G4'S BLAIR HERTER TALKS UFC 2009 UNDISPUTED

The marriage of sports and video games has not only been profitable for both sides, but has helped create a cultural phenomenon.

The success of Electronic Arts’ John Madden NFL series has far deeper impacted the pop culture landscape than anyone could have foreseen. So it’s understandable that numerous companies are hoping to catch that lightning in a bottle for themselves.

Such is the hope for UFC 2009 Undisputed, the video game product of the union between gaming giant THQ and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Shedding light onto whether the first UFC related game in five years can live up to its lofty expectations is long time MMA fan Blair Herter, correspondent for G4’s “X-Play” series, currently the most watched video game show on television.

“I feel that it could be,” said Herter of whether or not he felt UFC 2009 Undisputed could do for MMA what EA’s Madden series did for pro football.

“The Madden series took years to kind of get to where it is today, but they didn’t have the level of involvement that THQ has right off the bat with the UFC. I think it is something that could stand to blow up pretty quickly.”

While the UFC game may not reach the instant sales figures that Madden has recently, namely selling 4.5 million copies within its first month of release, Herter feels the success of Undisputed should be measured in more than just numbers.

“I think something that’s really going to be important for UFC 2009 Undisputed, more so than the initial sales figures, for this to be a success is for the fans to really appreciate and really get into how the game presents the sport,” stated Herter.

“For now, I see it being kind of important that THQ takes as much care with the property as they can. With the previous UFC games, they kind of left a bad taste in people’s mouths, and this is kind of their chance at redemption.”

While many industries have felt the crunch of the current recession, for the most part the video game industry – despite some studio closings and game cancellations – has stayed strong, as has the UFC’s business.

Herter sees THQ’s future involvement with the UFC license continuing, almost regardless of how it does financially.

“I think that THQ has a real strong relationship with the WWE and have aligned themselves with creative properties, and I know this game needs to be a success for THQ as they put a lot of time, money and effort into it, but I think as a company they’ve got the WWE thing,” he commented.

“MMA is only going to get bigger; as long as this (game) doesn’t bomb completely, I think they’re okay as far as being able to move forward with this particular franchise.”

Early indications by Herter has Undisputed being a top-quality product that will appeal to both MMA fans and non alike.

“Here at ‘X-Play’, and me specifically, I’ve been kind of privileged to kind of see this game evolve for over a year now, and it looked great a year ago and I can’t describe how awesome it looks now,” he exclaimed.

“They needed to make the controls so that people who are fans of MMA can really appreciate what they’re doing and the control they have over the situation, and also be accessible (to casual gamers). Having played with the controls myself, I think it will please both groups of people.”

Herter should know, not only being deeply involved with the gaming scene, but having been a fan of MMA for much of his life.

“I’ve just been a fan forever, and the past five or six years it’s just exploded,” he said. “I never miss a pay-per-view; I have a massive barbeque and Blair Butler, Kevin Pereira and all the guys from G4 come over and we watch the PPVs together and stuff.”

The speculation to the impact of THQ’s UFC 2009 Undisputed will be founded when the game releases for the Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360 on May 19 in North America and May 22 in Europe.

“Watch the show, and as a network as a whole, I know we’re trying to cover MMA more, so keep an eye out,” concluded Herter. “Check out our coverage on X-Play and G4TV.com for more details of what I’m talking about here.

“For the game, I think UFC fans are really going to appreciate being able to play as their favorite fighters, and I can’t even begin to describe to you how accurate they’ve made it. Even people who aren’t a fan of the UFC and MMA should also give it a try, because it’s a really fun game.”