UFC to blacklist fighters who sign with EA MMA?
- Thread starter DMczaf
- Start date
pseudocaesar
Member
Peter Moore is the king. I knew Dana was spitting shit like usual, he approached EA 3 years ago, and EA have been making the MMA game for two + years, Dana made it appear like they are scrambling to get a game out. When the EA title ships 2 or 3 times the amount that Undisputed did (I love the game btw), i'm sure he will change his tune.
That said, day fucking one for the EA MMA game, Fedor is the best pound for pound MMA fighter in the world, bar none. Anderson Silva being number two.
That said, day fucking one for the EA MMA game, Fedor is the best pound for pound MMA fighter in the world, bar none. Anderson Silva being number two.
Rapping Granny
Banned
Wow these guys need to form a union to stand to these dicks.
Terrordactyl
Member
I think Dana White is ruining the sport with all his bullshit. UFC it's been fun but your starting to leave a bad taste in my mouth. (also fuck you brock lesnar)
smurfx said:
I used to be a Mod at the largest MMA site on the Internet. I was involved in the MMA community long before I got involved with the Gaf community. I know exactly where the sport was, and how popular it was three and five years ago.
Mixed Martial Arts was very popular three years ago, it was less popular five years ago, and is more popular today then it has ever been. MMA was not popular enough five years ago for EA to jump in and begin to build an entire new franchise and division of their company to support it.
You also have to look at it from a business perspective. If MMA turned out to be the fad many idiots thought it would be for the last decade then EA would have been out a good chunk of money.
Mixed Martial Arts is now the sport people are jumping on to make quick cash. EA is no different. It's not a surprise they are making a game now.
That being said, I DO hope it's popular, and I hope it's better then undisputed. EA knows how to support sports games. They have lots of experience doing this, and make up where THQ lacks.
Competition is a good thing. If anything, it will make the next UFC game by THQ even better.
I have no doubt in my mind, when THQ's contract with the UFC runs out, the UFC will go to EA and they will together create the definitive MMA game.
Dana White in my mind is holding it all back, with his mob like mentality to business, that is eventually going to bite him in the ass. He needs to drop his personal grudge against EA. Like Peter said, those people aren't working at EA any longer. Dana white is essentially angry at a logo.
Steve Youngblood
Member
That doesn't necessarily invalidate Dana's statement. Keep in mind, it didn't require Undisputed being released to make people realize that an MMA video game might sell well. More importantly, you have to remember that MMA -- and in particular UFC -- has exploded in popularity over the last several years. I don't think Dana was trying to imply that EA saw the May NPD numbers and immediately started scrambling to get an MMA game out the door.pseudocaesar said:
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
When did Dana White's word start to be the gospel truth? UFC's PR machine has turned his image around 180.
pr0cs
Member
this is worth mentioning. The EA product better be awesome from a gameplay perspective because their roster is going to suck ass. This is going to force them to try and make the game a lot more fun than THQ's offering to make up for the fact they just don't have enough good fighters to make the game interesting.Trax416 said:
God's Beard said:
Yeah no doubt.
I can understand why Dana would be pissed.
It also seems like EA is looking to take ownership of the entire sport rather than reflect a particular organization.
Dana's greatest assets are the fighters that fight for the UFC and if EA can just take all future talent then what's the use of him creating his own product?
Monroeski said:
What I was thinking was that the UFC is effectively making it very hard/impossible for EA to get any fighters to sign up for their games, thus limiting the competition in the games market. I'm not sure I can think of any laws that would apply though, I'm not a lawyer (took a few courses but that's all) and I know next to nothing about US law since I'm European.
Steve Youngblood
Member
Again, though, there's nothing to this. Couture is in the EA game, and he's fighting at UFC 102. Fedor is in the game, and Dana was trying to get him regardless. Again, this is posturing. If you can sell PPVs and you're not under contract, then the UFC is going to be interested in you. And if you're not a big name, then who cares? What I mean by that is that I don't see pissing matches breaking out between EA and the UFC over using fighters that only MMA insiders know of. It was bravado to see how EA would react.Ledsen said:
Pristine_Condition
Member
Trax416 said:
UFC last shopped the idea around to EA in the last half of 2006. Not five years ago.
In 2006, UFC did a $5,397,300 gate and 1,050,000 Pay-per-view buys with UFC 66 Liddell vs. Ortiz II in December. This is still one of the biggest money events in the history of the UFC.
UFC's total Pay-per-view revenue for 2006 was $222,766,000, which was more money than Boxing or WWE pay-per-view programming generated that year. Their live gates totaled close to $30,000,000 that year.
Also, on October 10, 2006, the live broadcast of Ortiz vs Shamrock "The Final Chapter" on Spike TV did approx 5.7 million viewers. Even more impressive, it did an 8.0 rating in the male 18-34 demographic, beating by more than double what the Detroit Tigers vs. Oakland As American League Championship Series did on broadcast TV, on Fox, which was being broadcast live, head-to-head, against the fight.
Clearly, the UFC had arrived, and was a "real sport" in 2006. Hell, it was beating "real sports": Beating boxing in PPV revenue, and proving that the right event could beat a League Championship Series game in baseball too in that most critical demographic for sports video games.
EA has no excuse for slamming the door on UFC in 2006. They clearly came in arrogant and with a lack of vision, and now they are paying for their failure. Now they have to play catch up against an established good game, and they have to do it without the biggest brand in MMA, and without a vast majority of the biggest, most recognized names in the sport today.
Pristine_Condition said:
EA will be fine. They are the masters of marketing and if they can create a solid game on their first outing, they will be in a fine position. Also, THQ is THQ. I put much more trust in a EA game series year after year than I do THQ.
Pristine_Condition
Member
RBH said:
He is. But honestly, it's easy to be smooth on the mic when you can blame all your troubles on the previous administration.
It is good though that he's playing it smart and saying the right things now. He may be able to patch this up by the time the UFC/THQ contract expires if he keeps being complementary and conciliatory to the UFC and Dana White. In that case, the next contract for UFC in an MMA game becomes very interesting.
Hey, if Peter Moore is really interested in the sport of MMA and has people there in the know now, they can simply follow the Tito/Dana saga and realize that there's always a chance to mend fences and make money with Dana White and the Fertita Brothers.
AstroLad said:
This is so true. I'm glad EA is joining the party. I'm also glad they are going to have to really come in with a better game and better gameplay to counter THQ's lead, and better branding. THQ will have to keep working to defend against EA's juggernaught. This should result in better games from both companies, which means gamers win.
The only thing that potentially sucks about this is how it may fracture the base of MMA gamers online. (Right now, all my friends have the UFC game.) But friends tend to agree on the best game, so I'm not that worried. That's what happened back in the days where we had a choice in football.
Pristine_Condition said:
They have been shopping it around long before that. They got serious about it in 2006. Dana has been trying to get a proper game made for a long time now. He has talked about it a lot in years past, and one of his lackies who posts on mma.tv was talking about it in 2003 and 2004.
You don't need to post numbers to me, I know them all. I am not saying EA was smart to shut their doors on the UFC in 2006, but don't kid yourself and think they only went there in 2006.
Mixed Martial Arts is a very popular and growing sport, but saying it beats boxing is not exactly impressive, considering boxing has been dying out a slow painful death for two decades now, and is propped up only by a select few.
Mixed Martial Arts is clearly a fantastic sport, and it's here to stay. EA has now realized this and are making a game. Whats the problem with that?
Undisputed is not even that good of a game. It's a great first effort, but anyone who has done any type of grappling knows, that at least in that aspect, it's sort of laughable.
It seems complex and intricate to the people who don't grapple, but when you actually understand it all, it's fairly simple, clunky and unresponsive.
Of course, I am not bashing THQ. Like I said, it's the first real big budget MMA game. It can only get better, and will. That is why EA jumping on the wagon is a good thing. If EA's game is clearly better, not only will THQ want to improve their product, but the UFC will put pressure on THQ to top EA. Remember, it's all going to come down to big fat contracts and licensing agreements with the UFC when their deal with THQ runs out. Don't kid yourself and think that THQ, EA and maybe even 2k won't be slugging it out for the right to take the franchise forward.
Competition is a good thing. Business is business. You need to put personal grudges behind you for not only the sake of the sport, but for the sake of your product as well.
Moore did a great job... I've been impressed that all the MMA journalists remember who he is after the briefing. And as noted, sports journalists ask great questions most of the time compared to gideo game "journalists" or frankly, even "news journalists" these days.
It's pretty clear that Moore drove EA to get into this and that Moore wants to sign UFC after their deal with THQ expires.
It's pretty clear that Moore drove EA to get into this and that Moore wants to sign UFC after their deal with THQ expires.
Makes sense. The only thing keeping UFC from being a major sport is the fact that it is such an un-unified sport. It's too splintered they need to combine all of these hack start up fight clubs if they want major network time.
imo, it has less to do with the game and more to do with them being the premiere cage fighting division.
2cents
imo, it has less to do with the game and more to do with them being the premiere cage fighting division.
2cents
Silkysm00th
Banned
Played that first Undisputed game years ago and kind of thought it was shit...
One of those fun for 15 minutes and possibly with a couple buddies while your drinking type of games but nothing close to Fight Night ...
Is 2009 really looking that improved? I don't have all that much faith in THQ...
Gamers are who will really sell this stuff. And if EA manages to pull some fantastic MMA mechanics out in their effort.. i'd gladly give up some freakin SPIKE tv legends to actually ENJOY what i'm playing.
edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqmtwsuzYPA still looks stiff/slow to me.
One of those fun for 15 minutes and possibly with a couple buddies while your drinking type of games but nothing close to Fight Night ...
Is 2009 really looking that improved? I don't have all that much faith in THQ...
Gamers are who will really sell this stuff. And if EA manages to pull some fantastic MMA mechanics out in their effort.. i'd gladly give up some freakin SPIKE tv legends to actually ENJOY what i'm playing.
edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqmtwsuzYPA still looks stiff/slow to me.
Throwaway123456789
Member
Puncture said:
It's pretty damn weird that Bob Sapp, who is probably the biggest person in the god damn world, gets his ass kicked so much. Sure, he has some decent matches from ages ago, but nowadays he pretty much only fights for show.
It's still fun to watch though. Damn that guy is huge. Isn't he like 400 punds? :lol
Ninja Scooter
Member
Kintaro said:
Im not so sure how a generic "EA MMA" game will be received. EA will definately market the shit out of it, but they don't have a spotless track record when they aren't able to get the top license in a particular genre (see the WCW games and College baseball)
GhostRidah
Member
yea, they basically spit on MMA as a sport and now they want to jump ship when they see all the money coming in, I dont blame Dana.Teetris said:
Ogrekiller
Member
RBH said:
Make him a fighter in the game. He could be the Seth of MMA
Steve Youngblood
Member
How did those College Baseball games sell?Kintaro said:
Well Randy Couture is fighting in the UFC in just a couple weeks, and it's been announced that he will be in the EA MMA game. Randy will also be appearing in Starcraft II apparently.
I really don't care if there are real fighters in the EA MMA game. They could have a bunch of randomly generated CPU fighters and I'd be fine with it as long as the fighting is enjoyable. I thought Undisputed took a pretty good first crack at shoehorning the complexities of MMA into a playable game, but I do think it leaves a lot of room for improvement.
I will be interested to see how all the Fedor fans handle having him as a playable character who can, and will, get his ass whupped from time to time. Will getting destroyed by a no-name create-a-fighter take away from the mystique of The Last Emperor?
Also, how will the online game be if every single player is using Fedor?
Leaving the UFC license off the EA MMA game also gives them the opportunity to start fresh and maybe do some new things with the presentation of the game since they won't be contractually obligated to use Joe Rogan and Bruce Buffer, and won't be stuck repeating those sound bytes ("Who wants to see fights finished at one fifty-five?!") ad nauseum. Bring back the bell from Pride!
I really don't care if there are real fighters in the EA MMA game. They could have a bunch of randomly generated CPU fighters and I'd be fine with it as long as the fighting is enjoyable. I thought Undisputed took a pretty good first crack at shoehorning the complexities of MMA into a playable game, but I do think it leaves a lot of room for improvement.
I will be interested to see how all the Fedor fans handle having him as a playable character who can, and will, get his ass whupped from time to time. Will getting destroyed by a no-name create-a-fighter take away from the mystique of The Last Emperor?
Also, how will the online game be if every single player is using Fedor?
Leaving the UFC license off the EA MMA game also gives them the opportunity to start fresh and maybe do some new things with the presentation of the game since they won't be contractually obligated to use Joe Rogan and Bruce Buffer, and won't be stuck repeating those sound bytes ("Who wants to see fights finished at one fifty-five?!") ad nauseum. Bring back the bell from Pride!
