Nintendo: Punch-Out is Wiis first heavyweight this year

Classic boxing re-make Punch-Out!! will be the biggest Wii launch of 2009 so far, Nintendo has told MCV.

Due for release on May 22nd, Punch Out!! is the latest entry in a series that debuted in the 1980s and has not been seen in Europe since 1995’s Super Punch-Out!! on the SNES. Nintendo feels that the new title could have the same impact as last year’s Mario Kart.

Punch-Out!! is our biggest Wii launch so far in 2009, and we see it as an important title that will appeal to gamers and families in a similar manner to Mario Kart Wii,” said Nintendo’s senior product manager for Wii Rob Lowe.

It has a great pedigree with the previous titles on the NES and Super Nintendo, and this heritage is faithfully carried across to the new Wii version, along with a host of new functions and features.”

Nintendo will be raising awareness of the return of Punch-Out!! with an extensive PR and marketing campaign, focused largely on television advertising to capture the widest possible audience.

There will be a full campaign, with ads appearing around family programming. The TV creative will show a father and son boxing with each other.

There will also be full point-of-sale and trade marketing support, a big-screen sampling tour and a PR campaign that will feature legendary names in boxing, settling old scores through Punch-Out!!

Punch-Out!! be a full triple-A launch as you would expect from such a long-standing Nintendo franchise,” concluded Lowe. And hopefully we will be looking at a number one position in the Wii charts around the launch of the game.”