Baseball (1983 video game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Baseball (Nintendo))

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:DMCA

Template:Short descriptionPage Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Infobox video game/styles.css has no content.

Baseball
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found.
North American NES box art
DeveloperTemplate:Pluralize from textNintendo R&D1
Intelligent Systems
PublisherTemplate:Pluralize from textNintendo
DirectorTemplate:Pluralize from textTemplate:If first display both
ProducerTemplate:Pluralize from textTemplate:If first display both
DesignerTemplate:Pluralize from textShigeru Miyamoto[1]
ProgrammerTemplate:Pluralize from textTemplate:If first display both
ArtistTemplate:Pluralize from textShigeru Miyamoto
WriterTemplate:Pluralize from textTemplate:If first display both
ComposerTemplate:Pluralize from textYukio Kaneoka
Hirokazu Tanaka
SeriesTemplate:If first display both
EngineTemplate:If first display both
PlatformTemplate:Pluralize from textNintendo Entertainment System, arcade, Famicom Disk System, Game Boy, Nintendo e-Reader
Release
Page Template:Nobold/styles.css has no content.December 7, 1983
  • NESScript error: No such module "Video game release". Arcade (VS. Baseball)
    Script error: No such module "Video game release". Famicom Disk SystemScript error: No such module "Video game release". Game BoyScript error: No such module "Video game release".
GenreTemplate:Pluralize from textSports (baseball)
ModeTemplate:Pluralize from textSingle-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemNintendo VS. System, PlayChoice-10
Template:Edit on Wikidata

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

Script error: No such module "Nihongo". is a baseball video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer (Famicom). It was originally released in Japan on December 7, 1983, a few months after the July 15 launch of the Famicom.[2]

An arcade version titled VS. Baseball released for the Nintendo VS. System in 1984, featuring enhanced graphics and speech, becoming a hit at Japanese and American arcades. The game was later released as launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America in 1985,[3] and in Europe in 1986.[4] It was also ported to the Game Boy in 1989 as one of the handheld's four launch titles.[5]

IGN noted that the universal appeal of baseball made the game instrumental in the NES's successful test market launch and regarded it as an important part of Nintendo's early history.[6] At the time, it competed with Sega's arcade hit Champion Baseball, released earlier in 1983.

Gameplay

As in real baseball, the object of the game is to score the most runs. The game supports one player versus a computer opponent, or two players. Each player can select from one of six teams.

Despite the game lacking a license of official team names,[6] their initials in the game correspond to the Japanese Central League or the American Major League Baseball teams in their respective regions. The only gameplay difference between teams is the uniform colors.[7]

Development and release

Shigeru Miyamoto recalled that in 1983, he "personally really wanted there to be a Baseball game" for the Famicom, and was "directly in charge of the character design and the game design". The Famicom had only three launch day games on July 15, 1983, and Baseball was released on December 7—totaling seven games by 1984.[1] It was ported to the arcade VS. System as VS. Baseball in 1984; another arcade version for the PlayChoice-10 was released two years later.[8]Template:Rp

At the 1985 launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System in the Manhattan initial test market, the game was featured prominently among 17 total games. It was demonstrated on a large projector screen, by real Major League Baseball athletes who played the video game and signed autographs for fans. Because the video game industry was so young and had crashed in America in 1983, and because some other NES launch games like Clu Clu Land have abstract fantasy themes that are not instantly recognizable by a new audience, the presence of a traditional American pastime was said to be an instantly relatable aid to the system's introduction.[6]

A Game Boy version was released as a launch title for the console.[9] The NES version was released on the e-Reader for the Game Boy Advance as well as a bonus in Animal Crossing for the GameCube. Both console versions were released multiple times via the Virtual Console and Nintendo Classics services.[10] VS. Baseball was released by Hamster Corporation as part of the Arcade Archives series for the Nintendo Switch on June 19, 2020.[11]

Reception

In Japan, 2.35 million copies of the original Famicom version of Baseball were sold.[12] Worldwide, 3.2 million copies were sold for Famicom and NES.[13]

Game Machine magazine named VS. Baseball as Japan's most successful table arcade cabinet of June[14] and July 1984.[15] In the United States, VS. Baseball topped the arcade software conversion kit charts for several months in 1984: the RePlay charts from September[16] through October[17] to November,[18] and the Play Meter charts from October to November.[19] Play Meter also listed it as the top-grossing arcade game in December 1984.[20] In Europe, it had become a popular arcade game by 1986.[21]

In 2007, IGN gave Baseball a 5.5 out of 10, noting its depth of pitching, its two-player support, "its still-intact sense of fun", and its important place in Nintendo's history. The review said that the 1985 test market launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System had "heavily relied upon" Baseball, due to the globally recognizable status of the sport. The review summarized that "the NES came out a winner—thanks, in part, to Baseball".[6]

In 2006, GameSpot gave Baseball a 4.2 out of 10, stating that while it was easy to play, the "bare-bones" replica of the sport "hasn't withstood the test of time".[7]

In 2020, historian Ken Horowitz said VS. Baseball (1984) lacks certain features of the competing Sega's Champion Baseball (1983), but has superior multiplayer capabilities.[8]

Baseball was a significant source of inspiration for Namco's Pro Baseball: Family Stadium (1986) for Famicom, which became the R.B.I. Baseball series.[22]

Notes

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kohler, Chris (October 14, 2016). "Miyamoto Spills Donkey Kong's Darkest Secrets, 35 Years Later". Wired. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Cornelius, Dylan (April 21, 2020). "Baseball (Famicom, 1983)". Retro Gaming Archive. Archived from the original on October 8, 2020. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Matt (March 28, 2020). "All 30 Black Box NES Games Guide (Including Pricing)". MCMROSE. Archived from the original on April 12, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."NES Game List (Europe)". NinDB. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved March 7, 2021.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Swanson, Drew (January 5, 2023). "Remembering the Game Boy's Launch Titles". Game Rant. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Thomas, Lucas M. (January 16, 2007). "Baseball VC Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved July 2, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Thomas, Aaron (January 4, 2007). "Baseball Review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  8. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Horowitz, Ken (August 6, 2020). Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games. McFarland & Company. ISBN 978-1-4766-8420-8.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Swanson, Drew (January 5, 2023). "Remembering the Game Boy's Launch Titles". Game Rant. Retrieved May 21, 2024.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Good, Owen S. (September 13, 2018). "Nintendo Switch Online has these 20 classic NES games". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 12, 2025. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.McFerran, Damien (June 11, 2020). "Two More Nintendo Games Are Coming To Hamster's Arcade Archives Range". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on February 14, 2025. Retrieved May 17, 2025.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Japan Platinum Game Chart". The Magic Box. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2021.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Guinness World Records 2015: Gamer's Edition. Vancouver, British Columbia: Jim Pattison Group. November 6, 2014. p. 105. ISBN 978-1908843654.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in 日本語). No. 237. Amusement Press, Inc. June 1, 1984. p. 29.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in 日本語). No. 239. Amusement Press, Inc. July 1, 1984. p. 25. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 13, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. September 1984.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. October 1984. p. 4.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. November 1984.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."National Play Meter". Play Meter. Vol. 10, no. 21. November 15, 1984. pp. 28–9.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Horowitz, Ken (August 6, 2020). Beyond Donkey Kong: A History of Nintendo Arcade Games. McFarland & Company. p. 135. ISBN 978-1-4766-8420-8.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Edgeley, Clare (December 16, 1986). "Arcade Action". Computer and Video Games. No. 63 (January 1987). United Kingdom: EMAP. pp. 138–9. ISSN 0261-3697.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Szczepaniak, John (August 11, 2014). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers (First ed.). SMG Szczepaniak. p. 363. ISBN 978-0992926007.

Lua error in mw.title.lua at line 404: bad argument #2 to 'title.new' (unrecognized namespace name 'Portal'). Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found.

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Baseball_(1983_video_game)&oldid=1135068"