Computer Graphics World

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011

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n n n n Animation EA’s MMA title grapples with tough animation situations By Karen Moltenbrey F rom tennis to golf, football to hockey, snowboarding to skateboarding, sports-themed video game titles continue to grow in popularity, enabling the former high-school basketball player to relive his glory days on the virtual court, a football fan to become part of his or her favorite NFL team, or even a newcomer to step onto the ice for the first time. No matter the allure, there is a wide range of current-generation titles that put players into the sporting game of their choice. While there are a number of developers and publishers who play in this particular genre, there are two—EA Sports and 2K Sports—that dominate the market. EA Sports’ Fight Night 4 is a knockout when it comes to boxing. A strong player in this realm, THQ, is the current ringleader in terms of wrestling, with WWE SmackDown vs. Raw. When it comes to karate and fighting games, a number of publishers have kicked things up over the years in the form of offerings such as Midway/Warner Bros. Interactive’s Mortal Kombat. Without question, the big successes in sports titles are linked deals between the developers and sports franchises (the NFL, NCAA, NBA) or individuals (Tony Hawk, Tiger Woods, John Madden)—games that feature real leagues, real teams, real players, real competition. Working toward the premise of “the more real, the better,” EA Sports recently released MMA, a mixed martial arts title that EA Tiburon computer graphics supervisor Kevin Noone describes as a true fight simulator rather than a mashing game. “From the start, creating completely realistic human fighters was our top priority,” he says. “In the past, fighting games have tended to be more about mashing a lot of buttons than simulating a real fight. For EA Sports’ MMA, not only would the skin, hair, sweat, and blood of the fighters need to look absolutely real, but the contact and overall interaction of the fighters would be a fully accurate simulation.” 12 January/February 2011

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