MLB 2K10 News Post

Win a Million Dollars, Playing Major League Baseball 2K10

10:20 AM - January 28, 2010 by iamemmittsmith

Get rich quick, with Major League Baseball 2K10. Check the story from Jon Robinson at ESPN.

Quote:


	"And the rules are simple: 2K Sports is going to give the million bucks to the first person who can throw a perfect game against the CPU on All-Star difficulty starting March 2, 2010 at 12:01 AM PST and ending May 2, 2010 at 11:59 PM PDT. Eligible games can only be played on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in MLB Today mode playing one of the available match-ups. Then, when gamers choose to play the Major League Baseball 2K10 contest from the menu, the game will automatically default to the proper gameplay setting in accordance to the official rules."

Game: Major League Baseball 2K10Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 33 - View All

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Member Comments

# 81 Knight165 @ 01/29/10 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brendanrfoley


	I don't disagree with either of the above points. Knight, I agree making a better game the past two years would have helped. But it's a moot point; 2K didn't release good games and therefore needs to step-up on all levels to win customers back (or find new ones). The situation is what it is. Blzer, I'd love a 39.99 price tag. I am certain it would generate increased sales numbers but would not make more money. Take2 stands to make 36m selling 600,000 copies at $60. At $40, T2 needs to sell 900,000 copies to make the same amount. That's no easy feat; MLB 2K9 sold 730,000 copies (PS3/360), 2K8 sold 890,000 and 2K7 sold 990,000. Dropping the price could cost T2 millions. That's not only bad for the company, but for the future of the franchise.

Just for the record...
I like it.
Giving away a million dollars(possibly) is great.
Who could argue with FREE MONEY!

I also think that this year....2K has turned the corner with this game.
Looks good.
Sounds like they know what bothered us last year with the game(opening up the editor was a clear indicator to me they heard our complaints....I say "our" even though I shelved the game after about 3 days...but you know what I mean)

M.K.
Knight165

# 82 nemesis04 @ 01/29/10 02:09 PM

A million seems very excessive to me. I would rather them keep the million and put it towards developing the game. If you want a promotion a $100,000 is more then ample.

# 83 countryboy @ 01/29/10 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FootballForever


	Yeah. but we really don't know/ Like I said, this game hasn't even made a million in sales, and now there willing to give a million away, I just find that crazy/funny.

my guess is that the money is paid out by sponsors.

# 84 rspencer86 @ 01/29/10 02:37 PM

OK, let's really take a closer look at this.

Question #1: Why?
The MLB 2K series has struggled in recent years as sales have dropped significantly. Take-Two has put much of the blame of disappointing earnings on the MLB 2K franchise.

In response, 2K has switched developers to Virtual Concepts, who does quite well with their NBA 2K games. But this alone probably would not be enough to reverse gamers' conception of the MLB 2K series as a second-rate product. Even if the quality improves significantly (which so far looks to be the case), there is pressure for an immediate huge jump in sales.

So to make a major splash, 2K decided to offer a real incentive to get typical non-buyers (casual gamers or those typically interested in baseball games) to purchase the game. The best way to do this, especially in a very tough economy like we are in now, is to give out cash. Lots of it.

But a million dollars? That sure seems like a lot. But again, in order for this promotion to have the impact 2K needs it to have, the prize must be big enough to make headlines, make people pay attention.

In order for the marketing department to have this approved, they needed to convince 2K brass that their $1,000,000 (or a couple hundred thousand dollars if they went through the sweepstakes contingency insurance route, which I'm sure they did) would come back to them in the form of increased sales.

Now, if 2K wanted to get back all of their investment in this promotion THIS YEAR, they would have to sell a lot of additional copies. This article states that many big-budget games with significant licensing fees only earn $1 in profit per copy sold. Assuming 2K makes $1-2 for each copy sold, they would have to sell 450,000-900,000 additional copies to justify this promotion (assuming someone does win, of course). That would mean 2K10 would need to sell anywhere from 1.25-1.75 million copies total.

Of course, the effects of this promotion reach beyond just this year and MLB 2K10... they are building goodwill with consumers which will likely help sales of MLB 2K11 and beyond, so the amount of copies of 2K10 that need to be sold to "break even" aren't quite the 1.25-1.75 million stated above.

Is it doable? Yes, I believe this contest will have even non-baseball fans picking up a copy and trying their hand at winning a million bucks. Still, 2K will need to move an awful lot of product to justify the cost of this promotion to top-level management, who are already running out of patience with this franchise.

Question #2: How?
I see a lot of people asking why this needs to be videotaped instead of programming an indicator into the game that would automatically alert the devs if and when someone does toss a legit perfect game.

The answer, I believe, is to reduce the odds of winning. Like Ronnie has said on his Twitter, the dev team fully expects someone to toss a perfect game within the bounds of the contest. But will they have videotape rolling? It's not as likely, and since the cost of purchasing sweepstakes contingency insurance depends on the odds of winning, they needed to do anything possible to reduce the cost of this promotion. Many people will hear about the contest and never realize that one of the rules is to videotape the entirety of the perfect game.

Also, it's just another way to verify that if someone wins, it is legit. With all of the hackers out there, relying just on a coding trigger to alert when a perfect game has been performed could be risky. And yes, I do believe they have some kind of coding that will alert them when it happens. They aren't just going to rely on reviewing videotapes... video is too easily doctored to do that.

Overall, it is a very interesting contest and certainly unprecedented in the sports video game world. I'm eager for the release of the official contest rules just to see what other stipulations are placed on this contest.

# 85 SoxFan01605 @ 01/29/10 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blzer


	So is setting the price tag at $39.99.

Which has the potential to be A LOT more costly to 2K if it doesn't work. If their sales don't increase significantly they'd be out by tens of millions rather than just 1 million. They can also write off the winnings where as a price reduction doesn't give them any tax breaks.

And I doubt it's a false promotion. That's not to say it's likely someone will get it under the preset conditions...just that I don't think it's a "scam" as some suggest. It's a sound move...relatively low risk with a potentially high reward. One of the few marketing decisions by 2K Sports I've been impressed with.

EDIT: I'd also be surprised if the potential winnings came directly from any developmental budget either. It's likely sponsored or re-appropriation of some type of advertising budget.

# 86 ExtremeGamer @ 01/29/10 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight165


	We have to do something to balance out those that blindly follow 2K and anything 360! We're just trying to save you guys from yourselves! M.K. Knight165

LOL, the irony

# 87 Knight165 @ 01/29/10 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExtremeGamer


	LOL, the irony

Is it irony if it's intentional!?...but I will leave you with this....and it's PUT IT IN THE BOOKS!
I will buy 2K(whatever)....(I always have) and POSSIBLY enjoy it on my 360.
Can you say the same for another game and a PS3?(I'm guessin' nope.)
(just a friendly poke.

)

M.K.
Knight165

# 88 ckarlic @ 01/29/10 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by countryboy


	Whats funny about it? Sounds pretty sweet to me. Would be cool if a fellow OS'er won the contest.

I agree. This idea sounds great. Ive never thrown a perfect game in any baseball game so it will be a uphill battle for me. Maybe i can get my first with MLB 2k10

# 89 ckarlic @ 01/29/10 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight165


	Is it irony if it's intentional!?...but I will leave you with this....and it's PUT IT IN THE BOOKS! I will buy 2K(whatever)....(I always have) and POSSIBLY enjoy it on my 360. Can you say the same for another game and a PS3?(I'm guessin' nope.) (just a friendly poke. ) M.K. Knight165

I agree knight...Im first and foremost a baseball fan so if I can have 2 great baseball titles to destroy my summer then im all for it. Im thinking about getting this game as well but I will have to get it for the PS3 since I don't have a 360.

# 90 ExtremeGamer @ 01/29/10 06:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Knight165


	Is it irony if it's intentional!?...but I will leave you with this....and it's PUT IT IN THE BOOKS! I will buy 2K(whatever)....(I always have) and POSSIBLY enjoy it on my 360. Can you say the same for another game and a PS3?(I'm guessin' nope.) (just a friendly poke. ) M.K. Knight165

Considering I've said for years, and still believe, 2K baseball to suck. I'm just hopeful for a baseball game. But continue to try to call me out all you want.

# 91 RubenDouglas @ 01/29/10 06:52 PM

what about connection drops? you do need to be connected to XBL during play right? It doesnt always happen but losing connection seems to be more than the norm with video games recently.

And considering a million people may be at this trying to connect to MLB today and get through, what if a no hitter game stat line cant be sent through the server. Technological hangups happen so frequently. are the servers ready?

maybe im just too pessimestic. but there are so many issues and liabilities that come from something like this.

Do you know why something like this hasnt been done before this? It's probably because others know about the pros and cons and they realize they may be in over their head.

also, what if someone "wins" early on? and the dvd verification process takes 2-3 weeks. do people still play and try to win and "Waste" their time

# 92 Bahnzo @ 01/29/10 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by countryboy


	my guess is that the money is paid out by sponsors.

More than likely it's covered thru an insurance company. There are companies that specialize in stuff like this...3-point shots from half court, field goals, pucks shot into a 6 inch slot in the goal, etc. So someone goes to them and says "We want to give away a million dollars if Joe Blow does X" and they asses the risk and charge them $50k or whatever against the $1 million and pay out if they make that half court shot.

Probably the same for 2K.

# 93 ExtremeGamer @ 01/29/10 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottdau


	I think this might be your year for a good game for the 360. I know you weren't* feeling the other baseaball game even when you had the PS3. So I think this might be the year Scott.*

Fixed

# 94 Knight165 @ 01/29/10 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExtremeGamer


	Considering I've said for years, and still believe, 2K baseball to suck. I'm just hopeful for a baseball game. But continue to try to call me out all you want.

EG;

If you took that as a call out and not just goofing around....you yourself might need some time away from O.S.
Sorry you took it the wrong way...but it was nothing except some friendly ribbing(I know we're not "friends"...but you know what I mean).

M.K.
Knight165

# 95 Tommyklaid @ 02/07/10 06:03 PM

Haven't read through the previous 7 pages...

...this is definitely a wise marketing technique at first glance, but thinking as though someone will have it accomplished in the first 5 hours of release is definitely a possibility.

People are just going to play, start, restart, and play again until it is accomplished...kudos to the gamer that pulls it off.

# 96 Trevytrev11 @ 02/07/10 11:41 PM

Saw this on the front page of yahoo the other day. That alone probably gave this game more exposure than anything else.

# 97 zrowe @ 02/20/10 05:15 PM

i bet the contest will have a code that tells 2k who the first person to accomplish this is .. I would put money on the contest having a legal loop hole that states some where that you have to be the "first" person ever in 2k10 to throw a perfect game and also "have video proof" at the same time .. the odds of both happening at once is vegas house odds .. not happening

# 98 True Talent @ 02/20/10 09:57 PM

So does it have to be a complete game by one pitcher, or can it be a combined effort using your relievers also?

# 99 Blzer @ 02/21/10 04:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by True Talent


	So does it have to be a complete game by one pitcher, or can it be a combined effort using your relievers also?

One pitcher.

# 100 TeixeiraFanatic @ 02/22/10 10:10 PM

I just read the official rules and it looks like you can't make a mound visit during the game and can't stop playing for 60 seconds or longer.

http://www.2ksports.com/mlb2k10contest/rules.html

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