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[john tv]

I love baseball games.

That said, I was all set to write off this new Nintendo game, seeing as how pretty much every first-party baseball game in Nintendo's history has been broken in one way or another. But then I saw that it's from the guys who made WSB 2K3 -- if I remember correctly, wasn't that really good?

So is there actually a chance this might be decent? Thoughts, baseball fans?

 

[Musashi Wins!]

The other thread isn't that big is it? Anyhow, WSB2k3 was fucking superb for it's timeframe and was mostly reviewed as such. It should give us hope that this will be a real and worthwhile effort.

 

[ocelittle]

I've never played WSB but ESPN was GOD AWFUL (still is actually).

Hopefully Nintendo makes sure it's stacked with features.

 

[Speevy]

8.4

 

[Ramirez]

It'll prolly be like Courtside...pretty good core gameplay,but very light on the features such as franchise mode and such,but I could be wrong.

 

[GDJustin]

We just don't know enough yet.

You're absolutely right that its from an excellent team, though. I'm certainly paying attention to it, anyway.

 

[Memles]

$30 or no sale, Nintendo.

 

[GDGF]

Maybe Mario Baseball was a miscommunication, and this game actually has a Nintendo : All Stars team hidden in there. That would make me buy it and I freaking hate baseball

 

[Kuroyume]

Well baseball is the best, most exciting, and fun sport in the universe so that's a good enough reason to care. I admit that it's not huge news but it's better than another kirby or stupid bongo drums related game.

Btw, any screens of the game yet?

 

[Speevy]

stupid bongo drums related game.

DKJB > Any damn baseball game.

 

[sorryaboutdresden]

Maybe Mario Baseball was a miscommunication, and this game actually has a Nintendo : All Stars team hidden in there. That would make me buy it and I freaking hate baseball

I could definitely see something along these lines being added to the game. It would do wonders for sales which will most likely be mediocre at best. I'm a huge sports fan, and I relish any opportunity to use my cube so I would most likely pick this one up. However, it would take something like a Mario All Stars team to incite the general hardcore Nintendo loyalist to purchase this.

 

[Kon Tiki]

Between this and Microsoft's very wise purchase of High Heat, the real battle for a sport could be between 2 first parties for a change.

 

[Guns N' Poops]

Between this and Microsoft's very wise purchase of High Heat, the real battle for a sport could be between 2 first parties for a change.

Too bad Microsoft doesn't seem to be interested in sports anymore, despite having the High Heat name.

 

[Agent X]

Between this and Microsoft's very wise purchase of High Heat, the real battle for a sport could be between 2 first parties for a change.

Last time I checked, Sony was still making a baseball game, too.

 

[john tv]

Last time I checked, Sony was still making a baseball game, too.

Yah, but Sony's baseball games have sucked for years. In fact, pretty much all of Sony's sports games have sucked for years. I don't even follow their releases anymore. Sad...

 

[cvxfreak]

Too bad Microsoft doesn't seem to be interested in sports anymore, despite having the High Heat name.

That was because EA was there to cover that base (no pun intended). But now...

 

[kamikaze]

the guys at exile were only partially responsible for ws 2k3. blue shift also had a part in it...and the people i know who were at blue shift didn't say many positibe things about the vancouver guys (exile).

of course, blue shift isn't doing much nowadays and exile has hooked up with nintendo so maybe it was really the exile guys that were actually doing things right?

 

[Mrbob]

I love baseball games.

That said, I was all set to write off this new Nintendo game, seeing as how pretty much every first-party baseball game in Nintendo's history has been broken in one way or another. But then I saw that it's from the guys who made WSB 2K3 -- if I remember correctly, wasn't that really good?

So is there actually a chance this might be decent? Thoughts, baseball fans?

How many baseball games do you buy? We don't know anything about this game yet, but I would be shocked if it was better then MVP or ESPN. With Kush (ESPN Hockey) developers making ESPN Baseball, that game should be much better. MVP made HUGE strides last year, and this year will make some more. So much so that I'm saddened that the best baseball game on the market will be getting the axe unless a first party picks it up next year to co-publish it. If you are looking to buy NPCB as a curiosity purchase for a secondary baseball game, then perhaps go for it. However, MVP will be top dog this year and ESPN Baseball may be coming in at 20 bucks so I would have a hard time recommending NPCB over either game.

 

[john tv]

I don't buy many, sadly. There's always a little something that ruins the game for me; that said I skipped last year entirely, so I was looking forward to giving MVP or ESPN a try this year. I sure as hell won't be playing MVP if there's no MLBPA license though...

Namco's game in Japan is pretty good. It's too bad they never bothered to try get the MLB rights and localize it for a US release. I like it a lot.

Which baseball game are you guys gonna buy this year?

 

[Speevy]

It's got by far the least catchy name in the history of sports gaming. How could you not buy it?

 

[john tv]

Whoops. Actually, I guess I might buy MVP this year after all. I forgot that Take-Two's license doesn't kick in until next season.

Which version was best last year? Xbox or PS2?

 

[Operations]

Well, WSB 2K3 was indeed great and there's no reason to believe that Exile can't repeat its success again with NPCB.

 

[Mrbob]

I don't buy many, sadly. There's always a little something that ruins the game for me; that said I skipped last year entirely, so I was looking forward to giving MVP or ESPN a try this year. I sure as hell won't be playing MVP if there's no MLBPA license though...

Namco's game in Japan is pretty good. It's too bad they never bothered to try get the MLB rights and localize it for a US release. I like it a lot.

Which baseball game are you guys gonna buy this year?

This years version of MVP will have the license. This whole Take Two deal doesn't come into play until 2006.

The majority of people here will buy MVP 2005 (Xbox. Except for Miguel who seems like the last PS2 hold out!) because last years version was mind boggling good. The pitcher/batter interface is the best you can find, and it looks like they improved on it this year. The only thing that killed MVP was the online implementation on PS2 last year. It sucked. Big time. It sounds like things have been ironed out and Xbox Live! support is being added, so you'll be seeing a ton of people playing MVP 2005 on Xbox Live! There is a video here that goes into detail about the improved pitcher/batter interface for MVP 2005. The video is called The Hitters Eye:

http://www.easports.com/games/mvp2005/home.jsp

 

[Dez]

I don't see why everyone loves MVP so much.. it is broken - Pitching with a meter for accuracy/speed sucks.. With just a little practice you can pitch with near 100% accuracy.. It's basically impossible to walk someone unless you're really nibbling.. walks are a major part of baseball, but are unfortunately not flashy enough for EA to care.. Meanwhile, we see 10 diving plays for routine fly balls every game.

 

[Mrbob]

:lol Yeah the diving catches in MVP could get ridiculous at times. I hope they are toned down for 2005.

Still, even with its problems, it is the best overall game at the moment.

 

[Ristamar]

I just one of them is fun. I found MVP to be boring as hell, for whatever reason. I don't know... maybe I just can't stomach baseball sims anymore.

 

[ToxicAdam]

I am just waiting for a console version of Baseball Mogul .. do any of these game match it?

 

[kamikaze]

i'm leaning towards mvp 2005 (had some fun with it's dynasty mode last year...until i realized that the prospect development system was broken). and unless someone's added a 'my life' style mode, i'll import pawapuro 12, too.

 

[Triumph]

Give me High Heat MS! Or genital punching shall ensue!

 

[Musashi Wins!]

i'm leaning towards mvp 2005 (had some fun with it's dynasty mode last year...until i realized that the prospect development system was broken). and unless someone's added a 'my life' style mode, i'll import pawapuro 12, too.

What is "my life" mode? The best thing about Sony's upcoming game is that supposedly their adding depth to what was actually a pretty decent game, including a really deep character creator/rpg mode. I don't know why more baseball games don't have that, I love it.

I hope MVP is good on Xbox/PSP. The AI was shit (walks/steals), broken batting physics, player development, etc. There's no end to how the presentation has won people over though.

Can anyone tell me more about Japanese import games (on GC) that are worth getting/playing? I've wanted to try some more, including Namco's, but it's nearly impossible for me to get much info on what they play like.

 

[kamikaze]

What is "my life" mode? The best thing about Sony's upcoming game is that supposedly their adding depth to what was actually a pretty decent game, including a really deep character creator/rpg mode. I don't know why more baseball games don't have that, I love it.

just read up on mlb 2006 and it sounds like their career mode is similar to pawapuro's 'my life' mode (which means i may have to check it out this year). 'my life' is an rpg-like mode where you make your player and take him from the 2nd team (i.e. minor leagues) and try to work your way into the big leagues. you improve your stats by playing and training. games are really short if you're a batter since you only take your at-bats...and pitcher's only play when they come in for a relief appearance or start once every 5th day.

there's meters for your player's releationships (with agent, coaches, teammates, various players on opposing teams, and female fans)...i'm not sure exactly how the relationships affect your on-field performance though since i'm not literate in japanese. i do know that in previous versions of the game, you could eventually marry and have kids but i've been unable to do that in pawapuro 11.

there's also off the field activities that you can do (extra training that improves stats or various recreational activities that can affect your mood) and items you can buy. items can increase your off the field options (i.e. golf clubs, remote control car, gaming console) or restore stamina (which is lost whenever you play in a game as well as when your team travels). most of these things are menu driven, so it's not the most dynamic of systems but it's nice to be able to manage your off the field life.

and since this is turning into a long post, i'll just quickly add that you also have a salary complete with post season negotiations, a popularity meter (being real popular helps all-star voting but can drain you even more when you travel...since you'll occasionally get mobbed by fans and lose more stamina than you normally would when travelling), and a trophy case that houses balls/bats/awards from any significant career achievements (1st hit, 100th HR, player of the month awards).

er, yeah...so that's 'my life' mode in a very big nutshell. i love it (even if i can't understand everything right away) and hopefully more devs will incorporate it (particularly the off the field stuff) into their sports games.

 

[sorryaboutdresden]

just read up on mlb 2006 and it sounds like their career mode is similar to pawapuro's 'my life' mode (which means i may have to check it out this year). 'my life' is an rpg-like mode where you make your player and take him from the 2nd team (i.e. minor leagues) and try to work your way into the big leagues. you improve your stats by playing and training. games are really short if you're a batter since you only take your at-bats...and pitcher's only play when they come in for a relief appearance or start once every 5th day.

there's meters for your player's releationships (with agent, coaches, teammates, various players on opposing teams, and female fans)...i'm not sure exactly how the relationships affect your on-field performance though since i'm not literate in japanese. i do know that in previous versions of the game, you could eventually marry and have kids but i've been unable to do that in pawapuro 11.

there's also off the field activities that you can do (extra training that improves stats or various recreational activities that can affect your mood) and items you can buy. items can increase your off the field options (i.e. golf clubs, remote control car, gaming console) or restore stamina (which is lost whenever you play in a game as well as when your team travels). most of these things are menu driven, so it's not the most dynamic of systems but it's nice to be able to manage your off the field life.

and since this is turning into a long post, i'll just quickly add that you also have a salary complete with post season negotiations, a popularity meter (being real popular helps all-star voting but can drain you even more when you travel...since you'll occasionally get mobbed by fans and lose more stamina than you normally would when travelling), and a trophy case that houses balls/bats/awards from any significant career achievements (1st hit, 100th HR, player of the month awards).

er, yeah...so that's 'my life' mode in a very big nutshell. i love it (even if i can't understand everything right away) and hopefully more devs will incorporate it (particularly the off the field stuff) into their sports games.

I like that style of gameplay a lot. It will be interesting to see how this game pans out in the end. What platforms is it releasing for?

 

[Agent X]

Yah, but Sony's baseball games have sucked for years. In fact, pretty much all of Sony's sports games have sucked for years. I don't even follow their releases anymore. Sad...

I can understand where you're coming from, because many of Sony's sports games have ranged from mediocre to flat-out lousy this generation. However, last year's MLB 2005 bucked that trend and was actually very good. I'm hopeful that they'll continue the trend this year.

I'm surprised Sony hasn't announced plans to produce a PSP MLB game yet. They're doing basketball, hockey, and soccer for PSP, but baseball is nowhere to be seen.

 

[kamikaze]

I like that style of gameplay a lot. It will be interesting to see how this game pans out in the end. What platforms is it releasing for?

'my life' mode is from powerful pro 11 for ps2 and gcn (japan only). it sounds like sony's mlb 2006 is starting to take it's career mode in this direction, though i haven't read about it having as diverse a selection of off field activities. btw, the gameplay in pawapuro is a tad simplistic (no control meters or anything like recent US baseball games), but i don't mind as it's still solid.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

I think this year is actually supposed to have a lot more to do with your character outside the field. They must be getting the idea from Powerful Pro. Last year you simply tried to improve your standing on the team, etc. So I can't wait to try it. There were a lot of small things that kept it from being a true sim, but I've heard they've addressed a lot of them and it was a really solid game, unbelievably good considering the source.