SCORE International Baja 1000 publisher opts to swap out cover art as part of out-of-court agreement.
THQ was not messing around when it challenged Activision Blizzard in court over box-art similarities for the two publishers' respective off-road racers Baja: Edge of Control and SCORE International Baja 1000. Not a month after the initial complaint was filed, the two parties have reached an amenable agreement that sees Activision swapping out the cover art for Baja 1000.
As with the original complaint, the out-of-court settlement was first spotted by Patent Arcade. The new Baja 1000 box art, obtained by Patent Arcade, now depicts a close-up shot of a blue rally car's front axle and tire. That's in stark contrast to the offending cover shot, which featured two race cars in profile in the foreground, one red and the other silver with touches of blue. The action shot was set in a canyon environment, and the two rally racers were trailed by a dirt bike.
Activision Blizzard released SCORE International Baja 1000 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, and PC on October 28. The suit did not indicate how the publisher plans to disseminate the game's new cover art, and the company had not responded to requests for comment as of press time. In keeping with its corporate policy, THQ declined to comment on the settlement.
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
Picked up Baja 1000 new apparently and it has the old cover art. It's not surprising though - I don't think Activision could sell many of these. Even for a budget title, this looks like an early PlayStation 2 game and even that is pushing it. The handling and the unbelievable AI catchup on the final lap is so annoying. Even Left Field, the developer's logo looks like a rip-off of another logo.
I previously suggested that Activision was probably trying despeartely to piggy back off the excellent THQ BAJA offering, with a probable mediocre experience. However, if you can stomach the early bike races, the game surprisingly does get better! Even the curious 'boost' option becomes playable and certain of the events are indeed challenging. Graphics are often appealing (not always), and the game is addictive. The real fault is to title this production 'Official BAJA'. Certainly from watching TV coverage of this great event, Activision has some resemblance of the real thing, but where the game excels is in terms of FUN (slightly behind THQ IMO). If points is your bag, 800 you'll achieve with ease, with the final 200 a sweat in acing 4 taxing time events. Probably a weekend away, whereas THQ will keep you honest for a week. If I had to take one with me to a desert island, it would be THQ. But if I was on the island for longer than a week, I'd take both!
SCORE for the PS2 sucks. I haven't played the PS3 version, but given the reviews that I've seen, I'd be pissed if I had mistakenly bought it instead of THQ's game. Activision has published a couple of real stinkers lately. The latest Monster Jam game doesn't have anything close to what a reasonable person would call "real-world physics", despite what their web site claims.
I would have been quite surprised if the outcome where to leave it. They looked almost exactly the same!
WWE publisher seeks to halt the sale of SCORE International Baja 1000 due to cover shot similarities with Baja: Edge of Control.
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