Earning my PhD in Pennant Chase
Summoned from various corners of the internet, I’ve learned a lot about the completed-but-unreleased GameCube game Nintendo Pennant Chase Baseball over the past few months, and chucked it into the encyclopedia page on this site.
- We found some new footage, previously unknown to us anyway. From a small business that sold E3 game footage on DVD. These new minutes of footage include the team select screen with team ratings, a look at the game’s version of Yankee Stadium, and a much clearer commentary sound than previous footage.
- We found two big newspaper stories about the game, both from the Victoria Times Colonist. The first is from all the way back in September 2003, and doesn’t mention the “‘next great game’ for a major publisher” by name. The second is from February 2005 after the game’s announcement. These stories helped confirm the timeline for the game’s development and a reported team size.
- We compiled our best effort at credits for the game. Unless the game or its manual surfaces in more detail someday, we can’t confirm what names would be on the credits. But with reporting from various sources, this confirms at least two thirds of the Exile Interactive dev team and their job titles.
- We confirmed the game’s feature set, using a press release and the preview from Nintendo Power. And E3 footage of the game confirmed it has 65 unlockable jerseys and 10 unlockable stadiums.
The hunt continues for more information, with a few feelers out there with various sources that may know more or have some footage of the game archived.
If you know something about the game or somebody who worked on it, give me an email at nate@30-30.club.
Even more English-language Prospi guides
The English-language community for Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2024-2025 continues to prosper, offering up more guide content than ever before for this series. The full list will be kept on the game’s encyclopedia page and on our Japanese baseball game guides page on this site. Here’s the new stuff:
Another week, another mode guide from the Checked Swing YouTube channel. This one digs into the most unique mode for English-language players, the high school baseball mode Hakkyu no Kiseki.
Then bilingual Prospi fan Poppo has two new guides this week. First, all the items in Star Player mode are listed with translations and effects here. Second, and my favorite, is this list of the Batting/Pitching Forms and Celebrations in the game, and what real-world player they’re modeled after. The detail on the Celebrations sheet is so great, explaining the origin behind the post-homer moves in the game.
YouTube Viewing Guide
- Super Mega Baseball 2 (PC) Gameplay – I realized I never did a regular unmodded gameplay video of SMB2, so I rectified that this week. Fun game, and I hope they find ways to expand on single-player content with a future release.
- Famista ’89 Kaimakuban!! (Famicom) Gameplay – There’s still a Famista game I haven’t recorded yet? Like Pawapuro, there are so many of these things, it feels like I upload a new one every week but I’m still not done yet. For better or worse, the old tricks for embarrassing the CPU that work in R.B.I. Baseball don’t work as well here, as they’ve refined things over the years.
- GameSpot TV reviews of All-Star Baseball 2001 and Triple Play 2001 – I excerpted these clips out of longer videos on the excellent ClassicVGTV channel. I was honestly looking for some Pennant Chase footage at the time, but I still enjoy getting a nicely-produced look at a contemporary opinion on these games. Both clips happen to have hilarious-in-retrospect awe at the “photorealism” of the graphics on hand.