heh...

[A Black Falcon]

Reaction?

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

Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood
Take Two to get MLB exclusive? NBA to sell genre exclusive licenses?
January 18, 2005 - I can't ever remember a more tumultuous time in the history of sports video games. And just when you think you know it all, another bomb is dropped on your lap.

EA buys the NFL exclusive. EA buys the ESPN exclusive.

But now, here comes the counterpunch.

Rumors are circulating that the Take Two/Visual Concepts team is in negotiations to buy the exclusive MLB license, and negotiations are almost final. Visual Concepts is the company I had mentioned in a previous column as the ones who went out and locked up a long term deal with Major League Baseball after the NFL exclusive was announced, and now it looks like they were not only granted a long term deal, but are about to make it an exclusive. 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.

On the NBA front, rumors are spreading throughout the industry that the league is now looking to sell genre-specific exclusives once current deals expire, meaning they want one company to publish sims (NBA Live, NBA 2K5), one to publish street-style games (NBA Street V3, NBA Ballers), and one to publish portables. Sources tell IGN Sports that there is already some major money on the table for each deal, and it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out. The NBA has rejected initial bids for the all-encompassing exclusive, taking the competition from the courts to the negotiating table.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the other sports leagues.

[Great Rumbler]

I don't like it one bit. It's too similar to a monopoly, and that's never a good thing. Hopefully, things won't go farther than sports, but you never know...

[A Black Falcon]

All we can hope for at this point is for EA to not get EVERYTHING... but yes, these monopolies are bad and it would definitely be better with none of them.

[Great Rumbler]

Yeah, if EA got all the major sports it would be really bad. Still, it doesn't look like things are going to get much better.

[alien space marine]

The NBA would be a bigger blow then the MLB but atleast Sega strikes back!

[A Black Falcon]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/01/24/...16946.html

Take Two/Sega finalized that contract (starts in '06). It's weird because it still allows first-party publishers to publish MLB baseball games on their own consoles... seems to mostly be a move against EA. Is this good for baseball games? No, of course not. No monopoly is good. It'd have been even worse if old developers of great baseball games like 3D0, Acclaim, and Accolade still existed, but even so... sure, losing EA's MVP series is no tragedy, but what about baseball management sims on PC?

[Great Rumbler]

Hopefully this isn't the lastest trend in videogames.

[A Black Falcon]

At least you can't buy exclusive rights to original ideas, right? And isn't original ideas what gaming is about?

... oh right, it's about liscences. So carry on and let's see which companies have the most cash!

Of course, exclusive liscences in gaming are nothing new... Star Trek has had a series of liscence holders, D&D has, Lucasarts has Star Wars and Indy, etc... it just hadn't reached sports games before.

[Great Rumbler]

It's a portent of things to come, mark my words. *This just in: EA gains license to controllers and memory cards* It could happen!