Friday Starter is a weekly column of news and tidbits from the world of baseball video games—past and present, domestic and foreign.
Emptying my notebook of weird baseball game ideas
Opening Day has come and gone. At time of publication, I am probably up way too early to watch the first NPB games, after watching MLB and KBO earlier this week. From now until October, we’re back to having real baseball to spend time with, not just the virtual stuff.
I wrote a baseball game, Fielder’s Choice, once upon a time, but I’m not likely to have the time and inclination to make any others anytime soon. But I’d like to see more interesting baseball games in the world, so here are some of the ideas I’ve written in my Notes app for weirdo baseball video games of the future. If any of this inspires you to make something, let me know.
- Found footage baseball horror game. First-person horror narrative game with an analog video aesthetic (isn’t that what every indie game is now?).
Starts in a domed stadium with the roof open. Fan next to you remarks how beautiful the night sky is, only for the dome to start to close for reasons no one knows. Early gore comes when a bird is hit by a pitch and killed. Unlike the Randy Johnson gif, it makes a bloody splatter rather than a charming poof of feathers.
If you scan around in the crowd, a certain fan is always staring straight at you, and switching seats to get closer as the game goes on.
Fans and players get more and more violent over time. A chemical has been released inside the stadium that’s causing behavioral changes, and security isn’t letting anyone leave. - Baseball Blitz. A baseball game focused on maximizing speed of play/reaction times and minimizing downtime. Even something like MLB Slugfest still takes about 20 minutes to finish a game. We could cut that waaay down if we really tried.
Pitches come in quickly and immediately after the last stoppage in play. Baserunning and fielding is automatic to keep the game focused on lightning-fast reactions for hitting and pitching.
Sound queues are important to keep the game legible and playable: Hits and outs are confirmed through sound effects. A Rhythm Heaven-style set of sound queues help you anticipate different pitches.
One ball is a walk, one strike is a strikeout. The pitcher immediately throws again after any foul ball. Runners disappear in a puff of smoke when made out. - Island Story Baseball RPG. Several games have tried to call themselves baseball RPGs in the past, just meaning they have some player progression mechanics and (very thin) stories. You could do a real one that’s not part of a larger baseball game. Golf Story showed how popular this formula can be.
My pitch borrows pretty heavily from Dragon Quest VII: You live on a small island. As far as you know, your island is the only one on the planet. Your island drafts two teams every week to play baseball against each other, and it’s a honor to be chosen first in these drafts.
One day, someone washes up on shore. Someone not from your island. They do not speak your language, but they clearly recognize your island’s game. Unfortunately, they do not last long before passing away. Where did they come from?
A great player became frustrated with life on the island and left years ago, never to return. After seeing this castaway as proof of other life out there, you decide to set off in the same direction they did. On following that path, you find another island, where they play the same game, and know about the legendary figure who left your island.
The story has you following in this path, finding new islands with smaller stories at each. Eventually, an antagonist would appear: an evil imperial navy that plans to absorb each island into a greater empire. And this navy’s dastardly sailors… prefer cricket. - Sports Fan. A Reigns-style choice-based game where you play a baseball fan. You have three meters to manage with each choice you make: brain, heart, and soul. Lose too much of one of these attributes, and it’s game over for you as a fan.
Example choice: Your team’s speedster takes second easily to put the tying run in scoring position in the ninth. But wait… The umpire has called him out due to interference by the batter. You boo of course, but on replay… You notice the batter actually stuck his arm in front of the catcher’s face in what looked like a deliberate motion. Do you:
– Shut up and grimace. This was the right call. +Brain, -Heart
– This ump has no feel for the game! That was a huge call over a technicality! Boo and throw a beer can onto the field. -Brain, +Heart, -Soul - Scorebook Strategy. A light-weight baseball strategy/manager game with a baseball scorebook aesthetic. You see ahead of time the results your batters will get for the game: Jones will go 2/4 with a steal, McCann will be 0/4. You can drag and drop the hitters in your lineup to choose the batting order, and it will show and calculate in real-time the resulting runs from the batting order you choose. You’re trying to combine runs of hits together to get as many big innings as possible.
To add some uncertainty into the mix, you and your AI or human opponent get a certain number of special events to place in specific spots in the scorecard wherever they want: a key strikeout, a double play groundball, batter’s interference. These can be strategically placed to kill a rally. So you need to make sure to diversify your strong innings a bit to withstand these plays by your opponent.
Konami and MLB enter a cross-promotion agreement
Konami and MLB both announced a new agreement between the Prospi game dev and famed American baseball league. The gist seems to be that Konami’s MLB mobile game MLB Pro Spirit will get some key advertising attention from the league, including on Opening Day and during All-Star Game voting. In return, Konami will help promote MLB in Asia, clearly an area they’re interested in gaining fans with events like the Tokyo Series.
Not a ton of detail on exactly what it entails, but I noticed not one but two mentions of MLB Pro Spirit on MLB.com early on Opening Day. Opening Day itself is apparently brought to you by Konami’s mobile game, and then there’s a giant banner ad just below:
This doesn’t promise anything about a future MLB console game by Konami, but the game devs and the league are clearly getting cozier and cozier. Konami also included this in their Instagram announcement of the deal: “Keep your eye out for the ever-expanding world of MLB PRO SPIRIT!” I wonder where else it can expand to…
Some early MLB The Show bloopers
A couple funny clips from the launch week for The Show 25:
- A bizarre clip from josegofaster on Reddit. Max Muncy hits a long fly ball that goes just foul. Then a few seconds later he sprints to third for some reason, where he shares the base with Seiya Suzuki. A few moments of awkward standing around, and then Suzuki sprints to the dugout and Muncy celebrates.
- Doyle Media on Instagram shares a first-person mode clip. While playing shortstop and fielding a groundball, the third baseman cuts in front of the play and stares straight into the camera.
- cranman11 on Reddit shares a clip from Road to the Show. The manager is out of his chair and T-posing during a clubhouse sit-down.
One bug I mentioned in my first impressions last week became a bit of a community meme. Boog Sciambi has a nasty habit of describing any kind of play as “a groundball hit to right field” in the current release version. Should be fixed now according to the latest patch notes!
YouTube Viewing Guide
- Bomberman Hardball (PS2) Gameplay – There’s a Bomberman baseball game? Sure, sort of. Despite the title, this is more like a regular Bomberman game with a bunch of sports-related minigames thrown in. And this was weirdly only released in English in Europe, not North America. So an interesting rarity, anyway.
- MLB The Show 25 (PS5) Gameplay – I enjoyed recording this one, and teeing off on the Houston Astros as the Cincinnati Reds. Elly De La Cruz is maybe the perfect baseball player for a video game.
- MLB The Show 25 (PS5) CPU vs. CPU Gameplay – Something about the lighting looks a little unsatisfying inside the Rogers Centre here. Definitely prefer the look of The Show outdoors and during the day.
Song of the Week
Former San Francisco Giant Tom O’Malley “sings” the Hanshin Tigers theme song, “Rokko Oroshi.” Enjoy: