If there was ever a game destined to really nail a niche market in North America, it's this game. Japanese-speaking Hanshin Tigers fans, with a deep knowledge of the team's history and players, will be all over importing this bad boy. There's a new twist to this heartwarming story of an underdog title coming out to compete against the big evil team game -- it's not just trivia anymore.
Along with a new batch of screens, we've discovered the inclusion of mini-games, good for letting your hair down after all that baseball question-answering work. You'll be hitting them out of the park in Home Run Contest, doing something else (we have no idea, sorry) in Lucky 7, and also enjoying a bit of karaoke ... somehow. Baseball is one popular sport, and importing Hanshin Tigers DS when it releases on August 28 will make you one popular gamer.
We were already a bit weirded out by the announcement of Hello Kitty being named Japan's "Tourism Ambassador" to China and Hong Kong, despite not existing. But now, seemingly in celebration of the mouthless cartoon cat's new increased visibility in China (or just as a result of weirdly fortuitous timing), she'll "honor" one of China's most beloved national symbols in a series of athletic competitions.
Either that or Sanrio and publisher Dorasu just thought that putting Hello Kitty in a panda suit for a whole game would be cute. Which it is. Hello Kitty Panda Sports Stadium features 12 sporting minigames starring cats clad in panda suits, but only judo and baseball have been revealed in screens. But, really, any sport would be made better with the addition of Hello Kitty's blank stare peeking out of the cushy maw of a plush panda head.
Tomy, who you're more likely to know for their involvement withNaruto than a sports title, is releasing a pretty sweet baseball game in Japan this July. It's called Major DS and, aside from just being a baseball title (enough for this sports fan), it has great appeal in its unique control scheme. As you can witness in the video above, pitching and batting is handled by utilizing the stylus on the touch-screen. It looks like MLB Power Pros is getting a run for its money soon ...
Any sports fans think Tomy is on to something here with Major DS? We're wondering how import-friendly it is, ourselves.
DS Fanboy rather likedMajor League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars (even if it's a mouthful to say). Those of you that are interested in this odd but fun baseball title should consider picking it up today, though, as opposed to any other day, so that you can take advantage of Amazon's temporary sale.
Until 12am Pacific time, Amazon will have the game available for $14.99. If you don't mind outdated rosters, and you're craving a good, cheap baseball experience on your DS, this title probably won't disappoint. It may not be as weird and wacky as a Mutant League game (ah, if only), but it does offer a refreshing experience compared to some run-of-the-mill baseball titles out there.
Fans of baseball, be excited. The MLB Power Pros franchise isn't going away, as 2K and Konami announce the joint venture of bringing MLB Power Pros 2008 to a DS near you this fall. The game will feature real MLB players, along with the a promising Franchise mode that lets you take over the role of general manager and control your team's destiny.
The game will also feature two story-based game modes, in the Success and MLB Life modes. In Success mode, players take part in the story-based career of rising players in the Double-A Minor League system, where MLB Life lets players simulate the exciting life and experience of being a Major League Baseball player over the course of a 20-year career.
For the majority of you, our write-up long ago about the DS Fan Network service at Safeco field provided more than enough information on what it's about and what you can expect. But, we understand there are some of you out there who don't like to go over tons of screenshots or read long, desriptive passages (uh, what are you doing now?) and want an in-your-face video showing off some of the features of the newly-free service in real time. Well, thanks to the community over at GameTrailers, someone has done just that, as they've labored through the pain of watching the Seattle Mariners (they're not that good, we hear) all in the name of DS education. Check out the video above to see some of the features in action, then hit up our gallery below if you find you want to see more.
Ah, the Little League World Series -- a league that guarantees a U.S. spot in the championship every year. That's what we like to see! (Although, if we're going to nitpick, it's certainly more aptly named than the MLB's "World Series.")
Activision announced today that they're coming out with a LLWS game on August 5th, which will utilize the DS's stylus controls. According to the company, the game is aimed at a pretty specific niche, and that's gamers who love Little League baseball. The game also boasts of having an incredibly deep character customization system, which probably means that no real children were harmed in the making of this software.
We like the cutesy style seen on the boxart, as it reminds us a bit of Power Pro Kun Pocket 10. If Little League World Series 2008 can live up to that game, then we won't have anything to worry about.
Nintendo is making it worth your while to be packing your dual-screened beaut when you attend any Seattle Mariners home game this year, as the company has announced the Nintendo Fan Network is free for use at Safeco Field. Now you can check live stats and partake in some baseball trivia, as well as order food and have it delivered to you!
Some of you may remember the service itself was pretty cheap ($5) before, but now it's considerably more cheap. And considering how cheap general admission tickets at a baseball game are, we'd suggest you attend a game and see what it's like for yourself.
Never have the St. Louis Cardinals had a better pitching game than in my days on the mound in MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars. Under the influence of my super arm and eagle eye, the Cards threw out would-be hitters by the dozens, and laughed as they stumped off the field, their over-large shoulders swinging dejectedly. Those golden moments dripped glory, and there upon the mound, we found joy.
The problem is that the Cards never suffered worse at the plate than they have under my regime. So it goes.
Okay, we admit it: that headline was a little sensationalist. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day is hardly comparable to jabbing needles into increasingly-gigantic bodies (if nothing else, it's slightly less controversial), but if White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is any indication, the simple vision training game may also have an impact on baseball. We can only hope it's a better one.
Pierzynski apparently worked out with his DS and Flash Focus every morning during spring training. While the stylus is certainly a bit lighter than anything on the weight bench, something seems to be having an effect: he's out of the gate with a .529 batting average and a team-high seven RBI in just four games. Can we be sure it's Vision Training? Nah, but hey, whatever works!
This morning, we asked about realism in games, using MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars as an example of a deliberate move away from realism. Spike's Hanshin Tigers DS is in direct contrast to that title, in that it is absolutely realistic, lacking even the "fantasy" of pretending to play baseball. There's nothing more "realistic" than facts! While 2K's title is a baseball game that breaks away from accurate depictions of players and abilities, Hanshin Tigers DS is a strictly factual interpretation of baseball with no actual baseball involved.
Somehow, the Japanese game market is capable of sustaining this incredibly specialized game. It's not just a trivia game -- it's a baseball trivia game. About only one team, the Hanshin Tigers (who have been honored with pinstriped Gamecubes and Neo Geo Pocket Color systems!).
Responses to the recent announcement of MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars have been wildly mixed. Rather than pulling a dumbed-down version of the console title to the DS, as is usual with cross-platform releases, 2K Sports took a different turn. Deep Fried Entertainment produced something completely different for the handheld -- and we really mean different -- and while it seems to be a risky proposition, it's an interesting one.
We sat down with Rob Hawkey, Game Director at Deep Fried to discuss the unusual baseball title, and he had a lot to tell us about what went into the design and creation of MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars. Slide past the break for all the details.
Yesterday when we reported on the announcement of MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars, we made a minor typo. In that original post, we said that we were adopting a "wait and see" tactic regarding the game. What we meant to say was a "wait, and then just forget about the game forever, and definitely don't look for screenshots" approach.
By looking at these bizarre screens of Deep Fried Entertainment's new baseball game, we have deduced what the MLB organization's fantasy is: players who lack any kind of tissue into which steroids can be injected. Also, cows.
We're torn. Even as we make fun of the noodly look of the game, we feel a certain measure of admiration for the designers for even daring to attempt a change of pace in something as staid as a licensed sports game. But man, the noodliness.
Despite the game's unnecessarily long title, you might be happy to know that 2K is releasing Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars this April for the DS.
We're not big experts when it comes to portable baseball games, but it's common knowledge around these parts that MLB 2K7 was pretty abysmal. Will this iteration be any better? Well, it probably can't get any worse.
Fantasy All-Stars will take advantage of the DS's stylus controls, utilizing the touchscreen for hitting, pitching, fielding, and running. You'll also be able to use "special power ups" (we hope that's not code for steroids) to help improve the players' performances. Other features will include themed stadiums, and -- wait for it -- Wi-Fi multiplayer.
We'll put this one in the "wait and see" category, because it sounds like 2K is really trying to improve this series. Hopefully Deep Fried Entertainment can do a better job with MLB 2K on the DS than Skyworks Technologies.
Thanks to some enterprising eBayer, the limited-edition Seattle Mariners DS Lite is available outside of the confines of Safeco Field. We aren't really, uh, sports people, but we do know that extreme team fandom usually coincides with proximity, meaning that the people who are all about having the Seattle Mariners logo on a DS Lite probably live close enough to just go buy one. But that doesn't take into account the crazies who collect systems.
Crazies, this auction is just for you. The good news is that eBayer diet_bill isn't asking any more than the $195.99 the unit costs inside Safeco Field. The bad news is that the picture he's using for the auction is the same one used when the Lite was first discovered back in May. It could be that this guy is a) too lazy to take his own picture, b) actually the same person that took it before. But with even the slightest amount of evidence that this isn't an actual picture of an actual product, we advise that you proceed with caution.
We were already a bit weirded out by the announcement of Hello Kitty being named Japan's "Tourism Ambassador" to China and Hong Kong, despite not existing. But now, seemingly in celebration of the mouthless cartoon cat's new increased visibility in China (or just as a result of weirdly fortuitous timing), she'll "honor" one of China's most beloved national symbols in a series of athletic competitions.
DS Fanboy rather liked Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars (even if it's a mouthful to say). Those of you that are interested in this odd but fun baseball title should consider picking it up today, though, as opposed to any other day, so that you can take advantage of Amazon's temporary sale.
Fans of baseball, be excited. The MLB Power Pros franchise isn't going away, as 2K and Konami announce the joint venture of bringing MLB Power Pros 2008 to a DS near you this fall. The game will feature real MLB players, along with the a promising Franchise mode that lets you take over the role of general manager and control your team's destiny.
Okay, we admit it: that headline was a little sensationalist. Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day is hardly comparable to jabbing needles into increasingly-gigantic bodies (if nothing else, it's slightly less controversial), but if White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is any indication, the simple vision training game may also have an impact on baseball. We can only hope it's a better one.
This morning, we asked about realism in games, using MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars as an example of a deliberate move away from realism. Spike's Hanshin Tigers DS is in direct contrast to that title, in that it is absolutely realistic, lacking even the "fantasy" of pretending to play baseball. There's nothing more "realistic" than facts! While 2K's title is a baseball game that breaks away from accurate depictions of players and abilities, Hanshin Tigers DS is a strictly factual interpretation of baseball with no actual baseball involved.
Yesterday when we reported on the announcement of MLB 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars, we made a minor typo. In that original post, we said that we were adopting a "wait and see" tactic regarding the game. What we meant to say was a "wait, and then just forget about the game forever, and definitely don't look for screenshots" approach.
Despite the game's unnecessarily long title, you might be happy to know that 2K is releasing Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars this April for the DS.
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