I was in need of a game or something to do over the weeked, so I headed to Best Buy. While I was there, I sampled the new Fight Night game from EA, on both the Xbox 360 and the PS2. Interesting that they chose it as the demo game on both systems. I suppose it's better than the popular Gamecube demo "No disc inserted" that they've had for the past 6 months.
It was the first time I'd really spent with a 360... I saw a video running on one before at Target, but how much can you really tell from that? The difference between the two was quite stunning. The PS2 version was visually uninspired. Frankly I think I'd prefer the 2D sprites of a game like Evander Holyfield's "Real Deal" Boxing for the Sega Genesis to the boxy 3D models the PS2 is capable of. The 360 version was very impressive. I mean, the level of detail was just staggering when compared to the PS2.
But... and there is a but... the fight lasted a little over a round. Most of the first round was spent gawking at the visuals, but as it wore on, it was clear it was getting real old real quick.
And the PS2 version didn't "play" any worse. Sure, it looks like sheer hell, but if this was a really compelling game, the graphics wouldn't have really gotten in the way of the game. But there just wasn't that much game there, in my estimation. What a sad state of affairs, that EA is content to bring pedestrian PS2 experiences to the "Next Gen" with evidently nothing more than better graphics. Is "It's a PS2 game, only it doesn't look like hell" really all it takes to sell a $60 game to people?