The Con

by Sony

Product Features

• Choose from multiple fighting styles - Street boxing, Kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do and Wrestling
• Over-the-shoulder camera angle puts players directly behind the action
• Story, arcade and Wireless modes satisfy the hunger a variety of gameplay cravings
• Pull off a con by timing the placing of your bets, taking dives or exaggerated punches (mid-fight) to tilt the odds for a major payoff
• Special 3-on-3 match format challenges you to develop and grow your team to reach the ultimate level

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0009XBXQI
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4 x 0.8 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: September 8, 2006
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,175 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

Product Description

The Con is a unique fighting game where the underground world of gambling plays center stage. Customize your fighter with five different brawling styles, programmable fighting combos and an insanely deep create-a-character mode. Place your bet to increase your rewards. Finally, pull off a con and rig the fight by working the crowd to increase your odds and get paid off (win or lose). How you work the CON is up to you.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's got bruises but it's fun, December 21, 2005

By 

C. Bakehorn (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Con (Video Game)

The Con isn't your normal fighting game. In the genre's classics like Mortal Kombat, Tekken, and Street Fighter, the goal of every fight was to simply pound away at the enemy while trying to stay alive. In The Con, things are a little different. An interesting gameplay premise sets up for an out-of-the-ordinary experience that ends up as a decent game on the PSP.

The Con features a Story Mode that takes you through the life of a street thug looking to make money by gambling his way through street fights. It begins with a straightforward tutorial that ends with an unsuspected death that serves as a way to progress the story and throw you out into the actual game. Once you reach that point, it's all about making your way through the ranks of fighters, earning money by gambling on each match, and training or resting with the time between each fight.

The Con almost feels like the franchise modes found in modern football games. The pre-game setup can be just as important as the actual game, and that applies here. Training your fighter with different styles (like power, speed, and health training) will eventually make him or her a much better character and fights become much easier. Still, time management is needed, as too much training can lead to a fatigued fighter that won't start a fight with full health or energy. This all sounds much more difficult than it really is, and essentially the only challenge is that which you face in the brawl.

The fighting mechanics work pretty well here. Rather than play with the traditional sideways viewpoint, The Con is viewed from an over-the-shoulder angle that makes the fight feel much closer to the player, thus creating a more intense feel. The face buttons serve as high and low attacks while the directional pad and analog nub serve as dodging moves. There is no actual movement besides this, other than blocks with the R trigger and Con moves with the L trigger. These "Con moves" are what make battles interesting. As you gamble for each fight, you actually have the option to take a dive and lose a fight if it means that you'll earn more money. By holding the L button, you'll take bigger hits that will have the audience betting in your favor.

Of course, if losing isn't your thing, the fighting itself is easy and smooth. Some of the brawls I had while playing The Con were extremely exciting. The betting system allows the player to put on quite a show, whether that means they have to take a beating at the start of the match and come back or simply dominate from the first hit. If I was betting on a comeback, I'd take so many hits that I'd really risk a knockout and it made for a few hair-raising experiences. Sadly, after a few hours of the fights, the thrill starts to fade into frustration. The AI slowly goes from a pushover to a solid wall, and this ends up as a frustrating, repetitive problem that simply takes trial and error to overcome.

Unfortunately, the repetitive gameplay goes hand-in-hand with a few other factors. The Story Mode goes on and on while getting less and less interesting, the graphics and environments are repeated far too many times, and the music simply doesn't fit at some points in the game. Still, these things don't ruin the experience. The graphics are repeated a lot but that doesn't keep them from looking great. The environments are surprisingly detailed and the animation is smooth and clean. The music might not work, but the voice-acting is a great touch and the sound effects aren't all that bad. Playing through the game and strengthening your characters is a pretty addictive element in itself, and I found myself fighting through the repetitious gameplay to make my characters into better fighters. It was actually pretty tough for me to put the game down for a while.

I don't recommend buying The Con unless you're a die-hard fighting fan, but it's still worth a try simply for the novel gambling idea or the fighting mechanics. It's no Soul Calibur, but it's an interesting game that serves as one of the better handheld fighting games out there.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No con-job here, July 18, 2009

By 

L. Newton "Geek Enthusiast" (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: The Con (Video Game)

The Con represents a different kind of fighting game, one that not everyone will be comfortable with. Unlike the legion of fighting games that function as 2D fighters in a 3D (or 2D!) world, this one is delightfully different.

First, you have the option of creating you. Any kind of you you like for this game. Male, Female, with lots of other customization options. You even pick fighting style, height, weight, and build. You set up how you want you combinations to flow and what you look like. At the end, you have a competent fighter. Perhaps not a world-beater, but someone you can proudly stand beside and feel safe in an alleyway.

It has a unique 'betting' mechanic for the story mode, allowing you to gain more money on fights to afford that throwback or kicks you so desperately need to create the look for your unique fighter. Like all fighting games, the ability to get these things can seem tedious after a while, but it is a shrewd way to reward players who like to handicap themselves or are looking for a challenge. By holding your bet for later in the match and allowing your opponent to pound on you, you can earn more money. The inverse is also true! Want to take a dive and get financially rewarded? Bet on your opponent and make him/her look good in battle!

The game has RPG elements as well. Remember earlier when I'd mentioned that your character is unique and competent? Well, as you win through the story tournament in the game, you gain experience and the ability to train your statistics, unlocking hidden potential and additional moves with which to lay the smack down. Do you dare push the training at the cost of resting up from your previous fight? This is rarely a problem early on, but can develop later, especially as you get close to the top of a ranking.

The combat system is actually quite interesting, as it puts the player in a three-quarters behind-the-back view, allowing for full-view of the action. Instead of moving, your character dodges left and right, leans away or ducks. Attacks by you or your opponent will move both fighters, but staying more or less where you are and dodging left and right is strategy. Not only can you avoid certain hits by doing so, you can also open up opportunities and modifications to your standard moveset by doing so. Aside from you basic fighting moves, you also have access to "Special" (more powerful) moves triggered by dual-keying square and cross and "Supers" (most powerful) triggered by dual-keying triangle and circle. There is also a button for blocking and countering and one to actually TAKE HITS (to further the con of making odds for the betting) and deliver FAKE HITS to the opponent.

There are some blemishes to be aware of. The control scheme is good, but awkward when first using it. It takes some getting used to and there's precious little tutorial to teach you some of the basic tricks to "conning The Con" so to speak (for example, you can string a combination into a special move or super if you know what you're doing). Also, like every fighting game, eventually it starts to feel "grindy." A deeper (or more interactive) story mode would've helped with this. Cheesy and limited voiceovers - you either love them or you hate them. I happen to love them, your mileage may vary. Note that the generic fighters (your own created fighter included) share the same vocals and sounds, also.

In all, The Con is a game worth getting at $[...], and if you're any sort of fighting fan (especially a fan of more realistic or especially "gritty" style cinematic fighting) you will find something to enjoy for a while with this game.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of Money, July 16, 2010

By 

S.B. (California, USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Con (Video Game)

This game sucks. End of story. I should have wiped my ass with the money I spent on this game rather than purchasing the game. It does not deserve any good credit. Horrible graphics and stupid story to go along with the game. HOWEVER, shipping was great, came on time and didn't have a scratch on the game. Worth it to purchase from the company but not to purchase the actual game. Get another title instead from these guys. I liked the service but the game sucked. Haha anyway it's your choice, I'm not going to rant on and on about how this game sucks. Just take my word for it, go buy a real game instead of this one. Just remember the service was great, I had no problems with them, the game just sucks. But I am planning on purchasing from these guys again.