your gamer. I like it.

By just chucking the player into the story mode it grabs hold of those people (like me) who weren't a 100% sure about EA's ability to tell stories anymore. So far, it's a good one.

The punches seems to have real weight, when thrown and especially when landed. The camera rocks a little when you land shots. It adds a little excitement and drama.

The blood effects are also much improved. It drips everywhere and stains your trunks, his trunks and the canvas. Good times.

In one of the first couple pro fights as the story character I was facing down what can only be described as "one big mofo" and I cleaned that bastard's clock!

You are tipped that the guy will try to get you with a left hook, because he thinks you are weak on that side...but if you bide your time, the counter will present itself and BAM! One-tep, two-tep. You done.

That is the greatness of FN:Champion. One punch knockouts! In FN: 4 it felt ridiculous to be Ali or Tyson trying to chase some "dazed" opponent around that always seems to duck out of the way of your freight train power shot to the dome. In Champion, you can tell when they are dazed a little (weak knees, slack jaw or covering a lot) but a shot that is flush and unseen will skip all that crap and send him face down to the canvas.

Movement in Champion does seem a little slow. You can do quick flicks that move you fast, which I haven't got completely used to yet. And there are these little weaves that require the much-loved semi circle motion on the thumbstick. But sadly, the 360 controller is not a precision instrument. EA should know this. That is why they took it away from the fighting stick. Now it's just pushing the left stick in different directions. Much better.

The camera movement seems to be weighted more on your opponent than you, which seems odd to me. It may be more realistic, but early on it is throwing me off my rhythm.

And I have already screamed about a billion times for the ref to get out of the god damned way!!!

I like the added realism of having him in the ring, but never would a boxer's vision be blocked by a ref. Well...maybe, but he'd get knocked the hell out in the process.

It is very annoying and I have to adjust my gameplay because of it. But if you change the camera style to "Close" instead of "Champion" it seems to help quite a bit.

During the story you have goals and challenges to overcome. Which are cool, but one is setup very, very poorly. In boxing when you get cut, it can be a big deal and protecting a cut while maintaining your offense is a delicate balance. Well, in one fight you get cut on the first punch of the damned fight. Even if you have your guard up. Come on. Did the guy have a damn knife in his glove? That is some weak crap.

A few fights earlier you are presented with the challenge of having hurt your hand during a fight. But it starts play in the fifth round, and that is what they should have done for the cut. It just puts a fake feeling on the whole fight, to start off injured right away. It's not like you are fighting Muhammad Tyson-Frasier-RazorBladeMan-Ali.


The presentation style of the last three Fight Night games have all been different, but all been good. Round 3 was kind of edgy/grainy with classic boxing colors and lettering. Round 4 was a bit more flashy and clean. Glamorous, even. Champion seems to be a mix of both. During the story before the fights there are these dramatically lit, grainy shots from the locker room before the fight. It's just a halt, to keep you from being thrown into the fight when you are actually in the kitchen grabbing a Dew, but it's a really nice touch instead of big text on screen saying "FIGHT? Yes/No"

One move I don't like is the mixing of video game footage with actual video. There are these ESPN cut scenes, which are important to selling the story of a real boxing contender, but render the stuff. It would make it feel like all part of the same art medium. Not a mix-mash of parts. But that is a little thing.

Right from the first fight in the story you have a stamina bar to tell how tired you are. It's not the most realistic, but its important to know and you can't easily tell any other way.

If you were boxing you wouldn't have to guess whether you were tired or not, you would know. You do not get one for your opponent, which is awesome. That you should have to figure out on your own.

A problem I always have in Fight Night when I use the stick to punch is, usually I don't throw what I wanted and even though I swear I only pushed it once he always punches a couple times. Maybe I'm just spastic during the fights, but it's really annoying. Especially when your opponent is backing up all the time.

One issue that might be related to just my Xbox is some weirdness with the sound. Between rounds your corner man gives you some tasty bits of info and his audio is so quiet I can't hear it. Most of the time its mostly because the stupid announcers are yammering on about something they've said 800 times already, but even when they aren't I can't hear him well.


LEGACY MODE:
My first go-round of creating a more fit, boxing version of myself for Legacy Mode has gone poorly. If you aren't part of EA's special whatever you don't get to customize your face. You just get to pick a template and go with it. As I'm currently offline, Xbox-wise, I had no choice but to pick a generic Anglo face.

One thing they've improved upon are the tattoos. It seems like every boxer that steps into the ring nowadays has some super awesome tats. Rounds 3 & 4 gave a pathetic offering of body art to customize your boxer.

Champion gives a lot more choices, but you don't get to choose the size or specific placement. Which would be cool. Maybe someday.

The training is still lame, but not as lame as Round 4 and not quite as easy as Round 3.

Stamina is a huge deal in FN:Champion, both in the ring and in the gym. If you over work yourself during training you will go into the ring underpowered.

You can train in different gyms to gain an edge in certain skills, like speed, but a lot of the training games are still frustrating as hell. This time there is no "auto train" for 50% option. But it doesn't seem real clear what kind of points you get from the training anyway. There is a bar for your stats, and they go up a little. That's the best I got.

I'm still working through it, may amend this a little. But so far, I like it.

EA has been champ for awhile for boxing games, but with Fight Night Champion's addition of a story and some drastic realism they have moved up in class.

REVIEW: Lights Out -FX TV

I'm full-on crazy about boxing lately, as I've mentioned here previously.

The sport of it, the drama, the violence. So when I saw the previews for FX's new show, Lights Out, I went a little crazy. Just for a minute.

Sadly, if there is a camera unknown to me in my apartment, recording the random minutes like that, I'm going to be committed soon. I'm quite sure if there is one, it doesn't have audio, or I would already be in a padded room.

Back to the show. First my complaints; which aren't about the show at all. But more about the FX Network itself. 1. FX is bad about putting their shows up for OnDemand. I don't know if this is some strategy or whatever, but it is lame. I work nights most days, so I don't get to watch the show when it is actually on, so I follow the good shows at my leisure through the magic of OnDemand.

But FX doesn't seem to put an episode up until the next episode has aired, so if I can watch one, but missed the week before, I have no idea what is going on. And in the current glory that is narrative driven television (thank you, whatever benevolent force has made this a reality and channels like FX and AMC for listening) I WANT to know what happened. But I watched the new episode without any knowledge of the previous week. I almost wrote "previous weak," which kind of fits. WEAK! I should have been able to watch it. It's 2011. Get on the ball FX!

#2 Complaint. The audio on FX doesn't always sync up with the video. And that shit bugs the hell out of me. It makes it impossible to watch. I keep staring at people's lips, trying to work out how far ahead or behind the audio is and/or testing out my lip reading abilities, instead of watching the damned show.

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of the way.

Lights Out is great in the way most boxing movies are great. There is the dramatic and complicated life story surrounding a boxer. It's like a regular movie about someone's life, except you expect there will be a fist fight at one point.

In this case it's the life of a former heavy weight champion, who lost his title in a much debated split decision.

Holt McCallany plays Patrick "Lights" Leary, in what I believe is his first starring role. He has been in quite a few things, but always just kind of there for a second, then shuffled into the background again.

He's the guy that first starts the chant "His name is Robert Paulson" in Fight Club. He has a very commanding presence, which works well for a boxing character, but also has something deeper.

The first episode highlights it, where he very politely asks a guy to pay some money back to a shady mobster-type and then later there are flashes to him breaking the dude's arm because he comes at him with a baseball bat.

One second, nice; the next, he'll seriously mess you up. That's the mystery quality he has.

He's also supported by a couple actors I like.

Stacy Keach also has a commanding presence, despite his hair-lip :D (or should I use :B ...cause of the hair-lip...get it?), and plays Patrick's father, a former boxer and coach. Keach has previously starred in a boxing movie. I've never seen it and don't remember the title...but still, he has boxing history, which fits his character.

Rounding out the male Leary family is the brother Johnny, played by Pablo Schreiber. Another boxer that turned corner man/accountant/manager when Lights went pro. Johnny is central in the drama of the family, as he pisses away all the money his brother earned. Schreiber is a good actor, I've really only seen him in one real role before this. He played Nicholas Sobotka in second season of The Wire on HBO. One of my favorite shows ever and I didn't even start watching it until it was already over.

It's only four episodes in, but I already love the hell out of this show.

Leary, in money trouble since episode one, is facing the reality that he can't do much else to make real money since his celebrity status as a former champ is fading and his big investment plans are falling apart. So he walks the fine line of being retired and broke or starting to box again at 40 with signs of having Pugilistic Dementia, which he finds out in the first episode.

One of the best moments in the season so far was in episode 3, which I watched the day AFTER episode 4, when Leary takes a young, cocky boxer who is training for a title shot into a dark closet at the gym. He tells him that there is nothing he can take with him into the ring, just what he has in that dark room.

Very cool.

WTF: Despite the cold, I'm still alive.

Yes, it came down into the 20s in the area today. Lame. The record low for the Houston area this time of year was previously 24 degrees. I suppose that's not bad, and I feel like a wimp for already being unable to not handle the cold but... screw that! It was almost 80 degrees last week. That's just not fair, trying to adapt to that kind of savage change.

Got a little behind on my updates. Sorry. I still have a job, I'm still taking pictures.

Shot some more boxing recently, a club training for upcoming an golden gloves competition. But I won't bore you with yet another slew of boxing pictures.

Okay, maybe just one.


Trading lefts

This kid in white had a good left hand. You might even have to call it Wikked!, if you are prone to misspelled italicized fits of description; which feels appropriate right now.

I have one shot of him bringing his fist in to the other kid's face and both of his feet are up on the tippiest of tip-toes. I don't think he hit flush, or that other kid would have been flat on his ass.

Today, in the midst of this 23 degree rash of global warming, (screw you, Al Gore) I had a few things, one of which was outside. Lame.

The first event of the day was swimming practice at the high school by my apartment.

Most high schools, and colleges really, have their pools in poorly lit boxes that make me feel like I'm going to catch some illness in the thick, humid darkness that strangles every breath I try to muster inside its wretched maw.

I've been itching to write, so the descriptions are coming out a little thick...could you tell?

BUT!!! This high school has a natatorium (big room with a pool in it) that has one wall made entirely of windows. So I don't even have to light the room. :D

I got one of my favorite swimming shots ever. I don't have a whole lot that I like really, because I haven't found a lot to do with swimming. It's cool stopping water, like I said previously, but they swim down a lane, turn around and go back. No one ever jumps out of the pool mid-lap and tries to run the rest of the way, eventually slipping and breaking their arm in a gruesome display.

Today I was really trying to get something I hadn't done before. I got my safe shots, the same old crap. But then started moving, ducking and weaving, doing hand stands and jumping up and down. Okay, not that crazy.


It just looks neat to me. She looks like a plane making a water landing or something

I also tried some artsy shots cross the lanes, shooting towards the big windows. Some of them look a little abstract, like if I made the right crop and blurred them a little you wouldn't know what the hell was going on.



Today was signing day for high school athletes. Almost the same level of interest for me as a grip-and-grin shot. Someone at a table, signing a piece of paper. Woo hoo. The one I shot was actually fake too. The kids had done it earlier in the morning, so it was staged, which really wasn't interesting to me. So I tried to shoot other aspects.

But as I left, feeling slightly dirty for shooting the some of the staged setups (for hope of reprint monies), I had to quench my artistic thirst somehow.

Luckily, there was a nice cloud formation behind a nearby water tower. Nothing award winning, but still looks cool to me.


I kind of liked it in color, because there is a red light on top of the water tower, but black and white has more drama and I want to end with a flourish!

WTF: Late to bed, early to rise = tired photographer

So last week I had two early assignments on the beach. Poor me, huh? Well...kind of, because they were early. I don't do so well in the mornings, but I think I've figured it out. I've been trying to ride my bike more often, since there is the kind of weather down here where I can ride my bike in January. :D But usually that means riding after I get out of work, which is sometimes 10 or 11 pm.

Not the best time to ride, it's nice because it's cool. But you may get hassled by the man. Yep...I got pulled over on my bicycle. Kind of ridiculous. But whatever, the man ain't got shit on me!

Anyway...yesterday night as I was riding around I realized, if I force myself to wake up early and ride before I go to work, that may help me start the day on the right foot. I did today, and aside from being tired, it went very well. I might even ride a bit after work, we'll see.

So, last week:

There was a 5/10k run on the beach that started at 8am. Super crazy people running on sand, in the morning. It was a little chilly at first but then turned into a very nice day.


Sunrise over the gulf, nice. Very bright, but nice.

I shot the run, nothing too fantastic to share, sadly. The next event was a dune protection thing. They were tying tossed Christmas trees to fences along the dunes to help with sand retention.

Good recycling, I suppose.

The next event was a bit later in the day. MORE BOXING! Which I was excited about, but because of an early deadline I didn't get to shoot the whole event. I also got screwed, because I bought some rechargeable batteries that were expired or something, so about two minutes into the first fight my lights stopped working correctly. Super lame. Still got some good stuff though.


I like this one because I rarely get to use the phrase, "Upside your head!"


Overall it was fun. I like boxing a lot more now.

I've also been working to get photos of some of the area swimmers before district meets, which start soon.

I was trying to do some creative things with the portraits, like getting the kids to splash water, but most of it didn't work out, so I just have boring portraits of them standing there.

Except this one:

It worked out almost exactly like I had planned it. I had to stand around for almost an hour waiting for them to be done, but I'm pleased.

Also did action shots, those were all pretty standard. Not a lot you can do with swimming, unless you have underwater gear, which I do not. That would be fun as hell though.



I love stopping water in a photo. It always looks so cool.

WTF: "You're gonna eat lightnin'; you're gonna crap thunder."

BOXING!

I've been obsessed with boxing for the last year or so. Boxing movies, games and actual fights. Not fighting myself, I'm not in any kind of shape to try that, but as a spectator I'm crazy about it.

I kind of shot boxing for the Sun once, but it was lame. Yesterday I went to a boxing gym in Freeport and shot some kids training because a tournament is coming up this weekend, which I also get to shoot.

The kids were cool, the owner was cool. It was cool in there...temperature wise, aesthetically it was a little rough.


Of course some kids were hamming it up a little. Like this guy.

Then I got a shot of him a fraction of a second before he ate a big hit.

And another.




I like this one a lot, but it bugs me you can't see any faces. Otherwise it would have been super sweet.

Can't wait to shoot the actual fights on Saturday. :D