The first mixed martial arts game, simply Ultimate Fighting Championship, was released way back in 2000, but it took nine years (including a five-year hiatus) for the sport to emerge as a successful video game sub-genre. THQ's UFC Undisputed series has enjoyed two years of positive critical and commercial reception. Now, EA is reaching for its own slice of the pie, introducing its UFC competitor, EA Sports MMA.

In the back of EA's E3 booth, I spent some time with MMA -- I even fought a few random show floor attendees, mostly in the game -- and discovered that while EA Sports' offering is still a ways away from being a lifelike recreation of the sport, from a gameplay standpoint, it's a pretty decent game.