EA MMA Coming in 2010

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Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#41
Feb 7, 2006
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#41
UFC president Dana White says EA Sports responsible for current MMA video game war

UFC president Dana White has a simple message for fighters dreaming of competing in the world-famous octagon: Don't do business with EA Sports.

In an edict that started as a rumor on internet message boards, White stated after Saturday's historic UFC 100 event that he was "at war" with the popular video-game developers and that those that side with EA Sports will find themselves out of the UFC's good graces.

But perhaps surprising to some, White insists it was EA Sports that fired the first salvo in the still-developing controversy.

"It's easy to sit on the other side of the table and judge me on how I react to stuff like this," White said. "But let me tell you what – I've been in the trenches for almost 10 years, and I've been dealing with all these businesses, and EA was one of them."

EA Sports holds the publishing rights for several of the market's most successful sports-related video games, including the Madden NFL, FIFA, NASCAR and Tiger Woods PGA series. White said the UFC had hoped to join the ranks of those titles, but the Canadian-based EA Sports declined to discuss the possibility.

"EA Sports told us, 'You're not a real sport,'" White said. "'We wouldn't touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this.'"

With EA Sports passing on the rights to the UFC's video game license, rival software company THQ elected to partner with mixed martial arts' biggest promotion. The company's first effort, "UFC Undisputed 2009," has shipped approximately 2 million units since its May release according to White, and the fiery exec is upset that EA Sports is now changing their tune with the recent announcement of a forthcoming "EA Sports MMA" title.

"We put our asses on the line, THQ and the UFC, to make a video-game deal in the worst economy in the world," White said. "We go out there and do this thing, and it's successful, and now [expletive] EA Sports wants to do a video game. Really? That's not what you told us a year-and-a-half ago.

"You told us you'd never be in business with us. They wouldn't even take a meeting because mixed martial arts disgusted them. This wasn't a real sport. Boy, they got over that real quick, didn't they?"

White views EA Sports' tactics with obvious disapproval, and he's made it clear that any fighter who signs over their likeness to the new project will be blacklisted from the UFC.

"I'm not tap-dancing around this thing or whatever," White said. "I'm telling you straight-up, I'm at war with them right now. That's how I look at it."

While former UFC champion and currently contracted UFC fighter Randy Couture is expected to appear in the EA Sports offering – a matter White says the company worked through with "The Natural" during a recent court appearance – the UFC president said not to expect that trend to continue.

"You won't be in the UFC," White said about additional fighters who sign with EA Sports.

Despite reports that Nick Diaz, Mohammed "King Mo" Lawal, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Jake Shields – all potential targets to fight for the UFC in the future – have agreed to appear in the EA Sports title, White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he's not sure who the software company has secured for the upcoming MMA game.

But White remains firm in his decision, and he believes he's doing it for the right reasons.

"You know what the difference is?" White asked. "I'm in the mixed martial arts business. EA isn't.

"EA doesn't give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts. They made that very clear."
 
STICK

STICK

Sicc OG
#42
Jun 24, 2005
3,116
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#42
As I said in the thread in the Combat Forum...

Props to Dana White. I hope EA's MMA game has no star power. EA has monopolized a lot of different aspects of the gaming world, most notably NFL, so I hope with Dana White standing up to them like this, it starts a domino effect and other companies follow suit.
 
Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#43
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#43
Lorenzo Fertitta Comments on EA Ban

Steve Silver with the Las Vegas Sun was at the UFC Expo and transcribed Fertitta’s response to questions from fans, including a response to a question about UFC seeking to banish fighters no currently with Zuffa from future UFC employment if they sign with the EA MMA game: the

Q. If a fighter signs with EA Sports, will they be banned from the UFC?

Fertitta: “There is no such thing as banned, but this is something that does get under my skin and Dana’s skin because when we had the opportunity to go out and build a video game who do you think the first people we called was? EA Sports… We sat in the room with them and I would have cut a worse deal just to be with EA Sports. I wanted them so bad. They looked at them and they told us they didn’t think MMA was a sport. This was three years ago. They said the UFC was irrelevant and that we were wasting their time. So we went down the street and did a deal with THQ and they thought MMA was a sport. So we stick with the guys who stick with us. Now the UFC video game has been a massive success with three million copies sold. And guess what EA wants to do? They want to do an MMA game now… If you are young fighter coming up, it just makes sense to stay under the umbrella of UFC companies, sponsors and marketing to ensure yourself a cut of the action for the rest of your life.“

Lorenzo Fertitta seems to hedge his bets publicly about what is going on with this EA ban. The UFC is having a Michael to Fredo moment with fighters that want to sign with MMA, but the public face they are putting on it is something they are blunting. Joe Silva has been dispatched to do bidding of the UFC and spread the word to agents and managers that signing with the EA game will make you persona non grata within the Zuffa universe. Fertitta’s words seek to glaze over this concept but that is what is taking place. The UFC’s beef with EA is leaving the fighters and their welfare as so much collateral damage, something that Zuffa brass seems infinitely comfortable with.

Blogger Ivan Trembow also takes aim at an example of Zuffa truthiness (Zuffiness?) with Lorenzo saying the UFC’s success with THQ was the impetus for the EA game by noting that the EA game was in the works before the UFC THQ game ever came to market:

That is some nice revisionist history ……. The launch (and sales success) of UFC 2009: Undisputed came in May 2009. EA Sports has been working on an MMA video game since 2008, and multiple media outlets wrote about it in 2008, including MMA Payout and the Wrestling Observer.

The UFC’s management was fully aware of the existence of EA’s MMA game in 2008, as that was one of the major reasons that the UFC threatened its roster of fighters into signing away their lifetime exclusive video game rights for free (ie, to ensure that they couldn’t appear in EA’s game).
 
T-Rip

T-Rip

T Camp
#44
Jan 18, 2006
14,367
6,557
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#44
STICK said:
As I said in the thread in the Combat Forum...

Props to Dana White. I hope EA's MMA game has no star power. EA has monopolized a lot of different aspects of the gaming world, most notably NFL, so I hope with Dana White standing up to them like this, it starts a domino effect and other companies follow suit.
Click to expand...
And in response to that fuck Dana White, he swears only UFC can exist in the MMA world. EA will make a better game and thats gonna be the most important thing
 
Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#46
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#46
Peter Moore responds today in regards to the allegations made by Zuffa that EA doesn't care about MMA:

"I also saw the first playable of EA SPORTS MMA while at Tiburon last week. We have a team of incredibly hardcore fans of the sport working hard and making excellent progress, and we look forward to delivering a title in 2010 that we believe will provide further focus and attention to the sport.

I know there has been some recent discussion about EA SPORTS bringing a challenger to this sport. I love mixed martial arts, and we've been working on a game concept since I came to (sic) two years ago. I have great respect for the organizations and individuals that have invested in the sport's growth over the past decade – so this is one that is near and dear to me and I'm excited to see such good progress to date. I trace my MMA video game roots back to my support of Crave's UFC title on the Dreamcast in 2000, and have been a fan ever since.

* Note he mentions "respect for the organizations and individuals that have invested in the sport's growth over the past decade", without once addressing White's and the UFC's allegations that EA is showing anything but respect.
 
Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#47
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#47
EA Sports to announce latest "EA Sports MMA" videogame news on Saturday

EA Sports, which will soon launch an MMA videogame to rival THQ and the UFC's popular and successful "UFC Undisputed" franchise, is holding a press conference this Saturday, Aug. 15, company officials recently announced.

Perhaps not coincidentally, the presser takes place in San Jose, Calif., the same city that hosts Saturday's Showtime-televised "Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg" event.

Officials have promised to announce the addition of an "MMA icon" to the game's roster. Two possible options? Fedor Emelianenko (a recent Strikeforce signee who already announced he'll "headline" the game) or Randy Couture.

Couture, a longtime UFC fighter and current heavyweight contender, signed with EA Sports in 2008 while embroiled in a contract dispute with the UFC.

UFC president Dana White has since said, rather definitively, that anyone who signs to appear in the game will not be signed to a UFC contract. (Frank Trigg, who's expected to appear in the game, was signed by the UFC prior to White's edict.)

Also expected to appear in the game are fighters such as Jay Hieron (who fights Jesse Taylor at this weekend's Strikeforce) event, Gegard Mousasi and Strikeforce world light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral (who fight each other at the event), Frank Shamrock, Tim Sylvia and others.

As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported in July, White said his harsh reaction to the EA Sports' title resulted from the company's initial refusal to do an MMA game.

"EA Sports told us, 'You're not a real sport,'" White said. "'We wouldn't touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this.'"

With EA Sports passing on the rights to the UFC's videogame license, rival software company THQ later secured the deal. The company's first effort, "UFC Undisputed 2009," has shipped approximately two million units since its May release and has earned rave reviews.

"We put our asses on the line, THQ and the UFC, to make a videogame deal in the worst economy in the world," White said. "We go out there and do this thing, and it's successful, and now [expletive] EA Sports wants to do a video game. Really? That's not what you told us a year-and-a-half ago."

MMAjunkie.com previously contacted EA Sports for comment but instead was pointed to a blog post from company president Peter Moore. Moore didn't address White but said EA Sports began working on an MMA title two years ago, contradicting the UFC executive's time table.

"I trace my MMA videogame roots back to my support of Crave's UFC title on the Dreamcast in 2000, and have been a fan ever since," Moore wrote.

Saturday's announcement could be simple confirmation of Emelianenko's involvement, a shot at the UFC by announcing Couture's participation, or it could be something entirely different. Regardless, stay tuned to MMAjunkie.com on Saturday for full coverage of the announcement and Saturday's "Carano vs. Cyborg" event.
 
Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#48
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#48
Randy Couture bolsters EA SPORTS MMA roster:

Randy Couture, one of the most popular fighters in MMA history, will co-headline EA SPORTS MMA alongside Fedor Emelianenko.

"I have been a part of MMA for over 10 years and I am excited about the global visibility that a game like EA SPORTS MMA will bring to the sport," said Randy Couture. "Like my fighting career, I look forward to taking on all comers in EA SPORTS MMA."

Couture is scheduled to fight at the end of this month against former Pride World Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

EA SPORTS is sponsoring three fighters in the STRIKEFORCE event, including Jay Hieron, Gegard Mousasi, and Renato Sobral.
 
Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#50
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#50
Couture vs. Fedor: 'It's in the Game'

videolink: http://www.sherdog.com/videos/recent/Couture-vs-Fedor-Its-in-the-Game-2044

For all those fans who salivated over a mega-match between Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko, at least they'll have the video game. Couture discusses his signing with EA Sports' MMA title a year and a half ago, and describes some special features he hopes his character will have in the game.
 
Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#53
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#53
Fighter roster so far:
Fedor Emelianenko
Cung Le
Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith
Matt "The Law" Lindland
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza
Ruthless Robbie Lawler
Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez
Josh "The Punk" Thomson
Nick Thompson
Brett Rogers
Jake Shields
Frank Shamrock
Randy Couture
Renato Sobral
Gegard Mousasi
King Mo Muhammed Lawal
Jason Mayhem Miller
Jay Heiron

Rumored:
Tim Kennedy
Tim Sylvia
Andrei Arlovski
Kazushi Sakuraba
Bas Rutten
Benji Radach
Shinya Aoki

Other details:

Deals with other MMA promotions, in addition to the announced Strikeforce deal, are "highly likely, including at least one of the big Japanese groups." FSM says one unannounced top fighter "regularly competes in Sengoku [Raiden Championship, aka World Victory Road]."

Venues including both rings and cages. FSM says EA's on the fence about whether restarts will be included for ring fights. (It "might make for jarring gameplay," the article says.)

Pride-style rules in addition to standard Unified Rules.

The ability to fight left- or right-handed, execute foot stomps and fight on the cage, with deeper clinchwork and countering. These mechanics go deeper than the limitations of UFC Undisputed 2009.

As for gameplay, the right analog will be your striking control, with the left trigger as the kick modifier.

DREAM is very likely to be in the game.

Bellator fighters will be in the game.

Smaller promotions may be in the game so that fighters can work themselves up to the big show.

In addition to the controls, EA is giving the options of using buttons and analog stick or use all analog sticks, with the left trigger as the modifier.
 
View 1

View 1

Sicc OG
#56
Jun 3, 2002
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www.aod-org.com
#56
This is from last month but just came across it.

http://middleeasy.com/index.php?opt...a-mma-press-conference&catid=34:organizations

November 11th is here, confidentiality agreement is officially over, now I can tell you what we all saw at the EA MMA first look press conference. The demo we saw ran on an Xbox 360. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to actually play the game (leave it up to two EA geeks to do that). When they unveiled the game for the first time, everyone in the audience sort of gasped at the quality of the game and the absolute photo-realism of everything. You've seen the screen shots and video so all of you are familiar with the level of awe this game has woven into it.

First off, everyone has to give it up to UFC Undisputed for being the first game to 'revolutionize' MMA games. I was the first guy in line at my local Gamestop to be made fun of by local kids while I waited until 12:01 to grab my copy. If you were with MiddleEasy back in May, then you know the level of excitement that I had for this game (and consequent frustration at the magical Fabricio Werdum armbar that is impossible to prevent). UFC Undisputed is an amazing game that dominated May-June 2009 sales figures. It brought THQ out of a huge deficit and it's constantly been lodged inside my Xbox 360ever since it dropped in May.

With that said...EA Sports MMA is light years ahead of UFC Undisputed.

It's hard to even compare the two games, they almost look like they were designed for two completely different consoles. One of the most amazing thing about the game was the sheer character fluidity. As you approach your opponent, your hands go up, your fighter stance is more aggressive and control appears to be vastly more responsive. If you back-off from your opponent, the hands go down, you sort of jump around and get more comfortable with the cage. Also, the one thing that really had everyone salivating was the announcement that each fighter has their own unique stance, strikes, submissions and defense. That means every fighter throws a right hook differently. When you catch your opponent's leg, not every fighter goes for the take-down. Some will spin your leg around and just deck you in the face...others will go for the sweep and slam you to the ground. Someone in the crowd asked 'Well wouldn't this take a lot of time from the developer's standpoint to program different moves for every fighter?'. The lead developer said 'It's worth it, we want to make EA Sports MMA as realistic as possible'. In UFC Undisputed, all fighters were modeled from the skillset of Kickboxing, Boxer, Wrestler, Muay-Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This essentially meant that all moves looked the same and could be executed by any fighter that had those skillsets. This is not the case with EA Sports MMA. Each fighter has moves that they are historically known for doing. You won't see Fedor going for some flying heel-hook (Imanari style) but you will see him going for his wild overhand right (which we saw land and drop Brett Rogers).

In UFC Undisputed when fighters get in the clinch, movements seem very mechanical and only one fighter is allowed to hit at a time (something that we obviously never see in MMA). EA Sports seemed to capture the sporadic nature of being in the clinch, both fighters were struggling to get out while both trade blows simultaneously. Fingers were being extended to try to peel away the other fighter's grip while elbows were being thrown at the same time. Keep in mind, while this was going on sweat was building up on their skin and with each hit you could literally see the sweat come off their face and onto the mat. Speaking of mats, EA Sports MMA has a lot of different venues to fight in.

From the demo, we saw Muay-Thai rings, Brazilian grappling dojos, British boxing rings, a circular cage that looks exactly like what they used in YAMMA pit fighting, six-sided cages used in Strikeforce and I believe I remember seeing just an open area in the middle of a jungle. In fact, the locations were so remarkable that someone in the crowd asked if they could them again on the monitor.

EA Sports also announced Strikeforce as a premier league within the game which obviously leads us to believe that there will be other leagues (King of the Cage, Sengoku, MFC, DREAM, XFC) that will have their own fighters who each obviously have their own unique stance, movements, strikes...etc.

This game is going to be huge. Massive. Bigger than what we speculated when we wrote our 'It's time to get amped up for EA Sports MMA' article in September. I'm pretty sure I left a lot out so feel free to comment on the article and I will try to answer every question.
 
Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#58
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#58
Shinya Aoki and Hidehiko Yoshida latest additions to "EA Sports MMA"

Two more fighters were today confirmed for the forthcoming "EA Sports MMA" video game, and both share honors as the first Japanese competitors in the game.

Company officials today announced that DREAM lightweight champion Shinya Aoki and former judo Olympic gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida will be featured in EA Sports' first mixed martial arts title.

The game, available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms, is expected to be released in late summer 2010.

The fighters join an official roster that currently includes Cung Le, Gilbert Melendez, Robbie Lawler, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Matt Lindland, Scott Smith, Josh Thomson, Nick Thompson, Brett Rogers, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal, Jason "Mayhem" Miller and Jay Hieron.

Several other fighters have confirmed their involvement but haven't been announced by EA.

"EA Sports MMA" faces tough competition from the "UFC Undisputed" franchise. The UFC-backed THQ release debuted with a 2009 version of the game, which recently was named the best sports title at the 2009 VGA Awards. The title features nearly 100 past and present UFC fighters and could top four million units sold by year's end.

Earlier this year, UFC president Dana White said EA Sports had no interest in an MMA title when he first approached the company a few years back. As MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported in July, White said EA "doesn't give a [expletive] about mixed martial arts" and decided to do an MMA title only after seeing the UFC and THQ's success.

However, EA SPORTS President Peter Moore said the company's been working on an MMA title since 2007.

Regardless, White had banned any UFC fighters from appearing in the game, though Couture signed a deal during his 2008 contract dispute with the promotion.

EA Sports, founded in 1982, has produced additional sports titles geared around NCAA football and basketball, the NBA, NHL, FIFA and NASCAR, among others. The California-based company has delivered massively popular videogame series such as "Madden NFL" and "Tiger Woods PGA TOUR."
 
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