BASEBALL VIDEO GAMES (C through L)                     

Below is a summary of most known American baseball video games, dating back to their first introduction in 1972. Excluded are games developed exclusively for video arcades, mobile phones, hand held electronics, pinball and slot machines.

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C

The Cages: Pro Style Batting Practice (2010) Experience 19 different pitch types thrown by real life pitchers. Use the Wii Motion Plus to experience real batting controls and drive them deep Slug it out with your friends in various hitting challenges like home run challenge, distance challenge and most points challenges. Track your cardio by seeing how many calories you burn while swinging the stick! Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball (1992) Cal Ripken Jr. Baseball is your basic SNES baseball game, play as one of 16 teams, along with two special teams, the All-Stars and the MVP's. Cal Ripken, the featured player is the only real player to appear in this game. Championship Baseball (1986 & 1987) Developed by Activision's Gamestar in 1986, Championship Baseball has you managing and playing America's favorite National Pastime with all sorts of unique options. You begin by drafting a team from a pool of talented players. Next, you select your batting order for maximum strategy. It's up to you to control all the action of pitching, batting, hitting, catching, outfield relays, base running, throwing and sliding. No actual Major League teams or players. Clutch Hitter (1991) Adapter from the video game, Clutch Hitter features all the Major League Baseball players from the 1991 season. However, the game doesnt use real teams and real names, but uses initals to represent the real life players and their real statistics. Sega included the actual batting stances of their real-life counterparts and was the very first game to do so. Computer Baseball (1981) Computer Baseball is a simulation computer game by Strategic Simulations, Inc. for Apple II. Players can manage a game between teams from 14 different World Series contests, or enter in or load the statistics for other teams. For example, players can manage either the Brooklyn Dodgers or New York Yankees in a rematch of the 1955 World Series. Game play is limited to managerial decisions: setting lineups, pitching changes, pinch hitters and other substitutions, defensive positioning, and offensive decisions such as when to bunt, steal or hit and run. Crushed Baseball (2004) Crushed Baseball offers completely original fully-interactive ballparks, where a key interactive feature will reward the player with additional “Mojo” abilities if they perform a certain task. For example, in a stadium with a stained glass window in the centerfield wall, if a player hits a ball that smashes through the window, they will be rewarded with additional “Mojo” abilities. In the Karate Dojo stadium, decorated in the traditional Japanese style, players can hit the gong to gain more “Mojo” abilities. The game offers players the ability to set the time of day, weather effects and type of turf they play on. Players can choose to play a night game in the rain on a dirt surface, a day game in the wind on AstroTurf or real grass and more. In addition, Crushed Baseball 2004 will be the first baseball game to offer five fully playable female players and 10 original team mascots including a ram, an eagle and a bear.

D

Dave Winfield's Batter Up (1984) Yankees star hitter and outfielder Dave Winfield is ready to go to bat for you. His program is designed to help you fine-tune your reflexes, learn successful hitting techniques, and be able to use them when you're in the batter's box. Published by Avant-Garde for the Commodore 64 and the Apple II. Dusty Diamond's All-Star Softball (1990) All weekend ballplayers know softball's no joke, but that doesn't mean you can't have a little fun with it. Step up to the plate to find the wackiest bunch of players to ever hit a softball diamond! Play seven inning fast or slow-pitch games. Face the computer in a five-game elimination tournament and earn the right to challenge the awesome Amazons. Of course, you and a friend can play each other in a head-to-head contest. Look for players who have unusual skills, such as climbing fences, diving into water, and flying at night. There are six softball fields to choose from, including the Sandlot, the Cliff, and a Professional field. Developed by Tonkin House and published by Broderbund Software. Dynasty League (1995-current) Dynasty League Baseball is a PC baseball simulation based on the fantasy baseball board game. Study the stats, make the big calls and decide who gets a final spot in the lineup. You change the pitching rotation, you decide to flash the suicide squeeze, hit and run or sacrifice bunt signs or play for the big inning. Manage situation hitting - come through with the big hits in clutch situations.

E

Earl Weaver Baseball The artificial intelligence for the computer manager was provided by Baseball Hall of Fame member Earl Weaver, then manager of the Baltimore Orioles by Electronic Arts. EWB was the first game to introduce features that subsequently became part of most or all computer baseball sims through present day. EWB allowed players to simulate an entire season of games without actually showing each game play-by-play. The Amiga version featured voice synthesis, a first in a sports computer game. The first time different stadiums were shown with actual dimensions. EWB was the first game to have the MLBPA license and feature actual major league players. Earl Weaver Baseball (1987) Earl Weaver Baseball (1989) Earl Weaver Baseball II (1991) ESPN Baseball (2004) ESPN Major League Baseball turns you into the manager and MVP at the same time. Control every part of your team, from batting to running to fielding -- and build yourself a team dynasty! Seamless online gameplay -- complete with online leagues, downloadable rosters, voice chat and more. Jason Giambi is featured on the cover. Produced by Sega for the Xbox. This game became the series "Major League Baseball" in 2005 after dropping the ESPN license. ESPN Baseball Tonight (1994 & 1995) ESPN Baseball Tonight is a baseball game for the PC, Super NES, Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, and Sega Mega-CD. The game was licensed by MLB, but not by the Players Association, so while actual team names and logos are used, no player names are in the game. The PC version was one of the early games to be made available solely on CD-ROM. In addition to the single game, season and playoff modes, there is also a Home Run Derby mode. Baseball Tonight anchor, Chris Berman, is featured on the cover. Extra Innings (1991) Extra Innings was released for the North American Super NES. The game did not use real life teams, instead using 12 fictional teams with all fictional players. The players are animated in a cartoony, anime type of style. Players can also create two custom teams, the players of which can have their names and ratings edited any number of times. Extra Innings's controls were somewhat primitive. For example, unlike modern baseball games, rather than the player choosing one player to move independently, moving the D-Pad will move all players in the field in unison.

F

Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball (1995 & 1996) Frank Thomas' Big Hurt Baseball is a Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Genesis baseball game that was released near the end of the Super NES' timeline. The game features realistic pitching, realistic batting, and features a likeness of Frank Thomas himself. Pitching and batting can be down either in a high, medium, or low direction for greater realism. Developed by Iguana Entertainment and published by Acclaim. Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro The first Baseball game developed under Dynamix's "Front Page Sports" brand name. This game delivers an equally balanced team-management and statistically accurate experience from 1994 MLB players. You can play head to head, or vs the computer in single games, full seasons or career mode, in which players age, improve, decline, retire, etc. You can perform amateur drafts drawing talent from colleges at the beginning of each season, etc. The game comes with a separate program that allows you to modify or create new players. Available in both Floppy and CD version. Front Page Sports: Baseball '94 (1994) Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '96 Season (1996) - Randy Johnson on cover. Front Page Sports: Baseball Pro '98 (1998) - Randy Johnson on cover. Full Count (1984) An all-strategy baseball simulator done entirely in text. Players can use existing teams, draft players from existing teams, or create their own from scratch. Gameplay involves answering yes/no questions (should your fielder throw to home, should your runner try to steal second) as the players' actions are described textually. Other screens exist for box scores and stats. While the game contains real team and player names, they are not licensed. Published by Lance Haffner games.

G

Grand Slam (1997) Grand Slam Baseball was released from Virgin Interactive Entertainment for Windows, Sony Playstation and Sega Saturn. Grand Slam was one of the early adopters of 3D accelerator card technology and also offered full 3D play. Grand Slam introduced a few play mechanics to video game baseball that would later prove to be fixtures in the genre. The most notable in this area was the introduction of a meter for pitching, used to control the velocity and accuracy of pitches. This meter was later borrowed and made popular by titles such as EA's MVP Baseball. On the batting side of things, a similar metered approach was used. This was inspired by older arcade baseball games that allowed the player to load up a swing's power with a control stick before releasing it as the pitch came in. Grand Slam Baseball with Steve Garvey vs. Jose Canseco (1988) Steve Garvey and Jose Canseco are the only real players in this game, and both will always be on opposite teams. The team with the most runs may not be the winner. The winner is determined by a point scale. During games there are four events that lead to points: grand slams, home runs, a runner advancing to a base, and a runner scoring. Grand slams are worth the most at 2,000 points. Home runs are worth 500 points. When a runner makes it to the next base he scores 100 points for the team. For each run that scores the team that gave up the run loses 300 points. If the bases are loaded, Steve Garvey or Jose Canseco will automatically become the batter. They also receive seven strikes instead of three before being called out. Great Baseball (1987) Since it looks good and plays terrible, Great Baseball hardly lives up to its hyperbolic title. Batter and pitcher animation is smooth, and there are a variety of features (including pitcher and pinch hitter substitution), but the fielders move super slow, bringing the action to a grinding halt whenever the ball is hit into play. Twenty-six generic teams and the addition of a Home Run Contest, which is a practice mode against 20 perfect pitches, are not enough to save the game from the minor leagues. Published by Sega for the Sega Master System.

H

Hardball Hardball! by Accolade was originally was published in 1985 for the Commodore 64. It was successful, with ports for the Apple II, Apple IIGS, Macintosh, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Amiga, MSX, ZX Spectrum, PC, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, and Sony PlayStation. Play is controlled with a joystick or arrow keys and an action button with managerial options also available. Each team member has his own statistics that affect his performance, and can be rearranged as desired. Prior to Hardball!'s release, there were other managerial baseball games available, but Hardball! was the first to integrate that aspect with the arcade control of the game action itself. In later releases in the series, announcer Al Michaels would provide commentary. Hardball! (1985) Hardball II (1989) Hardball! (1991) Hardball III & MLBPA Players Disk (1992) Hardball 4 (1994) Hardball '94 (1994) Hardball 5 (1995) Hardball '95 (1995) Hardball 6 (1998) - Ken Caminiti on cover. Hardball 99 (1998) - Ken Caminiti on cover. High Heat High Heat was released on PlayStation, Xbox, PlayStation 2 and PC. The game, featuring the official licensed team and player names from all 30 MLB teams, was created by games company 3DO, who subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2003, soon after the release of the final version of the series. By the 2004 game, you got new career and franchise modes so you can manage your own team and build up multi-year stats for it. Recruit from all the minor leagues (A through AAA) to help your team become the best. Watch realistic player movements, including jumping and diving for the ball, sliding, and even shaking fists when hit by the ball. High Heat Baseball 1999 (1998) High Heat Baseball 2000 (1999) Sammy Sosa High Heat 2001 (2000) - Sammy Sosa on cover. High Heat Major League Baseball 2002 (2001) - Vladimir Guerrero on cover. High Heat Major League Baseball 2003 (2002) - Curt Schilling on cover. High Heat Major League Baseball 2004 (2003) - Curt Schilling on cover. Home Run (1978) For the Atari 2600, the game can be played against the computer or with another player. You have the option to have 1, 2 or 3 players in the field. As a pitcher, you use the joystick to throw the ball and to control its speed and curve. After the ball is hit, your control all your men (they all move together since they follow the orders of a single joystick) in the field to catch the ball. As a batter, you can control the position of the baseball bat with the joystick. The only way to accomplish a home run is by hitting the ball over second base without having it caught by the field players. Home Run King (2008) Home Run King bills itself as an action-heavy arcade take on the national pastime. Among the game's features are a powerful create-a-player mode, an expansion team option that lets you build a squad of your favorite players, and, of course, a home run derby. Built by Sega for the GameCube. Home Run King (2008) Mini-Motion Home Run King from Aptus Games lets you step up to the plate with your bat in hand. The Home Run King controller is a collectible, small-scale bat and ball that lets you take a swing and knock one out of the park, or send a blistering fastball by the batter. After the game, head over to the Mini-Motion online VIP Clubhouse to check out the high scores list, interact with other players, and find exclusive content that keeps you in the game. Realistic environment and stadium. Made for Windows Vista / XP, Mac OS X.

I

Inside the Park Baseball (2003) Inside the Park Baseball is an innovative baseball role-playing game that lets you become a professional baseball player, and is based on the Out of the Park Baseball engine. Create your character from scratch, get drafted and then fight your way out of the minor leagues to "The Show". Negotiate your contracts, spend your hard-earned money on some of the over 300 baseball items in the game, and manage aspects of your life both on and off the field. On the field, you can play every single game of your career, as a pitcher or hitter, with complete in-game controll. Off the field, you can schedule your training program, check all of your stats or get into bar fights with opposing players. Inside Pitch (2003) Inside Pitch delivers all the hard sliding, barehanded, grand slam action of the majors. Make a homerun-robbing snag at the wall to retire the side. Then dig in and drill one over the fence to win the day. Build and train your big league team from scratch and turn the entire roster into superstars. And once you're convinced that you can't be beaten, try out your stuff against friends and opponents from all over with Xbox Live online gaming. From Spring Training to the Fall Classic. Published by Microsoft. Intellivision World Series Baseball (1983) Intellivision World Series Baseball was published by Mattel for the Intellivision Entertainment Computer System. IWSB was the first video game of any kind to use multiple camera angles, and the first sports game presented in a 3D display. The title marked the beginning of the end of board game style single screen or scrolling playfield games. It was also the first statistics-based baseball simulation game on a video game console. Replacing a fixed top-down camera with multiple field-level cameras also allowed the game to show fly balls for the first time in any baseball game, with a ball-sized shadow tracing the ball's path when it was off-screen above the field of view. All prior games showed only ground balls, since the baseball field was laid out to fit the TV screen.

J

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K

Ken Griffey, Jr. Series Ken Griffey, Jr. Presents Major League Baseball (1994) was for the Super NES. The game has an MLB license but not a MLBPA license, meaning that the game has real stadiums and real teams, but not real players. The imaginary players have the same statistics as their real-world counterparts, and the game comes with a name-changing feature allows players to change the athletes' names. Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run (1996) was developed by Rare for the Super NES. The game's title is derived from the final play of the 1995 American League Division Series featuring the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. On a play that is sometimes credited with "saving baseball in Seattle," Griffey scored the game's winning run all the way from first base, on a close play in the bottom of the 11th inning. Due to the lack of an MLBPA license, Griffey is the only player in the game to use his actual name. Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr. (1998) was produced by Nintendo and developed by Angel Studios for the Nintendo 64 platform. It allows players to choose any contemporary MLB franchise and play through an exhibition, a complete season, or a World Series. Players can also choose any player from any team to compete in a Home Run Derby. The player can also select up to four individuals to play as in Home Run Derby. The game also featured all 28 MLB team stadiums. The game had official MLBPA licensing with more than 700 real players. Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Slugfest (1999) is for the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. It is a sequel to Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr., which itself was a sequel to Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball and Ken Griffey, Jr.'s Winning Run.

L

Legends of the Diamond (1992) Legends of the Diamond is a Nintendo Entertainment System game that features legends of the baseball world including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, among others. There is exhibition mode as well as tournament mode, that can be loaded with passwords. Each player uses his career stats to determine how well he plays on the baseball field. Fielders have to be controlled manually and baseballs can be manipulated mid-flight. The ultimate goal is to win a championship. Little League Baseball (2002) Little League Baseball is published by Jack Of All Games for the Game Boy Advance. Hit the field for a game of Little League baseball with official LLB rules, LLWS Tournament Mode and "international neighborhood stadiums". Little League Baseball Championship Series (1990) You get your choice of 16 teams to play, eight domestic teams and eight foreign teams from Asia and Europe. All games are seven innings long. To help you pick a team, Power Analysis screen enables you to see how teams rate on hitting, pitching, overall defense, and running. When you're up to bat you can move around in the box, control your swing, and bunt. Pitcher's have a choice of fastball and changeup, and curving the ball left and right. On defense, all players can dive for balls or jump up to snare line drives. A great defensive plus here is the ability to move players into pre-set defensive shifts, for example, to defend against pull hitters or bunts. Developed by SNK for the Nintendo NES. Little League World Series Baseball Activision released Little League Baseball World Series 2008 for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS. Little League Baseball World Series is the first officially licensed Little League video game to hit next-generation consoles. Bat, pitch and field your way from local sandlot slugger to Little League Baseball World Series Champion. Featuring eight U.S. and eight international teams, extraordinarily deep character customization, World Series Mode, and various skill based challenges, Little League Baseball World Series offers an exciting, authentic baseball experience. Motion-sensing controls on the Wii make it accessible for Little League players and parents alike, while the DS version gives players the freedom to get on the diamond anywhere. Little League World Series (2008) Little League World Series (2009) Little League World Series (2010)

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