Author Topic: Nintendo Reveals Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball (Read 10148 times)

NWR_Lindy · « **on:** January 27, 2005, 02:44:49 AM »

Exclusive new GCN baseball title coming April 4th!

Nintendo has announced Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball, a GameCube-exclusive baseball title developed by Exile Interactive and Nintendo. It will be released April 4th to coincide with the beginning of the baseball season, so it's obviously been in development for a while.

Pennant Chase Baseball will feature three different licenses: Major League Baseball Properties, the Major League Baseball Player's Association, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. What this means is that NPCB will feature all of the real MLB teams, players and their statistics (courtesy of STATS, Inc.), as well as all 30 ballparks and some ballparks of the past. In-game commentary will feature former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly, and (surprise, surprise) Seattle Mariners broadcasters Rick Rizzs and Tom Hutyler.

Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz will grace the cover of the game, which is sure to be a hot item once baseball season rolls around.

Famicom · « **Reply #1 on:** January 27, 2005, 03:56:16 AM »

HAHA! Good jab taking the initiative Nintendo. While I don't really play console sports titles anymore I'll give it a real good look.

couchmonkey · « **Reply #2 on:** January 27, 2005, 04:22:11 AM »

CONSPIRACY!!! Nintendo PAID Take-Two to buy up the rights to videogame baseball while still letting first party publishers release games, you guys!!! HOLY MACKEREL!!! One hand is in EA's pants and the other is shoving a knife in its back!

Ha ha ha. Umm, anyway, this is pretty good news, although I have to say Nintendo has really failed to build a comprehensive sports lineup over the years, and this sounds like one more poop in the pot. I hope it's a great game that gets good marketing from Nintendo, but it would be nice to see the company develop an actual brand for its liscensed sports games and release at least one game in each major sport for each console...minus any sports that are owned by Electronic Arts at the given time.

dafunkk12 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 27, 2005, 04:34:51 AM »

Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
CONSPIRACY!!! Nintendo PAID Take-Two to buy up the rights to videogame baseball while still letting first party publishers release games, you guys!!! HOLY MACKEREL!!! One hand is in EA's pants and the other is shoving a knife in its back!q]::gasp!::

Famicom · « **Reply #4 on:** January 27, 2005, 04:54:43 AM »

Well with all due respect to Exile (developers of World Series Baseball 2k3 on Xbox and PS2) they seem to know their stuff when it comes to baseball games, so Ninty should be getting a quality product. I'm eager how it'll stack up to the (last?) EA game. And of course Take Two's game.

Bloodworth · « **Reply #5 on:** January 27, 2005, 06:05:04 AM »

Sorry to anyone that responded in another thread. We were so fast this morning, we ended up with three copies of the article.

Pale · « **Reply #6 on:** January 27, 2005, 06:20:48 AM »

Hmm, to repost what I said before... Is this series basically killed before it launches because of the take two deal? Seeing as any sequels won't be able to use the MLB license?

Ian Sane · « **Reply #7 on:** January 27, 2005, 06:37:08 AM »

"Is this series basically killed before it launches because of the take two deal? Seeing as any sequels won't be able to use the MLB license?"

Take Two only has the rights to third party games. That means that Nintendo since they're first party is free to publish their own MLB game.

I think this is great. This is a major step for Nintendo. Sports games are VERY important in today's market and having an exclusive line of sports games is important in attracting casual gamers. Hopefully this is the first of a Nintendo sports brand that also includes basketball and hockey. I wonder if this was Reggie's idea.

This is Nintendo taking a risk which is great because I'm sick of them playing it too safe. There's no existing franchise shoehorned in and this is the type of game that the Nintendo fanbase might not be interested in. There's no safety net. This has to succeed on it's own merits. It may work or it may not but it doesn't matter. Taking risks like this and expanding their lineup beyond franchise titles is important for Nintendo's future success. I hope that at E3 I see more games like this that are not traditional Nintendo because we can't just have Mario all the time.

One important thing is that Nintendo has to market this and let it gain a following because a sports franchise isn't going to be huge after only one game. They have to give it time. If it becomes successful it will be on the Revolution. The Cube is just to establish it and get a solid game design in place.

One advantage of this is that the 2K line is not currently on the Cube so realistically there is no other MLB game available to Cube owners. That should attract more attention to this game.

Famicom · « **Reply #8 on:** January 27, 2005, 06:53:37 AM »

Well Ian, EA isn't dead in the pan yet. MVP 2005 is slated to hit the Cube this spring, so this one won't be the sole contender just yet. It's likely next year though (unless Take Two decides to sign up, but that's highly unlikely).

Savior · « **Reply #9 on:** January 27, 2005, 07:32:22 AM »

Wow came out of nowhere... This means Nintendo has Mario Baseball and PC Baseball

Anyways, who is this Exile developer? Will Ichiro be the Cover star? I thought Nintendo should have made an Ichiro MLB game long ago. Its pretty cool though it means the Cube will have 2 MLB Games this year...

KDR_11k · « **Reply #10 on:** January 27, 2005, 08:27:53 AM »

Perhaps the Mario Baseball game will be rolled into this one...

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #11 on:** January 27, 2005, 08:32:45 AM »

Yeah, it makes me wonder why they didn't have Ichiro as their coverboy. Having Ortiz on there is cool though, because it means that Nintendo is actually trying to appeal to the American market.

Exile Interactive made World Series Baseball 2K2 for PS2 and World Series Baseball 2K3 for both PS2 and XBox. Both games were highly rated by IGN, with 2K2 getting a 9.0/10 and 2K3 getting a 9.1/10.

I think we're getting a pretty darn good baseball title here. Good job Nintendo!

silks

Knoxxville · « **Reply #12 on:** January 27, 2005, 08:34:12 AM »

..........I can't wait!

Ian Sane · « **Reply #13 on:** January 27, 2005, 09:14:11 AM »

"Having Ortiz on there is cool though, because it means that Nintendo is actually trying to appeal to the American market."

I think the best thing about using Ortiz is that non-baseball fans know who he is to some extent. The Red Sox World Series win got a lot of mainstream attention because of the curse. It was the first World Series I watched all the way through since the Blue Jays last one (remember I'm Canadian). Non-baseball fans were interested in the appeal of breaking the curse and in some of those crucial games against New York Ortiz was the big hero. There's never been a better time to put a Red Sox player on the cover of a game.

KnowsNothing · « **Reply #14 on:** January 27, 2005, 09:56:50 AM »

Makes me wonder what's up with Mario Baseball. Both will probably be released, which really isn't a big deal since they're vastly different. But I know that I'll want Mario Baseball, and my brother will want this new one with the forgettable name (>_>) because he was way disappointed with Home Run King and, well, Ortiz will be on the box and he's a HUGE Red Sox fan.

Anyway, good move Ninty

joshnickerson · « **Reply #15 on:** January 27, 2005, 10:29:27 AM »

Heh, I might just buy this game just for the fact a Red Sox player is on the cover.

Gamefreak · « **Reply #16 on:** January 27, 2005, 10:54:38 AM »

Maybe their saving Ichiro for the Revolution version? Since not as many will play the GCN version as the Revolution version...

This isn't really surprising... Japan is crazy about baseball, Nintendo is friendly with Ichiro, and Nintendo of America owns the Seattle Mariners (over 50% majority share, and the former NOA President is the chairman of the team).... Anyway this is actually being co-developed by Exile and Nintendo...

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #17 on:** January 27, 2005, 11:35:08 AM »

Nintendo needs to make good sports games over several years, and word will get around eventually. That's why Madden is where it is - people now know that they will get a top-flight game every year.

silks

Savior · « **Reply #18 on:** January 27, 2005, 12:09:58 PM »

yeah going with a proven developer is a good idea... are they making Take Twos MLB game as well or not?

To me, this has gotten the attention of alot of Non Nintendo owners.. If its good it might even entice some buyers...

All I hope is this is a long term deal, IE. Nintendo will work with Exile, for more than just a 2005 version... hopefully they have Revolution dev kits soon. I want Nintendo to push this franchise for a long time, maybe even create a Smaller Nintendo Sports division?

WuTangTurtle · « **Reply #19 on:** January 27, 2005, 03:57:35 PM »

First off Silks, I like your sig.

Second, I remember playing World Series Baseball on Dreamcast. Is that made by the same ppl? I thought that game was pretty good, at the time i thought it was a lot better than All Star Baseball.

Lastly, I hope Nintendo gets them to make other sports game too! Left Field Productions started out pretty well but they didn't make the transition to Gamcube very well. I remember renting NBA Courtside for GCN, i seriously wished i just rented the N64 version instead.

If Nintendo could establish a decent sports lineup before Revolution, well it could plant a seed or two for the Revolutions sales.

Now if only Nintendo could buy out some more RPG Development studios and put real good use out of them! Seriously where is Golden Sun for GCN?

Mario · « **Reply #20 on:** January 27, 2005, 04:09:25 PM »

Baseball? Boring, I wish they made something the whole world would like, like a realistic tennis game.

Actualyl I would really like a Nintendo published realistic tennis game.

Gamefreak · « **Reply #21 on:** January 27, 2005, 04:49:54 PM »

They should just turn the next Super Smash Bros into an all out freaking motherload of Nintendo stuff
Take Melee, Mario Kart, all the Mario sports, and as much other stuff they can come up with (i have it that HAL's been working on Smash Bros. 3 for a while..) and smash it all into an online enabled Revolution orgasm.

Caillan · « **Reply #22 on:** January 27, 2005, 05:29:06 PM »

I think this is great news. I'm not particuarly interested in sports games myself (except monkey baseball), but this shows that Nintendo will seize opportunities and take risks, as well as attempt to woo the North american market. Baseball is a good choice becuase it is popular in Japan as well.

Exile Interactive have made a few dodgy games, but it seems that their baseball ones have so far recieved good reviews.

NWR_Lindy · « **Reply #23 on:** January 27, 2005, 05:41:24 PM »

ShaolinKilla: respect.

I think WSB on Dreamcast was done by Visual Concepts, interestingly enough.

silks

Bloodworth · « **Reply #24 on:** January 27, 2005, 06:05:55 PM »

I'm really not impressed yet. Nintendo has always had a few token sports games in one sport or another. What they need is a full line-up.

News:

Author Topic: Nintendo Reveals Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball (Read 10148 times)