State of Baseball Video Games (and My Take)

Andrew asked me to post my review of this season's two baseball video game offerings, MLB 2K10 and MLB 10: The Show. But before I do so, I would like to explain a bit about why there are only two such offerings, when several years prior we had several different games to choose from.

After the 2005 MLB season, 2K sports won the exclusive rights to continue as the only 3rd party game developer to continue selling the only officially licensed MLB video game. This deal was similar to the one that EA Sports signed with the NFL several years ago to give them the exclusive rights to produce the only officially licensed NFL video game, Madden Football. This deal created very little controversy amongst gamers, as Madden was already the gold standard amongst football video games and was not going to be ousted from that position. However, 2K Sports' deal with MLB had far greater consequences.

2K Sports' agreement prevented all 3rd party game developers, including EA Sports, from continuing to develop and market further titles from the highly successful MVP Baseball series. This was particularly disappointing, as their last release in the series, MVP Baseball 2005, was considered at the time and is still considered by some to be the greatest baseball video game ever produced. EA Sports would be forced to change their focus to college baseball and produced a few relatively unsuccessful college baseball games. This deal was also particularly disappointing because unlike the NFL-Madden deal, 2K Sports had yet to produce a baseball video game that was anywhere near as good as the games released under the MVP Baseball title, leaving baseball video game fans to wonder when and if they would see another great baseball game anytime soon.

What we didn't realize immediately was that the deal only prohibited 3rd party developers from developing and marketing officially licensed MLB games. Game console developers (Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc.) were still entitled to develop officially licensed MLB games for their specific consoles. Sony, which had acquired sports video game developer 989 Sports, would therefore be allowed to continue developing and designing licensed baseball games exclusively for their Playstation 2, Playstation 3, and PSP systems. This left owners of Sony game consoles with a choice between games from the 2K Sports series or the Sony series, known as "The Show." Owners of Microsoft systems (Xbox and Xbox 360) and Nintendo systems (Gamecube and Wii) only had one option, which was the 2K Sports series.

For a couple of years, I was a part of the latter of those two groups. Beginning with MLB 2K7, 2K Sports had promised to redevelop their baseball series and I have to say, their commitment looked to be genuine based on my gameplay experience. I actually found the game to be quite enjoyable to play and believed that 2K Sports was on their way to developing a very good baseball series. I was quite excited to see what next year's offering would have in store for me. My excitement was met with some disappointment, as MLB 2K8 failed to improve upon the prior year's title, which glitchy gameplay and frame rate issues.

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Evan Longoria Talks About MLB 2K10 and $1 Million Prize

At the end of January, I saw a headline on Darren Rovell's CNBC blog that piqued my interest: "Baseball Video Game Franchise Offers $1 Million Prize." Well, OK, what's the prize for? It is going to be rewarded to the first person to pitch a perfect game. Only 18 players have ever thrown a perfect game in Major League Baseball history and 2K Sports is betting that no one is able to do so in their baseball game in the next two months (though they say it's possible and they think someone will do eventually).

The contest started this past Tuesday and runs for 60 days so I'm sure there are many unemployed folks (and those employed too, I'm sure), spending their days trying to make up for the bad economy by claiming the prize. This is the 10th anniversary of the franchise and it's continued to evolved to where it is today. Here is Evan Longoria, the MLB 2K10 cover and spokesperson, talking about the game and the prize:

Good luck on winning the $1 million. You have until May 2nd