While some games, particularly in the '80s and '90s, proudly showed off a celebrity likeness or name to sell copies, that doesn't mean that those famous people even liked those games. In the case of Mike Tyson, he was so hopeless at his own part of NES history that it seems irrelevant whether he actually enjoyed it or not.
Of course, some of you may know the original NES title as Punch Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream, but it was originally released as Mike Tyson's Punch Out!! in 1987, before the expiry of the license in 1990 leading to it being renamed and Tyson removed as the final opponent. For some, any debate about the Punch Out!! series refers to the original with the Mike Tyson name.
In a fairly humourous 20-second interview, Mike Tyson is tagged by TMZ, the celebrity gossip site that grabs famous people on the street either looking for a tasty soundbite or hoping for something controversial to happen. When asked about the NES classic, Tyson left no doubt as to his credentials when playing the game.
"I couldn't even beat Glass f****** Joe. I couldn't beat Glass Joe, you know what I mean, I couldn't even play the game.
I'm a late bloomer. I started playing games in 2006, 2007.
By the sounds of it the former Heavyweight boxer doesn't even play many games now, citing "Tour or Duty" and games with zombies as his favourites.
Hopefully we'll get John Madden's perspective on the series of games using his name and commentary, too. Was he any good at John Madden Football on the Apple II?
[source polygon.com, via tmz.com]
Comments 31
Props to the Champ for at least knowing who Glass Joe is. D:
License expired? I was under the impression Mike Tyson was dropped because of serious legal troubles.
Haha, this was pretty funny! Reminds me of watching Dragonforce trying to play their own song on Guitar Hero.
That's such a great quote.
His wiki does indeed confirm the rape arrest did not come until 1991. Guess nintendo dodged a bullet on that one.
Oh the irony.
I still remember the code to fight Mike Tyson from (1988) my childhood. 007-373-5963 Good Luck!!
Well, it's a merit that he at least knows how to turn on the console.
Now, it would be more surprising if he said that he beated the game.
GLASS JOE THE NEW CHAMPION!
So, that's where Glass Joe's 1 win came from!
@Mr_Trill281 That was the developer of the game who won the case, not the famous coach.
Oh, the irony.
Glad to know I wasn't the only one!
This... is funny.
@DkFluttershyGuy Lol!
Wow he's awful at the game, hahah. At least he knows his name.
Great game back in '87. I never got past Super Macho Man tho, and no way to get the cheats back then.
@DkFluttershyGuy: LOFL!
dear mike tyson,
ill take you down in a heartbeat. i was physically able to do so before you ate holyfields ear and im still capable of beating you down. name the time and place. ill box anyone. ill box a mountain, ill box a cat, ill box a box.
bring it on fat boy
@ogo79 FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!
Someone should have told him that he had to remove his boxing gloves before trying to play Punch Out!!
@sinalefa It was even more embarrassing when he tried to enter the boxing ring wearing a Power Glove!
nintendo needs punchout on the wii u and since EA is dropping fightnight in favor of UFC bring back tyson or mix in some real fighters in with punchout characters have them hold the title belts or something
@murphy77 They already do. You just use your Wii U to play the Wii Punch-out game.
lol you didnt read that right im guessing not talking about the nes game
That quote was hilarious.
I'd sell my soul for Nintendo to re-sign him to get the proper version of the game on Virtual Console. At this point I think Tyson would lend his likeness for free. Screw "Mr. Dream".
@rodoubleb he licensed his name for the contract.. if he wasn't thrown in prison for rape, Nintendo would have surely renewed the license as it was one of the hottest games on the NES.... Nintendo made the smart move and took him out of the game because that would have been some seriously bad PR.
But the game was never very popular with Mr. Dream. What made Mike Tyson's verison of the game so addicting was at the time Tyson was the biggest name in boxing for awhile, knocking out previous champs in a matter of seconds, so to play against him in a boxing game was huge.
@rodoubleb But the allegations of rape were swirling around him much longer before he was ever arrested or convicted.... that negative PR led Nintendo to bail out before renewing.. You knew they wanted to renew the contract, because having the biggest name in boxing helped sell tons of these games.... The Mr. Dream version was a failure in comparison.
Haha! Some of you guys are right! It's good he at least knows the name of one of the characters of his game! XD
@DkFluttershyGuy The circle is complete.
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