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MMA

UFC 2010: Undisputed Q&A Breakdown: Round Two

Each week, THQ has decided to answer some questions that the public has about UFC 2010: Undisputed. Since most game sites aren’t exactly versed in Mixed Martial Arts, We’re here to breakdown what the answers mean to us fans.

A quick note before we get started this week. If you are amongst the people leaving questions (which you should do), then please think about what you are writing. Far, Far too many people are focusing on the wrong things. I’ve seen some pretty rediculous questions on the thread, including beating on already unconscious opponents, and having UFC 1 style matches with no rules. Let’s think people.

Now, on to the questions!

XPlicit asks, “When you notice your opponent is rocked can you rush them as hard as you can and throw with all your might wasting every last bit of energy just to finish that person.”

You will get a bonus after you rock an opponent. We implemented the new “Adrenaline Rush” system into fights which should make things pretty interesting. You will not be conferred a movement speed bonus, but your fighter will have his energy replenished. This means you can execute the full array of moves without worrying about getting gassed yourself. We wanted to give the player that feeling of mastery and dominance that comes with rocking an opponent and following through on it in the real Octagon — from playing with it and testing it, it brings a ton of excitement to Undisputed 2010.

Interesting development. One of the complaints that was common last year is that every rocked situation ended the same the way. The winner would just stand over the helpless loser throwing bombs until the fight was stopped. The “Adrenaline Rush” would seem to indicate that the stamina boost will be necessary to try and finish fights, which means there will be someway to recover from being rocked.

Fornez1 Asks “How will escaping submissions work with the new system? will you always wind up in an advantages position or will sometimes you escape to standing and sometimes escape to side mount(for example)”

Last year, when you failed a submission, you’d almost always end up in a tough situation — usually on your back or with a player in control. We wanted to move away from this system and towards more of an organic, and realistic submission escape system. There are a number of positions that you can escape into that are beneficial, neutral, and even disadvantageous depending upon what has been happening during the fight. In keeping it real as it gets, escapes will never result in only side control or a full guard.

Another complaint from last year addressed. Fighters never really escape submissions and wind up in dominant positions. Last year, so many subs would be reversed into side mount that it often was worth it try for the submissions. This should also take away some of the predictably from a game that was stiff last year.

SleepyWeasel asks “In the new Career mode, does your fighter age at all? Or does he stay the same age throughout the entire career?”

Your fighter, and all other fighters will age. Aging occurs in two ways. As your fighter becomes more experienced at certain skills and moves after training, it’ll become easier and easier to better maintain your proficiency in that field. For example, once you get so good at wrestling, you don’t have to train as extensively to keep up your skill as a wrestler. On the other hand, we’ve implemented a decay system that’s a function of your age. Once your fighter gets up there in the years, you’ll find that you need to focus on maintaining your core stats through your weekly training routine a bit more to stay fresh in the Octagon. Along your career mode playthrough, you’ll even see the greats of the UFC retiring.

Yes. Thank goodness. Last year’s career mode was underutilized in many different ways. One of the main ones was that once you became champion, you fought the same people over and over again. As fun as it is beating down B.J. Penn, I wanted some new blood for my fighter to face. This year, it seems that the divisions will be thinned out by retiring fighters and re-stocked with new talent. One big step for a better career mode.

Kurowski God asks “Are there different “rocked” stages, like you hit with a head kick, maybe he gets more rocked then a good right hook.”

In this year’s game, we shared that you can be rocked from any position and by almost every move. While these moves, and by extension the rocked states that they’ll be causing, will look different depending upon what you do (head kick, uppercut), being rocked will not have varying degrees of ‘rockiness’ or grogginess. What’s important is how the player who rocked the other executes his next few moves. If you have your combos down and have excellent timing, you’ll be able to quickly level some devastating moves on your groggy opponent — you might even knock him out. These ‘follow up’ combos are going to be tough to execute, as any other button inputs after the rocked animation will derail the combo. But the skilled player who uses caution and foresight when he knows his opponent is struggling will get an awesome payoff.

This seems to relate to the first question of the day. It seems that some skill will be needed this year to finish a rocked opponent. It’s no longer enough to just land the big punch and pound out every opponent. This should lead to longer fights and more decisions.

Check back Tomorrow afternoon for the full B.J. Penn Trailer!

NFL

Madden Ultimate Team Announced, Can A New Game Mode Replace Franchise?

We here at this site were really disappointed by the franchise mode in Madden this year. While it’s understood that this year’s Madden development team was fixing what was essentially a broken game, certain things really screwed it up. For me, the biggest thing was the screwed up simulation stats and the pre-set player progression system really killed it.

Well, EA Sports is pulling something new out of it’s bag with Madden Ultimate Team. Check it out:

YouTube Preview Image

It seems like a really good idea. Maybe this is the thing that will keep me playing Madden into Febuary. It also seems like it’s ripe for creation of what is basically a Madden fantasy league.

NBA

Donnie Swings and Misses: Revisiting June’s Draft

Despite the 2009-10 NBA Season being a week old, I have come to the decision that Donnie Walsh blew it in June’s Draft when he had the number eight overall pick. I understand that Walsh had his hands tied when Stephen Curry and Ricky Rubio were already picked but I still cannot come to terms as to why Donnie Walsh believed that with their lottery pick Jordan Hill was the best option.

In my mock drafts, specifically leading up to the actual night of, I pegged the Knicks selecting Hill only because of the admiration the organization had for the former Wildcat. It is obvious though that there were two players that Walsh should have selected two guys before the thought of Hill crossed their minds. Ty Lawson and more specifically, Brandon Jennings, fit the Knicks plans and design and unfortunately, Donnie swung and missed…big time.

Hill has played in one game this year and has played a grand total of two minutes. Now no one thought he would come in and be a rookie of the year caliber type of player but no one thought he would be this far behind in terms of getting up to NBA speed and development. Compare those stats to Ty Lawson of the Denver Nuggets who is currently averaging 9 points and 3 assists in a backup role to Chauncey Billups in less than 20 minutes of play. I always thought Lawson would be a guy who could perfectly fit the bill with D’Antoni’s run and gun style. He is averaging a 5:1 Assists/Turnover ratio. That is how you play point guard folks.

Without Blake Griffin, Brandon Jennings has stolen the spotlight for this year’s rookies putting up ridiculous numbers for the Milwaukee Bucks. With a line of 22 points, 4 rebounds, and 5 assists, Jennings has stolen the show and makes the departure of Ramon Sessions a forgotten thought. While he drew criticisms for leaving Arizona to play in Italy, Jennings has proven the inconsistency shown overseas was all a fluke, and his American game translates much better.

So where does Jordan Hill fit? Mike D’Antoni has already converted Wilson Chandler to the 4 to play similarly to Shawn Marion when D’Antoni was in Phoenix and he has David Lee at center. With Gallo and Al Harrington also being able to play the 3 and the 4, the need for Hill is perplexing. If Donnie Walsh felt there was a pressing need for a big man, why did he not draft Brook Lopez over Gallinari in 2008? Has Gallo proven anything in the NBA besides the fact that 75% of his shots this season have been 3 pointers? If I wanted that, give me Jason Kapono for a fraction of the money and draft Lopez.

The track record for Donnie Walsh’s draft picks have been less than impressive. Here are a list of the first round picks since Walsh began drafting with the Indiana Pacers.

The Good: Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Al Harrington, Danny Granger,

The Bad: George McCloud, Dale Davis, Travis Best, Erick Dampier, Vonteego Cummings

The Ugly: Malik Sealy, Scott Haskin, Eric Piatkowski, Austin Croshere, Primoz Brezec, Fred Jones, David Harrison, Jonathan Bender, Shawne Williams

The names don’t lie. Walsh has put all of his chips onto the table by acquiring expiring contract after expiring contract. If Walsh is unable to land Lebron James, what will the reaction be then from Knicks fans? With no 2010 first round pick (which would have surely land them in the lottery) when can the Knicks address the point guard situation? Can Toney Douglas actually assume the full-time position next year? Doubt it. All Knicks fans can do now is watch Jordan Hill continually disappoint hopefuls by sitting on the bench while Brandon Jennings continues to soar in Wisconsin. Who knows, maybe he will start to take Packer fans minds off of Brett Favre.

MMA

TUF 9 Winner James Wilks v. Matt Brown at UFC 105

For his first fight under UFC contract, James “Lightning” Wilks will take Matt “The Immortal” Brown at UFC 105.

Wilks won the ninth season of “The Ultimate Fighter” when he defeated American DeMarques Johnson by rear naked choke at the end round 1. He is a strong jiu-jitsu fighter and most importantly, he is British. UFC 105 will be the next event taking place across the pond.

Brown is best known for being the man who garnered his nickname from surviving an overdose on heroin. He was on season 7 of TUF, and became one of the coolest men on earth when he threatened Jeremy May’s life. Forrest Griffin even compared him to Chuck Norris. In the ring, Brown is 3-1 since entering the UFC, with victories over Pete Sell, Ryan Thomas and Matt Arroyo. His lone loss was to Dyun-hung Kim via split decision. Brown will likely attempt to stand with Wilks to avoid being submitted.

Does anyone else notice that there is no “development” of Ultimate Fighter winners anymore? Recently, Amir Sadollah lost his first fight against a tough fighter in Johny Hendricks. Now, Wilks is being thrown in against Brown who is no slouch. Compare Matt Brown to Brian Gassaway who Diego Sanchez fought after wining TUF 1.

All in all, I like Matt Brown in England.

MMA

I Wish I Was Greg Jackson…

Not former Giants safety Greg Jackson, but famed MMA trainer Greg Jackson. No one has trained as many top-tier fighters or been key in the development of guys like Rashad Evans. Here, he’ll tell you how he plans to help Georges St.Pierre defeat Thiago Alves at UFC 100.

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