Kotaku: baja: edge of control

THQ Sues Activision Over Baja Box Art Rip

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 14:40:31 MDT

Seems that someone at THQ — most likely someone in the legal department — thinks the box art for Activision's upcoming off-road racer SCORE International Baja 1000: The Official Game looks a teensy bit too much like the box art for Baja: Edge of Control. This may be due to that someone at THQ having properly functioning eyeballs. The two multi-platform racers are planned for release just a month apart — THQ's Baja effort shipped end of September — leading THQ to file suit.

It claims the offending box art for Activision's SCORE International Baja 1000: The Official Game is "likely to confuse, cause mistake or deceive the public as to the existence of an affiliation, connection, or association between THQ and Activision, when in fact there is none."

THQ also notes in the lawsuit that it has spent "in excess of $1 million on advertising, marketing, and promotion for the THQ game" and that it publicly released the cover art for Baja: Edge of Control "more than four months ago."

The publisher says that it didn't blindside Activision with its lawsuit, having contacted Activision on October 8th — two days after it discovered the similarities — about its "concerns" about the packaging. The lawsuit specifies that THQ has attempted multiple times to "convince Activision to stop production of its packaging art voluntarily" something it says that Activision has refused to do.

THQ doesn't put a price tag on the suit, instead seeking injunctive relief to prevent Activision from releasing the packaging as-is. Failing that, damages, profits from the sale of Activision's game and legal fees will do them just fine.

A copy of the suit can be read at Patent Arcade.

New Case: THQ v. Activision Blizzard [Patent Arcade]

New Baja Developer Diary Talks Sound

Adam Barenblat — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:00:00 MDT

Last time the guys working on Baja: Edge of Control talked about AI. This time they are talking about sound. It's pretty interesting to hear some of the stuff they are doing in this game. Mixing 130 channels of sound simultaneously is pretty insane. To compare that, our Trailer Trash segment had 23 channels at most. Expect the game on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Baja: Edge of Control Diary Talks AI

Adam Barenblat — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:00:00 MDT

THQ's Developer Diary 6 focuses on the AI that Baja: Edge of Control needs to keep you fighting for position 1 again and again. Interestingly, your opponents will actually remember you based on your passing strategy. Let's say that you decided to be nice and honk your horn at them, they may move out of the way. If you hit them in back they might not be so forgiving next time. Add 3 hour long stretches of track and that sounds like one awesome Baja 1000 simulation.

Baja's Sponsorship System

Brian Crecente — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:00:00 MDT

This dev diary walks us through the importance of sponsorship in the game. Kind of a neat idea. The way it works is that your vehicle is tagged with sponsor images and logos and if you happen to loose a body panel during the race that includes that promo the company won't pay you for the race. This means at some point being careful is more important than actually winning.

We also discover that Baja is apparently so awesome that the game now needs a tagline as well. I would have gone with Baja: Baja myself, but the publishers decided on Baja: Edge of Control instead. Boooooring.