We imagine this game will let a lot of people blow off a lot of steam this holiday season.

Electronic Arts announced Thursday that the demo for FaceBreaker, their upcoming arcade boxing title, is now available on Xbox LIVE and the North American PlayStation Network. It will be up worldwide on PSN on August 14.

The demo features characters Sparrow, Ice and Steve going at it in the fast-paced boxer, as well as the game’s custom face generator called Photo Game Face. Photo Game Face will allow gamers to upload a cartoon likeness of themselves — or anyone else — to the FaceBreaker online boxer gallery at EA Sports World. Created boxers will all be available for download when FaceBreaker ships to retailers on September 3. Players can use an Xbox LIVE Vision camera or a PlayStation Eye camera to upload themselves — or someone else — directly onto their consoles, or alternatively use a regular photo. Transform your created boxer with 60+ customization options to play with, a full color palette and a closet full of costumes.

FaceBreaker will be available for $49.99 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 September 3 and the Wii late this year.

For more information on FaceBreaker visit www.easports.com/facebreaker. The FaceBreaker online boxer gallery can be viewed at www.easportsworld.com/facebreaker.

When I was younger, the Official Nintendo Seal of Quality meant the world to me. That little gold emblem ensured that whatever I was about to play was certified by the same people who brought me games like Super Mario Bros, Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out and F-Zero.

Something strange has happened to the seal over the last few console generations. Sure, it’s still there — on every product that Nintendo licenses for use on or for its systems, but the Seal of Quality has become known as merely the “Nintendo Seal.” Catch that? The keyword “quality” has mysteriously vanished.

Now, we can all agree that the Wii is one fun little system. Everyone from average gamers to grandma and children can all find something to love on the system. Sadly though, the Wii has also become a seemingly fertile breeding ground for crap games. For every Zelda and Mario, there seems to be a million Ninja Gingerbread man or chicken shoots.

Case in point: Showtime Championship Boxing by repeat offender DSI Games. Everything, from the presentation, design and gameplay mechanics is so sub par, it’s quite laughable until you realize just how much potential this game could have had if released under a different developer.

Showtime Sports has become synonymous with boxing. It’s become one of the premier places to both break new talent and see new stars get their start. Names like Holyfield, Lewis, and De La Hoya have all graced Showtime’s ring from some of the worlds most famous arenas. Too bad you won’t get any of that in the game. There are no licensed elements in the game — at all. Instead we get brawlers with such uninspired names as Lazy Lorenzo, Psycho Sarge and Punching Bag Pat.

Why use the Showtime name if were not even going to get realistic characters?

Sadly, the arenas aren’t much better, but at least there seemed to be an attempt on behalf of the developers to make them familiar. Instead of immortal buildings rich in history, we get bland, buildings named after cities that are supposed to represent actual buildings. For instance, the New York arena is supposed to be Madison Square Garden, Los Angles the Staples Center and Vegas would be Caesar’s Palace. These similarities are in name only as each one looks like a run down bingo hall, with no more than 200 fans in the stands.

You know when you’re grocery shopping and there’s the brand names, then the cheaper, crappier brand X’s of every product? Showtime Championship Boxing feels like the Brand X Boxing title to the great Fight Night series and even the small boxing mini game on Wii Sports. Sure, at first glance it looks similar, but once you actually give it a try you realize just how bad it is, even though it tries so hard to be like those that came before it.

Boxing is based on timing and speed, so it’s a problem when a game cant execute either. In theory, the game controls just like Wii Sports, using the nunchuck and Wii mote as your boxing gloves, delivering jabs and haymakers with your on screen character mimicking your actions. In reality though, the game takes a good two second delay in interpreting your actions on the screen, leaving your boxer open for a pummeling. What’s worse? It seems that no matter what you do, the game will interpret it as a jab.

Motion for an uppercut? Left jab. Haymaker? You guessed it: jab.

With only two real game modes, there isn’t much Showtime Championship Boxing can offer gamers. It’s sad really, this game could have made for a viable opponent to the big boxing titles like EA’s forthcoming FaceBreaker, but instead DSI Games made it a cheap, gimmicky imitation of that which came before. Save yourself some money — stick with Wii Sports.

Quick hits:

Publisher: DSI Games
Developer: DSI Games
Platform: Wii (reviewed), DS
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-2
Launch Date: December 12, 2007

Playability: 1 out of 5 stars
Learning Curve: 2 out of 5 stars
Sound: 2 out of 5 stars
Graphics: 2 out of 5 stars
Overall: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Electronic Arts Inc. announced Thursday a new arcade boxing platform called FaceBreaker under development by EA Canada for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii for release later this year.

“We’re very excited to announce FaceBreaker, an all-new franchise from EA Sports that is fun, fresh and innovative,” said Peter Moore, president of EA Sports. “FaceBreaker reinvigorates one of the great genres in sports videogames. Arcade boxing takes me back to my roots in this industry, and this game signals our shift to adding more approachable fun to our product lineup. In no time at all, you’ll be picking up the controllers and knocking your opponent around the ring, smashing faces, and having a riot.”

EA is looking to add a fresh (albeit broken) face to the stagnant boxing game genre. In the “good old days” Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! was a simple, pick up and go arcade game. The goal was fast-paced entertainment.

From EA:

The renaissance of the arcade boxing genre is upon us. Created by the same team that developed the award-winning Fight Night Round 3, FaceBreaker offers irreverent fun, immersive gameplay and eye-popping stylized graphics. In this in-your-face, arcade world full of ego-wielding characters, each boxer comes to life with unique attributes and distinct personal style, including Romeo, a Latin lover known for his pelvic thrusts, and Molotov, an oversized Russian demolitions expert with a penchant for fighting dirty. Add a little personal motivation to your fight by uploading a photo of your face to create a realistic likeness using Photo Game Face, and go toe-to-toe with a real-life friend or foe.

Laugh out loud as you pummel your opponent with a barrage of blows to the face and watch in satisfaction as your progress is illustrated by real-time facial deformation. With haymakers, face shots and body blows, wait for the right moment to drop a super punch to make your presence known. Taunt your adversaries and flaunt your talent, by tying one hand behind your back to add ultimate humiliation to your bout. In FaceBreaker, it just feels good to rearrange your opponent’s face.

There is no exact release date yet, but we’ll keep you updated. Check out the game’s official website for more details.