Issue 103
July 2013
Not even his recent brush with PlayStation-stealing burglars could quell the UFC light heavyweight’s love for video games
Are you quite into video games?
“Yeah, I’m playing FIFA 13 now and Call of Duty, but I’m tired of Call of Duty. So I’m playing soccer now. My friends were playing so I started playing and now I like it.”
Have you been playing games for a long time?
“Yeah, from when I was very young. I had a Sega and a Nintendo. When I was between eight and 10, we were always playing video games. It’s something I grew up with. I have good memories of Sega. I know I wanted it very bad so I got it on my birthday after complaining a lot so I was happy with that.”
What’s the first game you remember playing?
“Atari, those stupid games. I don’t remember the games, but there was one red guy and one blue guy and that’s what I was playing with my brother. And I had some tank game. But those were old games.”
What’s your favorite game ever?
“I like shooting games but I’m tired of them also. You kill someone, you get killed; I don’t know, maybe I’m getting too old for it (laughs). I’ve played games like Grand Theft Auto and everything but now I like soccer. There’s more strategy, it’s a little bit tactical. I think my taste is changing in games.”
Have you ever been into fighting games?
“No, I had Street Fighter. I used to play that a lot but that was a long time ago. My character was the guy wearing the white gi I believe; I think it was Ryu. That guy, Ryu, had the best kicks and punches, stuff like that. You had to play with that, and against other characters the kicks and punches were more effective.”
Do you play iPhone games or anything these days? Have you got any games you’re addicted to?
“Yeah, I do but I download a game, I play it a lot and then afterward I’m finished and I change the game. I played Angry Birds just to finish the game, but they have like a hundred levels, so it’s taking a while. But it’s not fun anymore. I’m just playing it just to finish it. You think,
‘I have to finish the game.’ I don’t know even why but…”
QUICKFIRE
Sega or Nintendo? Sega
Sonic or Mario? Mario
Three games on a desert island? “Call of Duty, Streets of Rage, FIFA 13.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Video Game History of MMA: SERGEANT SLAUGHTER
You won’t find many games that successfully predicted the UFC’s payment structure well over a decade early, but 1991’s utterly appalling Slaughter Sport did.
A Sega Genesis (Sega Mega Drive everywhere but the US) port of a late-80s PC game, which managed to accurately retain the anti-intuitive control scheme from one system to the other, Slaughter Sport gave you the opportunity to ‘control’ a roster of alien-like creatures in order to fight your way through a tournament-like set-up. Unlike more or less any game before or since, but somewhat like the UFC’s current remuneration system, the scrap’s winner earned a fight purse based upon the amount of successful attacks both competitors landed. Sound anything like the way UFC lightweight and ‘Fight of the Night’ addict Joe Lauzon earns his living to you?
Cunningly, you could then apply that money to bettering your abilities. And if that’s not a premonition for UFC warriors dropping dollar on flying to train with supercoaches like Greg Jackson and Eric Del Fierro, we don’t know what is. You could even wager some of that moolah on yourself winning your next contest – which is, of course, intensely illegal in any real-world combat discipline.
Perhaps as some metaphor for the difficulties of succeeding in the fight game, Slaughter Sport was exceedingly difficult and when your inevitable defeat occurred your limp body would be swallowed whole from underneath the floor by a green lizard-come-shark. Most players found it borderline impossible to get past the first fighter, let alone the final boss, tournament creator Mondu, an obese blob who’d taunt you after a loss.
But when you strip away the atrocious gameplay, if there’s anything a prophetic game like Slaughter Sport can teach today’s MMA gladiators, it’s that money will make robotic chickens and women with snake mohawks viciously attack you. Maybe clerical work would be safer.
image 1. For just $2 a month, you can stop this happening to Roy Nelson.
2. Obviously where Benson Henderson took inspiration for both his leg punches and his hairstyle.
3. Wow, what a way to motivate your workforce. Thanks, you’ve made us feel fantastic, we’ll try extra hard next time.
SEPARATED AT BIRTH
Roy Nelson / Rufus, Street Fighter IV
Long blond hair, rotund physique, chip on his shoulder: are we talking about UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson or Rufus from Street Fighter IV? In fact the two men are so similar there has been speculation Rufus was directly modeled on Nelson, a TUF winner and former IFL heavyweight champion. Nelson started out studying kung fu, which just happens to be Rufus’ art of expertise; Rufus is self-taught, and Nelson is famous for refusing to have a head trainer. Thankfully, they do differ in attire, though. Roy Nelson in an open-chest jumpsuit, anyone?
Lauzon's best bits
Geek and UFC 155lb contender Joe Lauzon shares morsels from his life in video games
Lauzon on the next console generation
“I think it’s to the point where you’re not going to make a console based on just having better graphics. There’s been the upgrade over the years, ‘It looks better, it does this, it does that.’ Some of the graphics are ridiculous looking but it’s not necessarily about having the best graphics, it’s about having the most fun.”
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