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Bell to air upcoming UFC 83 in HD, French
Although the Ultimate Fighting Championship made its HD PPV debut way back on UFC 67, Canadians not attending UFC 83 live at the Bell Centre in Montreal will have the option of viewing it in the comfort (and safety) of their own home in gorgeous high-definition. The event will be available via select Vu! pay-per-view channels, and if you're looking to catch it in French, you'll be able to do that also -- albeit in SD, sadly. Get set, the action kicks off with live pre-fight coverage at 4:00PM on April 18th.
Blu-ray movie releases for the week of Nov. 13
The rollercoaster ride that is the weekly Blu-ray releases continues its weekly rise and fall. After last week's impressive lineup of Pixar titles and several bargain bundles, we're not left with much for this week. Close Encounters of the Third Kind: 30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition Ocean's Eleven, Twelve & Thirteen Gift Set Ocean's Thirteen Africa: The Serengeti (IMAX) Dragon Ball Z: Broly Double Feature Alaska: Spirit of the Wild (IMAX) Antarctica: An Adventure of a Different Nature (IMAX) Australia: Land Beyond Time (IMAX) Prison Break: Season One Masters of Horror: Season One, Volume III Ultimate Force While the Oceans trilogy is decent and Close Encounters is better, we're more interested in Ultimate Force, which features the UFC's Croation Sensation Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic, in kinda the same way you watch NASCAR to see the fiery crashes. Judging from Crocop's last few UFC bouts, though, he may want to continue his acting career.
Swagwatch???: THQ's UFC grillz (Ugly Fake Chompers?)
The promotional swag for THQ's press conference attendees wasn't a t-shirt and it wasn't a fancy pen. They were handing out grillz to promote their upcoming Ultimate Fighting Championship game labeled with the letters UFC. The only thing that upsets us more than envisioning an army of intrepid video game professionals wearing these things around Santa Monica is the fact that the lettering is off center. Really, it's driving us crazy.If you actually want these things (never been worn, promise!) we'll be giving them away along with the rest of our swag at our first-ever reader meetup this Friday.
THQ profits show power of licensing
Publisher THQ has posted net sales of more than $1 billion in their 2007 fiscal year, reportedly their 12th consecutive year of revenue growth. According to their annual financial report (PDF file), the company also managed to ship eight titles that exceeded one million units in sales. Their secret to success? Licensed titles.The annual report revealed that THQ's focus was 80% licensed intellectual property and 20% owned IP -- a 4-to-1 ratio. Key achievements include shipping 8 million units of Disney/Pixar's Cars, 4 million units of WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 and 4 million units combined of Nickelodeon franchises.THQ did establish two franchises this fiscal year, Saint's Row and Company of Heroes, and this upcoming fiscal year, THQ intends to increase its focus on owned IPs to a 33% share on the pie graph -- that's now only a 2-to-1 ratio of licensed-to-owned IP.Sure, licensed games may not be the most anticipated titles (or even the ones to receive the most coverage from the gaming press), but they do wonders to a publisher's bottom line.
New UFC game confirmed by company President?
Over at the MMA.tv boards, a member by the name of "Kneeblock" asked Dana White about the future installments of Ultimate Fighting Championship games, and pointed out his opinion that added fighters to the same game four times over isn't innovation. Much to everyone's surprise, Dana White actually responded saying that THQ would be taking the helm of the next UFC game and promised that it will set a new standard for the series. Unfortunately, the thread has since been removed, but that just adds fuel to the proverbial fire, right? So, THQFC (phonetically a portmanteau) sounds pretty promising, considering the last time we played a UFC title was on an Official Dreamcast Magazine demo disc. What do you think about it, though?[Thanks, un1qu3 n3wy0rk]
UFC pay-per-view hits high definition this weekend
The Ultimate Fighting Championship just announced it will make its first HDTV broadcast this weekend with UFC 67: All or Nothing live from Las Vegas on February 3rd. The pay-per-view event will be available in 1080i for the princely sum of $49.95. Assuming your cable or satellite provider offers PPV HD, this seems to be a perfectly good reason to get people together around your new HDTV in advance of that other sporting event going on this weekend. There's been a lot of talk about how UFC is will -- or may already have -- pass boxing as a popular sport and this is just another sign of its growing audience. We'll be tuning in for the HD and to see Mirko "Cro Cop" make his UFC debut against Eddie Sanchez.
Want to get that man vs. man UFC goodness? Behold...
THQ grabbed up the rights to an Ultimate Fighter's game. Expect blood and lots of rolling around on the ground. Also expect a yearly incarnation of the series as a game, a la wrestling, football, baseball... hell, every sports title, until the year 2011. THQ plans to load in a ton of online, multiplayer and downloadable content to the titles -- it would be neat to have real-time roster updates, possibly a ticker at the bottom of your screen indicating real UFC news whilst you fight with your character you create (if such an option will exist... that'd be sweet). Anyway, for all you UFC fans itching for a fight but don't want to bloody up those beautiful knuckles of your own, keep an eye out for a UFC game coming your way!
UFC pounding onto PSP
The first UFC game for Dreamcast really did something different with the fighting genre. It felt like a very violent game of chess and always kept you on your nerves. The license really lost steam as time went on though and eventually UFC games stopped being made all together. Now that the UFC is more popular than ever, THQ has decided to bring the octagon back to gamers. Joystiq has an article about the deal up, but let me quote the important part for PSP gamers: "The agreement will span all console and portable systems..." They didn't announce if one developer was handling all versions (which is unlikely) or if a different developer would work on each version. Judging from the huge stable of studios that work with THQ though, it's likely each platform will be a concentrated effort. For more, read the original article at Joystiq. Or you can find out why THQ bathes in money.
THQ sees future in UFC license
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.
