The Hall of Fame History of Baseball Video Games

Written by John Scalzo  on March 26, 2008

Special: Play ball!

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The NES/Super NES/Genesis era of consoles also included plenty of MLB-licensed games that starred a variety of players and managers including Earl Weaver Baseball, Tony Lasorda Baseball (both published by EA), Bo Jackson Baseball, Cal Ripken Baseball, Roger Clemens Baseball and Frank Thomas "Big Hurt" Baseball.

Sega would jump into the baseball game in a big way in 1994 with World Series Baseball for the Genesis. It was the first game in the Sega Sports line and introduced the Уcatcher camФ to baseball games. The series would run for years until Sega sold the Visual Concepts team to Take-Two. Take-Two rebranded the series as the Major League Baseball 2K series in 2005 and would go on to do some interesting things with the MLB license (more on that later).

Not to be outdone, Nintendo released Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball for the Super NES in 1994. The game did not feature real MLB players, but it did include an edit mode allowing gamers to change the fake names (which were based on rock stars, comedians, actors, superheroes and other famous folks).



A sequel, Ken Griffey Jr's Winning Run was released for the Super NES in 1996 (and developed by Rare of all companies). Winning Run removed the edit mode from the previous game, while still maintaining the fake names from the previous game. Many of the player's names were puns on the real life players they were meant to represent (for example, Muscles McPhee was an obvious stand-in for Barry Bonds). Two more games headlined by Ken Griffey Jr. would be released for the Nintendo 64 before Nintendo bowed out of traditional games based on Major League Baseball in 1999.

Believe it or not, Acclaim reshaped the baseball game landscape in 1998 with the birth of the All-Star Baseball series. Originally a Nintendo 64 exclusive (and built from the foundation of Frank Thomas "Big Hurt" Baseball), All-Star Baseball 99 took the graphics in a baseball title to new heights and included every stadium recreated in loving detail and many players were outfitted with their real-life batting stances. The All-Star Baseball series would set the standard for baseball games for several before suffering a decline in the mid-2000s. The series was tossed out of the game when Acclaim went bankrupt in 2005.

If it's hard to believe that Acclaim ruled the baseball roost, it might be even harder to believe what other company was also putting out a high quality baseball series: 3DO. Yes, the boys behind the Army Men franchise knew how to put together a good baseball sim. While the All-Star Baseball series became a shell of its former self before the plug was pulled on Acclaim, High Heat Baseball continually put out solid outings year-in and year-out right up until the end. After 3DO went the way of the Montreal Expos, Microsoft scooped up the rights to the series, but as of today they have yet to put out another High Heat game.

The king of sports games, Electronic Arts, has been a bit of a non-player when it comes to baseball video games. The company was responsible for publishing several of the games in the Tony LaRussa Baseball series. After that, they created the Triple Play Baseball series during the PlayStation/Nintendo 64 era. They continued to publish the floundering series until 2002, when poor sales and a critical drubbing forced EA's hand. The company created the MVP Baseball series and gave development duties to EA Canada.

The MVP Baseball succeeded where the Triple Play series failed. Critics loved the series' new take on baseball and gamers responded by making the series a commercial success as well. However, it would be short-lived as Take-Two purchased the exclusive third-party rights to create games with an MLB license in 2005. Starting in 2006 the MVP series would be rechristened the MVP NCAA Baseball series and focus entirely on college baseball.

Baseball video games have been in a bit of a holding pattern ever since. As a first party, Sony continues to release games in their MLB: The Show series to good reviews and good sales. While 2K's Major League Baseball 2K series has finally ended Derek Jeter's string of nine straight cover appearances. Which stretched from All-Star Baseball 2000 (released in 1999) and ending with Major League Baseball 2K7 (released in 2007).

Baseball video games were not immune from the rash of steroid accusations either as Уarcade actionФ titles from Midway (MLB SlugFest) and 2K (The Bigs) highlighted the buff, home run hitting machines that Major League Baseball is now trying to forget.

This dark time is attempting to be washed away by a new wave of УfunnyФ baseball games including several games starring Mario and the baseball portion of Wii Sports. There's just something about cartoony characters and comically large bats swinging at tiny baseballs that is just fantastic. The realistic Wiimote motions of Wii Sports no doubt help as well.

And speaking of cartoony characters, a trend that is distinctly Japanese, big-head baseball, has finally come to America with 2K's MLB Power Pros. The series has been a mainstay across the Pacific for years and features super-deformed players that resemble squat little bobblehead dolls.

You're Out!
Video games, like baseball, are an American institution. The smell of fresh-cut grass, peanuts and Crackerjacks will be forever linked with the smells of plastic and peanuts and Crackerjack. Spring is here and the season is right around the cornerЕ there is joy in MudvilleЕ Play Ball!