9.5

Developer: Next Level Games
Publisher: Nintendo
System: Nintendo Wii

 Way back in the day, Nintendo released the boxing game Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! for the NES. Later, they changed the name and called it just plain Punch-Out!!. After the release of one other game under the Punch-Out!! name, Little Mac was silenced forever. Or so it seemed, until May last year, when Next Level Games released Punch-Out!! for the Wii.

 When fans of the original Punch-Out!!" game heard that it was being released for the Wii, but under a different developer, they might have thought that there was no way that the original Punch-Out!! was really coming back. However, this game has all of the charm of the old game, and throws in some flashy Wii controls to boot.  It does let you use the classic controller if you really want to be sentimental about the old system. 

 The graphics are brilliant, and each character seems to come to life. To add to this effect, each character is voiced by people from around the world who speak their language. For example, Glass Joe has a French voice actor, and the way it portrays him is like nothing you’ll ever find in another game. Unlike most boxing games, Punch-Out!! lets you become more aware and involved with a character's life. And after going through and defeating all of the 13 opponents and becoming the "World Champion," you can go into Title Defense mode, where you face everyone again, except you will encounter some new tactics and they're a lot harder. After that, you can take on "Mac’s Last Stand", where you play against every character again.  Be aware that you can only lose three times!
 Adversaries from the original and Super Punch-Out!! are brought back, as well as some new characters that fit in well with the classic foes. The tactics that were used to defeat the characters in the old games still work in the new ones, except in Title Defense Mode, where even the best of Punch-Out!! boxers will have to reconsider their strategies. This makes for a great replay value, and challenges like finding Glass Joe’s one hit knockdown weak spot make it even better.
 Unfortunately, the multiplayer is rather limited. Next Level Games, the developers, could’ve expanded it way beyond two Little Macs fighting each other, each with the ability to turn into something reminiscence of the Incredible Hulk.
 This game is brilliant, its only downfall being its multiplayer and the option to use the Wii Balance Board, which is rather unresponsive. If you have any desire for a well thought out return of a classic game, or just a good game in general, and have a Wii... Punch-Out!! is definitely the game to play.

   Several months ago, I wrote an article on autism spectrum. Now, recent developments have come to my attention that may actually lead to something startling: Autism could be a human adaptation.

   The percentage of the population with autism has increased over the years. 0.6% of the world’s population are autistic as of today. While this may seem like a small percentage, think about it: About 6,800,525,546 people live in the world today. That means that about 40,803,153 people in the world are autistic. In simpler terms, there are almost twice as many autistic people than there are people in Texas. Some people believe that autism is hereditary because it affects the genes, which could be proof that autism is a part of natural selection.
   Something else worth noting is that autism is a trait that hiring agencies are looking for. What I mean by this is because some traits of autism, such as a need for repetitiveness, allows them to do jobs that most people would consider tedious, having autism could turn out to be a benefit when it comes to entering the workforce. This could mean that autism is a mental alteration that could help them thrive in situations that most cannot.
   A theory of mine is that the genetic mutations that cause autism could’ve developed in the Industrial Age, where factories and things like conveyor belts were developed. The need to keep everything in order is a part of autism, and this part of autism could’ve matured then, with production lines and such. Also, the need for repetition as a symptom of autism also could’ve developed here, with things like doing the same thing, day in and day out in factories. This could have caused a slow genetic mutation, which could be passed on through generations but not show in some, and as those descendants did that kind of work, the adjustments to repetitiveness and organization could have interweaved and developed on their own, which would be the reason why autism varies greatly from person to person.
   On the other end of the theory, there are some conditions that point out that autism may not be part natural selection or an adaptation. The fact that autistic people don’t adapt to change well could mean that in a situation such as being stranded in the wilderness, they probably wouldn’t last long.
   A portion of autistic people often do things that injure themselves. This is obviously not something that helps, and does just the opposite. Autism causes what is known as “ritualistic behavior” in some, which is behavior that repeats itself over the affected people’s life time. One part of this is a repetitive diet; eating the same thing day to day. This is also obviously not a good thing, since a lack of a variety of foods could lead to things relating to poor nutrition, such as broken bones from a lack of calcium.
   So what do you think? Could autism really be a human adaptation?  It is certainly "food for thought."