Introducing the EA Sports "Live Broadcast" Mode

Electronic Arts announced a new online feature for EA Sports MMA, which could be revolutionary. IGN describes:

I'm sure EA Sports MMA will have the requisite quick match and ranked match features that we all expect, but the real bread and butter is the Live Broadcast mode. Basically this allows for players to compete for real-world prizes in-game and build up personas online. But how do you earn the right to compete in one of these Live Broadcasts? Well, there are a few ways. The first is obviously just being damn good at EA Sports MMA and ascending the leaderboards. But EA Sports also wants to incorporate active community members into the mix along with members with standout personalities. How can you show your personality in-game, you ask? Well, that's probably the coolest part of all of this.

In order to generate a following online, players will be able to create their own hype videos. If selected to appear in a Live Broadcast, these videos are going to play pre-fight. I saw one video that a father filmed for his online character. The video featured his son talking massive amounts of smack to the opponent in various spots around the house. It was made all the cuter by the fact that his son was around four years old and the video contained plenty of bleeps to cover up supposed swear words. The point is that players can put whatever they want in these videos (no obscene content, of course) to bring out their MMA character and win over fans. All you need to do is film yourself being ridiculous, upload it to EA Sports' website and you're good to go.

Read the rest at IGN.com

It's definitely an interesting concept and sort of fits into the concept of prize fighting for a purse (a pessimist would call this bribing the audience). It's definitely a progressive development and could help establish EA Sports MMA as a potential Esport but there are still two key questions: How much of an audience is there for a MMA videogames? Will the gameplay be high enough quality to get people to play?

If you have the answer to those two questions then you will know whether or not EA Sports MMA will be a success.

Updated with E3 trailer: It looks like Undisputed wins the graphic battle.