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Glass Joe

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Glass Joe
'Punch-Out!!' character
Glass Joe, as depicted in Punch-Out!! for Wii. Designed by Eddie Viser.
First gamePunch-Out!! (arcades)

Glass Joe (グラス・ジョー) is a fictional French boxer from Nintendo's Punch-Out!! series of video games who hails from Paris, France. He first appeared in Punch-Out!! for the arcades and a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) of the same name. In both, he was decidedly weak. His most recent appearance was in Punch-Out!! for the Wii. In all of these games, he was the first boxer that the player characters fought. He was originally designed by Shigeru Miyamoto in the arcade game. The character was redesigned for the NES game by Makoto Wada and by Eddie Viser for the Wii game, where he was voiced by Christian Bernard in the latter. Glass Joe is considered by critics, including freelance writer Sumantra Lahiria, as a stereotype of French people, due to his ineffectual nature and cowardice. The stereotype was expanded when the developers of the Wii game, Next Level Games, introduced Glass Joe's love for luxurious things, such as gourmet coffee, by means of a series of cut scenes before the match with him. Other critics commented on his stereotypes, including editors for GamesRadar and Retronauts.

Glass Joe has become a well-known video game character since his debut in the series. He is considered an icon of Nintendo and one of the most well-known characters in the Punch-Out!! series. He has been used as a symbol for weakness by critics from media outlets, including Wired, UGO Networks, Nintendo Power, and TeamXbox. His name has also been used by sportspeople to comment on either a specific sportsperson or a kind of sportsperson.

Concept and creation

Glass Joe is a French boxer, hailing from Paris, France, voiced by Christian Bernard in the Wii Punch-Out!!. He was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto in the original Punch-Out!! arcade game, and was redesigned in the NES Punch-Out!! by Makoto Wada and by Eddie Viser for the Wii game.[1][2][3] He has characteristics of racial stereotypes of French people due to his cowardice and weakness.[4] In every video game in which he has appeared, Glass Joe has fulfilled the role of the first opponent for the player's character.[4] His name was conceived by Genyo Takeda as a play on the fact that he has a glass jaw, which signifies his inability to take a head blow. Next Level Games, the developer for the Wii game, depicted Glass Joe as fashionable, showing him in front of multiple French landmarks, including the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower.[1] In the Wii Punch-Out!! game, Glass Joe is seen drinking espresso, holding a baguette, and shooting croissants from himself when he is knocked out, which have all been listed as examples of his stereotypes.[5][6][7]

Appearances

His first appearance was in the first Punch-Out!! arcade game. Afterward, he appeared in Punch-Out!! for the NES (previously known as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!), and years later in Punch-Out!! for the Wii. Glass Joe was one of the first characters revealed for the Wii game.[8] The Wii game features a mode called Title Defense, wherein Glass Joe and other boxers are modified to be more difficult. In this mode, Glass Joe is depicted with protective headgear.[4]

Cultural impact

Glass Joe has become an icon of Nintendo and is considered one of the most identifiable characters in the Punch-Out!! series.[9][10][11] GameDaily's Chris Buffa listed Glass Joe as one of the most unappreciated Nintendo characters and expressed a desire to see him in another game, but with a "fighting chance".[12] The Daily Telegraph's Tom Hoggins described Glass Joe as a "deliriously entertaining creation" and a "wimpy French man".[13] G4TV's "jmanalang" referenced knocking out Glass Joe as a memorable moment in his video game history.[14] In his review of Super Punch-Out!!, Allgame's Skyler Miller commented several times on the character's absence. He felt that it didn't "seem right to have a Punch-Out!! game without him".[15]

"Glass Joe" has been used as a negative title applied to real-life sportspeople such as Derek Anderson, Darnell Dockett, and the players on the North Penn football team,[16][17][18] while ESPN's Bill Simmons wrote that the fight between boxers Wladimir and Chris Byrd was like watching "Glass Joe become the champ in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out".[19] New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett stated "The last thing you want to be is a Glass Joe".[20]

Racial stereotyping

File:Glass Joe cutscene.jpg
Glass Joe as he appears in the Punch-Out!! cut scenes. In this picture, he is seen at a French café near the Eiffel Tower holding a baguette.

Glass Joe's French stereotypes have been discussed by critics such as writer Sumantra Lahiri and Eurogamer's Oli Welsh.[21][22] GamesRadar's Brett Elston wrote that Glass Joe embodied the stereotype that French people "are wimpy cowards who love expensive coffee, fancy baguettes and apparently must live within 100 feet of the Eiffel Tower at all times".[6] IGN's Craig Harris called him a "baguette-loving Frenchman who speaks in fluent Pepe le Pew dialect", whereas he was originally a "generic, weak white guy".[23] One member of the Retronauts podcast stated that he identified Glass Joe as simply a "weakling" until he learned more about French stereotypes.[24] Wired's Chris Kohler used the croissants as an example of how the game enhanced the ethnic stereotypes found in previous games.[7] Writer Scott Jones wrote that "Glass Joe is from France, so of course he sips espressos before his fights, and when he gets knocked out, baguettes literally fly out of his head".[5] GameDaily's Chris Buffa felt that the stereotypes could be considered "funny or insulting", while Giant Bomb's Ryan Davis felt that someone would have to have a sour disposition to take offense and become insulted by them.[25][26]

Difficulty

His low level of difficulty has contributed to his iconic status. Nintendo Power listed Glass Joe as one of their favourite "punching bags" in video games.[27] GamePro's Will Herring called Glass Joe "criminally fragile", and a character that fans of the series grew up with.[28] An editor for UGO Networks described Glass Joe's weak fighting ability as a good tactic by Nintendo to encourage players to spend their money on the arcade Punch-Out!! by instilling a sense of accomplishment in players who defeat him.[29] However, GameSpy's Ryan Scott was more critical, describing the character as "newbie fodder", and writing that he brought players into a "false sense of familiarity" for when tougher opponents showed up.[30] GamesRadar's Mikel Reparaz including him in his list of the "13 unluckiest videogame bastards". He added however that there is something "weirdly poignant about a man who fights a hundred matches and loses all but one of them, but keeps on fighting".[31] UGO's Chris Plante listed the fight with him as the 15th greatest NES moment and wrote that while most people remember the in-game fight with the real life boxer Mike Tyson, Glass Joe shows that "crushing someone into oblivion remains entertaining for decades".[32] Glass Joe has been used as a litmus test for the usability of NES controllers such as the U-Force and the Power Glove.[33][34][35]

Critics have mocked Glass Joe for his weakness. GamesRadar's Brett Elston wrote that he has "forever been the lamest boxer in the series" and that "he can barely throw a punch".[6] GamePro's Dave Rudden listed him as the 11th skinniest video game character and wrote "the fact that his losses almost outnumber his weight speak more about his ineptitude as a boxer than the inability for skinny dudes to fight".[36] GameDaily's Robert Workman wrote that Glass Joe was a "wuss" in the NES game as well as a "no-talent schlub who has no business stepping into the boxing ring".[37] Game Informer's James Cowan called the fight against Glass Joe a "total joke".[38] Wired's Earnest Cavalli described Glass Joe as a "living metaphor for physical weakness".[39]

While he is known for his weakness, his appearance in the Title Defense mode of the Wii Punch-Out!! received attention for his increased difficulty which was due in part to the addition of headgear. Kotaku's Michael McWhertor found this incarnation of a character he described as a "frail French fighter" and a "perennial punching bag" to be surprisingly difficult.[40] Editors for GamePro used Glass Joe's new incarnation as a demonstration of how difficult the Title Defense mode could be.[41] Official Nintendo Magazine's Chris Scullion wrote that while Glass Joe could not normally "fight sleep", they were unable to beat him at first in Title Defense mode, which got rid of any worries they had about how Next Level Games handled the series.[4] GameSpot's Tom McShea wrote "the sad fact is, you will lose to Glass Joe, for maybe the first time in your life".[42] 1UP.com's Scott Sharkey found the difficulty of Glass Joe surprising after fighting Mr. Sandman.[43] However, in spite of Glass Joe's enhancements, Game Informer's Bryan Vore still found him "tremendously easy".[44]

References

  1. ^ a b Iwata, Satoru (2010-06-10). "Iwata Asks - Punch-Out!!". Nintendo. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  2. ^ "Punch-Out!! Release Information for Wii". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  3. ^ "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! Release Information for NES". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  4. ^ a b c d Scullion, Chris (2009-05-21). "Wii Review: Punch-Out!!". Official Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved 2010-08-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  5. ^ a b Jones, Scott (2009-05-18). "Punch-Out!! (Wii)". Crispy Gamer. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  6. ^ a b c Elston, Brett (2009-05-20). "Fun with stereotypes: starring Punch-Out!!". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  7. ^ a b Kohler, Chris (2009-05-19). "Review: Punch-Out!! Is an Absolute Old-School Knockout". Wired. Retrieved 2010-08-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ Thomas, Erin (2009-03-31). "Punch-Out!! - hands-on". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  9. ^ Ashcraft, Brian (2009-04-28). "Yet Another New Character Coming to Wii Punch-Out!!". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  10. ^ Vivek (2009-05-18). "Punch-Out!! Review". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  11. ^ Orry, James (2009-04-21). "Punch Out!! modes detailed - Punch-Out!! for Wii News". Video Gamer. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  12. ^ Buffa, Chris (2008-09-03). "Most Unappreciated Nintendo Characters". GameDaily. Archived from the original on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  13. ^ Hoggins, Tom (2009-05-29). "Punch Out!! review". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-08-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ jmanalang (2008-08-30). "The Definition Of Hardcore Gaming". G4TV. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  15. ^ Miller, Skyler. "Super Punch-Out!! - Review". Allgame. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  16. ^ Burke, Chris (2009-08-15). "Round 1 of Browns' Quarterback Fight Goes to Brady Quinn". AOL News. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accesdate= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Florio, Mike (2009-10-30). "Rolle, three others fined in Cardinals-Giants game". NBC. Retrieved 2011-05-08.
  18. ^ Lohn, John (2009-12-05). "Ridley is the boss in District One". Delaware County Daily Times. Retrieved 2011-05-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Simmons, Bill (2003-06-21). "Heavyweights are a dying breed". ESPN. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
  20. ^ Girardi, Joe; Pavano, Carl (2010-06-10). "Healthy A.J. Burnett produces on mound for New York Yankees as he manages pitching approach". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2011-05-08. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  21. ^ Huling, Ray (2009-01-13). "Punch-Out!!'s Black Eye". The Escapist. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  22. ^ Welsh, Oli (2009-03-25). "GDC: Punch-Out!! Wii Hands On". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  23. ^ Harris, Craig (2009-03-25). "Punch-Out!! Hands-on". IGN. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  24. ^ Kohler, Christ; Parish, Jeremy; Sharkey, Scott; Barnholt, Ray (2009-05-14). "A History of Punch-Out!!". Retronauts, Wired. Retrieved 2011-03-04. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  25. ^ Davis, Ryan (2009-05-19). "Punch-Out!! Review". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  26. ^ Buffa, Chris (2009-05-18). "Culturally Insensitive Games". GameDaily. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  27. ^ "Nintendo Power 250th issue!". South San Francisco, California: Future US. 2010: 59. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  28. ^ Herring, Will (2009-05-18). "Punch-Out!! Review from GamePro". GamePro. Retrieved 2010-08-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  29. ^ "Sports - A Brief History of Boxing Video Games - UGO's Boxing Greats". UGO Networks. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  30. ^ Scott, Ryan (2009-05-18). "Punch-Out!! Review". GameSpy. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  31. ^ Reparaz, Mikel (2009-02-13). "The 13 unluckiest videogame bastards". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  32. ^ Plante, Chris (2010-02-27). "Top 20 NES Moments". UGO Networks. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  33. ^ Csatari, Jeff (1989-05). "Electronics". Boys' Life: 15. Retrieved 2010-08-29. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  34. ^ Caoili, Eric (2009-05-18). "U-Force Power Games ROMs Released". GameSetWatch. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  35. ^ Let me play: stories of gaming and emulation. Hats Off Books. 2004. Retrieved 2010-08-29.
  36. ^ Rudden, Dave (2009-08-20). "The 11 Skinniest Video Game Characters". GamePro. Retrieved 2010-08-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  37. ^ Workman, Robert (2009-05-18). "Retro Rewind: Then and Now: Punch-Out!!". GameDaily. Archived from the original on 2009-05-22. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  38. ^ Cowan, James (2009-11-16). "Game Informer's Top 100 Games Of All Time (Circa Issue 100)". Game Informer. Retrieved 2010-08-25. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  39. ^ Cavalli, Earnest (2009-04-28). "Punch-Out!! Website Teases New Mystery Fighter". Wired. Retrieved 2010-08-29. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  40. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2009-05-19). "Punch-Out!! Review: Call It A Comeback". Kotaku. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  41. ^ "The 7 Best Second Quests". GamePro. 2009-06-19. Retrieved 2010-08-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  42. ^ McShea, Tom (2009-05-18). "Punch-Out!! Review for Wii". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-08-06.
  43. ^ Sharkey, Scott (2009-05-15). "Punch-Out!! Review for Wii". 1UP.com. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
  44. ^ Vore, Bryan (2009-09-22). "A Fantastic Throwback that's More than Just a Nostalgia Act - Punch-Out!!". Game Informer. Retrieved 2010-08-05. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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