Video Game Vintage Title: EA Sports MMA

EA Sports MMA

EA Sports MMA is a fighting video game which was published by EA Sports and developed by EA Tiburon from 2008 to 2010. It was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360on October 19, 2010 in North America and October 22, 2010 everywhere else. Online services have been shut down since April 13, 2012 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

EA Sports MMA Gameplay

The default controls utilize the left analog stick for movement, right analog stick for strikes and face buttons for grappling. The shoulder buttons act as modifiers for the strikes which by default are punches aimed at the head, turning them into body punches, kicks or feints. Takedown/transition attempts and takedown/transition defense are performed by a single press of a button. Depending on the timing, successful defense can result in a sprawl, transitional block or a reversal. Submissions can be attempted by a single press of a button as well, and the defending player can prevent the hold from being applied if he reacts quickly enough. Otherwise, the fighters engage in one of two submission mini-games. Once a submission has been initiated, it is not possible to cancel out of it.

For arm and leg submissions, the players must tap either the submit or defend button several times until the defending fighter either submits or escapes. Success depends upon the player's ability to manage his stamina as every tap of the button rapidly drains the stamina meter. Refraining from tapping the button refills the meter just as quickly. The idea is to tap the button in short bursts while maintaining the stamina at optimum levels and never letting it drain completely.

For chokes, a circular image appears in the center of the screen. A colored marker moves along the circumference from clockwise to counterclockwise in unpredictable patterns and fades in and out of view. The player (whether on offense or defense) must track and match the movement of the marker with the left analog stick. The circle shrinks (while the screen fades to black) as the fighter gets closer to getting choked out and expands when one gets closer to escaping. The player who's better able to track the marker will win the mini-game.

One-hit KO's are possible with proper timing, but more common are TKO's that result from one player getting pummeled while unable to defend himself. Other possible outcomes are unanimous decisions, split decisions and draws. There are no DQ's as illegal moves cannot be performed in the game.

EA Sports MMA launched on October 19, 2010, with a public launch party for fans and media. At the gatherings, UFC Hall of Fame fighter Randy Couture and former Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko, both of whom grace the cover of the game, finally got the opportunity to fight each other, albeit via their video gamer personas. Fedor went on to win via TKO in the game.

Initial reviews have been positive with Metacritic giving the Xbox 360 version a score of 79% after 55 reviews (78% after 42 reviews for the PS3 version)and Game Rankings giving the Xbox360 version a score of 80.5% after 39 reviews (78.2% after 25 reviews for the PS3 Version).While EA Sports MMA remains a critical success thus far, it hasn't had the same success financially. According to a Cowen & Company analyst, sales of EA Sports MMA have been poor, with analyst Doug Creutz saying it�s �more or less dead on arrival at retail".