THQ announced this morning that across the 360 and PS3 the game has sold 3.5 million copies, and to celebrate will now be appearing on both console’s budget lines, dropping its price to $US29.99.

I’m not the world’s biggest UFC fan, but this game is great. That’s how great it is, to overcome adversity like that.

There’s UFC 2009 Undisputed going for just $59 on PS3 and 360. And there’s the 360 version of Street Fighter IV, also going for just $59.

Both are marked “Web only price. Not available in store.” Be quick!

Pucino, speaking at today’s Pacific Crest Securities Technology Leadership Forum, shrugged off worries about MMA competition from EA Sports. When asked about THQ’s competitors in the space, Pucino seemed hardly concerned with what EA Sports MMA might have to offer.

“There’s one premiere league here, and it’s the UFC,” Pucino said, saying its contract with the premiere MMA league naturally comes with the top tier fighting talent. “We have the octagon, and we have the announcers. We’d rather be in our position than any other position.”

That’s hard to argue with, as is the potential for yearly installments of THQ’s fighter to grow. Pucino pointed out that 75 per cent of the revenues it pulled in from UFC 2009 Undisputed were from the United States, the rest coming from Europe. The CFO says that its WWE games were traditionally a “a 50/50 split” between the regions, a clear sign that UFC has room to grow internationally.

The publisher has already said it plans to expand its UFC offerings in the future, targeting releases on the Wii and portable game platforms.

Yes, that’s right, we’re now publishing reader reviews here on Kotaku. This is your chance to deliver sensible game purchasing advice to the rest of the Kotaku community.

This review was submitted by Andrew Burdusel. If you’ve played UFC 2009 Undisputed, or just want to ask Andrew more about it, leave your thoughts in the comments below.

UFC 2009 Undisputed (360, PS3)
By Andrew Burdusel

UFC 2009 Undisputed is the first true recreation of MMA from flagship company UFC.

Loved
Roster: Over 80 fighters in 5 different weight classes, all of the guys you would see on TV are in the game plus some mid carders and a few unlockable fighters.

Graphics: Almost all of the fighters look spot on, animation is fluid, blows look brutal, cuts/bruises look legitimate. All of this makes landing a head kick all the more satisfying.

Move variety: All the main fighting styles you would see in the UFC are represented, this means a huge variety of moves to do. Unlike other attempts at a UFC game, this one has a good balance of stand up and ground game moves.

Hated
Steep learning curve: If you want to just kick the computers arse over and over that’s fine, but expect to put in some serious man hours if you want to hang with the online crowd. You can pretty much say goodbye to a good record if you haven’t mastered the ground defence game.

Career mode: The career mode that lasts 7 years pretty much has you go through menus and options 80% of the time. It would have been nice to have more fight night style minigames.

Inconsistency: Sometimes its incredibly easy to get the knockout by just standing and punching/kicking. The submissions on the other hand are punishing to pull off. Many people just wont bother

Online: Even the slightest lag online can cost you the match, us living in Australia get hit harder than the rest

Overall UFC 2009 Undisputed is a great game for MMA fans, but the sheer depth of the game may make others steer clear.

Reviewed by: Andrew Burdusel

You can have your Reader Review published on Kotaku. Send your review to us at the usual address. Make sure it’s written in the same format as above and in under 300 words – yes, we’ve upped the word limit. We’ll publish the best ones we get.

Neven Dravinski, UFC Producer, tells gamers that the entire development team play a lot of online matches and read the boards daily, so they are “well aware of the issues.”

“We want to make sure we patch this correctly so it is taking a bit of time, but I can confidently say we’ll be releasing this patch soon,” he said.

So far the team has worked up nine fairly significant fixes for the patch:

1. We recognise premature match quitting as the biggest online issue and have taken steps to fix it. The Patch will have integrated code that detects who pulls the cable and will assign a Loss as well as a Did Not Finish to that player. The DNF is only counted for the player who executes the disconnection. The DNF rate will be displayed on the fighter selection screen of the Online Ranked Match. When disconnected the Winning Streak is also reset to 0.

2. We’ve adjusted Ranked Matches to match up players with better connections, which will improve lag issues we’ve seen to date.

3. We’ve adjusted the difficulty of performing submissions against AI opponents to improve the balance of subs vs. striking when playing against the AI.

4. We’ve adjusted the Flash KO rate so that they are less frequent.

5. We’ve increased maximum number of points awarded in online play from 99,999 to 999,999 and we’ve increased the Max Level from 100 to 200.

6. We’ve lowered the Winning Streak Bonus Max from 5 to 3.

7. We’ve removed the decimal places on the Leaderboard Winning Percentage so we only show whole percentages.

8. We’ve addressed the CAF cheat so the skill levels in CAF cannot be cheated and increased. Also any CAF with unfair point values will no longer be able to be used Online.

9. For PS3 users we’ve also fixed a bug that causes a freeze during auto-save; whichever controller was used to Press Start on the Title Screen will be identified as the main controller.

Patch Update [Thanks Vickissv3]

Not my cup of tea, but I know how bent-out-of shape MMA enthusiasts get when you suggest the sport is anything less than the fastest growing sport in the world (I always imagine John Cusack in Say Anything: “Kickboxing: Sport of the future”,) to say nothing of that “human cockfighting” label that never seems to go away. Still if you like squatting over another guy and jackhammering his skull off a virtual canvas, looks like it’ll accommodate you nicely. And you don’t have to do it as someone in the stable of UFC combatants. A deep “create-a-fighter” and career mode will make this almost a (wait for it … wait for it) MMARPG.

Hit the jump for more details from Voodoo Extreme:

“UFC offers the fighting videogame genre a fresh and innovative look inside today’s most exciting live sporting event in the world,” said Dana White, president, UFC. “UFC 2009 Undisputed represents a significant opportunity for us to expand our growing, global audience and allow fans to step into the virtual Octagon™ to compete against the world’s most prominent mixed martial arts fighters.”

UFC 2009 is slated for a Spring 2009 release. I’ve generally been put off by the generic feel of previous UFC games, so here’s hoping THQ delivers something unique enough to hold my attention for more than 15 minutes at a time.

Leading Fighting Game Publisher THQ Set to Enter the Famed Octagon™ with UFC® 2009 Undisputed

Debut Videogame Based on Ultimate Fighting Championship®

Poised to Deliver an Extensive Roster, Commanding New Game Engine and Powerful Features

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that UFC® 2009 Undisputed, the company’s debut videogame based on the renowned Ultimate Fighting Championship® mixed martial arts organisation, is in development for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and mobile devices. Featuring an authentic and comprehensive UFC atmosphere, including an extensive roster of the best mixed martial arts fighters in the world, UFC 2009 Undisputed is expected to begin shipping to retail outlets worldwide in spring 2009.

“As the leading fighting videogame publisher(a), we feel the rising popularity of the UFC brand and its incredible mixed martial arts experience make UFC 2009 Undisputed the perfect addition to our expanding portfolio,” said Bob Aniello, senior vice president, worldwide marketing, THQ. “UFC 2009 Undisputed is certain to be the most realistic fighting game to date, including advanced collision detection and AI systems that incorporate individual fighter styles.”

“UFC offers the fighting videogame genre a fresh and innovative look inside today’s most exciting live sporting event in the world,” said Dana White, president, UFC. “UFC 2009 Undisputed represents a significant opportunity for us to expand our growing, global audience and allow fans to step into the virtual Octagon™ to compete against the world’s most prominent mixed martial arts fighters.”

About UFC 2009 Undisputed

UFC 2009 Undisputed is an explosive fighting game that will detail the action, intensity and attitude of a UFC live event. Players will explore a deep roster of more than 80 top fighters in UFC competition across all five weight classes. In addition, they will enter the Octagon surrounded by the sport’s popular commentators, announcers, referees, trainers, Octagon girls and more. Photorealistic models are at the forefront, as players will view amazing ripple effects across the faces and bodies of their fighters from the impact of devastating punches and kicks.

A brand new fighting game engine designed specifically for next generation systems will deliver innovative, responsive and easy-to-play controls that give unparalleled command of fighters, as players take down opponents with a variety of mixed martial arts disciplines like Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In addition, the game’s Create-A-Fighter system will jumpstart the careers of future champions through character customisation and training management, while a robust Career Mode will develop a fighter’s attributes and skill sets while fighting to enter the UFC Hall of Fame through a series of dynamic storylines. Furthermore, players will be able to enhance their UFC 2009 Undisputed gameplay experience through online support, including downloadable content.

More information about UFC 2009 Undisputed can be found at www.thq.com.