Tech Blog

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There's no disputing the Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts promotion is big business.  The MMA sport has risen from near obscurity to mainstream popularity in less than a decade, fueled primarily by the meteoric rise of UFC pay-per-view audience size.  The promotion hit a major milestone in December 2006 when over one million PPV buys were recorded for UFC 66, an event that saw light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell defend his title against former champion Tito Ortiz.

That successful event would help UFC break the PPV industry's all-time single year revenue intake in 2006, surpassing that of boxing and WWE.  In the years that have followed, the appeal of the sport has continue to balloon and now UFC has reached its saturation point as a household name.

In 2007 video game maker THQ signed a multi-year deal with UFC to bring the MMA promotion to next generation consoles, and the first entry, UFC Undisputed 2009, blazed the sales charts last May with over one million units sold across the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions in its debut month.  In a press bulletin issued in February 2010, THQ says the title has now sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide since its release.  Looks like THQ and developer Yuke's have a red-hot franchise on their hands.

Best known for developing the WWE SmackDown Vs. Raw franchise, Yuke's is certainly no stranger to replicating authentic in-ring contact sport action.  With the core elements completed in the 2009 edition, the developer has spent much of the last year refining and polishing the overall experience for UFC Undisputed 2010 .  Let's take a look at what's new, and why this franchise is worth a second glance.

What's new?

New platform - the original UFC Undisputed released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  This year's edition will release on both platforms, as well as on the PlayStation Portable.  The 360/PS3 version is scheduled for release on May 25, 2010 and later in the year for PSP.

New fighting techniques - three new techniques have been introduced in UFC Undisputed 2010 : karate, greco-roman wrestling, and sambo.  These techniques join the six from last year: boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, brazilian jui-jitsu, judo and wrestling.

Enhanced combat - last year's UFC Undisputed featured thousands of frames of animation creating a fluid, natural feel, albeit a bit sluggish.  To further enhance the control authenticity, Yuke's decided to reanimate all 12,000 animations in the game and even decided to take out frames to make the action flow smoother and transition faster.  Furthermore, they have added new subtle movements such as suppositions and swaying to diversify the action.   The new Sway System allows for full upper body and head movement which allows for the dodging of attacks, and when on the ground a new Posture System delivers powerful strikes from the down position.  New strikes, submissions, and cage positions have also been added, as well as the introduction of the Southpaw boxing stance.

Expanded online play - this year version brings the idea of fight camps and leagues to encourage camaraderie and competition.  Once you form a camp, your group can go online and practice moves, train between each fight and compete against other camps in a virtual UFC environment.

Check out Part Two of my UFC Undisputed 2010 new features write-up here .