My History of Videogame Baseball (part three)

For more funnies, check out my blog at http://www.sportsprocentral.com/

It’s part three gamers!  My final post about baseball wares.  I’ve got PS1 and PS2 to nag about, but what about 360?  Sorry.  2k baseball is complete shit.  Reviews say so, forums say so and the 2k8 demo I downloaded months ago confirms it.  My last post ended with Genesis games and they were good.  WSB was great, but what about 32-bit and 128-bit games?  Surely better than 16-bit relics right?  Uhhhhhh…..

Two PS1 games.  One good, one bad.  One game I bought with cold hard cash, the other burned to a CD after I got my system modded.  Just my fucking luck.  Bought the bad game first, but learned my lesson.

Triple Play ‘98 was bloody snot.  The game had all the teams and licenses, but graphics and gameplay were atrocious.  Pixally visuals, choppy framerate beyond playable and the camera angles choices were laughably bad.  I remember a bird eye view that was so unplayable, it makes Atari 2600’s 3-man baseball game play like gold.  Fielding was impossible due to the choppiness, especially catching flyballs.  I’ve read some online reviews saying the graphics were awesome.  Wow.  Either EA paid them off, or game sites started hiring blind dudes 10 years ago.  I didn’t play it much and sold it soon after.  Paid $60 + tax at EB and sold it for $40 to an independent store a week later.  And adding to my shittyluck, I didn’t know EB had a return policy.  Back then, EB’s were new to Canada and I never knew it till after.  How did I find out?  Turns out I saw the policy on a white piece of paper tucked away in a corner.  Ripped myself off 20 bones.  Triple Play 98 gets an F

Next up?  A fantastic game that cost me $8.  That’s $3 for a blank CD and $5 to rent it.  If I remember, I used a BASF disk.  Worked like a charm.  Hehehehe!  MLB ‘98 was cool.  A good complement to their recent NFL Gameday that turned polygonal.  MLB’s polygon graphics looked great and played smooth.  Leagues better than TP’ 98.  And tons of unique batting stances!  I couldn’t believe it when I saw Fred McGriff follow through one-handed when whiffing on a pitch.  Clean looking HUD and a decent commentator (for the time it was good).  Played it a decent amount, but by this time, my interest in baseball games was thin.  I probably got through 40 games tops.  Who the hell has time to play all 162 games?  Good game.  MLB ‘98 gets a B

Aside from that wretched wreck on 360 called MLB 2k8 Demo, this is the last baseball game I played.  Is it good?  Is it a turd?  Can something dethrone Genesis WSB games?  DETHRONED WITH A CAPITAL D.  I was weary plunking down $40 for this game years ago.  I knew I’d never finish a full season, but in the early spring, good games are few.  I never played Show 06, but reviews seemed good.  So I trusted 07 would be better.  A truly phenomenal game.  Awesome graphics running at 60 fps.  A few cinematic scenes thrown in (such as HRs being cracked), detailed stat tracking and the best part?  The sound. You heard me right.  The two man play-by-play is in the same league as Dan Stevens and Peter O’Keefe in NFL 2k games.  Tons of dialogue, great tones and simply natural sounding.  None of that Jim Hughson overacting bullshit in EA Sports.  Or drab sounding Miller and Brown in 2k.  The game was tough.  I struck out a lot as I preferred to bat like the old Genesis games with the puny cursor.  Base hits were few, but any win was truly earned.  The only downfall was a stability.  The game seemed to crash a lot and major graphical glitches would happen half the time.  These glitches would disappear after a minute or two, but a big annoyance.  Definitely not my TV or system as this was the only game it happened to.  I’d cringe when I was winning late in the game as a game freeze would happen frequently.  Who cares.  Best baseball game ever.  The Show 07 gets a big solid A