Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball

Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball is an unreleased action baseball game by Exile Interactive set in MLB, which was planned for release in 2005. Exile Interactive served as the development team for the game. The team had previously contributed to Sega's World Series Baseball 2K2 and 2K3.

Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball

Release Date	Unreleased (announced for 2005)
Platforms	GameCube
Developer	Exile Interactive
Publisher	Nintendo
Team Names	Real MLB teams
Player Names	Real MLB players
Cover Athlete(s)	David Ortiz
Commentator(s)	Rick Rizzs (play-by-play) Bob Brenly (color)

---

By the Numbers

# of Teams	30
# of Parks	40
# of alt jerseys	65

The game was originally announced for an April 4th release date, then delayed to June 13th. A trailer and gameplay was shown at E3 2005, which took place from May 18th-20th. On June 13th 2005, Nintendo announced the game was delayed indefinitely.

If you have more information on the game, please email nate@30-30.club.

Description

The play-by-play commentator is Rick Rizzs, then of the Seattle Mariners. The color commentator is Bob Brenly, former Diamondbacks manager and then-Cubs broadcaster. The stadium announcer is Tom Hutyler, also of the Mariners.

E3 footage indicates that points earned through gameplay can unlock 65 unlockable jerseys and 10 stadiums.

The game utilized RenderWare for its rendering engine. Other than that, the game engine was built from scratch for the new title.

The planned box art used a shiny foil background similar to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

The game supported basic roster customization, such as editing the names of players.

"Greatest Day" by Bowling for Soup is the game's title track. All songs confirmed in the soundtrack so far:

• "Greatest Day" - Bowling for Soup (magazine coverage)
• "Trucker Hat" - Bowling for Soup (personal testimony)
• "My Everything" - Goldfinger (from E3 footage)
• "Bombilla" - Majorette (personal testimony)

Game Modes & Features

The descriptions of each mode from press releases and ad copy:

Exhibition Game - Standard exhibition game mode, pick from any of the 30 MLB teams and go head-to-head with up to 4-players.

Franchise Mode - Traditional Franchise mode that offers manager play with deep simulation and finance and performance-related team goals. Maximum length is 15 seasons.

Rookie of the Year - Rookie of the Year Mode is a new way to play through a Major League Baseball® season. This is RPG baseball. Start out creating a rookie and adding him to your favorite Major League Baseball® team. With each game, you earn points that you can use to increase specific characteristics (batting, throwing, fielding, new pitches, etc.) of players on your team. Buy team upgrades like batting clinics and pitching seminars from Hall of Fame players to get added points for team players. Earn the Rookie of the Year award and use your upgraded player anywhere in the game.

Speed Play - Have just 10 minutes to play a game? Speed Play is for you. Play lightning-fast games with the full ability to pitch and hit, while the fielding outcome is quickly determined. This can be used in any mode in the game. For hard-core gamers, it is the perfect quick play between simulating a game and playing the full experience.

Playoff Hunt - Jump straight into the heat of the pennant chase! Each team has it's own unique scenario, re-live moments of clinching's past. Playoff Hunt puts players right in the thick of a season with their teams battling to reach the playoffs. (Uses the 2004 rosters)

Home Field Evolution - Home Field Evolution is a new approach to baseball game rewards. Upgrade four unique baseball fields (Sand Lot, High School, AAA, Major League™) by playing any mode in the game. Players earn points that allow them to upgrade field amenities (fences, scoreboards, field detail, etc.) and earn the ability to play in these unique fields as you upgrade them.

Tournament Mode - Features four-, eight-, and 16-tournament bracket play for two to 16 players. Use Speed Play in Tournament Mode for an intense and quick tournament experience.

Veteran C-Stick Control - Veteran C-Stick Control is incorporated into all aspects of game play. Pitching allows players to put additional spin on the ball. Batting allows players to decide which part of the field to hit to. Fielders can move back on fly balls to increase throw power. Runners can choose which direction to slide into the bag.

History

Exile Interactive's most recent project, World Series Baseball 2K3, was released on March 10th, 2003. On September 13th, 2003, Dan Tudge told the Victoria Times Colonist in an interview that Exile Interactive was "in the process of developing the 'next great game' for a major publisher" but "there likely won't be any kind of advertising splash until just before the new game is released in 2005."

Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball was announced on January 27th, 2005. Game Informer saw a preview of the game at their offices in late January but before the announcement. The release date was set for April 4th, 2005.

On January 31st, 2005, Take-Two announced an exclusive licensing deal with MLB and MLBPA that will take effect Spring 2006. The deal leaves an exception for first-party sports games to continue licensing deals with MLB, so Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are allowed to publish their own baseball games.

A February 22nd, 2005 story in the Victoria Times Colonist reported the game took 21 months to complete. If February is the "completion date" then this would mean the project started in May 2003.

On March 30th, Nintendo of America announced the game would be delayed to June 13th.

Nintendo held a press event for Pennant Chase Baseball at Mariners opening day on April 4th, 2005, letting several publications try the Speed Play mode only, and giving interviews.

Pennant Chase was playable in a demo kiosk at E3 2005, held from May 18th-20th. At the event, GameSpot was told the game was delayed to July 5th. The game suffered from regular crashes in the QA testing process, preventing it from receiving Nintendo of America approval.

On June 13th, Nintendo announced the game was delayed indefinitely. No more official news was released after this point on the game's status.

Exile Interactive appears to have closed its doors as a studio in May 2006.

E3 Gameplay Video

From the GameCube Cafe DVD for E3 2005:

From 2:44 to 4:22 in the video below includes footage of the game being played at E3 2005.

Producer Interview

Two interviews with Nintendo of America producer Henry Sterchi about the game, from IGN and GameSpot. Both interviews were performed at a Nintendo event surrounding the Opening Day Twins at Mariners game on April 5, 2005.

Credits

There is no instruction manual or gameplay video to confirm the credits. The list below is drawn from various sources, and may have some inaccuracies. Reportedly, 30 people worked on the game for Exile Interactive, so the list below is still missing several staff members.

Jason Busch - Programmer

Yann Cleroux - Senior Programmer

Dave Coburn - Lead Animator

Wendall Harding - Programmer

Justin Heyes-Jones - Senior Software Engineer

Neil Hill - Head of Technology

Mike Krazanowki - Senior Programmer

Rodney Lum - Senior Artist

Kevin Macadam - Animator

Allen McPheeters - Senior Game Designer

Vilmen Mendoza - Environment Artist

Yvi Mendoza - Environment Artist

Thomas OByrne - System Administrator

Alex Pepper - Senior Programmer

James Norwood - Senior A.I. Engineer

Glen Schulz - Technical Art Director

Brian Segall - Programmer

Dave Smith - Programmer

Steve Snake - Senior Engineer

Dan Tudge - Executive Producer

Nicki Vankoughnett - Programmer

Richard Walker - Lead Programmer

Art We - Art Director

Todd White - Software Engineer

Craig Williams - Designer

Screenshots

• 

  High-res logo

• 

  Logo, transparent background

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  Cubs at Pirates screenshot, from Nintendo Power, Issue 190

• 

  Speed Play mode screenshot, from Nintendo Power, Issue 190

• 

  Rookie of the Year mode screenshot, from Nintendo Power, Issue 190

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Physical Media

• 

  A production sample of the disc art for Pennant Chase Baseball

• 

  Photo of a promo box from a David Ortiz estate sale auction

• 

  Promo box from an eBay auction by gba177

• 

  Promo hat, front. Photo contributed by Cody F.

• 

  Promo hat, back. Photo contributed by Cody F.

• 

  Promo hat tag. Photo contributed by Cody F.

Magazine Clippings

• 

  Preview from Nintendo Power, Issue 190

• 

  Best Buy advertorial discussing Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball and Bowling for Soup. In Electronic Gaming Monthly, Issue 191

• 

  Preview from GamePro, Issue 200

• 

  Preview in Game Informer, Issue 144

• 

  News on the indefinite delay, from Game Informer, Issue 149

• 

  GameSpot preview. Captured 2024.

• 

  Nintendo World Report preview. Captured 2024.

• 

  IGN preview. Captured 2024.

• 

  Nsidr preview, page 1. Captured 2024.

• 

  Nsidr preview, page 2. Captured 2024.

• 

  GameSpot preview, published April 4 2005

Newspaper Clippings

• 

  Interview about Pennant Chase Baseball from the February 22 2005 edition of the Victoria Times Colonist, page 1

• 

  Interview about Pennant Chase Baseball from the February 22 2005 edition of the Victoria Times Colonist, page 2

• 

  Exile Interactive profile from the September 13 2003 edition of the Victoria Times Colonist, page 1

• 

  Exile Interactive profile from the September 13 2003 edition of the Victoria Times Colonist, page 2

External Links

• Game preview by Nintendo World Report
• Siliconera story from 2010 with quotes from Senior Engineer Steve Snake indicating game was completed but never released
• GameSpot article covering the game's first delay from April to June
• IGN post about the game's indefinite delay announcement