Fight Night: Round 3 -- Initial Impression.

I've been playing EA's Fight Night: Round 3 for the Xbox 360. In my opinion, the best true boxing title in the world is Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing by SEGA for the Genesis. And for that you'd have to go back to 1992. What I mean by true boxing is a game actually portraying any sort of realism. Punch-Out! and Super Punch-Out! are greatness, but they're not real boxing games. Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing lived up to its name. It was the real deal. It was the first game to deliver the science of boxing. Boxing is referred to as the sweet science after all.  There is an art to it. It's not just two guys standing there blasting away at each other. Electronic Arts' has an advertising slogan of "If it's in the game, it's in the game" for all their sports titles which conveys that whatever is in the sport will be in the video game. That they're going to deliver everything that makes the sport the sport to you in game form. From what I've played so far I'd have to say that Electronic Arts has actually come very close to pulling that off. The game seems to deliver the whole science of boxing, as well as the spectacle, culture, and character. And it seems to do it with good control and great visuals. What's also immediately apparent is that Electronic Arts uses an annoying front end to both the offline and online games. It's rather clear that the immensely competitive Riddel is such the dirty fighter. Will EA's Fight Night Round 3 take the championship belt away from Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing and become the best boxing game yet made? We'll have to wait until it's gone the distance.