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gschwendt
03-22-2011, 01:47 PM
http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/videogames/blog/_/name/thegamer/id/6247274/ea-sports-jumping-back-baseball


When gamers talk with disgust about exclusive licenses, the first title always brought up is "NFL 2K5." But in my opinion, it's the ridiculous exclusive Major League Baseball signed with 2K Sports that still leaves me outraged, especially considering that the deal killed off one of the most beloved sports gaming franchises of all time, EA Sports' "MVP Baseball."

Six years after the exclusive deal was signed, baseball gamers are still left reeling.

Sure, if you own a PlayStation 3 and buy "MLB 11: The Show," you're gold. But own a 360 and your only hope is that one of these days 2K will actually field a game that gets over the mediocre hump, something they failed to do yet again with "MLB 2K11" as the franchise continues to spin aimlessly and fans grow more and more frustrated with the direction the team is headed (maybe they should change the name of the game to Mets 2K11).

But with the exclusive license ending in 2012, there is hope that EA Sports will return to the diamond and rescue 360 gamers with a new dose of "MVP."

And while any thoughts of that classic comeback are still a ways off, sources have told me that EA Sports already has a deal with Major League Baseball in place and is about to launch a new game franchise sooner than anyone expected.

Taking a closer look at the deal between 2K Sports and Major League Baseball explains it all as the original third-party exclusive license only granted the rights to "simulation, arcade, and manager-style games on the current and next-generation Xbox, Nintendo, PlayStation, PC, and handheld systems." This opens up a loophole in the fact that digital games like EA Sports' recent "Madden NFL Superstars" and "FIFA Superstars" were not covered by the contract. And now, my sources are telling me that EA is in fact developing a new digital baseball game, complete with the MLB license, for Facebook.

Not much is known about the project at this time, but by looking at the other EA Sports Facebook games, one can assume it will be something along the lines of fantasy team building. I'm actually a big fan of this type of baseball game, so it will be interesting to see what EA is able to do inside the digital space that makes their title stand out.

And with EA Sports and Major League Baseball already working side-by-side on this new project, it gives me great hope that we'll see an eventual return of "MVP Baseball" once 2K's exclusive deal runs out next year.

Now, if only we can get the NFL to start working with 2K Sports again

steelerfan
03-22-2011, 02:17 PM
Well, I have a PS3 so I'm good with The Show. I'd love it if 2K and EA could BOTH make a baseball game though. Competition is a good thing.

JBHuskers
03-22-2011, 02:19 PM
I LOVED the MVP and NCAA series...I sure hope this leads to MVP coming back.

steelerfan
03-22-2011, 02:25 PM
I did love the NCAA series. It's return, while HIGHLY unlikely, would definitely be welcomed by me. :nod:

JBHuskers
03-22-2011, 02:35 PM
I did love the NCAA series. It's return, while HIGHLY unlikely, would definitely be welcomed by me. :nod:

Same here....looking at VGChartz, they only have numbers for 06, and it sold better than I thought it did....

http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/browse.php?name=ncaa+baseball

steelerfan
03-22-2011, 04:10 PM
Same here....looking at VGChartz, they only have numbers for 06, and it sold better than I thought it did....

http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/browse.php?name=ncaa+baseball

Yeah, but the market, sadly, isn't even lucrative (apparently) enough for a college basketball game any more. I just don't see an NCAA baseball game any time soon. Unless it were added to a MLB game (like the rumors of NCAA Hockey being part of EA's NHL series at some point).

JeffHCross
03-22-2011, 05:51 PM
I don't forsee anyone picking up the MLB exclusive license. 2k has been very on record that it has been nothing but a losing investment for them. I don't even think the sales of MVP Baseball would made it profitable for EA. Sports games aren't selling like they used to.

baseballplyrmvp
03-22-2011, 07:57 PM
I sure hope this leads to MVP coming back.

what are you talking about? i didnt go anywhere....

seriously though, i would love for mvp baseball to come back too....i played the hell out of the ncaa version.

JBHuskers
03-22-2011, 10:44 PM
what are you talking about? i didnt go anywhere....

seriously though, i would love for mvp baseball to come back too....i played the hell out of the ncaa version.

:D

gschwendt
03-30-2011, 03:10 PM
World Series Superstars (https://www.facebook.com/worldseriessuperstars)

JBHuskers
03-30-2011, 03:22 PM
Sweet, I'll have to dig into it sometime here tonight.

cdj
08-09-2012, 12:34 PM
MVP Baseball is back .... kind of


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBssbpQP0AU&feature=g-all-u

This is an online game available in Korea.

jaymo76
08-11-2012, 06:31 PM
I would much rather see an NCAA Basketball game rather than any kind of baseball game. The baseball season is just too long for ne to ever get into franchise mode. The last bball game I owned was 2k7 and I made it to about the 50 game mark before turning it off. The time committment is just too much.

JeffHCross
08-11-2012, 07:50 PM
I don't see NCAA Basketball ever happening again unless the CLC decides to slash the license costs drastically. And I don't see that happening. The sales # were just too low to warrant the cost.