just asking....

[vernbudde1]

could Sony or Microsoft come out with an NCAA football game?? like how they had a baseball deal where 3rd party went to 2k but they could still make one. they did make college games at one point. maybe not bring back 989 sports but use the mlb the show developers and get a generic users can custom teams and the sort for basketball and football??? just a thought.....

[woodjer]

Re: just asking....

I suppose, yeah, they could. But given the touchy situation that resulted in EA cancelling the NCAA game, I would think that they wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole.

Also, the situation that you're referring to was more of an exclusivity deal than anything. This situation is a whole lot more complicated and risky than that.

So, to answer your question, they "could" do it...but it doesn't seem very likely that they ever "would" do it. Bottom line: don't get your hopes up.

[boxboy99]

Re: just asking....

It would be tough right now because schools and conferences pulled their trademarks from EA. I think the NCAA will figure out a licensing procedure with in the next few years.

[fballturkey]

Re: just asking....

They'd have to go get the licenses from CLC (or whatever the company that holds them is called) and from the few schools that aren't a part of that, then from the NCAA if they want to use the name.

Then the hard part; they'd have to develop a football engine basically from scratch, and they'd only be able to use if for a college game, as opposed to being able to develop once and share resources between a college and pro game. This would probably not be profitable in the short term. Our best hope is still EA deciding to get back into it.

[whitey7886]

Re: just asking....

With a loyal fan base that NCAA has it could be done. If a company or a small independent group wanted to make a game they could. The would have a year and a half to make it happen. The programming I know nothing about but I know a few people that do. The physical came can be made. The hard part is agreement from the NCAA, finacial backing and having people buy it.

[vernbudde1]

Re: just asking....

couldn't they leave lot of the stuff generic and then have a team builder type deal where you can upload your stuff into the game?

[SilverBullet19]

Re: just asking....

couldn't they leave lot of the stuff generic and then have a team builder type deal where you can upload your stuff into the game?

If they do that, they are still liable for created teams that use team logos, conference logos, NCAA etc etc. They would also be liable for downloadable custom rosters using real players.

The only way around that is to make it a feature private to each user. I.E. you have to make every team, you can't download Florida or Alabama that someone else made.

[PTolbert1]

Re: just asking....

^not necessarily. Much like EA's Teambuilder feature now, the development companies are not liable for the user created content seen in game. That's why you never see any teams getting reported or taken down by moderators when users have used school trademarked logos. With that being said, it would just be so much easier to work some sort of deal out with the various conferences and teams within to allow for the use of school names, logos and other trademarks. From there, you start running the generic build. Like every player being #00 and no name, and every player looks like a mannequin. Once you've got that, then the roster share would be a fantastic add so that then, you could obtain realistic rosters, all the while, avoiding the "likeness" issue. It sounds so much simpler than it is, but it is easy concepts to grasp. Nailing down contracts and agreements with schools could be a bigger issue than anyone sees.

[PTolbert1]

Re: just asking....

To add further, I'd really love to see 2K take a jab at this. I still break out the PS2 just to play ESPN NFL 2K5 on occasion. In my opinion, it's one of the best football games ever made. All Pro 2k8 was also great from them too. With the high level of attention and detail they put into the basketball games, they'd do a stellar job on a football game.