I was looking forward to this game, I have it on pre-order, but after reading the reviews and Q&A, I have decided to cancel my pre-order. For those who don't know, they have disabled the use of the buttons. You now have to throw all your punches using the stick. For a casual gamer like myself, that totally blows. I used both the stick and the buttons in FN3 and had a lot of fun with the game. I never did get a handle on how to throw my signature punch with the stick. Oh well, any opinions? Could be I am just getting too old to play video games .

Just get UFC Undisputed. That game makes Fight Night obsolete unless you're a boxing purist, and their future incarnations of it are only going to be better.

I own UFC Undisputed, hate it for the same reason I am canceling my pre-order of FN4. I don't want to devote a large portion of my life to figuring out and memorizing how to move the stick just right to make certain moves happen. I suck at video games and will admit it, but I still want to play them and enjoy it or I will stop buying them and get rid of my consoles. Call it getting old, but easy mode should be easy so people like me who aren't very good but want to play for entertainment can still have fun. FN3 was like that, Fable 1 and 2, Fallout, Oblivion, the list goes on. Hard should be hard so the hardcore gamers can still enjoy the same games. I don't program anymore and I figured out that you can program out options at higher difficulty settings. Like no buttons in medium or higher settings, the gaming industry hasn't and doesn't look like they ever will.

I have the demo for FN4 and I really liked the simplicity of using the sticks, It really isnt that hard, and I'm not an uber gamer. Try the demo and see if it is good, also seeing as it is an EA game I doubt they would take out the buttons a 100% may just be a setting change, much like in MAdden and NCAA football. I prefer NF4 over UFC.

You could always just get a Wii, Dave. Everything o there is made for family play and is super easy.

I do own a Wii. I was jus disappointed because I loved FN3 and had been waiting for it to come out and now that it has, it has lost it's appeal for me. I looked it up online, no button controls, the controls in the demo is what is in the release. EA has no plans to release a patch to add them either. There are a lot of people upset about it.

Part of the problem is my own doing. I am not very good at memorizing combinations of moves. It doesn't matter if it is how you flick, spin, moce a stick or stick movement and button controls. FN3 had an easy mode that even I could win at and that is now gone. I learned I sucked at it from 2 different games. The first was Mortal Combat vs DC. beautiful game, but I suck at it. The second was UFC undisputed. I can never figure out how far away I need to be to get a strike range hit in and if they get me to the floor, I can never seem to rotate the stick just right to get out of it. It took me 20 some hours of game play and help from a walkthrough to get past 9 fights and my son had to help me with the specialized training .

Besides, my head is too full of WFB rules and I mess them up sometimes too . If the stick thing works for you, it is an awesome looking game. I almost bought it anyway, but I pre-ordered Call of Juarez 2 as well and it is due out early next week so I will have something else to play .

Aww man I guess I have to stop my pre-order also....thanks EA.

I hear you there man. I rented SF4 and I lost my patience with the joystick stuff VERY quickly.

I bought the game anyway to encourage my son to get through summer school and I was wrong about one thing. They do use the buttons, but you can't config them for punching. They are actually using the whole controller now which is really cool and the graphics are amazing. I suck at it though. I try to do a hook to the gut and get a jab, I try to jab to the face and get a hook to the body. I try to through a left hook and get a left uppercut. Overall, if I decide to devote a large portion of my time to figuring it out, I think I can get to mediocre in the game. That being said, think I will wait ans see what Call of Juarez 2 will be like or keep going back to FN3 for my boxing fix .

BTW, my son is picking it up fast which makes me wonder again if I am getting too old for video games. I can still take him 2 out of 3 in FN3 though .