THQ sees future in UFC license
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jan 16th 2007 at 2:55PM }
THQ has reached a deal with Ultimate Fighting Championship to secure the video game rights to the mixed martial arts brand through 2011. Both Crave Entertainment and TDK Mediactive have published UFC titles in the past (all of those games received mixed to poor reviews).The agreement will span all console and portable systems, in addition to the PC platform and certain mobile content. The UFC partnership comes amidst a deteriorating relationship with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which sued THQ back in October 2004, alleging bribes were used to obtain the wrastlin' organization's license, and then sued the publisher again this past October, accusing THQ of improper sales in Asia.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Paul @ Jan 16th 2007 3:02PM
brides?
The Intangible Fact @ Jan 16th 2007 3:03PM
Only the PS3 has the POWER to render octagons.
Four corners was so last gen.
cyberfrog @ Jan 16th 2007 3:51PM
I would love to see someone design an mma game modeled similarly to the fight night mechanics, with of course the addition of kicks and shoots.
As for the submission system, I've tried some of the previous games before and though highly technical, i think they are bit too complicated for average gamers. Perhaps if they had something similar to naruto's fighting game where each player enters button combos as fast and accurately as they can (but maybe using the analog sticks instead), that would maintain the feel of submissions, who knows.
jdbrown_82 @ Jan 16th 2007 4:23PM
sounds great, i love playing the ufc games.
maybe this go round they could have some sort of story line as in you make money to fix up your house, buy rides and the like. then also have little training games like the fight night series to build up stanima, charisma, speed, durability. the charisma could be to help out in getting out of holds sort of like the wwe games.
it would be great if the team that made the fight night round 3 (xbox 360 version) could make it. could you imagine the graphics, and the create a fighter on that.
generica. @ Jan 16th 2007 4:16PM
ufc is turning into the new wwe...gross
Matt @ Jan 16th 2007 4:13PM
I would have to be convinced very hard that a good UFC game could be made. Stand-up fighting is very easily modeled by button-tapping, but good submissions that don't quickly wear out your thumbs would be very dificult. Maybe it would work on Wii if, when the combattants went to the ground, it would switch to a pointer mode or something where you would try and "drag" each other into positions or something.
UFC is awsome though.. if the mechanics were right it would definitely be awsome to take on Ortiz, Lidell, Couture etc.
jdbrown_82 @ Jan 16th 2007 4:26PM
and no the 360 can render the corners..
it will suck reguardless with the crap controllers on the ps3.... dont care anyways no way im paying the rediculious price of the ps3, not in any way worth the price.
KR @ Jan 16th 2007 4:34PM
I dug the Dreamcast game, but the sequels quickly became old. Nothing new was offered outside of "more" of everything.
The Pride game was nice as it took the UFC game and added more strategic elements (being able to stomp while someone is down, etc). The presentation was a lot better too, just like in real life comparing Pride and UFC. Was still nothing revolutionary though.
"ufc is turning into the new wwe...gross"
That makes, oh, no sense at all. That's like saying boxing and WWE are the same, or any competitive one-on-one sport.
Steve @ Jan 16th 2007 4:58PM
What's with using a candle as this story's picture?
Vik @ Jan 16th 2007 6:39PM
I'm involved with Pankration (Greek mixed martial arts) and my secret prayers of playing UFC on the Wii would totally be answered if THQ can make a decent version!
Daniel Roberts @ Jan 16th 2007 10:19PM
The first game on Dreamcast was a great start but not a great game. It was cool to finally have an MMA game but the gameplay system was shallow and hasn't been significantly improved in 5-6 years.
Hopefully they can just start from scratch and pull in some aspects from more refined games (sounds like MMA). The K-1 game is good for kickboxing and Fight Night of course. There is a judo game being released soon which will hopefully have a good grappling system (http://www.daviddouilletjudo-lejeu.com) and a little bit could be taken from pro-wrestling games. I just hope they can make grappling system that is technical and engaging instead of just button mashing.
Greg B. @ Mar 6th 2007 12:18AM
I have always hoped that there would be a UFC game for PS3. If the game was made correctly it would be great, but a game with all the different varriables that are in UFC would be hard to develope. It's not like a boxing game where there are jus different types of punches to throw like in fight night round 3. Although something similar to that would rock my socks off and it would be addicting. Developing your own fighter, or having the ability to go back to UFC 1 fight rules, having a training aspect to the game to increase stats, unlocking special moves and fighters, like gracie, or Abbot. A slow motion mode or replay, starting rivalries, secret codes to flip off or moon your opponent. I could go on and on, but I see it either being the coolest thing in the world or the worst thing in the world. Old wrestling and ufc games have bombed big time. I really hope some time and money goes into making a quality game.