Last month we reported the comments of Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz, who said that due to poor sales he did not expect that EA would reprise their MMA title for a sequel. Randy Chase from EA refuted that comment, but had not been able to release any numbers regarding sales of their video game. Now, we have those numbers!

According to an article from Gameindustry.biz, the game sold a paltry 45,000 units in its first month of sales on both next-gen consoles. Let’s compare this to UFC Undisputed 2009, which sold over 1 million copies in its first month, and 2010 squeaked out roughly 413,000. Internationally, the EA Sports MMA game did not do much better, not even cracking the top 20 best-selling games in its premiere month.

The release of UFC Undisputed 2010 less than six months could be a reason why sales were poor for EA Sports MMA, or it could be what hardcore MMA fans expected, and that without having the UFC name on the game, no one would care to try this out. Sure, it has Randy Couture and other UFC alumni, but without that Zuffa approved label, casual fans are lost. MMA fans are also a fickle market when it comes to buying things, and at the end of the day it seems there is only room for one company. Our review of the game was pretty good, and has a much deeper fighting system than its UFC counterpart, and that might have also attributed to its low sales, but with Christmas around the corner, there is still some room to catch up.

Via The Garv

It is not a good time to be an MMA game these days. Sales are not strong for either game so far, and one marketing analyst believes the debut of EA Sports MMA will also be the nail in the coffin.

According to Cowen & Company analyst Doug Creutz, EA is likely to back out of the mixed martial arts genre after its debut offering, EA Sports MMA, made a poor start at retail. “EA’s recently released ‘MMA’ appears to be more or less DOA at retail, while UFC recently announced an extension of its license with THQ, likely putting an end to EA’s efforts to expand into the mixed martial arts genre,” the analyst said in a research note this week. While Creutz’s comments regarding the game’s retail performance are likely specific to the US market, EA Sports MMA made a disappointing start in the UK, debuting at # 23 this week.

Most reviewers were very positive about the game, citing that despite its lack of namepower, the controls were great and it was a better MMA simulator than the UFC games. However, not having the UFC brand on it has been one of the biggest deterrents from the games sales, and will forever be their biggest enemy moving forward. This game, they were lucky enough to get Randy Couture and a few other UFC fighters who were not part of their stable last year. Compounding this is the fact that UFC Undisputed 2010 was released just six months ago, which will definitely impact fans that already purchased that game when it came out.

Loretta Hunt of the LA Times spoke with Randy Chase from EA and had this to say about sales:

And while Chase said EA doesn’t release its sales figures, he did confirm that the game’s distribution numbers are on par with the UFC title. Chase said the company has already started to work on an updated installment, and the game leader plans to alternate release years with its “Fight Night” boxing game.

Saying his distribution numbers are on par with the UFC is not a positive thing since they did not do too well this year, and no word yet about if there will be a sequel and if so, when, to EA’s entry into the market. MMA fans are either hardcore people like myself who will buy anything related to the sport, or are casual and will buy one game and a shirt here or there and be done with it. It does not lend itself to collecting as much as other sports still, and THQ learned that fact the hard way. I am waiting for my copy of the game to be delivered so once I get that, you will get my take on the game, but for those who have played it, how do you think it will do overall and will there be a sequel?

THQ is poised to “broaden the UFC brand experience” after extending its deal with Zuffa until 2018. Under the terms of the agreement, THQ will continue to exclusively make UFC games for all current and next-generation consoles, PC and handheld platforms, and select social media and wireless platforms including the iPhone and iPad.

THQ will not be releasing a UFC Undisputed in 2011, and instead will aim to put a third game in the series out sometime in 2012. Part of the reason for this is the poor sales of 2010′s installment, which THQ has blamed on other popular games knocking it out of sales (and also not recognizing the MMA fanbase is quite different from the kind of people that might buy Madden NFL games).

THQ also holds the rights to the successful WWE Smackdown VS Raw video game series, which to me and other critics suffers the same problems as the UFC games. The company fixes one small problem here or there, adds a few new characters, but still makes an overall incomplete game. By 2018, I hope that we will have one great installment in the series, and on the plus side, it also means I can keep having UFC Undisputed video game tournaments until at least 2018!

Should THQ keep the license to the UFC Undisputed games for this long or would another company be better at making an MMA video game?

Via computerandvideogames.com

On October 16, 2010, the first ever Fight Nerd Video Game Open was held at 8 Bit & Up Gaming in downtown Manhattan. The event was officially called “Fall Brawl 2010″ and that is no understatement, as eight competitors battled their virtual fighters in a dramatic and exciting double-elimination tournament for pixelated supremacy.

At last, after rummaging through the seven hours of footage, the highlight video for the event is done, including the appearance of former UFC & Strikeforce champion Frank Shamrock, and a rundown of how the event turned out. Congrats once again to our winner, Kevin Wang, and the runner-up, Alvin Colon. They won a ton of prizes contributed by The MMA World Expo, Jakks Pacific, Round 5 MMA, Skin Industries, Klutch Wear, No Surrender Fight Wear, MMA Worldwide Magazine, TapouT Magazine, M-1 Global, King of the Cage and Topps!

My goal for this event was to just have as much fun as humanly possible and make sure everyone left with lots of free stuff, and that mission was accomplished. Enough that there will be a second event, but you are just going to have keep checking out the site to find out more info about that! Don’t forget to check out our photo gallery from the event as well!

The first ever Fight Nerd Video Game Open wrapped up this weekend over at 8 Bit & Up Gaming in NYC and I bet you weren’t there! What happened, you used to be cool? Anyway, “Fall Brawl 2010″ was a huge success for those who came down to check it out, and what a tournament it was. Last minute additons to the roster included one of our special guests, King of the Cage flyweight champion Jimmie Rivera and speaking of special guests, the attendees were shocked to see our super secret guest – Frank Shamrock!

The former UFC & Strikeforce middleweight champion dropped in to give some advice to the gamers and to let everyone know that he is coming to NYC soon permanently to open up new schools in NY and to push hard to get the sport of MMA legalized here. If Frank Shamrock can’t get MMA legalized in New York, then who can?

The eight-man brackets became a double-elimination tournament, with Kevin Wang taking the grand prize at the end of the day. Kevin lost in his first fight of the day to Alvin Colon, and had to battle back up from the bottom of the loser’s bracket to get to the finals and avenge his earlier loss to Alvin, winning all of his final fights by TKO with powerful ground & pound skills. Alvin came in second, with Paul Jobson coming in third and Dennis Wright taking fourth place.

Big thanks one more time to all of our epic sponsors who donated an absurd amount of prizes and freebies to everyone who came! Check them all out at The MMA World Expo, Jakks Pacific, Round 5 MMA, Skin Industries, Klutch Wear, No Surrender Fight Wear, MMA Worldwide Magazine, TapouT Magazine, M-1 Global, King of the Cage and Topps!

You can see the rest of the photos at this link here and you can also find some more photos of the event courtesy of Iveta Lacane on the MMA in NYC meetup.com group’s photo area! Big thanks to everyone who came out to compete and to have fun, and thanks to Old School NYC Gamer for coming down to cover it and to Jim Genia for doing a bit of liveblogging as well! Expect some video from this event very soon, there is just so much to edit! Anybody want to be my video intern?

Hit the jump for a few more photo highlights of the event!

Been at NY Comic Con all weekend so forgive me for my lack of updates. Now I have returned and to reward you for your patience in my absence, I will reveal a new prize to this weekends Fight Nerd Video Game Open tournament!

In addition to the already enormous prize pool that I announced, we now have free passes to the MMA World Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in November, with first place winning two full weekend passes and the two runners-up receiving a pair of one day passes, good for either day. Last year, the show had Wanderlei Silva and Matt Hughes as the guests of honor, and this year it holds the debut of the Renzo Gracie no-gi open tournament. This grappling competition also features an absolute division with a money prize to the winner of $3,000. There will also be an amateur Muay Thai tournament with the winner receiving a trip to Thailand, plus seminars from instructors like Renzo Gracie, Marcelo Garcia, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, Phil Nurse, and Ricardo Liborio. Check out the video above for more details!

So yeah, you do the math and tell me that is not an awesome prize pool, all for playing some UFC Undisputed 2010. If you have not already registered for the event, or if you want to come down and just play some games and have some fun, head to this link for more details. The MMA World Expo will be at Javits Center this November 12 and 13 in NYC, head to their site for more details on tickets, seminars and other event info.

Sorry hardcore UFC fans/ Zuffa Zombies, looks like you will be forced to play the same video game for a bit longer, lest you throw in the towel and give in to EA Sports MMA game. THQ revealed earlier in August that UFC Undisputed 2010 did not do so well. Despite shipping 2.6 million units of UFC Undisputed 2010, the game’s sales still fell short of expectations. The company blamed this on other big games being released around the same time, such as “Red Dead Redemption.”

According to Gamespot, THQ is pushing back their next UFC video game close to two years after the release of the last one. The article states: Sure enough, the slate reveals that the next UFC game won’t arrive until Q1 2012, nearly two years after May’s UFC Undisputed 2010. While still a best-seller with nearly 3 million units shipped, the game did not perform as well as expected. Of noting is that WWE will have a new game in 2011 continuing their yearly release schedule, but not so much with UFC.

This is probably not such a bad thing, since a game like this does not need an annual release like this, and the fanbase for MMA is a notably fickle one and not often the kind to buy things like collectibles and video games like fans of NFL or pro wrestling. I am quite content still with my UFC Undisputed 2009 game in fact, but I am also content with my Pride FC game for Playstation. On the plus side, it gives you more time to practice your gaming skills in time for The Fight Nerd Video Game Open: Fall Brawl tournament coming to NYC in October!

Via MMAPayOut.com

The final two lists of fighters have been revealed! EA Sports has been releasing their roster of fighters each week for the past month, starting with their heavyweights like Fedor, Randy Couture, & Brett Rogers and light-heavyweights such as , followed by their middleweights including Cung Le, Jake Shields, Frank Shamrock, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, and now concluding with the welterweights and lightweights!

Above is the official lightweight roster, which includes Lyle Beerbohm, Josh Thomson, Gilbert Melendez, Mizuto Hirota, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gesias Cavalcante, Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro, Eddie Alvarez, Shinya Aoki, Saturo Kitaoka, Hayata “Mach” Sakurai, Billy Evangelista, Kron Gracie and Joachim Hansen.

Rounding out the roster is the welterweights, which includes Joachim Hansen, Pat Miletich, Shinya Aoki, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Matt Lindland, Kazuo Misaki, Joe Riggs, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Jay Hieron, Mariuz Zaromskis, Lyman Good, Frank Trigg, Nick Thompson, Hayato “Mach” Sakurai and Tyron Woodley.

Now that we know the entire roster, plus the various exclusive downloadable characters you can get upon launch, who is this roster missing that you wanted to see?

As a video game player, along with 85% of the MMA fan base out there, I played the UFC Undisputed 2009 video game as soon as it came out and loved it! Then when the 2010 installment came out, I was a bit more cautious, especially with the promise of its rival, EA Sports MMA, coming on the way in the fall with a very cool career mode and innovative multi-player options.

According to MMAPayout.com, Phil Elliot of GamesIndustry.biz interviewed THQ’s head of marketing Jon Rooke, who explained that despite shipping 2.6 million units of UFC Undisputed 2010, the game’s sales still fell short of expectations. Rooke was quoted as saying, ” “We’ve had Red Dead Redemption released one week before us and that sucked, to-date, probably three quarters of a million units from the market,… The economy is still in decline – we haven’t come out of recession yet, with VAT set to go up and the government looking for 40 per cent budget cuts… people are nervous about spending.”

“When Red Dead had shipped about 5 million we’d shipped about 2.6 million units of UFC globally – so it’s still a massively successful game… just that the expectations might have been that little bit more. You have to step back a bit and recognise that.” As Kelsey Philpott of MMA Payout reminds us, there is a difference between something being shipped and sold. In other words, over 2 million units shipped sounds great, but how many of those really sold? For me, I skipped this game not just because of the hope that EA Sports MMA would be more my game, but also because not much was improved in UFC 2010 and it just seemed like THQ was doing the same thing they do with their WWE video games – add a handful of new characters, improve a tiny aspect here or there, but not spend the time needed to really make it great.

UFC Undisputed 2009 shipped 3.5-4.0 million copies last year THQ recently stated that UFC Undisputed 2010 will be released for the PSP in September, which should add more units to the shipment total and hopefully for them, mean more sales.

Sales of UFC Undisputed 2010 have fallen short of THQ’s expectations, but the publisher is working on a new entry in the franchise anyway. In an E3 analysts meeting held yesterday, THQ announced UFC Trainer, which is, according to GameSpot, “a more combative take on the fitness genre than the likes of Wii Fit or EA Sports Active.” This comes a day after EA announced their new Live Broadcast mode for online gaming in their upcoming EA Sports MMA video game, which we also now know has a cover and an official release date.

Apparently, the game will actually train you to be a mixed martial arts fighter, and it’s going to use motion control tech, PlayStation Move, Kinect, and the Wii, to do it. The game isn’t at E3 because THQ doesn’t want to show it off until “it’s the coolest fighting thing in the world,” “tuned to perfection without lag,” said Danny Bilson, the company’s executive vice president of core games.

UFC Trainer is slated for release on January 1, 2011.