I love competition.? I struggle with single player games. No point in beating silly computer algorithms. Beating human much more fun.
Baseball ain’t really my game. Catherine quizzed me on my sports preferences while we were watching Mexicans play soccer at the park this morning – she was surprised that raquetball won for me – till I explained the head to head factor made it a no brainer.? So anyway, watching baseball? is really tough for me – for the most part, I agree with Homer when he went to the baseball game sober – “I never realized how boring this game truly is”.? But – playing it head to head – I’m interested.
So we anxiously awaited the release of MVP by EA Sports. To me, it’s glorified rock scissors paper (though Kelly corrects me often saying it’s rock paper scissors…tomatoe…tomato…) and I love that.
Do I throw a strike? Do I swing? If the count is 0-2 – will they throw a strike, will they throw a ball? The hardest thing to do is not swing at pitches in this game. On exceptionally bad pitches, they even show a little icon outside of the strike zone. They tell you not to swing. And still you swing. It is a game that challenges your self control. I love that.
And striking out a computer means nothing. I get no pleasure. But with a 0-2 count and getting Kelly or Ben to swing on a ball that’s a foot outside – priceless.? And when they get me to swing – well, I can easily be mistaken for a sailor for about 3-5 seconds. It is so hard not to swing. Every pitch has home run potential as it’s leaving the pitcher’s hand. Sometimes I have to put the controller down to maintain my commitment to not swinging. Nice looking into Ben’s eyes as he realizes I’m not even holding the PSP when he pitches.? Riding the roller coaster (hands up in the air – not holding onto anything) is one of my favorite moves in the game – though it’s not documented in the manual. Secret move I’m sharing with you all right now. Very effective.
There is a touch of skill to the game? – hitting the ball takes some timing – and me being shut out in all the home run derbys proves that.? And pitching takes a little skill too – bad timing there and you’re lobbing a softball down the pipe (I think that’s the phrase, but I’m not completely sure, I’m not a baseball fan) that could be rewarded with some fireworks during a homerun celebration. But it’s not too significant. Unless you really care about being shut out in home run derbies. (I do mind, but I’m demented in the sense that being shut out makes me want to play more, not less.)
And I don’t mean to put down the computer players at all – they’re fantastic. I’m impressed with the logic that each of the players implements – baseball’s complicated stuff. Players back each other up on the most routine fly balls. And getting all that to work together is impressive. I’ve had a 2nd baseman get knocked down by a runner while trying to turn a double play. Great, realistic game play. But because the computer is so good, it simplifies the game. Removes a lot of the skill. The fielders dive for us and climb walls and make fantastic catches. All without any action on my part. That’s how it is again reduced to a much simpler game of strike or ball? Swing or watch?
They do allow you to get more greater control over the players – but that’d just result in a 3 day game for us with scores in the hundred. Too much skill involved in getting the routine out.? I’d like to do it sometime though – just to see how many pitchers we’d go through. Memorial day is coming up – Kelly? Ben? What you doing? I’m calling you out right now.
The game is everything I wanted. It’s got flashy graphics and stats and baseball blah blah blah stuff (note – if you charge the mound after getting hit by a pitch, your player is ejected..) but I wasn’t interested in any of that. I just wanted the mental game. The rock scissors paper. The I’m gonna throw a ball and you can’t help yourself but swing at it challenge.? And it’s all there.
Yogi was definitely on the right track when he said? “Baseball is 90% mental, the other half is physical”.
meatball down-the-pipe