Umm no shit Microsoft wouldn't allow Mech Warrior or any of their Mech Assualt properties to appear on PS3. Fact is that Microsoft owns the IP as far as I know. So while Microsoft may allow a third party studio or publisher to develop games within the IP there is no way in hell its going to allow a PS3 version of the game to be made.

Fact is Microsoft themselves should have published the game. Mech Assualt and Mech Warrior are both successful franchises. According to VGChartz Mech Assualt sold over a million copies on the origional X-Box. Those sales figures are pretty good though I must admit they are nothing truly amazing when compared to some of Microsoft's other IPs.

But it would probably have been smart for Microsoft to have published the reboot! If they didn't which they did not then I don't see why in hell they would liscense the franchise to a developer that would put it on a competitors platform! It would be foolish to even consider a PS3 version and publishers know that. Though I must admit throwing a huge budget behind the game without a PS3 version is risky, however many publishers produce games every day that sell a million or fewer copies. A million is not a bad amount of sales!

the thing is zarx owning the rights for any mechwarrior games is all microsoft needs to guarantee the ps3 will never get it. Any other rights are completely irrelevant to the OP topic.

No Microsoft owns the IP you can't block something that you don't own. Fasa studios was the one who created mechwarrior and Microsoft bought them thus them owning the IP but they shut them down and  then Microsoft licensed the license of the IP to them back go google it. I don't see what the problem is here it's like being mad at Sony for not letting the Uncharted series onto the Xbox 360 system when they own the IP it just make no sense to help the competition out.

No they don't own the IP and no they didn't buy FASA, they brought FASA Interactive the videogame devision which only owned the rights to videogames bassed on Battletech, FASA then went bust but Jordan Weisman retained the IP, he then founded WizKids which was then brought out by Topps who now owns the IP. Jordan Weisman then licensed the digital rights from MS and then Piranha Games got the license from him and Topps, but MS included a clause that prevented the game appearing on rival systems and the lack of that option prevented publishers from wanting to fund the project.

In other words Topps owns the IP, Microsoft owns the rights to create a videogame bassed on that IP but not the IP it's self. Is that clear enough? All I have ever been arguing is that MS does not own the IP...

I have never disputed that, all I have been doing is pointing out the fact that they don't own the god damn IP...

It makes total sense to me. Microsoft owns the IP. Sony wouldn't let Insomniac release a Xbox 360 version of Resistance.

What I don't understand is why Microsoft let the developer look around for a publisher. Why didn't Microsoft just tell them they had to make a Xbox 360 exclusive or they would find another dev to do it?

For the first bit read the thread, But as for the seccond bit

Because Microsoft had no plans to make a Mechwarrior game they had licenced the rights back to the creator of the battletech universe with the caveat that games couldn't be launched on competing platforms. Piranna games had no direct dealings with MS other than pitching the game to them and others while looking for a publisher, Microsoft had no other involvement with the game, and didn't want anything to do with it.

honestly you are obviously just being a troll. microsoft owns it and you with all these semantics is just plain annoying and stupid. microsoft OWNS ALL RIGHTS TO THESE VIDEO GAMES. who the fuck cares if they dont own the BOARD GAMES RIGHTS, because in case you didnt notice this is about a VIDEO GAME...WHICH THEY OWN THE RIGHTS TO.

No I was just correcting a simple missunderstanding, saying MS owns the Mechwarrior IP is like saying that Activision owns the Spiderman IP, it's just wrong.

MS does own the video game Mechwarrior IP just like Activision owns the video game Spiderman IP and 007 IP. What else would we be talking about?

To say MS is blocking Mechwarrior for PS3 is like saying Sony is blocking Resistance for Xbox 360, it's just plain wrong.

Seriously, if MS wanted to they could toss the Mechwarrior IP in a box and sit on it. They don't have to do anything with it if they don't think it will make money.