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EA Sports MMA - Speculation and That

Surprised this didn't draw more attention on the game side yesterday.

Fedor Emelianenko Headlines EA Sports MMA Roster
Company: Electronic ArtsDate: 30 Jul 2009
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., - July 29, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today that Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s top ranked* MMA heavyweight, will headline the EA SPORTS™ MMA fighter roster. Emelianenko will be joined by Gegard Mousasi and Renato Sobral, both of whom will be featured in a title bout at the STRIKEFORCE fight on August 15, as the first of a long list of fighters who will appear in EA SPORTS MMA, the all-new mixed martial arts title coming in 2010.

“I have fought all over the world and I am excited to be in EA SPORTS MMA because this game is going to show the global appeal of mixed martial arts,” said Emelianenko. “I know MMA fans have been wanting to play as me and pitting me against any opponent. Now they will have their opportunity.”

Fedor Emelianenko, a 6’0”, 231 pound Russian heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter, who excels in Sambo and Judo, holds a 30-1 record and is the current WAMMA Heavyweight champion. Prior to signing on with STRIKEFORCE, Emelianenko defended his WAMMA championship by knocking out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski.

Gegard Mousasi, a former Dream Middleweight champion, has a current record of 25-2-1 and won his last match in Dream 9 against Mark Hunt this past May. The 6’1”, 185 pound Dutch-Armenian fighter will be taking on Renato Sobral to determine STRIKEFORCE’s Light Heavyweight champion and has a fight style that is a unique blend of Dutch kickboxing and judo.

Sobral, hailing from Brazil, is known for his aggressive style, grappling prowess, and high-caliber submissions. He is the current STRIKEFORCE Light Heavyweight champion and has a record of 35-8 with his last victory coming against Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at Affliction: Day of Reckoning fight earlier this year.

“I am very excited to have Fedor, the number one heavyweight in the world, as one of the top fighters in EA SPORTS MMA,” said Executive Producer Dale Jackson. “He is one of the elite fighters in the sport today and will provide the ultimate competition for our gamers. The EA SPORTS MMA team at Tiburon has been working on the game for over a year already and we will have a lot more great fighters and other exciting news to talk about soon.”

In addition to appearing in the EA SPORTS MMA video game, Mousasi and Sobral will be sponsored by EA SPORTS for the STRIKEFORCE fight.

EA SPORTS MMA will feature the most authentic, intense and broad mixed martial arts experience to date – complete with a vast array of top fighters and fighting styles from around the world. EA SPORTS MMA will be available on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system.

For more information about EA SPORTS MMA, log onto www.easportsmma.com or follow the game on Twitter at www.twitter.com/easportsmma.

EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®.
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http://www.gamershell.com/companies/electronic_arts/631506.html
 
I just hope the front end can compete with THQs offering.

I focus mainly on CAF anyways, so not having the UFC license wouldn't stop me from buying it if it was good.


I wish FN4 had the front end UFC did. Been playing both the games alot, and I can't count the number of times I've tried to shoot on George Foreman or analog stick upppercut Chuck Liddell. lol.
 
They got Fedor, I'm buying this day one. As simple as that. Already my penis feels bigger. :lol

35212rf4.jpg


susumu23.jpg


Next targets! Get it done, EA!
 
So Fedor IS in the EA game? Awesome!

I really hope the game and netcode will be good. I'd still have UFC if the online experience had not been this bad.
 
The game's already superior to the UFC one, just because God himself is in the game. :lol

Fedor2.jpg


THE MANLIEST OF ALL MAN, BOW DOWN!
 
Peter Moore may want to rethink this after the stupidity of Fedor's management.

They're pretty hated right now amongst the core fanbase.
 
Steve Youngblood said:
Huh? Enlighten me.
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I believe Fedor's management team would only sign a UFC deal if it includes part ownership of the UFC.

You read that right. They want a stake in UFC ownership to let Fedor step into the octagon even once (rumours around 10%). Naturally, Dana said "FUCK THAT." and has been wisely leaking this information, trickling down to the core fanbase.

On an unrelated note, I think it's kind of obvious that Dana will eventually have to back pedal from his 'Sign with EA = no UFC. Ever.' comment. So Fedor, Nick Diaz and Mayhem Miller will never fight in the UFC in the future? Hahaha, okay... Who needs this 'money' you speak of?? :lol


I really believe EA MMA will be amazing. They know the only way to capture the mainstream is with a better gameplay mechanic than Undisputed. While Fedor helps, he's no Liddell, GSP, Lesnar, Silva, etc... They need a better game - there's no way around it.
 
Without the amount of publicity that the UFC has, this is bound to fail. Unless it's a low budget low price point title.
 
ChefRamsay said:
I believe Fedor's management team would only sign a UFC deal if it includes part ownership of the UFC.

You read that right. They want a stake in UFC ownership to let Fedor step into the octagon even once (rumours around 10%). Naturally, Dana said "FUCK THAT." and has been wisely leaking this information, trickling down to the core fanbase.
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Source? I'm not saying that you're a liar, but I really don't know of any good inside sources for this stuff. I had heard that Fedor's management was wanting something along the lines of wanting any event involving Fedor to be co-promoted, but ownership stake in the UFC itself? Really?

Where can I read up on this saga?
 
bran said:
Without the amount of publicity that the UFC has, this is bound to fail. Unless it's a low budget low price point title.
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serious?

Yes, the UFC is MMA in the US, and not having that partnership will make it more difficult than pushing Madden out each year. However, if anyone could push a non UFC MMA game, it would be EA Sports.
 
bkfount said:
serious?

Yes, the UFC is MMA in the US, and not having that partnership will make it more difficult than pushing Madden out each year. However, if anyone could push a non UFC MMA game, it would be EA Sports.
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I've had this argument before. Can it make money and be a success? Maybe. I don't know how much money they're pumping into it. Will it compete in sales with UFC? No. There's no way. EA's marketing is good. It's not THAT good.
 
Steve Youngblood said:
Source? I'm not saying that you're a liar, but I really don't know of any good inside sources for this stuff. I had heard that Fedor's management was wanting something along the lines of wanting any event involving Fedor to be co-promoted, but ownership stake in the UFC itself? Really?

Where can I read up on this saga?
Click to expand...

I'm having a difficult time tracking down an article that has a source for this. The public user comments below some articles mention this as well, but as for a credible article, I can't find anything! That's usually a bad sign as the internet knows all :(

I originally heard all the rumours repeatedly from Sirius/XM's Jason Ellis Show on the Faction channel (weekdays 3pm EST). Jason Ellis fights in MMA and is a personal friend of Dana White - he's the guy that I heard the contract info from. He could just be running his mouth, but he's said it so many times on air that I would have thought Dana would have shut him up by now if it wasn't true.

(On a side note, if you have satellite radio and are not listening to the Jason Ellis Show, start today - it is the highlight of my work day :D)
 
bran said:
Without the amount of publicity that the UFC has, this is bound to fail. Unless it's a low budget low price point title.
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Yes, because NA is the only Continent in the World, right? Europe and Japan are completely irrelevant?

Fedor alone will sell a bunch of copies of the game, mainly in Japan, but also in Europe.
 
Shikashi said:
Yes, because NA is the only Continent in the World, right?
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Is it the only continent that matters as far as selling copies and making it a success? Well, no. But look at the numbers this game is selling right now in North America. In that regard, if you're actually arguing that EA's game has a chance of going toe to toe with them in sales, then I would argue that this is a misguided statement and that, while certainly not the only continent in the world that buys games, it IS the most significant given the fanbase that the UFC has here.

Or I'm an idiot who doesn't know anything and millions of gamers the world over are going to buy it because it has Couture, Fedor, and Tim Sylvia. Millions!
 
Steve Youngblood said:
Is it the only continent that matters as far as selling copies and making it a success? Well, no. But look at the numbers this game is selling right now in North America. In that regard, if you're actually arguing that EA's game has a chance of going toe to toe with them in sales, then I would argue that this is a misguided statement and that, while certainly not the only continent in the world that buys games, it IS the most significant given the fanbase that the UFC has here.

Or I'm an idiot who doesn't know anything and millions of gamers the world over are going to buy it because it has Couture, Fedor, and Tim Sylvia. Millions!
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You're rationale would be correct if you're only taking into account NA sales and if only North Americans watched MMA, but the UFC is far more popular over there than it is in the rest of the World.
PRIDE is still viewed as the best, even after death and a lot of people have moved on to DREAM, Sengoku and K-1. So, yes, there's a lot more market outside of America for this game than for the UFC one.

Now, does the game have a chance of succeeding in NA? I don't know, probably not since, as you say, UFC is THE promotion in NA, but most definitely not for the rest of the World. So, even if it doesn't do as well as one would hope in NA, it's got a high chance of being a success in Japan and Europe.
 
Shikashi said:
So, even if it doesn't do as well as one would hope in NA, it's got a high chance of being a success in Japan and Europe.
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What does "high chance of success" in Japan and Europe mean so I can have some barometer to measure this statement sales wise when the game comes?
 
bkfount said:
serious?

Yes, the UFC is MMA in the US, and not having that partnership will make it more difficult than pushing Madden out each year. However, if anyone could push a non UFC MMA game, it would be EA Sports.
Click to expand...

I think one of the things that the sport of MMA allows that no other pro sport has is that it allows for flexible release dates. There is no preseason, no off season to push you to release it. If EA spaces this out into early september (after madden before nba I think they will have a good chance at sales since by that period (assuming ufc releases the same time) UFC core gamers will have played the hell out of that game. I don't think the roster matters much as long as they release an engaging demo and the gameplay mechanics are addicting I think it will do pretty well.
 
Stoney Mason said:
What does "high chance of success" in Japan and Europe mean so I can have some barometer to measure this statement sales wise when the game comes?
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You mean in terms of numbers? I don't know, I have yet to see the full roster and the game itself. What I meant by the statement was, it'll probably be a higher number than UFC is doing in Japan and Europe.
If they implement the physics system of FNR 4, fun gameplay and a decent enough roster, it's got a pretty good chance of selling more. Or maybe it will bomb, who knows for sure.

Here's hoping it's as fun as PRIDE GP 2003.
 
Shikashi said:
You mean in terms of numbers? I don't know, I have yet to see the full roster and the game itself. What I meant by the statement was, it'll probably be a higher number than UFC is doing in Japan and Europe.
If they implement the physics system of FNR 4, fun gameplay and a decent enough roster, it's got a pretty good chance of selling more. Or maybe it will bomb, who knows for sure.

Here's hoping it's as fun as PRIDE GP 2003.
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The problem is that it is being made in America. With American production costs and American marketing costs for this country. Selling 30K copies of Japan isn't going to offset that. And unless it sells a big number in Europe that won't do it either. I highly doubt this will be the FIFA of MMA for EA but we'll see.
 
Jube3 said:
If EA spaces this out into early september (after madden before nba I think they will have a good chance at sales since by that period (assuming ufc releases the same time) UFC core gamers will have played the hell out of that game.
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Despite a lack of an offseason, I think they'll be content to wait for the next UFC release. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's enough people out there for the game to become a modest success if they play their cards right, but look at the numbers that UFC is doing. It's a runaway success. They're getting massive, mainstream numbers. The number of people who are legitimate MMA enthusiasts who also happen to play video games cannot account for just how well this game is doing right now. There's not enough mainstream fans out there who are going to buy two MMA games a year, in this poster's humble opinion.
 
Right now I am listening to the latest Beatdown from Sherdog.com with Cung Le. And he confirmed that he will be in the EA MMA game. He will do some motion capture in September.
 
Xater said:
Right now I am listening to the latest Beatdown from Sherdog.com with Cung Le. And he confirmed that he will be in the EA MMA game. He will do some motion capture in September.
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Thx for the info. I'm sure a lot of the Strikeforce guys will be in there if not most of them.
 
With the recent news that they're apparently taking into account rule differences between the US and Japan, I'm curious if Yoshida and Aoki will have alternate attire depending on the rule set. While I appreciate them going for this level of authenticity, it seems like such a hassle to make happen.
 
EA needs to get some Japanese venues with DREAM style presentation along with as many DREAM fighters as possible. That would automatically make this game awesome. Have the female announcer who yells out people's names at the top of her lungs and the 3rd strike style marquee screens...

And yes, Aoki Pants are a fucking must if it's under Japanese rules!!
 
Theres a few new pictures in PSM UK magazine showing Jeff Monson,vlad Matyushenku, Mousasi and Randy Couture. Not much new gameplay wise from them but in one Jeff is knocked down on one knee which might indicate a new position to fight from (not quite on your back but not standing either) or a transition for the rocked part of standup maybe.

Monsoons tats look great but mousasi looks, he looks ok.. lol

Some new bits of detail which are cool, dunno if they were posted but damage is not just a visual thing (cuts, leg strikes etc) and there are animations in to support them like Fedor shaking his leg off after receiving a leg kick.

Not sure if it was just magazine hype, but UK PSM said something to the effect that like the UFC game had contextual striking EA added stances. So as you get closer your fighters stance will change. The Mag also said it mimics their real life stance, which would be awesome but I wouldnt call that confirmed just yet.


Also I didnt see it posted here but its been confirmed the game will offer rings as well as cages. And have optional rulesets (pride, japan, possibly k1 dunno). The examples giving were soccer kicks.
 
easports_mma_scrn-0002_bmp_jpgcopy.jpg


Looking really good so far. Just hope they manage to capture each fighters persona and not have them all be a basic skin change like Undisputed.
 
polyh3dron said:
EA needs to get some Japanese venues with DREAM style presentation along with as many DREAM fighters as possible. That would automatically make this game awesome. Have the female announcer who yells out people's names at the top of her lungs and the 3rd strike style marquee screens...

And yes, Aoki Pants are a fucking must if it's under Japanese rules!!
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This. A million times this.
 
Jube3 said:
Also I didnt see it posted here but its been confirmed the game will offer rings as well as cages. And have optional rulesets (pride, japan, possibly k1 dunno). The examples giving were soccer kicks.
Click to expand...

By sweet lord, that would be awesome.
 
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