Did ‘Wokeness’ Deliver the Final Blow to Punch-Out?

We all know Punch-Out!! is dead. There hasn’t been a new installment since the excellent 2009 Wii game of the same name (I still remember renting that game from a local store). And now, we might know why the franchise is dead.

Imran Khan, a presenter for Kinda Funny Games, recently stated on the Reset Era forum that the franchise is dead for the following reason:

The story I was told, and bear in mind this could just be the perspective of one person and no one else, was that there was significantly more backlash against the characters of the Wii game than they expected. And this team spent a lot of time assuring Nintendo that they weren’t leaning into bad stereotypes that would get called out this time, so everyone just kind of furrowed their brow and called it done. Especially since other games from that team had much, much higher sales potential.

Keep in mind Imran Khan extracted this information out of someone from Next Level Games (the developer behind Punch-Out!!) who they “got drunk at a bar.” Journalism, folks.

Check This Out: Here’s a look at the characters from the Wii Punch-Out!! title to refresh your memory.

My Take

Y’all ready for this?

Punch-Out!! came out during a time when “problematic” TV shows like The Office were still on the air (let’s not pretend people would allow the same kind of comedy show to release in 2025). It was during a time when Apu from The Simpsons was still Apu and nobody cared. I like to call it the “normal” times.

Granted, I’m not a teenager anymore. For today’s teens, 2025 is normal, and so are all the garbage Star Wars movies from Disney. I remember when people were hating on the Star Wars prequels when I was a kid, and all I could do was shake my head and wonder why. The prequels were my generation’s Star Wars, and they were normal to me (and trash to older, cynical men).

What’s really unsettling are full-grown adults who used to be completely different people up until 2015 when a certain “orange” dude was running for president. Then, suddenly, everyone became super sensitive and overly defensive about every little thing as if to compensate for the man in the white house. I’m not giving my political opinions here; I’m merely pointing out the shift in attitude.

I saw a gaming website I once liked turn into a weird place. People who used to joke about truly offensive stuff (even beyond my comfort zone) became enlightened social justice warriors overnight, “defending” the very people they had made fun of the night before.

I have no problem with people who wish to defend others, if that’s who they really are. But when it’s clearly an act because of recent trends, that just rubs me the wrong way. Especially when those same people are pretty disgusting in private, defending murderers and encouraging assassination attempts on Discord. Sorry, but murder is a little worse than joking about stereotypes in a video game to me.

Be authentic, be who you really are.

I started this website because I wanted the freedom to say whatever I believe. So why waste that freedom with dishonesty? To please a mob of social media losers? I get that many people are afraid to lose their jobs if they speak the truth (or whatever they believe to be true). But come on…it’s time to grow a spine.

So… About Punch-Out

Today’s “news” is just one man’s opinion. It’s very possible that Punch-Out!! wasn’t shelved because of the overly sensitive culture of today. Nintendo is a business, and if Punch-Out!! had sold 20 million copies, I doubt they would “cancel” the series because of some people’s opinions on the characters.

But Punch-Out!! only sold around 1.27 million copies on the wildly successful Nintendo Wii console. That’s not exactly a flop, but it’s probably not worth the development time and marketing budget for a company as big as Nintendo. Hell, when Stardew Valley can outsell Breath of the Wild on an incomparable budget, it puts things into perspective.

Furthermore, Nintendo is a Japanese company, and the level of ‘wokeness’ in that country is not the same as in North America. I understand Next Level Games is based in Vancouver, Canada, where drug addicts are given free drugs and the homeless run downtown (yes, I’ve been there) but Nintendo of Japan calls the shots.

Was Punch-Out!! Really That Bad?

Were the characters in Punch-Out!! awful stereotypes? Yes…but that was the point.

Were they offensive?

Not really, but that depends on who you ask.

I can understand a french person being a little offended that the character representing their country is so weak—but it’s comedy. When did comedy become evil automatically? (Oh, right, 2015).

Next Level Games made fun of Canada and Japan in the game, both countries they would do well to please (they’re based in Canada, working for a company in Japan). So if they could poke fun at themselves, why shouldn’t they be allowed to poke fun at others?

Conclusion

I believe the stereotypes in Punch-Out!! contributed to the death of the series. If not in the past, then certainly post-2015. But prior to the “orange” man, I think the low sales of the Wii game was the primary reason for the game franchise’s deep sleep. It also didn’t help that Mike Tyson was no longer a part of the game.

Hopefully, when the world changes a bit more, we can get Punch-Out!! back in all its glory.

And if Nintendo needs to tone down the stereotypes a little, I won’t be extremely upset. I’ll be amused they had to do that, but it won’t ruin the game—just neuter it for everyone.