UFC Probes Japan with TUF, Undisputed
Tony Loiseleur Oct 13, 2009
TOKYO -- In chronicling the UFC’s measured march into the seemingly
impervious Japanese market, I find myself getting a chance to write
about two subjects I normally keep separate: video games and mixed
martial arts.
“UFC 2009 Undisputed” game developer Yukes and publisher THQ officially introduced the Japanese version of the game on Tuesday, ahead of its scheduled Oct. 15 release date. Meanwhile, Japanese premium cable provider WOWOW announced the premiere of the Japanese-dubbed “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9, which featured fighters from the United States and the United Kingdom.
Though I’m used to seeing most of the same faces from the Japanese
fight media whenever I cover events or pressers, this double-billed
presser brought out a great many people in suits that I’d never
seen before. One of my reporter friends here, Shu Inagaki -- who
coincidentally does commentary for the Japanese UFC broadcasts and
is a script supervisor on the redubbing of TUF for Japanese
television -- mentioned to me that the collected suits were people
from the local video game industry and press. It was surprising to
me, given how they outnumbered the usual suspects in local fight
reporting.
While the announcement of a localized “Undisputed” seemed to have caught the attention of the hometown gaming industry, the real treat of the afternoon was seeing how current UFC fighters from Japan reacted to it. Alongside respected fight sage and SEG-era UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Caol Uno and Yoshihiro Akiyama called the action as their in-game avatars squared off with B.J. Penn and Wanderlei Silva, respectively.
“I guess, kinda sorta, [he looks like me],” said an embarrassed Uno, who was nonetheless delighted to see his character put away Penn with a rear-naked choke in their digital rubber match.
Akiyama, on the other hand, expects to face Silva for real in February, either in Las Vegas at UFC 110, or at the UFC’s inaugural Australian event in Sydney. Like Uno, Akiyama’s character did not resemble him much at all.
“Who is that?” Akiyama asked with a chuckle, as he shot pictures of his avatar fighting a polygonal Silva. “He doesn’t really look like me, so I don’t know if I can really relate.”
He soon changed his tune, particularly after digital Akiyama put “The Axe Murderer” away with a high kick-right cross combination for the knockout win.
“OK, that feels more like me,” joked Akiyama. “I can finally relate to this character now.”
Aside from Akiyama and Uno, Yushin Okami and Takeya Mizugaki were also in attendance. While Okami teased the game as “good mental training to prepare for Anderson Silva” and pumped his already announced UFC 104 bout with Chael Sonnen, Mizugaki was the unfortunate odd man out at the press conference. The breakout bantamweight star had no fight to announce yet -- he later told me that he was supposed to, but the situation did not quite work out -- and he really could not offer anything on the game or “The Ultimate Fighter” since neither features 135-pounders.
Step-By-Step Expansion
Since MMA fans in the West are already well into the 10th season of TUF and have enjoyed Undisputed for nearly half a year, it seems curious that Japan receives both so late. I asked one of UFC’s Japan representatives why they decided to bring over Undisputed now.
“It’s kind of a harder sell in Japan because, obviously, the UFC is not as well known in Japan,” he said. “However, graphically, mechanically, Undisputed is a really good game. There’s no question over the quality of the game, so it’s just a matter of getting it out there and increasing our name value.”
Colin Mack, THQ’s “Fighting Group” general manager, also pointed to publishing arrangements between THQ and Yukes, the desire by Yukes to put out high-quality localization and certain cultural differences regarding MMA as factors that contributed to the game’s late arrival in Japan.
“It’s funny,” Mack said, “my wife is Japanese, and she still can’t get over the cage, so I think there are a number of cultural differences toward MMA. It’ll take some time here.”
Still, anyone who has watched the steady rise of the UFC back in the states knows Zuffa remains in the business of spreading a global brand, if not a global standard for the sport -- cage and unified rules included. Likewise, when asked if Undisputed would feature any region-specific additions or modifications to cater to Japanese consumers, Mack indicated the game would be kept standard all over the world in adherence to the UFC’s “global spread.”
“Going forward, we may start looking at doing different things for different territories, but for the most part, the UFC is becoming a global brand,” Mack said. “I think what we want to do is work along with the UFC’s global spread and bring the whole brand everywhere.”
This may be where the UFC game works best for enhancing Zuffa’s awareness campaign. Being that the UFC and “The Ultimate Fighter” are broadcast on the premium cable channel WOWOW, the UFC’s reach in Japan remains limited at best. Though WOWOW’s subscription base has steadily grown, its subscribership as of March 2008 was approximately 2.4 million households -- a mere fraction of the 48 million television-viewing households in Japan. Given the popularity of an entertainment and gaming platform like Sony’s Playstation 3 in Japan, the UFC now has the potential to reach a much wider audience than it previously could.
As a marketing tool to further familiarize the Japanese audience with American cage fighting, Undisputed fits the bill well. Mack, along with the UFC’s Japan staff, seems convinced that after selling three million copies worldwide, Undisputed’s tardy release and subsequent performance in Japan can only improve the visibility of the UFC product there.
“I don’t know when [the UFC is] going to be able to do another live event here, but for now, making the big push with WOWOW and getting the game out here is important,” Mack said. “Even though it’s not going to be a huge game like ‘Dragon Quest’ or something, it still brings attention to the sport and the UFC.”
The game and the reality show represent the latest additions to the vanguard the UFC has set up to probe the Japanese market. These experimental steps began earlier this year, when the UFC set up its first Japanese Web page and a fan group on MIXI -- Japan’s most popular invitation-only social networking site. Though the Japanese UFC site only gets about 10 percent of the traffic that its stateside counterpart garners, interest has slowly risen according to UFC’s Japan representatives, boosted perhaps by the availability of World Extreme Cagefighting and UFC Fight Night live streams; those are events WOWOW does not broadcast.
The end goal remains holding live UFC events in Japan. The difficulties of doing so have not been lost on the UFC’s Japan representatives, though they plan to press forward regardless.
“With Japan, particularly, we’re taking new media steps before we really jump into holding an event here,” the UFC representative said. “We’re not going to just dive in and spend a lot of money to invest in a new market without having tested the waters first. Our new initiatives are targeted towards media outlets not just in sports or combat-sports but also in video games and other channels that have mass appeal here. Today's event was a success in that we were able to bring out over 160 media outlets in TV like Samurai TV, in print-media, online portals, music and lifestyle magazines like Rolling Stone Japan, and the number one gaming magazine here in Famitsu. It’s something that will take some time, but we’re patient and we’re not necessarily in a rush to get into this market. We just want to do it steadily and slowly."
This article was updated at 11:12 p.m. EST on Oct. 13 to include outlets that attended.
“UFC 2009 Undisputed” game developer Yukes and publisher THQ officially introduced the Japanese version of the game on Tuesday, ahead of its scheduled Oct. 15 release date. Meanwhile, Japanese premium cable provider WOWOW announced the premiere of the Japanese-dubbed “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 9, which featured fighters from the United States and the United Kingdom.
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While the announcement of a localized “Undisputed” seemed to have caught the attention of the hometown gaming industry, the real treat of the afternoon was seeing how current UFC fighters from Japan reacted to it. Alongside respected fight sage and SEG-era UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kosaka, Caol Uno and Yoshihiro Akiyama called the action as their in-game avatars squared off with B.J. Penn and Wanderlei Silva, respectively.
Since neither Uno nor Akiyama were signed to the UFC during the
development of Undisputed, their characters had to be hastily made
from the game’s create-a-fighter mode for the demo.
“I guess, kinda sorta, [he looks like me],” said an embarrassed Uno, who was nonetheless delighted to see his character put away Penn with a rear-naked choke in their digital rubber match.
Akiyama, on the other hand, expects to face Silva for real in February, either in Las Vegas at UFC 110, or at the UFC’s inaugural Australian event in Sydney. Like Uno, Akiyama’s character did not resemble him much at all.
“Who is that?” Akiyama asked with a chuckle, as he shot pictures of his avatar fighting a polygonal Silva. “He doesn’t really look like me, so I don’t know if I can really relate.”
He soon changed his tune, particularly after digital Akiyama put “The Axe Murderer” away with a high kick-right cross combination for the knockout win.
“OK, that feels more like me,” joked Akiyama. “I can finally relate to this character now.”
Aside from Akiyama and Uno, Yushin Okami and Takeya Mizugaki were also in attendance. While Okami teased the game as “good mental training to prepare for Anderson Silva” and pumped his already announced UFC 104 bout with Chael Sonnen, Mizugaki was the unfortunate odd man out at the press conference. The breakout bantamweight star had no fight to announce yet -- he later told me that he was supposed to, but the situation did not quite work out -- and he really could not offer anything on the game or “The Ultimate Fighter” since neither features 135-pounders.
Step-By-Step Expansion
Since MMA fans in the West are already well into the 10th season of TUF and have enjoyed Undisputed for nearly half a year, it seems curious that Japan receives both so late. I asked one of UFC’s Japan representatives why they decided to bring over Undisputed now.
“It’s kind of a harder sell in Japan because, obviously, the UFC is not as well known in Japan,” he said. “However, graphically, mechanically, Undisputed is a really good game. There’s no question over the quality of the game, so it’s just a matter of getting it out there and increasing our name value.”
Colin Mack, THQ’s “Fighting Group” general manager, also pointed to publishing arrangements between THQ and Yukes, the desire by Yukes to put out high-quality localization and certain cultural differences regarding MMA as factors that contributed to the game’s late arrival in Japan.
“It’s funny,” Mack said, “my wife is Japanese, and she still can’t get over the cage, so I think there are a number of cultural differences toward MMA. It’ll take some time here.”
Still, anyone who has watched the steady rise of the UFC back in the states knows Zuffa remains in the business of spreading a global brand, if not a global standard for the sport -- cage and unified rules included. Likewise, when asked if Undisputed would feature any region-specific additions or modifications to cater to Japanese consumers, Mack indicated the game would be kept standard all over the world in adherence to the UFC’s “global spread.”
“Going forward, we may start looking at doing different things for different territories, but for the most part, the UFC is becoming a global brand,” Mack said. “I think what we want to do is work along with the UFC’s global spread and bring the whole brand everywhere.”
This may be where the UFC game works best for enhancing Zuffa’s awareness campaign. Being that the UFC and “The Ultimate Fighter” are broadcast on the premium cable channel WOWOW, the UFC’s reach in Japan remains limited at best. Though WOWOW’s subscription base has steadily grown, its subscribership as of March 2008 was approximately 2.4 million households -- a mere fraction of the 48 million television-viewing households in Japan. Given the popularity of an entertainment and gaming platform like Sony’s Playstation 3 in Japan, the UFC now has the potential to reach a much wider audience than it previously could.
As a marketing tool to further familiarize the Japanese audience with American cage fighting, Undisputed fits the bill well. Mack, along with the UFC’s Japan staff, seems convinced that after selling three million copies worldwide, Undisputed’s tardy release and subsequent performance in Japan can only improve the visibility of the UFC product there.
“I don’t know when [the UFC is] going to be able to do another live event here, but for now, making the big push with WOWOW and getting the game out here is important,” Mack said. “Even though it’s not going to be a huge game like ‘Dragon Quest’ or something, it still brings attention to the sport and the UFC.”
The game and the reality show represent the latest additions to the vanguard the UFC has set up to probe the Japanese market. These experimental steps began earlier this year, when the UFC set up its first Japanese Web page and a fan group on MIXI -- Japan’s most popular invitation-only social networking site. Though the Japanese UFC site only gets about 10 percent of the traffic that its stateside counterpart garners, interest has slowly risen according to UFC’s Japan representatives, boosted perhaps by the availability of World Extreme Cagefighting and UFC Fight Night live streams; those are events WOWOW does not broadcast.
The end goal remains holding live UFC events in Japan. The difficulties of doing so have not been lost on the UFC’s Japan representatives, though they plan to press forward regardless.
“With Japan, particularly, we’re taking new media steps before we really jump into holding an event here,” the UFC representative said. “We’re not going to just dive in and spend a lot of money to invest in a new market without having tested the waters first. Our new initiatives are targeted towards media outlets not just in sports or combat-sports but also in video games and other channels that have mass appeal here. Today's event was a success in that we were able to bring out over 160 media outlets in TV like Samurai TV, in print-media, online portals, music and lifestyle magazines like Rolling Stone Japan, and the number one gaming magazine here in Famitsu. It’s something that will take some time, but we’re patient and we’re not necessarily in a rush to get into this market. We just want to do it steadily and slowly."
This article was updated at 11:12 p.m. EST on Oct. 13 to include outlets that attended.
