Here we go again! MLBPA exclusively licensed [Archive]

Killtacular

01-24-2005, 04:20 PM

What the heck? MLBPA? Take 2? Forgive my ignorance. Has Take 2 ever made a Baseball game?
Take 2 publishes the SEGA/Visual Concepts sports games, I believe.

krazymed

01-24-2005, 04:21 PM

Pandora's Box has been opened. How long before we see "The World Series presented by Take Two," or "The Electronic Arts Super Bowl presented by ESPN?"

Weatherman

01-24-2005, 04:39 PM

Weirder and weirder the sports videogame world gets. Oy vey.:rolleyes:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but has Take2 delveloped any of the games in house, so to speak?

PaQ

01-24-2005, 04:57 PM

Man, this is worse than the football one because MVP was by far the best game for baseball.. and now Take Two does something like that. GAH! :mad:

Behonkiss

01-24-2005, 05:12 PM

What, so now Take 2 is as evil as EA? Don't start acting silly, everyone.

Conekiller

01-24-2005, 05:36 PM

I'm glad I don't give 2 whits about sports games, or I'd be pissed.

Nimbleness

01-24-2005, 06:26 PM

Those tricksters.

Beginning in 2006, Take2 will have exclusive rights among third-party publishers to develop and market simulation, arcade and manager-style baseball video games on the current and next-generation PlayStation, X-BOX, Nintendo, personal computer and hand-held video game systems.

Furthermore, incase that doesn't sink in.

At the same time, manufacturers of video game systems will have the opportunity to develop and publish baseball simulation games for their own platforms.

In short, they're cutting EA(basically) out of the picture, and leaving some leeway for competition.

That, or I could go out on a limb, and say they were pinching pennies.

Demonic Raven

01-24-2005, 07:01 PM

I'm glad I don't give 2 whits about sports games, or I'd be pissed. I hear ya. It's alot more entertaining to sit back and watch this liscensing war going on.

Soon, everything is going to be exclusive and no one has any competition in their respective realm. A dark day for sport game fans indeed.

Beat

01-24-2005, 07:14 PM

So Sega strikes back...

I feel bad for the NHL. No one wants to buy them.:p

TheBaldOneMpls

01-24-2005, 07:43 PM

Youko Recca

01-24-2005, 08:32 PM

Eh, I don't think sports are the best genre in the video game world. As I'd rather be out in the field laying out people personally, and believe I do, but while I'm not pissed I am showing my distaste for the such acts that EA have been commiting lately. Sports games I touch are mainly basketball and football, never really cared much to virtually play baseball at all.

Captain Harlock

01-24-2005, 09:15 PM

Man, the one game that EA does right (Baseball), and they can't do it anymore. I suppose they are partly to blame for starting this new trend of having exclusive rights. I really hope that all of these exclusive deals fail. If mediocre sports titles come out because of this, I really won't want to play them.

AF$

01-25-2005, 12:50 AM

I don't know if this was a big middle finger at EA or not, but it could backfire disasterously. They got the MLBPA license... but not MLB license. So there's still a posibility for Triple Play 2006. And, in a worst case scenario, EA could scoop up an exclusive deal with MLB, meaning that there wouldn't be a decent baseball game for the life of the next gen systems.
This seriously wouldn't surprise me, after all this is how most games were in the 16 and 8 bit eras. EA Sports had the MLBPA license and had all of the players but not the teams in their "MLBPA Baseball" title, but Nintendo had an MLB license for the teams in their Ken Griffey series games but had made up players. Actually, if EA can still use the teams, I really won't care, as I'll probably just download a roster patch or something of the like.

RAINMAN

01-25-2005, 12:58 AM

I`m so glad I don`t play sports games. I think everybit of it is funny.:anime:

krazymed

01-25-2005, 06:09 AM

This just in: Sega has officially pulled out of the sports market all together, as they sold the Visual Concepts studio to Take-Two for a lowly 24 million dollars. At least that's what Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/24/news_6117016.html) is saying.

Sega was planning to dump Visual for a while, and now that the ESPN name is gone, it was only a matter of time. I don't know how Visual/Take-Two are going to market future baseball games as well as they would have with the ESPN name, though.

I think EA won (they got rid of Sega in about a month), but gamers are ultimately going to lose...

Demonic Raven

01-25-2005, 09:23 AM

I think we all saw this coming. Sega was just about out of options in the now hectic sports games market.

EA is playing reeeaaal dirty right about now.

SSJPabs

01-25-2005, 12:33 PM

It seems that while EA signed an exclusive liscense, Take-2 signed an exclusive THIRD PARTY liscense which is somewhat different. I've heard some advocacy of this before, and I'm of two minds about it. It'll be interesting to see which direction this takes.

Also note, it's only the players association that signed this. The League itself as far as I can tell, is still up for grabs.

krazymed

01-25-2005, 06:27 PM

EA's reaction, courtesy of a Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/25/news_6117011.html) article...

Electronic Arts vice president of corporate communications Jeff Brown said the deal is one his company wouldn't have made. "As far as we're concerned, this looks like stupid money," he said. "They are paying an exclusive price for a nonexclusive agreement." But, Brown added, "[this] proves that there is still competition in sports games." A genre, Brown said, "we [at EA] take real serious."
"Stupid money?" Look who's talking...

AF$

01-26-2005, 03:24 AM

EA's reaction, courtesy of a Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/25/news_6117011.html) article...

"Stupid money?" Look who's talking...
If you are referring to EA's recent (or not even) licenses, they are FAR from stupid. It may paint the company in a rather greedy light, but from a business standpoint these are good decisions for them. If they have the money to keep up with it, why not? As has been witnessed, their recent purchases have all but eliminated Sega from the sports market, just when they were starting to pose an rather decent threat. You may not agree with what EA has done (heck, almost no one does), but for their company and its bottom line these are good moves.

krazymed

01-26-2005, 03:54 AM

I was making reference to the hypocrisy of what EA said, as opposed to the actual "stupidity" of the deal.

Dogbert

01-27-2005, 12:16 PM

I know the ban of 3rd party MLB games isn't in effect yet, but I find it interesting that Nintendo has just annouced a 1st party MLB game for GCN.

http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Story/200501/N05.0127.1021.57275.htm

BabyBear

01-27-2005, 05:52 PM

i don't really kare (care) 4 sport's game's but i do like some of the foot-ball games! and maybe some of the basket-ball games!:chilly:

silverwings

01-27-2005, 06:11 PM

I know the ban of 3rd party MLB games isn't in effect yet, but I find it interesting that Nintendo has just annouced a 1st party MLB game for GCN.
This is perfectly legal, you know. The take-two deal only affects 3rd party MLB games. Nintendo's game is first party, so it's perfectly fair for them to use the license.

Personally, I think it's great and if it has the Nintendo name on it, it must be good. :) And putting the MVP of the most recent WS was a great idea. Everyone loves the Bo-Sox. :p

I just want to know what this means for Mario Baseball...

RAINMAN

01-28-2005, 01:27 AM

I was making reference to the hypocrisy of what EA said, as opposed to the actual "stupidity" of the deal.

EA is just mad cause they ben outsmarted.

Dogbert

01-28-2005, 08:02 AM

This is perfectly legal, you know. The take-two deal only affects 3rd party MLB games. Nintendo's game is first party, so it's perfectly fair for them to use the license.I know. That's why I called it a ban on 3rd party games and the Nintendo game 1st party.