EA Sports MMA

[IDOL]

I haven't seen anything reported about this, and just learned of the game yesterday. I figured I'll post it here.

News from EA SPORTS MMA

07/29/09 5:40 PM

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. Emelianenko recently 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.

Confirmed fighters in EA SPORTS MMA include: Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Renato Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Jay Hieron, Mo Lawal and Jason Miller.

Wiki Page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EA_Sports_MMA

Official Site: http://mma.easports.com/home.action

[ACCBiggz]

Within the MMA community it's been known about for awhile because of UFC contracts. Dana has said things like, "Anyone who signs an EA contract will never be in the UFC." Which, obviously, is just a lie. Randy Couture had his contract signed prior to returning, Fedor, etc. EA will need to have a good engine and a lot of customization for this to be successful, in my opinion. The more MMA the better I say.

I'll be giving it a go on demo first, but lean towards UFC 2010.

[Baddar]

I think not only will EA need a great game engine, but a good "create a fighter" tool as well, because people will want to fight as lots of the UFC guys that aren't in the game.

[IzzyX]

I think in order to make a successful create-a-fighter; they'll need to take pages out of the SVR series' create-a-wrestler (face morphing and all that jazz) and they'll need to have a shitload of tights/shorts/or whatever these MMA fighters are wearing these days. If they make the game's Career Mode like how MMA is in real life; I'll be interested in picking it up.

[ACCBiggz]

they'll need to have a shitload of tights/shorts/or whatever these MMA fighters are wearing these days.

They just need have logos of companies, which should be easy because it's advertising for them as well. But shorts/tights are relatively the same across the board, just different logos of the companies who make them. And I'm not sure if TapouT has an exclusive deal with UFC or not.

[Gabriel]

Biggz and I talked about this a couple of months ago... but what this needs to be, to be a successful alternative to the UFC games, is it needs to be essentially Fire Pro Wrestling, on the new generation of consoles, with good graphics and gameplay.

That's the first picture I've seen of the game, and it looks good. I'm impressed, and I'm excited for the trailer on November 7th... but again, Fire Pro Wrestling. Graphics were shit, but the gameplay was outstanding, and the level of customization was brilliant. A case can be made that Fire Pro is better than the SmackDown! series. From the cover, it definitely wouldn't seem like it, but both games offer an extremely different experience. That's the approach EA needs to take with this MMA game.

[ACCBiggz]

The graphics reminded me of the old EA WCW games... which scares me.

[Quom]

I disagree. I want an MMA game that feels like I'm controlling different characters, not the same three characters in different skins. I want to be rewarded for using counter punching if I'm a fighter that uses a counter-punching technique. I also want to see fights going to decision and to not hit 28 high kicks without my opponent being any the worse or it. I know it was the first year but the UFC really did feel like a tech demo in a lot of ways. A deeper career mode that allowed you to cut weight etc. and had fights in rings as well as cages could be cool.

I think that the lack of UFC branding will cost them more money than not being able to use UFC fighters. Casual fans know MMA as UFC whereas people who are into MMA will probably be happy to play as arguably the best P4P fighter and all the top guys who aren't on the UFC roster (which actually could offer more excitement/incentive to purchase for die hard fans than UFC as since it's fighter and not promotion based they could sign Dream/Sengoku fighters allowing for matches that won't/haven't happened in real life).

I think the box art is going to be the important thing for this game, EA is known by the casuals but it will be letting people know what the game is on a quick glance that will sell it which is where the UFC has its strength.

Edited October 31, 2009 by QuomQuat

[ACCBiggz]

It's a pretty safe bet the cover art will be Randy Couture and/or Fedor.

[Toe]

I'm excited. Once you put in enough time with UFC Undisputed, you realize that while that game is good, it is not a deep experience. I think that screenshot looks awesome and hope the game is fun.

[Guest Mr. Potato Head]

Mauro Ranallo and Frank Shamrock will be the announcers for the game, the Strikeforce logo will be all over the place, and a trailer will be shown during tomorrow's card on CBS.

[Kenwyne Ryans]

'Big' John McCartney to star as a referee.

[Numbahs]

I'll be into it if I can strike fear into my friends with magical technicolor submission pants...

[SRN]

Otherwise known as Lyle Beerbohm style of fighting.

[Herr Matzat]

Video!

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/11/08/ea-sports-mma-gameplay-footage-revealed-during-strikeforce-match/

It´s looking good, i expect the textures and stuff like sweat still in the makeing (if you consider that they put this on the level of Fight Night you expect a bid more mojo)

Looking good so far.

I am actualy thinking about selling the UFC game as long as it´s still worth 30€, barly play it anymore... the submission system, AI Sparing and Online Bug use killed the long term value for me... save the money so it´s easyer to get both, UFC and EAMMA, in 2010. (becaus i don´t see myself paying 100+€ for two MMA games... 70€, more likely.)

[ACCBiggz]

I must be one of the few, but I was not impressed by the trailer. Still a long ways off though and I'll revisit it on demo.

[ZJ Penn]

Can't really say anything from that. Graphics looked good, but then again in 2009 nearly every game has good graphics. Until someone can get a hands on and talk about things like collision detection, transitions and accurate fighting styles I'm not excited or disappointed.

[Tits McGee]

I didn't think the graphics really looked that good at all.. but neither did UFCs when they first showed trailers of their game.

[IDOL]

Too me the graphics looked a bit blocky - N64 style. The animations for the submissions and stuff didn't seem to flow as smooth as they should either.

[HailtotheYo]

meh, looks all right but like Biggzy i'll be waiting for the Demo ... even if it is EA, i'm glad to see someone else taking this on