Not the Bottom of the Ninth, But a Big At-Bat Coming For MLB 2K10

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by jayhawker

2K made a mistake by investing too much money in their deal with MLB, for a sport that just doesn't translate nearly as well to videogames as football, basketball, or even hockey.

That's a BS excuse, sorry. I would guess the MLB license was a fraction of what EA paid for the NFL license. The problem is 2K thinks too small. Every game they release reeks "cheap." Combine that approach to game development with their equally skinflint marketing mindset and you have a recipe for failure. 2K blaming the cost of the MLB licence is a complete copout.

[bigfnjoe96]

This is the bed Take-2 made for themselves, when they chose to buy 2K Sports from SEGA. SEGA was so successful with 2k Sports because they threw their resources behind the developer & allowed the product to speak for itself.

Take-2 has done no such thing. What they did was try to MILK 2k Sports for their reputation as a very good development house, by short changing the developer, which in turn short changes the ability of 2K to market their product, which in turn causes games to hit market in not so great condition (Bugs, Glitches ETC, ETC, ETC...)

The only hope we have is Take-2 selling off 2k Sports to another publisher, who in turn gives 2k Sports the financial backing they would need to get back to creating some great sports titles

[myghty]

Quote: Originally Posted by baa7

Hey 2K: try investing some MONEY into marketing and hiring programming talent. Put out a quality game and advertise it properly and they'll see sales jump up. This is not rocket science.

^This.

They need competent programmers, period. They are the ones causing the loss of money by releasing such an unfinished game these past years.

[GlennN]

I haven't loved a video baseball game since the High Heat series on PC. I bought MLB 09 for the PSP and have not been real impressed. I did not bother buying any baseball game for my Xbox 360 (since 2k9 was the only choice). Exclusivity only works if you can make a decent product. I opted for just not buying a game at all. As noted above, a not-quite-exclusive license was probably not worth the investment for 2k.

[jkra0512]

Also, I think the features they put into their other MLB titles BIGs and Front Office Manager could be put into the "flagship" title. Especially FOM's features, because the offseason is so boring in the MLB series I think they could add some of FOM's features and kill two birds with one stone.

One, by adding new features they will stir some excitement, especially since most of us play this game for the franchise features.

Two, it wouldn't cost them very much to put something already made into the game and make some money off a game that failed. Sure they would have to spruce it up and maybe add something to it but, they would be getting indirect returns off their former investment.



Ultimately, like many others have said before me, they made their own bed and now they have to lay in it, which is really too bad for all parties involved, MLB (bad representation of their game), developer, and the consumer. Though I don't think MLB cares too much as long as long as that money keeps their wallets fat.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

This is the bed Take-2 made for themselves, when they chose to buy 2K Sports from SEGA. SEGA was so successful with 2k Sports because they threw their resources behind the developer & allowed the product to speak for itself. Take-2 has done no such thing. What they did was try to MILK 2k Sports for their reputation as a very good development house, by short changing the developer, which in turn short changes the ability of 2K to market their product, which in turn causes games to hit market in not so great condition (Bugs, Glitches ETC, ETC, ETC...) The only hope we have is Take-2 selling off 2k Sports to another publisher, who in turn gives 2k Sports the financial backing they would need to get back to creating some great sports titles

An intelligent, concise and correct post in a sea of assumptions and false guesses.

Great job!

[Artman22]

Quote: Originally Posted by jayhawker

You might try reading the article. The problem is that baseball games don't sell like other sports games, so even marketing them has a limited effect. It's not like The Show is exactly a mega seller itself. 2K made a mistake by investing too much money in their deal with MLB, for a sport that just doesn't translate nearly as well to videogames as football, basketball, or even hockey. The fact is, The Show and MLB 2K9 sold about the same. So the increase cost to 2K means that they need to cut corners to make money. This doesn't bode well for 2K10 or 2K11. There isn't that much market up for grabs.

This completely false. MLB the show 09 has sold over a million copies. MLB 2k7 sold 800k. If a game is good. It will sell. The only reason why Sony isn't selling more is because not a lot of people have ps3. As the numbers keep going up on ps3 sales. You will see that MLB the show will sell like crazy. It's all about having a quality game.

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

This is the bed Take-2 made for themselves, when they chose to buy 2K Sports from SEGA. SEGA was so successful with 2k Sports because they threw their resources behind the developer & allowed the product to speak for itself. Take-2 has done no such thing. What they did was try to MILK 2k Sports for their reputation as a very good development house, by short changing the developer, which in turn short changes the ability of 2K to market their product, which in turn causes games to hit market in not so great condition (Bugs, Glitches ETC, ETC, ETC...) The only hope we have is Take-2 selling off 2k Sports to another publisher, who in turn gives 2k Sports the financial backing they would need to get back to creating some great sports titles

Very well said.