by George Jones
> October 22, 1998, 4 p.m. PT
>
> This may have been Major League Baseball's most successful year since the
> disastrous 1994 strike, but the outlook is a bit different at Sierra Sports.
> The company has canceled Baseball Pro 2000 due to the game's convoluted code
> as well as the speculation regarding Cendant Software's future.
>
> Being developed by Rainbow Studios, Baseball Pro 2000 was in the middle of
> numerous cosmetic and engine-level changes in preparation for a spring 1999
> launch. However, the game's complex "spaghetti" code, which had gone through
> numerous generations of programmers (the original Baseball Pro was released in
> 1994), was difficult to decipher, let alone to modify for support for 3D
> accelerators and other new features. The code was so complex that, according
> to Dan Rogers, Sierra Sports chief technology officer, the feeling within the
> company was that "we'd finish the game and end up with a second-tier product."
> He added, "Mostly, it's just not fair to the consumer to pass on an inferior
> product."
>
> Another possible reason for the game's demise is Cendant Software's for-sale
> tag. "Pending the sale of Sierra, a lot is up in the air," Rogers said.
>
> If a game publisher with an existing baseball product bought Cendant Software,
> Baseball Pro 2000 would end up competing with a product owned by the same
> company. And in a subgenre of gaming that considers 150,000 unit sales a smash
> hit, this isn't exactly a desirable situation.
>
> With that in mind, Baseball Pro 2000 could be permanently shelved, depending
> on Sierra's future owner. "Just like any baseball player, sooner or later you
> have to retire," Rogers said. He went on to say that if Sierra Sports does
> release another Baseball Pro title--a decision will be made within weeks--it
> will be built from the ground up.
>
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