Major League Baseball (video game)

Major League Baseball
Cover art
Developer(s)	Enteractive[1]
Publisher(s)	LJN[1]
Programmer(s)	David Rolfe[2]
Platform(s)	Nintendo Entertainment System
Release date(s)	NA April 1988[1]
Genre(s)	Sports (with 3D graphics)[1]
Mode(s)	Single-player Multiplayer (up to 2 players)
Media/distribution	Nintendo Entertainment System cartridge

Major League Baseball is a sports video game released in 1988 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is notable for being one of the first video games licensed by Major League Baseball, although it was not endorsed by the Major League Baseball Players Association. Without the backing of the player's association, the game could not name the actual players, although it was able to use their numbers, thus accurately portraying the contemporary teams and their rosters. In doing so, it became the first baseball game for the Nintendo Entertainment System to carry official Major League Baseball licensing and lineups.

Major League Baseball was developed by Enteractive Incoprorated, published by LJN, and programmed by David Rolfe. It featured many facets of realistic gameplay and a focus on managerial details, which stressed the importance of choosing a well-balanced team. Despite its graphical limitations, it was considered a three-dimensional game at the time and was featured in the first issue of Nintendo Power as compared the system's other baseball games of the era.

Development

Lineup selection screen.

Prior to 1988 there had been two games released with the official endorsement of Major League Baseball. In 1980 Mattel Electronics released Major League Baseball (also known as Super Challenge Baseball and Big League Baseball) for the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision. This version was developed by APh Technological Consulting.^[3] Four years later MicroLeague was licensed to develop and publish MicroLeague Baseball for the Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and PC. This version contained contemporary and classic teams and players and MicroLeague released extra disks that featured additional lineups.^[4]

In 1988 Enteractive Incorporated signed on to develop an "official" Major League Baseball game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, which would be a first for that particular console.^[1] In 1987 Tengen had released R.B.I. Baseball for the NES, which contained a Major League Baseball Players Association license, but no endorsement from Major League Baseball itself. This meant that, while the players were named in this version, the team names and logos were absent and replaced by generic place references such as Boston or St. Louis.^[5] An earlier version for the console, entitled Baseball was released in 1985 and contained no endorsement from either organization.^[6] American company LJN agreed to be the publisher^[1] and David Rolfe was brought on board as the game's programmer. Rolfe had previously been a publisher with Activision and had been a chief contributor to the foundations of the Intellivision.^[2]

Gameplay

Officially licensed by Major League Baseball, the game features all twenty-six teams that existed in 1987. Additionally, the lineups and the player numbers are accurate to the team rosters that year. Since the game did not have the endorsement of the Major League Baseball Players Association at the time, the team members are only listed by number, not name. In addition to their numbers the players are represented by their statistics, abilities, throwing arm, and even placement in the batting order. 1988's Major League Baseball was therefore the first NES game to be officially endorsed by Major League Baseball and to feature accurate contemporary lineups, albeit without the actual player names attached to their numbers.^[1]

A Blue Jays player prepares to bunt.

Managerial decisions are a focus and game players are allowed to select their own lineups, although the game lacks Sabermetrics statistics due to the limitations of the era. Instead, the "manager" must make their decisions based on data such as player's average and home run totals.^[7] They also have the ability to change and decide who will be a pinch-hitter and who will be a substitute pitcher.^[1] One is even allowed to pick out a designated hitter. The game prohibits one from putting out more team members in a certain part of the field than would normally be allowed, which makes deciding which player will be used where a part of the experience.

There are three modes that can be played with teams from either the American League or the National League: regular season games, All-star games or the World Series (interleague). The World Series rounds, however, are only one match each, which is not accurate to the real World Series. Due to the licensing, the teams even appear complete in their official uniforms and colours and also have all the options that a real baseball player would have, including bunting, pitching out, base stealing and throwing errors.

Gameplay limitations

In Major League Baseball, the pitcher is unable to move around the pitcher's mound and many are also able to perform the feat of 100 mph (160 km/h) pitches. The ball's physics have been called into question, with the ball stopping on a dime after three or less bounces.^[8] The game's camera system does not function properly and, when a ball is hit, the outfield camera follows the ball looking upwards, making it impossible for the game player to see where their fielders are. The ball can also be thrown and get stuck in the well between the stands and the field on an overthrow of a baseman, and cause inside the park home runs, which would not happen within a real game (in that case a ground rule double and/or error would be scored instead). Another bug allows players to go into the stands past the wall with the ball if they enter at certain points in foul territory.

There are also gameplay issues when the player takes their turn to bat. The AI is not developed and, when the player hits a pitch, it nearly always takes the longest possible route to the ball, making runs easier to score. It also lacks the capability to throw out a runner who is returning to a base (instead of advancing) or perform a double play after catching a fly ball. Furthermore, the batter can only move vertically, not horizontally, in the batter's box.

Technology

Graphics

A grand slam does not display any alternate screen from a home run.

The graphics themselves were considered to be three-dimensional given the constraints of the technology at the time.^[1] All the players are Caucasian and each one's batting stance is exactly the same. The game view is always top down; when batting or pitching, it is centered above the catcher, behind the batter and with an overhead look of the pitcher. In the outfield, there is an aerial view of a portion of the field, with the team members represented by tiny sprites and an inset with red dots representing where the players are on base. Although the official colors are intact, the actual symbols on their uniforms are absent. The crowd is represented by a series of colored dots.

Music and sound effects

There are a limited amount of effects and, aside from brief ballpark jingles, there is no real background music present during the game. For example, the charge fanfare is played at random points and the introductory screen begins with a different baseball tune while the player is loading up and selecting his team, along with a home run fanfare. Generic sound effects include the bat cracking upon contact with the ball, the sound of the ball flying through the air during a pitch, bouncing and throwing effects, and a stream of crowd noises.

Reception

Major League Baseball was featured in the first issue of Nintendo Power and compared to R.B.I. Baseball and Bases Loaded, although the magazine did not pass any judgment on which game was superior.^[7] Allgame's review of Major League Baseball rated it three stars out of five,^[1] the same rating is gave to R.B.I. Baseball^[5] and half a star lower than it awarded to Bases Loaded.^[9]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Baker, Christopher Michael (2007). "Major League Baseball > Overview". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/cg/agg.dll?p=agg&sql=1:1249. Retrieved 2007-09-03. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Interview – David Rolfe". Good Deal Games. 2003. http://www.gooddealgames.com/interviews/int_rolfe.html. Retrieved September 11, 2011. 
3. ^ Sutyak, Jonathan (2010). "Major League Baseball > Overview". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=20550. Retrieved September 11, 2011. 
4. ^ "MicroLeague Baseball". Moby Games. http://www.mobygames.com/game/microleague-baseball. Retrieved 2007-09-03. 
5. ^ ^{a b} Baker, Christopher Michael (2010). "R.B.I. Baseball > Overview". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=11908. Retrieved September 11, 2011. 
6. ^ Marriott, Scott Alan (2010). "Baseball > Overview". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=167. Retrieved September 11, 2011. 
7. ^ ^{a b} Nintendo Power Staff (July/August 1988). "Baseball Round Up". Nintendo Power (Nintendo) (1): 44. 
8. ^ Rovin, Jeff (September 1990). How to Win at Nintendo Sports Games. St Martins Mass Market Paper. pp. 192. ISBN 0312923716. 
9. ^ Baker, Christopher Michael (2010). "Bases Loaded > Overview". Allgame. http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=1152. Retrieved September 11, 2011. 

External links

• Instruction Manual at Vimm's Lair