How does a game this bad get released?

Reading some of the comments on different forums regarding the Nintendo DS version of MLB 2K7, its hard to imagine that a game could be as bad as people have made it out to be. Generally things get exaggerated on message boards, especially from those who are upset or disappointed.

Well in this case it seems all the complaining is justified. Per the Gamespot review (which received a 2.5/10):

The Bad: You’re limited in what you can do, and the controls are unresponsive; no season mode or trade function; graphics are a throwback to the early 1990s; uniforms don’t look right, and every player is the same bald guy with a hat; there’s only one stadium.

Wow. Now there are some games that consumers may consider poor efforts, however that may be a generous way to describe this game. Sure its the first baseball game to hit the DS but that doesn’t excuse putting this game into the marketplace when it clearly shouldn’t have been.

So how does 2K Sports justify releasing this? Likely they don’t feel the backlash from a DS title would hurt their reputation. Usually you don’t see it with sports games, but canceling a questionable game vs dumping it into the marketplace is a debate that can occasionaly arise. EA Sports cancelled NBA Live on the PS3, partially due to the luke-warm response it received from those who purchased it on the 360. Instead of releasing it anyway, they decided to take the hit financially that came with not getting a return on that year’s investment.

Its a shame that some unsuspecting consumers will purchase this game without fully understanding how it is not a true representation of the MLB. Those people have the right to have a reasonable expectation of what the game will present without having to do research into it. It seems that 2K Sports has decided to ignore that in this instance.