NBA "exclucivity" deal announced

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ransom456

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Posted on IGN

http://sports.ign.com/articles/597/597743p1.html

It looks like the NBA is not looking to go the exclusive route, at least not in the same way the NFL and MLB signed their deals. Sources tell me that the NBA is instead giving out exclusives to certain games for certain years. In terms of the street genre, the NBA is now mandating that EA's NBA Street series and Midway's NBA Ballers series alternate years. So in 2005, we get NBA Streeet V3. In 2006, we get NBA Ballers 2. In 2007, we'll see NBA Street V4…

As far as the announcement about the sims goes, fans of NBA Live and 2K5 can both take a deep breath and relax. Both series will continue to compete with each other on a yearly basis, making for the only real video game sports battle still in existence, with the NFL and MLB on lock, and the NHL on lockout.
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I liked the NBA Street games, but a two-year gap between them doesn't sound like a bad idea.
 
What the...? I guess that okay. It's kind of strange since there's not much in the way of exclucivity. They're just having EA and Midway take turns on their street games.
 
I kinda like this. This way, EA or Midway won't drive their respective series to the ground by making new additions every year. I think it'll keep both games fresh.
 
[quote name='gstvtec2']uhhhh i guess i was asleep to long....when and who did the mlb sign with???[/quote]

A month or so ago and Take-Two for a 7 year deal.
 
This is actually a good thing because EA has been going crazy releasing sequels within the same year.
 
Makes sense, NBA Street or NBA Ballers or whatever doesn't need to come out every year.

I wish they'd do this with the Tiger Woods games. 2003 to 2004 was awesome, 2004 to 2005 was meh. It's especially silly because golf games don't even have roster updates.
 
this is old news.. was speculated but never offical on IGN long before this.. but yeah.. i think NBA street needs some decent downloads. I mean.. where is John Stockton (say what you want, future hall of famer, holder of all time assists and steals, first player EVER to reach 10,000 assists, second being Mark Jackson) and I would like more player lineups in street games.. i mean is it really that hard to add in all the nba players and all the relevant "old stars" of the game?
 
I like the idea...
It keeps too much weak content from being in the market at one time, and if the devs. treat them correctly, the games will actually be different when the next iteration releases, so it's not just the same game with updated stats.
 
I'd buy a street style game with no license if it was the best product out there with no reservations. My favorite part of NBA Street 2 was the Be A Legend mode and my team was made up of all fantasy characters by the end anyway.

A sim style football game I'd want to have the real NFL license, but for an arcadey style game I don't think it would bother me.
 
[quote name='wubb']I'd buy a street style game with no license if it was the best product out there with no reservations. My favorite part of NBA Street 2 was the Be A Legend mode and my team was made up of all fantasy characters by the end anyway.

A sim style football game I'd want to have the real NFL license, but for an arcadey style game I don't think it would bother me.[/quote]

I want a new Mutant League Football.
 
Great move on the NBA's part. It'll keep EA and Midway from oversaturating the market, and if one of the games quality starts to lag, consumers will always have a different franchise to look foward to next year.
 
If it takes licenses to make developers chill out on the installment-per-year mantra, then so be it. We'll get better games out of the deal, and more time to play the versions we have.

Look at THUG 2. That thing was riddled with bugs that no doubt went unfixed because they didn't have time to address them. Most other annual series are the same way. It's all money-grubbing on the publishers' part, and it's unnecessary.
 
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