SEGA buys MLB exclusive rights

[Crapshoot]

http://sports.ign.com/articles/580/580468p1.html

Punch, and Counter Punch. Interesting. Football is a bigger seller than Baseball, but its still a move no one would expect- EA doesnt get shut out of markets often.

[vtbub]

SEGA=FOX SPORTS?

[Eaglesfan27]

I really hope Sega gets the NBA sim license rather than EA Sports.

[sabotai]

"Word is, it could be an exclusive third party contract, meaning first-party publishers like Sony (989), Microsoft, and Nintendo will still be able to publish games using the real players and teams, but surprisingly, it's mega power EA who will be cut out of the loop."

Ha ha! Nice.

[Farrah Whitworth-Rahn]

"Word is, it could be an exclusive third party contract, meaning first-party publishers like Sony (989), Microsoft, and Nintendo will still be able to publish games using the real players and teams, but surprisingly, it's mega power EA who will be cut out of the loop."

Ha ha! Nice.

These SEGA folks sound like my kind of businessmen.

Wonder what impact this will have on OOTP7.

[Eaglesfan27]

These SEGA folks sound like my kind of businessmen.

Wonder what impact this will have on OOTP7.
Should be good for OOTP7, assuming that SI Games are going to continue their partnership with SEGA in upcoming years.

[SirFozzie]

it's visual concepts/take two interactive, not sega.

[SackAttack]

"Word is, it could be an exclusive third party contract, meaning first-party publishers like Sony (989), Microsoft, and Nintendo will still be able to publish games using the real players and teams, but surprisingly, it's mega power EA who will be cut out of the loop."

Ha ha! Nice.

What makes it even better is that Microsoft and Sony don't publish first-party baseball games anyway. Well, Microsoft could, as they own the High Heat code, but that's far from a certain thing. Nintendo just does their own thing and doesn't worry about real players and such. Sony still publishes one, but this is a blow for the resurgent MVP Baseball franchise.

Let's see how EA likes swallowing some of their own medicine.

[TazFTW]

Fuck Visual Concepts

[sterlingice]

"Word is, it could be an exclusive third party contract, meaning first-party publishers like Sony (989), Microsoft, and Nintendo will still be able to publish games using the real players and teams, but surprisingly, it's mega power EA who will be cut out of the loop."

Ha ha! Nice. Hark, is that sound I hear the Microsoft sports line starting back up? (probably not but what the hell)

SI

[SirFozzie]

Fuck Visual Concepts

Hey, EA made the war, they're being fairer then EA. VC is locking out one company (EA) who does baseball, EA is locking out EVERYONE who does pro football games

[maximus]

Should be good for OOTP7, assuming that SI Games are going to continue their partnership with SEGA in upcoming years.


I agree. I just hope OOTP7 will keep the customization that has made the series so great. I like playing with fictional leagues and players.

**I haven't been to the OOTP boards lately so I do not know if Markus is keeping the customization options/features intact for OOTP7**

[Kodos]

This also annoys me, but at least it gives EA a taste of their own medicine. Of course, I have never bought any baseball game.

[TazFTW]

Hey, EA made the war, they're being fairer then EA. VC is locking out one company (EA) who does baseball, EA is locking out EVERYONE who does pro football games

When has VC made a game for the PC? Never.

MLB going exclusive to VC will means no PC game unless Microsoft decides to make one and when has one of their sports games been any good. Heck, didn't Microsoft buy the High Heat franchise? Nice use of that money...

EA was pretty much the sole provider for sports games for the PC. No EA=no PC and MVP 2004 was pretty good and became even better with the mod community.

[Noop]

http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/3/3_4_4v.gif

So yeah...

[ISiddiqui]

n/m

[SirFozzie]

They'd probably partner with VC/Take Two the way they've already been doing

[SackAttack]

When has VC made a game for the PC? Never.

MLB going exclusive to VC will means no PC game unless Microsoft decides to make one and when has one of their sports games been any good. Heck, didn't Microsoft buy the High Heat franchise? Nice use of that money...

EA was pretty much the sole provider for sports games for the PC. No EA=no PC and MVP 2004 was pretty good and became even better with the mod community.

Again, don't blame VC on this one. EA drew first blood, and VC had to respond in kind or risk EA beating them to the remaining licenses. As far as Microsoft goes, they're effectively irrelevant on the PC, since the license appears to be "third-party exclusive."

Which means Microsoft could publish High Heat on Xbox, but not on PC, since all publishers on PC are effectively third-party.

Yeah, it sucks for PC gamers. They're getting squeezed on this one, for sure. But my hope is that Sega is able to acquire similar licenses for the other remaining sports, freezing EA out, but allowing Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo to publish alternatives. Maybe that would send EA a little message about the wisdom of attempting hegemony in the free market.

[SackAttack]

Dola,

Sega has never published PC sports games before, but with an exclusive 3rd party license, who's to say they won't take advantage of their newfound "exclusivity" on the PC? They're not there yet, but they're the only party empowered to be there once the i's are dotted and the t's crossed on this deal.

PC gamers lose MVP 2004...but who's to say Sega won't fill the void with their own baseball game?

[Comey]

Blame EA for starting this BS. Not Visual Concepts; they're only doing what's going to keep them afloat.

[Ragone]

this is kinda sad because mvp baseball was finally coming around to be a decent product

[Neon_Chaos]

hold on, i thought that the NFL came to the game companies and offered exclusive licensing for the highest bidder, and not the other way around. Why rag on EA when all they did was offer a higher bid than VC?

[SackAttack]

hold on, i thought that the NFL came to the game companies and offered exclusive licensing for the highest bidder, and not the other way around. Why rag on EA when all they did was offer a higher bid than VC?

If that's all there was to it, you might not hear as much fuss over the matter. The fact is, though, EA has taken a few steps aimed at destroying Sega's market position in the world of sports games. They went and signed a 15-year licensing deal with Sega's current brand provider - ESPN - and signed an exclusive deal with the Arena Football League, a move which seems predominantly aimed at preventing Sega from offering any kind of competing football product.

EA has done more than just "offer a higher bid than VC" in this whole brouhaha.

[Neon_Chaos]

It seems I skipped the EA and ESPN partnership news.

Does this mean no more VC ESPN Basketball 2k6 for the PS2? DAMNIT!

EA must NOW DIE! :)

[SackAttack]

There'll still be VC hoops. They'll just have to find a different brand after the current contract expires.

[Balldog]

this is kinda sad because mvp baseball was finally coming around to be a decent product

I must have played a different game than you.

[Philliesfan980]

Yeah this stinks because MVP modded was the best game available last year. (even better IMO than High Heat).

[cody8200]

Fuck Visual Concepts and Sega. I dont give a shit about console games. Thats why I could have cared less about the EA/NFL deal. This one is bs because you all know damn well that sega wont be making a pc game.

[MizzouRah]

Yeah this stinks because MVP modded was the best game available last year. (even better IMO than High Heat).

Yep, MVP on the PC was quite good. ESPN for the console was quite good as well.

I'm sick of this licensing shit.


Todd

[Calis]

This news makes me giggle.

And feel slighltly bad for people who do play baseball games, but more with the giggling.

How big a seller are baseball games though? Oh well, it'll bug EA on general principle.

[SackAttack]

This news makes me giggle.

And feel slighltly bad for people who do play baseball games, but more with the giggling.

How big a seller are baseball games though? Oh well, it'll bug EA on general principle.

That's why I love the move. It really only locks one baseball game out of the market, and it's a game published by a company that really has it coming, after the way they've tried to trample all over the industry. It'd suck a little more if I were a PC baseball gamer, but as a console gamer, it just doesn't bother me that much.

As HA might've said, what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[Mr. Wednesday]

I wonder if they're trying to move into a position where they control enough licenses to leverage a cross-licensing deal with EA?

[Calis]

I think this marks the perfect time for Baseball Simulator 3000 to reemerge.

I might buy a baseball game then.

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Bring back Urban Strike 2.

[Kodos]

I wonder if they're trying to move into a position where they control enough licenses to leverage a cross-licensing deal with EA?

I doubt it. I think the NFL license is more valuable than all of the other licenses put together.

[SackAttack]

I doubt it. I think the NFL license is more valuable than all of the other licenses put together.

Doesn't mean they won't try. I think you're right in that EA probably wouldn't agree to such a deal, though.

[Calis]

hxxp://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6332


Maybe I'm half alseep, but someone please explain this for me.

"A deal between MLB and Take Two wouldn't change EA's plans in the area, though, as EA doesn't use the MLB branding on its baseball title, MVP Baseball - but smaller rivals in the sector would certainly be squeezed out, such as Sony's MLB range, the latest iteration of which is due out in March."

The only thing I can think is they think they're only buying the rights to use the name "MLB"? If so, that's pretty ignorant, imagine this article is just all jacked up.

[sooner333]

hxxp://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=6332


Maybe I'm half alseep, but someone please explain this for me.

"A deal between MLB and Take Two wouldn't change EA's plans in the area, though, as EA doesn't use the MLB branding on its baseball title, MVP Baseball - but smaller rivals in the sector would certainly be squeezed out, such as Sony's MLB range, the latest iteration of which is due out in March."

The only thing I can think is they think they're only buying the rights to use the name "MLB"? If so, that's pretty ignorant, imagine this article is just all jacked up.


I'm pretty sure that's entirely false.

[Calis]

I'm pretty sure that's entirely false.

Yeah what I'm thinking, but it sure did confuse the hell out of me for a couple minutes. :)

[Sharpieman]

I like this, but MVP was the best baseball game in my view. Oh well, Fuck EA.

[Marc Vaughan]

OOTP will have its usual vast amount of customisation (in fact more if anything :D) ...

However as far as licences go, my policy is to wait and see what the suits turn up, I personally wouldn't get too excited amount any of the announcements at the moment ...

[JonInMiddleGA]

The only thing I can think is they think they're only buying the rights to use the name "MLB"?

I may very well be wrong, but as I've understood it:
MLB = Real team names & logos, terms like "World Series", "NLCS", "ALDS", etc
MLBPA = Real players, images, names, etc.

AFAIK, you can have one license without having the other, but the only way Chipper Jones is a member of the Atlanta Braves and plays at Turner Field is if the game company has a license with both entities.

Otherwise, you might have Paul Smith with Chipper-like abilities playing for the Atlanta Braves OR Chipper Jones playing for the Atlanta Warriors at Atlanta Yards.

[SackAttack]

I wonder if what that snippet meant is that it won't change EA's branding any, because they never used "MLB" in their title to begin with.

Look at Sega's football game. EA stripped that brand completely by buying the exclusive NFL rights, which meant the game could be called "ESPN Football 2k6" instead of "ESPN NFL Football 2k6," and then they went out and bought the exclusive ESPN rights beginning in 2006, which basically leaves Sega with "Football 2k6" as their current brand.

By comparison, while the discussed deal would leave EA out in the cold with regard to licensing, it wouldn't really affect their brand any, because their brand is an EA-owned trademark.

[TargetPractice6]

I hear Sega is working on getting the rights to Super High Impact. Somebody get a body bag!

[illinifan999]

All I know is if I had enough money and I saw a way to take out the competition I would take it.

[Calis]

I wonder if what that snippet meant is that it won't change EA's branding any, because they never used "MLB" in their title to begin with.

Look at Sega's football game. EA stripped that brand completely by buying the exclusive NFL rights, which meant the game could be called "ESPN Football 2k6" instead of "ESPN NFL Football 2k6," and then they went out and bought the exclusive ESPN rights beginning in 2006, which basically leaves Sega with "Football 2k6" as their current brand.

By comparison, while the discussed deal would leave EA out in the cold with regard to licensing, it wouldn't really affect their brand any, because their brand is an EA-owned trademark.


Ahh, that makes a lot more sense, bet you're right on that.

Wonder when this'd start? You think it'd be this year? No clue how this licensing went, does it just drop like that? Be a pretty big blow considering the games should be out very soon eh?

So many questions.

[SackAttack]

Ahh, that makes a lot more sense, bet you're right on that.

Wonder when this'd start? You think it'd be this year? No clue how this licensing went, does it just drop like that? Be a pretty big blow considering the games should be out very soon eh?

So many questions.

Well, the NFL license thing kicks in for the upcoming season. It would seem a little bit close to the start of the MLB season for the MLB license to be unsecured by any of the "usual suspects," so I'd wager that it'll kick in for the 2006 season.

But the way things have gone recently, one never knows.

[bigdawg2003]

Are there any other sites to get MVP 2004 mods besides baseballsimcentral.com?

[Francis_Cole]

EA stripped that brand completely by buying the exclusive NFL rights, which meant the game could be called "ESPN Football 2k6" instead of "ESPN NFL Football 2k6,"

Its not just that it can't be called ESPN NFL 2k6. They can't have players/team names in the game either.. like FOF.
Thats due to the EA having the rights with the NFLPA as far as I know :)

[SackAttack]

EA stripped that brand completely by buying the exclusive NFL rights, which meant the game could be called "ESPN Football 2k6" instead of "ESPN NFL Football 2k6,"

Its not just that it can't be called ESPN NFL 2k6. They can't have players/team names in the game either.. like FOF.
Thats due to the EA having the rights with the NFLPA as far as I know :)

You weren't paying attention to what I said. I never said Sega could use real player names and such. I said EA destroyed the brand by removing their ability to use NFL-related properties this year, and moving forward, the ESPN branding. I assumed that anybody following the deal knew that both the NFL rights and NFLPA rights were involved, and for the sake of expedience, lumped the two of them together.