ESPN Baseball demo revisited

fightingcamel · Post by **fightingcamel** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 6:39 pm

Excellent interview, Bill. I remember reading that a long time ago. I still have fond memories of the early FPS games. It's actually kinda depressing. I know PC sports games are not very profitable, and not many would even notice the games if they weren't released annually.

I would have no problem buying a game every 2-3 years with possible roster updates being the only annual changes. I would even pay more for the game, and would pay for the minor roster, uniform, schedule, etc. changes. I know this would not be profitable, but I would still love to see it.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 6:45 pm

That was a great read, Bill.

Anyone have any idea if Microsoft will actually be offering roster updates for this year's titles into next year? I assume not, and they'd be somewhat useless anyhow, seeing as roster updates seem incapable of handling rookies or new players, only player movement.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 7:00 pm

fightingcamel wrote:Excellent interview, Bill. I remember reading that a long time ago. I still have fond memories of the early FPS games. It's actually kinda depressing. I know PC sports games are not very profitable, and not many would even notice the games if they weren't released annually.

I would have no problem buying a game every 2-3 years with possible roster updates being the only annual changes. I would even pay more for the game, and would pay for the minor roster, uniform, schedule, etc. changes. I know this would not be profitable, but I would still love to see it.

I agree. Just think how great the games would be. It would be worth the wait to get what we all want.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue Mar 30, 2004 8:24 pm

JackDog wrote:
fightingcamel wrote:Excellent interview, Bill. I remember reading that a long time ago. I still have fond memories of the early FPS games. It's actually kinda depressing. I know PC sports games are not very profitable, and not many would even notice the games if they weren't released annually.

I would have no problem buying a game every 2-3 years with possible roster updates being the only annual changes. I would even pay more for the game, and would pay for the minor roster, uniform, schedule, etc. changes. I know this would not be profitable, but I would still love to see it.
I agree. Just think how great the games would be. It would be worth the wait to get what we all want.

I love the idea.
Kinda like an expansion pack for the sports gamer.

Unfortunately a form of this is done every year .
They change the name of the game by adding a year and sell it as a new game.

Too bad these companies arent in business for our welfare.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 12:56 pm

I'd venture to guess we'd all be delighted with that annual updating approach, provided the core gameplay is done right once. Winning Eleven and NCAA are already pretty close to this, and so far haven't backslid in the gameplay department with new annual releases.

No doubt, though, this approach is not in the best financial interest of the gaming companies. I'm beginning to wonder about their annual release business model. It seems like too often we have a gamekilling issue with a release, with no resolution other than shelling out full price for "next year's version." Then, only to find out that while that issue was resolved, a new and equally bad one surfaces for the first time. Maybe I'm terribly cynical, but this practice nearly ensures hard-core gamers pick up each annual release. Since FIFA '99, I've known that that series is crap. Yet every year up until this one, against my better judgement, I've picked up the annual release based on hope (or fanboy claims) that they've fixed some of the biggest problems.

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 1:02 pm

I'm looking forward to WSB. It was my favorite last year and I still think it played a pretty solid game of baseball. I hate cursor batting, but I have to admit that their system wasn't totally bad.

Strangely enough I can't seem to put down MVP, despite the HUGE problems with gameplay. While I hated it at first, it's now really hard to use a different pitching system. The fielding in this game is just so much fun. For the first time (although WSB last year came close) I can honestly say that defense in MVP is as fun as offense (and certainly more fun than trying to hit for power with lefties).

IMHO, they should take the ASB code behind the woodshed and put that dog out of its misery. It's high time for an overhaul of the series.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Mar 31, 2004 2:15 pm

"IMHO, they should take the ASB code behind the woodshed and put that dog out of its misery. It's high time for an overhaul of the series."

Nah. Wrong Wrong Wrong!