duncan228
12-17-2009, 02:17 PM
He wants to kick Monopoly's butt (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/siciliano-224454-game-mma.html)
By Brittany Levine
The Orange County Register
San Clemente man creates Mixed Martial Arts board game.
Brett Siciliano wishes he could be taller, cuter and the best mixed martial arts fighter ever.
In real life, that may never happen. But on a board game that replaces the choke holds and head kicks of real mixed martial arts with "fight dice," Siciliano can be a lean, mean fighting machine.
A few months ago, the San Clemente resident started selling just such a game, something he's invented, "Extreme Fight Games." One of the game figures, Mike "The Massacre" Siciliano, is his MMA alter ego. Both have an injured ankle, strong jaws and a dark Italian look.
The game is just another in a growing line of MMA-connected products that are gaining success as mixed martial arts grows up as a mainstream sport.
Siciliano's obsession with MMA started long before the sport turned up on Spike TV. As a student at Long Beach State in the early 1990s, Siciliano shared an apartment with Kimo Leopoldo, a mixed martial arts fighter who was one of the first to be involved in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Siciliano learned about MMA from his roommate – and he was hooked.
"There's no team. There's nobody except you. And, then, it's boom, boom, boom! Llike a car accident," says Siciliano, 40, who admits he collects MMA action figures, which he, unashamedly, calls dolls.
Still, Siciliano's career – until now – hasn't been connected to MMA. In the 1990s he tried law school for a couple years, but dropped out. And he was into real estate until earlier this year, when the housing market collapse led to him losing his job and three properties.
So, earlier this year – noting that MMA-related apparel companies like TapouT were booming even in a down economy – Siciliano sold his Hummer and his Rolex and put money into his board game.
For the former Dungeons and Dragons fan, it was very doable.
ROLE PLAYER
Like MMA itself, Extreme Fight Games isn't so much about strategy.
Two players at a time choose from among four characters who do battle against each other. The characters, which come with detailed back stories, aren't real MMA fighters (such as those used in the MMA-licensed video game "Undisputed"), but are, instead, products of Siciliano's imagination.
There's "Mike," who sort of looks like the creator and grew up in Huntington Beach before attending "Long Beach Tech College." He also happens to be reigning champion in Siciliano's made-up league.
Then there's Jessica "The Heat" Tia. She's not just the token girl (though her game bio says she was the only female in her imaginary college boxing class of 70), she's also a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. And she's an homage to Siciliano's sister, Jessica, who, at age 35, died after an overdose of prescription drugs on Christmas Day, 2005. Their father had died, also of a drug overdose, in 1998.
Siciliano put the cash he got from selling Jessica's gold jewelry into his game, too.
Not all the figures in the game stem from Siciliano's life. He wanted to show the international nature of mixed martial arts, so he threw in fighters from Brazil and Japan. He hopes the fighter's bios and colorful drawings illustrating different MMA moves help his game make it to the big leagues.
He has another hope, too.
"Monopoly's been around forever," Siciliano says.
"It's time for it to get its butt kicked."
IS IT SELLING?
Just like the real MMA ring, Siciliano's game is covered in corporate sponsors. Companies such as TapouT and LA Boxing advertise inside the game, offering special coupons to players and boosting Siciliano's sales revenue.
"The public has taken control of MMA," says Marc Kreiner, president of TapouT. "MMA is the hottest sport in 100 years and now you got a board game. We had a strong interest in supporting that."
Siciliano's primary market is youths just getting into the sport. He sponsors a few fighters in local junior mixed marital arts tournaments, little boys with Mohawks who wear uniforms plastered with Extreme Fight Games logo during competitions.
"I see parents saying... 'My kid's a fighter," Siciliano says. "No more 'My kid's an Eagle Scout.'"
His original plan was to have the game's cover show players covered in blood. But Siciliano – who says he learned about warning labels during his stint in law school – thought such gore wouldn't fly when it came to marketing to kids. So he toned down the imagery and slapped some warning labels on the box.
"Warning! Do not attempt any techniques in this game. Doing so could result in serious injury," one label reads. The game is also recommended for players 13 and older.
Siciliano recently urged his former roomie, 41-year-old Leopoldo, to play a young girl. The girl, 10, won.
GAME ON!
The game is Siciliano's last chance to dig out of an economic hole. If it doesn't sell, he says, he may lose his home. Then where will he put the dozens of games he keeps in his garage ready to market to all passersby?
To date, he's made 2,500 games and sold a few hundred, mostly online and through local retailers.
Kyle Ennis, manager at OTM Fight Shop in Huntington Beach, which carries Extreme Fight Games, thinks it'll be a strong seller. He said it's perfect for parents looking for a safe way to start their children in the sport.
"It's not the white noise that everybody's talking about," Ennis says, explaining that the MMA apparel market is already overcrowded.
When a spokesman from Ultimate Fighting Championship – the Las Vegas-based company that promotes many of the biggest MMA matches - was asked about the board game, he said the company doesn't comment on non-UFC products. But he did say that he expects MMA-related products to sell well because the sport has caught fire in the marketplace.
Along with the warning labels, the box features a Bible verse, John 3:16. It's the same one that can be found on In-N-Out wrappers.
Siciliano can rattle off the verse by heart, which promises eternal life to believers.
"I don't see myself as such a bright guy," he says. "This (game) was divine intervention."
By Brittany Levine
The Orange County Register
San Clemente man creates Mixed Martial Arts board game.
Brett Siciliano wishes he could be taller, cuter and the best mixed martial arts fighter ever.
In real life, that may never happen. But on a board game that replaces the choke holds and head kicks of real mixed martial arts with "fight dice," Siciliano can be a lean, mean fighting machine.
A few months ago, the San Clemente resident started selling just such a game, something he's invented, "Extreme Fight Games." One of the game figures, Mike "The Massacre" Siciliano, is his MMA alter ego. Both have an injured ankle, strong jaws and a dark Italian look.
The game is just another in a growing line of MMA-connected products that are gaining success as mixed martial arts grows up as a mainstream sport.
Siciliano's obsession with MMA started long before the sport turned up on Spike TV. As a student at Long Beach State in the early 1990s, Siciliano shared an apartment with Kimo Leopoldo, a mixed martial arts fighter who was one of the first to be involved in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Siciliano learned about MMA from his roommate – and he was hooked.
"There's no team. There's nobody except you. And, then, it's boom, boom, boom! Llike a car accident," says Siciliano, 40, who admits he collects MMA action figures, which he, unashamedly, calls dolls.
Still, Siciliano's career – until now – hasn't been connected to MMA. In the 1990s he tried law school for a couple years, but dropped out. And he was into real estate until earlier this year, when the housing market collapse led to him losing his job and three properties.
So, earlier this year – noting that MMA-related apparel companies like TapouT were booming even in a down economy – Siciliano sold his Hummer and his Rolex and put money into his board game.
For the former Dungeons and Dragons fan, it was very doable.
ROLE PLAYER
Like MMA itself, Extreme Fight Games isn't so much about strategy.
Two players at a time choose from among four characters who do battle against each other. The characters, which come with detailed back stories, aren't real MMA fighters (such as those used in the MMA-licensed video game "Undisputed"), but are, instead, products of Siciliano's imagination.
There's "Mike," who sort of looks like the creator and grew up in Huntington Beach before attending "Long Beach Tech College." He also happens to be reigning champion in Siciliano's made-up league.
Then there's Jessica "The Heat" Tia. She's not just the token girl (though her game bio says she was the only female in her imaginary college boxing class of 70), she's also a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. And she's an homage to Siciliano's sister, Jessica, who, at age 35, died after an overdose of prescription drugs on Christmas Day, 2005. Their father had died, also of a drug overdose, in 1998.
Siciliano put the cash he got from selling Jessica's gold jewelry into his game, too.
Not all the figures in the game stem from Siciliano's life. He wanted to show the international nature of mixed martial arts, so he threw in fighters from Brazil and Japan. He hopes the fighter's bios and colorful drawings illustrating different MMA moves help his game make it to the big leagues.
He has another hope, too.
"Monopoly's been around forever," Siciliano says.
"It's time for it to get its butt kicked."
IS IT SELLING?
Just like the real MMA ring, Siciliano's game is covered in corporate sponsors. Companies such as TapouT and LA Boxing advertise inside the game, offering special coupons to players and boosting Siciliano's sales revenue.
"The public has taken control of MMA," says Marc Kreiner, president of TapouT. "MMA is the hottest sport in 100 years and now you got a board game. We had a strong interest in supporting that."
Siciliano's primary market is youths just getting into the sport. He sponsors a few fighters in local junior mixed marital arts tournaments, little boys with Mohawks who wear uniforms plastered with Extreme Fight Games logo during competitions.
"I see parents saying... 'My kid's a fighter," Siciliano says. "No more 'My kid's an Eagle Scout.'"
His original plan was to have the game's cover show players covered in blood. But Siciliano – who says he learned about warning labels during his stint in law school – thought such gore wouldn't fly when it came to marketing to kids. So he toned down the imagery and slapped some warning labels on the box.
"Warning! Do not attempt any techniques in this game. Doing so could result in serious injury," one label reads. The game is also recommended for players 13 and older.
Siciliano recently urged his former roomie, 41-year-old Leopoldo, to play a young girl. The girl, 10, won.
GAME ON!
The game is Siciliano's last chance to dig out of an economic hole. If it doesn't sell, he says, he may lose his home. Then where will he put the dozens of games he keeps in his garage ready to market to all passersby?
To date, he's made 2,500 games and sold a few hundred, mostly online and through local retailers.
Kyle Ennis, manager at OTM Fight Shop in Huntington Beach, which carries Extreme Fight Games, thinks it'll be a strong seller. He said it's perfect for parents looking for a safe way to start their children in the sport.
"It's not the white noise that everybody's talking about," Ennis says, explaining that the MMA apparel market is already overcrowded.
When a spokesman from Ultimate Fighting Championship – the Las Vegas-based company that promotes many of the biggest MMA matches - was asked about the board game, he said the company doesn't comment on non-UFC products. But he did say that he expects MMA-related products to sell well because the sport has caught fire in the marketplace.
Along with the warning labels, the box features a Bible verse, John 3:16. It's the same one that can be found on In-N-Out wrappers.
Siciliano can rattle off the verse by heart, which promises eternal life to believers.
"I don't see myself as such a bright guy," he says. "This (game) was divine intervention."