MTV Movies' Josh Horowitz recently interviewed former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson about the upcoming "Tyson" documentary. I asked Josh to ask some "Punch-Out" questions, which have produced the following revelations: Tyson doesn't know about next month's "Punch-Out" on Wii, stinks at the original and loves "Resident Evil."

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I played "Punch-Out!" for the Wii today. And I was terrible at it. Simple controls, with the nunchuk controlling left-hand punches and the remote handling the right. My problem was that, in the five minutes that I played of the game, I kept forgetting which buttons modified the punches to make them high punches or uppercuts. Sorry, folks! (Thanks to Kyle Gray of 'Henry Hatsworth' fame for being my cameraman.)

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***

We'll soon find out if "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" is able to break the video game movie curse this weekend (hint: it's not looking good), but our colleagues at MTV Movies recently talked with the cast about future video game movie prospects.

You might be surprised at what came up.

MTV Movies asked actress Kristin Kreuk, who plays Chun-Li, if she played games.

"I used to really like 'Brick Breaker' on my BlackBerry and I enjoy 'Tetris,'" she said. "When I was a kid I played math games on the computer and that was about it."

Hey, if Hollywood can a "Clue" movie, why not "Brick Breaker"? "Great, that would be an exciting film, really exciting," she laughed.

Maybe "Brick Breaker" isn't the most promising prospect, but Nintendo's pepping a new "Punch Out" for release on Wii this May. A "Punch Out" movie immediately appealed to the man playing Balrog in "Street Fighter," Michael Clarke Duncan.

"Yeah I'd wanna be in that," admitted the actor, "but I wouldn't be part of the whole gaming thing where I go and challenge somebody, or you see me on tape challenging a group of kids, no I couldn't do that."

I'm sure that can be worked out, Mr. Duncan.

So, which one do you want to see, readers? "Brick Breaker" or "Punch Out"?

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From the ESRB (Entertainment Software Ratings Board) description of Nintendo's upcoming "Punch-Out!" for the Wii:

This is a boxing game in which players compete in boxing matches against a cast of colorful, fictional characters. While players can use standard boxing moves (jabs, hooks, uppercuts), most fights are performed in a comical fashion with an assortment of "dizzy stars," "cartoony" sound effects, and slapstick signature moves (e.g., growling, dropping shorts, conking oneself on the head, twirling, etc.). Boxers' faces show lumps and bruises after taking damage, and some knockouts are depicted in slow motion as players are sent flying across the canvass. One character flexes his pectoral and glute muscles prior to a fight, while another boxer belches during a cutscene.

So that confirms... which characters? Who flexes, Super Macho Man? And who belches? Soda Popinski? Any "Punch-Out" experts want to weigh in?

By the way, the game's rated E10+.

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Nintendo just dumped a huge amount of Wii and DS release info in an press release about the platforms' spring line-ups. Look below for news on dozens of titles, including dates for "Punch-Out" on Wii, a new Nintendo "Excitebike" spin-off called "ExciteBots," a "Starfy" game coming to DS and -- wait for it -- "Horoscope DS." What do you want to play?

Press release from Nintendo:

Nintendo’s Video Game Lineup Demonstrates Gaming Diversity

New Games Announced for Nintendo Systems

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- While everyone is still buzzing about the upcoming April 5 launch of the Nintendo DSi system, video game fans will have plenty of great games and experiences to keep them busy. Nintendo has an extensive, diverse library of about 120 games on the way for both the Wi and Nintendo DS systems. Upcoming Nintendo-published video games for Wii include:

Excitebots: Trick Racing has elements that make it one of the more unique racing games on the market. It launches April 20 and lets everyone in the family use the Wii Wheel™ accessory in unique and changing environments, play fun minigames and perform crazy tricks in a game that builds on the Excitebike and Excite Truck franchises.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, originally made for the Nintendo GameCube system, launches May 4 with newly added motion controls. It’s the latest in Nintendo’s New Play Control! series of games.

Punch-Out!! launches May 18 and brings back all of the fun of the beloved, classic NES® game that thrilled players in the early 1990s. Boxers battle as iconic hero Little Mac as they fight their way through a cast of new and familiar boxing opponents on their quest to win the coveted WVBA (World Video Boxing Association) Championship Belt.

Nintendo’s downloadable WiiWare service continues to be a showcase for new games, new concepts and new ideas. A selection of upcoming titles includes:

* BIT.TRIP BEAT, developed by Gaijin Games and published by Aksys Games: BIT.TRIP BEAT is what you get when you mix classic video gaming with modern gaming sensibilities. What may seem like a simple “paddle” game turns into a psychedelic trip down memory lane which has you hitting “beats” in rhythm to Chiptune style music. While the game can be difficult, if you crank up the tunes and get in the zone, you’ll have a great time. Performing perfectly isn’t required to experience all the game’s content, but the extra challenge will keep score-hunters coming back in search of each level’s elusive “PERFECT” score.

* Eduardo the Samurai Toaster, developed and published by Semnat Studios LLC: Fight your way through 13 diverse locations on your own or with up to three friends in this frenetic and stylish side-scrolling action game. Play as Eduardo and his fellow toaster buddies as you fire an assortment of pastries at all kinds of dastardly food products. Hop onto laser-mounted scooters and fly across the screen in rocket packs, and learn to cooperate with your teammates or simply annoy each other in an awesomely fun way by throwing each other around the screen. The choice is up to you.

* Night Game, developed and published by Nicalis: Exclusively for WiiWare, Night Game (working title) is part action game and part puzzler. It invites players into a beautifully atmospheric world, where they must use real physics to maneuver a mysterious, glowing sphere through vastly different locales. Night Game pushes the boundaries of design with its unique art style, and professionally produced music score. This title is a 2009 Independent Games Festival Seumas McNally Award nominee and from the same developers responsible for Cave Story on Wii.

* Swords & Soldiers, developed and published by Ronimo Games: Swords & Soldiers is a side-scrolling real-time strategy game, in which three distinct factions battle for the powers of the gods. The goal is to destroy the enemies’ castle on the other end of the level, while protecting your own. This can be done by training powerful units or casting devastating spells. The game will feature a single-player campaign and a competitive split-screen multiplayer mode as well as several other game modes.

Great titles are also on the way for the portable Nintendo DS system. Some Nintendo-published video games for Nintendo DS include:

Rhythm Heaven is an infectious video game that has been a huge hit in Japan. Players tap and slide the stylus on the touch screen in time to the beat. This fun, stylized game launches April 5.

A new entry in the Personal Trainer series is Personal Trainer: Walking, which launches May 25. Personal Trainer: Walking tracks users’ progress and makes going for a walk a little more fun. It comes with two pedometers that users can wirelessly connect to their Nintendo DS system when they return home.

In The Legendary Starfy game, which launches June 8, players dive into a spectacular undersea adventure with Starfy, the legendary hero of Pufftop. Players swoop into enemies like a shooting star, glide over bottomless chasms and transform into powerful creatures to help a mysterious, bunny-eared visitor find his lost memory.

In recent weeks, multiple third-party publishers have announced plans to boost their support of Nintendo systems. Between now and June, Nintendo fans will enjoy games like: The Conduit, a first-person shooter from Sega that pits players against a terrifying group of alien invaders intent on taking over a futuristic Washington, D.C.; EA SPORTS Active, a Wii exclusive from Electronic Arts that offers players fun, easy-to-learn exercises and activities that users can do with family and friends; and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10, the newest iteration of the popular golf game from Electronic Arts that lets players hit the links to prove their driving and putting prowess.

Below is a partial list of upcoming games for Wii and Nintendo DS. Note that game titles and launch dates are subject to change.

Wii
Publisher		Game		Available
2K Sports		Major League Baseball® 2K9		March 3
		Don King Boxing		March 31
Activision		X-Men Origins: Wolverine		May
		Ice Age 3		June 30
		Transformers™: Revenge of the Fallen		June
Aksys Games		Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus		May 12
Atari		Ready 2 Rumble Revolution		March 17
		Backyard Baseball 10		March 31
Capcom Entertainment Inc.		MotoGP™		Spring
Codemasters Inc		Overlord Dark Legend		Summer
Conspiracy Games		Real Heroes: Firefighter		April
Deep Silver, Inc.		Professor Heinz Wolff’s Gravity		April
		Fritz Chess		May
Disney Interactive Studios		Hannah Montana The Movie		April
Electronic Arts		TRIVIAL PURSUIT™		March
		MySims™ Party		March
		EA SPORTS Active™		May 19
		Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 10		June
		BOOM BLOX™ Bash Party		Spring
		MySims™ Racing		Summer
		Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™		Summer
		G.I. JOE™ The Rise of Cobra		Summer
		EA SPORTS Tennis (working title)		Summer
Hudson Entertainment		Help Wanted		Summer
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.		DanceDanceRevolution® Disney Grooves		April 2
		Yu-Gi-Oh! ™ 5D’s Wheelie Breakers		May 19
LucasArts		Indiana Jones® and the Staff of Kings™		Late Spring
NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc		Klonoa®		Q2
Nintendo		New Play Control! Pikmin™		March 9
		New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis™		March 9
		Excitebots: Trick Racing		April 20
		New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat		May 4
		Punch-Out!!		May 18
SEGA of America		Virtua Tennis™ 2009		May
		The Conduit™		June
		Let’s Tap™		June
Southpeak Interactive		Roogoo Twisted Towers™		April 7
		Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball™		April 21
Zoo Games, Inc.		M&M’s Beach Party		March 10
		Puzzle Kingdoms		March 31
		Garfield Gets Real		April 7
		Pennzoil’s Build-N-Race: “Speed Demons”		April 14
		Jelly Belly Ballistic Beans		April 21
		Smiley World Island Challenge		April 28
		Garfield’s Pet Force		June 9

Nintendo DS
Publisher		Game		Available
2K Sports		MLB® 2K9 Fantasy All-Stars		March 3
		Don King Boxing		March 31
Activision		X-Men Origins: Wolverine		May
		Ice Age 3		June 30
		Transformers™: Revenge of the Fallen		June
Activision/RedOctane		Guitar Hero® On Tour: Modern Hits		June
Aksys Games		Jake Hunter Detective Chronicles: Memories of the Past		May 26
		Rockin’ Pretty		June 23
Aspyr Media, Inc.		Treasure World™		June
Atari		Backyard Baseball ’10		March 31
		My Horse and Me Riding For Gold		March 31
Atlus U.S.A., Inc.		TrackMania® DS		March 17
		Tokyo Beat Down™		March 31
		The Dark Spire™		April 14
		Dokapon Journey™		April 14
		Steal Princess™		April 21
		101 in 1 Explosive Megamix		April 21
		Super Robot Taisen® OG Saga: Endless Frontier™		April 28
		Knights in the Nightmare™		June 2
		Shin Megami Tensei®: Devil Survivor™		June 23
Capcom		Mega Man Starforce 3 Black Ace		June
		Mega Man Starforce 3 Red Joker		June
Codemasters Inc		Overlord Minions		Summer
Deep Silver, Inc.		Pet Vet: Down Under		March
		Professor Heinz Wolff’s Gravity		April
		Elite Forces: Unit 77		April
		DJ Star		May
		Fritz Chess		May
		The Humans		May
		Horoscope DS		May
Disney Interactive Studios		Hannah Montana The Movie		April
DreamCatcher		Dreamer: Shop Owner		April 21
		Dreamer: Babysitter		April 21
		Dreamer: Teacher		April 21
		Prank’d		May 19
Electronic Arts		Zubo™		March 10
		Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure™		March 17
		MySims™ Party		March
		SCRABBLE™		March
		LITTLEST PET SHOP Spring™		March
		MySims™ Racing		Summer
		Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince™		Summer
Hudson Entertainment		Miami Law		Summer
KOEI		Monster Racers™		June
Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc.		Magician’s Quest: Mysterious Times™		May 5
		Yu-Gi-Oh!™ 5D’s Stardust Accelerators World Championship 2009		May 19
LucasArts		Indiana Jones® and the Staff of Kings™		Late Spring
Majesco Entertainment		Puffins: Island Adventure		April 14
		Powerbike		April 28
		Drama Queens		May
		Marker Man Adventures		May
		Hot ’n’ Cold		May
		Dawn of Heroes		June
MumboJumbo		Crazy Chicken Star Karts		March 31
		Crazy Chicken Atlantis Quest		April 28
		Crazy Chicken The Pharaoh’s Treasure		June 2
		7 Wonders II		June 30
Nintendo		Rhythm Heaven		April 5
		Personal Trainer: Walking		May 25
		The Legendary Starfy		June 8
PopCap Games, Inc.		Peggle™ Dual Shot		March 3
Rockstar Games		Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars		March 17
Southpeak Interactive		Roogoo Attack™		April 7
THQ		Desktop Tower Defense		April 29
Ubisoft		Imagine® Makeup Artist		May 5
		Imagine® Music Fest		May 5
		Imagine® Boutique Owner		May 26
		My Healthy Cooking Coach		June 2
		Petz® Fashion: Dogz and Catz		June 9
		Jake Power Soccer Club		June 16
Valcon Games		History Channel: Great Empires: Rome		March 17
Zoo Games, Inc.		Yamaha Supercross		March 10
		Hands On!: Tangrams		March 24
		Puzzle Kingdoms		March 31
		Garfield Gets Real		April 7
		Jelly Belly Ballistic Beans		April 21
		Smiley World Island Challenge		April 28

Readers, note the absence of "Wii Sports Resort," the former Spring 2009 title now listed for "2009" on Nintendo's press site. That game is supposed to be the title that comes with the Wii MotionPlus add-on, which is supported by some games in the above list. I'm checking with Nintendo to find out what's going on with that game and peripheral.

***

Late last week I was riding the New York City subway and about to have a gaming encounter. As the C-train rattled downtown and I sat on a bench in the train's rear car, my hands manipulated a game on my Nintendo DS. My eyes, however, wandered. There was a man next to me, using his Treo smartphone for some sort of activity that involved an image from "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!"

I didn't think he was playing "Punch-Out," because he kept pressing button-shaped icons that were overlaid on top of the image of Little Mac in center ring with Tyson.

Maybe he was texting?

A few glances later I realized that he was indeed playing "Punch-Out." The button icons had disappeared from his screen and the boxing match was in motion. His fingers were pressing keys on his phone. But after every punch -- every single one -- those button icons appeared and he tapped them again.

Then I figured it out: he was playing a turn-based version of "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out." That had to be it.

He was choosing Little Mac's punches as if they were "Final Fantasy" attacks. I couldn't read the buttons, but I imagined they displayed moves like "right jab" and "left hook."

Earlier that day I had seen a Kotaku post about a fan-made clip of a turn-based "Halo" game. Who would want that? Maybe this guy would who sat next to me on the subway playing a turn-based "Punch-Out."

Then I did something I almost never do on the subway. I talked to the guy.

He paused the game, removed his headphones and told me he was about to beat Mike Tyson. For the first time.

This man was in a business suit with three-initialed monogrammed shirt cuffs. He was somebody. He appeared to have made it in the professional world. But apparently this man of accomplishment had, since childhood, carried with him this failure: he had never beaten Tyson in "Punch-Out."
I was about to witness this feat.

I felt bad for interrupting. He explained that he had downloaded the game to his Treo so he could beat Tyson. We didn't discuss the copyright law he probably broke to do that. I couldn't spoil this moment for him. I explained my theory that he was playing a turn-based "Punch-Out." He looked at me, puzzled. No, this thing played like the Nintendo original, he said. He was making Little Mac punch by pressing keys on the Treo, not those button icons on the screen.

I let him get back to it.

We rode further. I was back to playing my DS. He was back to boxing Tyson, still tapping those buttons on the screen.

A few stops later, he was still boxing. But he paused the game and tapped me on the leg. He told me he had figured out what had thrown me off. Those on-screen buttons he tapped between each punch? They enabled him to save the game.

He was playing an emulated version of "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out" and he was saving the game anew after every successful punch, inching toward victory.

Every punch!

It was impossible for him to lose. If one blow landed from Tyson, he could pick back up from his last saved moment. Iron Mike had no chance of winning.

Nothing I've witnessed in my life as a gamer has better illustrated the fear gamers have of vicious end-game bosses than what that man was doing.

Nothing I've seen speaks as clearly to the terror of failing in a game and having to retry the section you just failed at.

But, still.

What that man was doing was wrong.

That's not how you beat Mike Tyson. Not when you're a kid. Not when you're a grown man. Not if you want it to feel like it counts.

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ESPN.com has an article up about the awesomeness of "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" for the Nintendo Entertainment System. I was quoted in it.

Do I share my stories about being managing editor of a boxing magazine for several years? Nope.

Recount my times seeing but for some reason never talking to Iron Mike at boxing press conferences? No. I was young and a bit shy and Evander Holyfield was more approachable!

Do I defend the "Mr. Dream" version of the game, which is the only one I ever owned -- and which gets slammed in the piece? No.

I just talk about not remembering how to beat King Hippo. Thankfully the article's author, Patrick Sauer, reminds me in the article. It's a good read, with pro boxers and others reminiscing about the game.

So do we all agree with this line from the piece?

...if there's ever a Hall of Fame for sports video games, it's a first-ballot lock.

[Photo Credit: Focus on Sport/Getty Images]

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Wii ‘Punch-Out!’ Bids Me Good Night

"You ask very good questions!"

That's what Nintendo's lead designer, Shigeru Miyamoto, said to me near the end of our interview last week, before issuing a surprisingly frank explanation of what the wildly praised "Super Mario Galaxy" and "Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" could have done better.

Then, things got even more unusual. He put me on the spot and started interviewing me. He wanted to talk about hardcore games. (Guess which first-person game he lavished praise on?)

And he wrapped it all up with a tease about the new Wii "Punch-Out!".

Read about all of that and more in this third and final part of my interview with Mr. Miyamoto ... right below.

The following interview was conducted in person at Nintendo’s Redwood City offices. Miyamoto’s answers were translated by Nintendo’s Bill Trinen. Most of my questions, however, required no translation. Miyamoto responded to most of them without consulting Trinen but replied only in Japanese. I’ve lightly copy-edited it for readability. For Parts 1 and 2, click here and here.

Multiplayer: It strikes me that, when I look at "Wii Music" or I look at "Wii Sports," these games are very radical for their genres. "Wii Music" is very different from other music games. Take "Wii Sports," for example: I remember when I first heard that you didn't control the guy on the tennis court, and that the computer controlled him, I thought: "This can't be. This isn't going to be any good." But it was actually really fun. [Miyamoto laughs.]

It seems to me that Nintendo has been able to be radically innovative in sports and in music, in genres that Nintendo isn't as well-known for as the adventure genres or the platformer genres. Do you agree with that? Do you think that it is easier for Nintendo to kind of take those leaps in areas that are less familiar to the company than, say, the more conventional genres we see depicted in a "Mario" or a "Zelda"?

"Chefs are more interested in finding the most delicious ingredients they can find and cooking those in a way that really highlights the inherent deliciousness of the ingredient. And that, I feel, is our job in game design."

Miyamoto: Actually, I think it might be a little bit different. If somebody were to come to me and say, "There's this particular genre of games and these are all the different games in that genre and they're all very similar. We want you to create something very similar to what those are," certainly from a design perspective I would be able to design a game like that. And the team members I have working with me would certainly be able to program and create a game that would be very similar to essentially anything else that's out there and feel that we could do it quite well.

Instead, where I think we're able to innovate is we're able to find something that's a unique resource, or a unique idea or a unique sense of what is fun. And because that sense of what is fun is unique, we're able to bring it together in a very simple form. And it's still very fun.

Whereas, a lot of times in game development, teams might look at an interactive gameplay element that maybe isn't in and of itself a particularly fun thing to do. But then what they do is they refine it, they polish it very well, they put a lot of other elements around it and then that experience becomes fun.

I liken it almost to cooking. There are certain elements of cooking where if you're able to find a very delicious ingredient, all you have to do is put a little bit of salt on it. Then you cook it and it tastes amazing. Whereas, when you have something that doesn't taste very good, typically then you have to season it and put sauces on it, and find ways to take something that at its core isn't very delicious and make it taste delicious. Somebody who is a very good chef, if you say, "I want you to create a fantastic French meal," obviously if they're a very good chef, they can do that. But often times the chefs are more interested in finding the most delicious ingredients they can find and cooking those in a way that really highlights the inherent deliciousness of the ingredient. And that, I feel, is our job in game design.

Multiplayer: I want to make sure that the dichotomy that I was breaking down was clear. I was asking if, internally at Nintendo -- and I guess this is a personal judgment call on my part -- but I feel that "Wii Sports" and "Wii Music" have been more radically different from what I would call their predecessors -- which are other sports games and other music games -- than I feel, as wonderful as they are, "Super Mario Galaxy" or the last "Zelda" are as radically different from their predecessors. And so, I'm curious if you can identify why it is that Nintendo can innovate more radically in certain genres. And, again, I'm guessing that it's because these are genres that you guys haven't done as much in. There's more room to think freely, perhaps?

Miyamoto: You ask very good questions! [Everyone laughs]

Multiplayer: Define "good." [More laughter]

"'Twilight Princess' was not a bad game, by any means. But, still, it felt like there was something missing.

Miyamoto: That's something that I talk to the members of my development team about on a regular basis.

What I've been saying to our development teams recently is that "Twilight Princess" was not a bad game, by any means. But, still, it felt like there was something missing. And while, personally, I feel like "Super Mario Galaxy" was able to do some things that were very new and were very unique, at the same time, from another perspective, certain elements of it do feel somewhat conservative in terms of how far we branched out with design. And so this is something I've been talking to both of those teams about.

Of course, as is customary with Nintendo, it's very rare that we are able to announce any games until they're ready for release, but I can say that these are themes that both of those teams are taking into account and the hope is that for both of those franchises, when we do release the next installments of the "Zelda" [franchise] or maybe the next "Galaxy," hopefully they will feel newer and fresher than their most recent versions.

And now I'm going to ask you a question. [laughter] I'm particularly interested if there's anything among what you consider to be hardcore gamer games that you find to be amazingly fresh and different. Because, if there is, I'm very interested in what that is. And I'd like to take a look at it. I'd like to hear from your perspective what that would be.

Multiplayer: Well, I saw you in the EA booth at E3, I think. Did you see "Mirror's Edge"?

"And now I'm going to ask you a question."

Miyamoto: That feels….?

Multiplayer: I thought there was an exhilaration to, essentially, platforming at high speeds in first-person that felt like a more physical experience when playing it than much of what I've played. That I find interesting.

I also find games like "Spore" -- I don't know if you'd call that a hardcore game -- or "Little Big Planet" on the PlayStation 3 interesting, where the developers are asking the community of gamers to be creators. There are elements that are very similar to "Wii Music" in that respect. And assuming that community will network together and will create more content and more experiences for each other, it changes the paradigm from it being "A developer created something that a gamer plays" to something where "A developer created tools that the gamers played with and entertained each other." That stuff I find very interesting. In "Spore," similarly, I am creating creatures that automatically appear on other people's computers -- as non-player characters in other people's computers. The idea is that what I did in my game is entertaining somebody else that I don't even know because it just shows up on their computer -- I find very interesting, the idea that a community of gamers is entertaining each other, that it's not strictly coming from the developer on down.

"It sounds like there's not a whole lot in the realm of the RPG or in the realm of the adventure game where there's an amazing new fresh gameplay element that's been introduced."

Miyamoto: So, those sound like -- particularly in the case of "Spore" -- those are games that are doing something that's very new and different, within the game itself. Whereas it sounds like there's not a whole lot in the realm of the RPG or in the realm of the adventure game where there's an amazing new fresh gameplay element that's been introduced. Would you say that's right?

Multiplayer: I think so. I think if you look at first-person shooters, you see both the most conservative design. As wonderful as some new first-person shooters are, they're [simply offering] different settings for the same mechanics. And then there's something like "Portal," which came out last year. And the mechanics of "Portal" feel very different -- the idea of recreating the geometry of the room based on where I can go in it -- I find very interesting. What I don't see innovation in is the ability to tell a story convincingly and in an interesting way. I agree with you if what you're suggesting is that role-playing games haven't found a way to innovate in a while. I haven't really seen that.

But I think with something like first-person shooters, where there the mechanics are so fundamentally ingrained, it has allowed some people to say: "How are we going to twist that?" "How are we going to try something different?" So, again, "Mirror's Edge," if you go back to that, the idea of first-person but in a high-speed platforming style of game, there I see interesting stuff. Not so much innovation in other areas.

" Yeah, I think "Portal" was an amazing game, too."

Miyamoto: Yeah, I think "Portal" was an amazing game, too.

Multiplayer: I have just two other things to ask about. There were a couple of announcements in Tokyo -- and you may not be able to address these at all -- but people were very excited. I think casual gamers were excited about the new DSi and then hardcore gamers were really excited to hear that there's a new "Punch-Out!" coming along the way. There was a lot of excitement in our office and among our readers of our site. I was wondering if there's anything you can say about either of those projects and what you think is interesting about those.

Miyamoto: With DSi there's a couple of things. One is just the DSi music player. It's almost kind of silly. While you're listening to your audio tracks you can sit there -- and we haven't really talked about it a lot -- but you can press the buttons and play drums along with the music you're listening to. Or even the way you can speed it up and slow down independently of pitch. Those are two things that I think are very neat. And also the Memo Pad software that I mentioned earlier on [Note from Stephen: In Part 1 of this interview] is something that I think when they get their hands on it, people will be very impressed by. With DSi we've really tried to create in a way that makes the system feels much more personal to you. So rather than a system that is shared by many people, it's something that everybody would want to have their own system. And I think with some of the elements we've included I think it's done a good job of becoming this personal tool that people will continue to use.

Of course, with "Punch-Out!" it's a game that people have been wanting for a very long time and we've had a number of people who have wanted to make a "Punch-Out!" game. I'm working on that game as a producer. I think people who are fans of the original will be very thrilled to see the kind of style we've designed the game in. It will feel very classic. But at the same time, with the 3D polygons and the polygonal rendering of the characters, I think is going to make for some very nice cut-scenes and a little bit deeper story.

Multiplayer: Thank you very much. And congratulations on a very strong year of Nintendo software.

Miyamoto: Thank you.

***

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