| MLB Stickball | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Gaia Industries |
| Publisher(s) | 2K |
| Platform(s) | Xbox 360 (XBLA) |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
MLB Stickball was a Major League Baseball-licensed stickball video game published by 2K for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. It was released on October 8, 2008, [1] and removed from the Xbox Live Marketplace in December 2014.
In the game, players buy and collect packs of Topps "Big Head" Major League Baseball (MLB) cards, which unlock players. Each team has four different unlockable players, usually the bigger names. In the "Tour" mode, which has the player going around to different cities to play different teams, the player starts with one MLB player if the player is a first time user. Usually it is a player that easily represents the team, such as Prince Fielder for the Brewers or David Ortiz for the Red Sox. The Tour gets progressively harder as the player continues. Gameplay recreates the atmosphere of street stickball based in various cities such as Brooklyn, San Francisco and Boston.
The game makes use of the environment, as objects on the field represent benefits and hazards. For instance, striking a fire hydrant with a batted ball will cause it to spray water onto the street for a bonus. Breaking a window turns a potential extra base hit into an out. Certain special items that are identified in the achievements are worth even extra, such as hitting the "wheel" or "basketball hoop". Hitting these are worth 20 gamer points, and require a good amount of luck rather than skill. These extra points can also be obtained by hitting cars, scooters, and cows (on the bounce). Later these points can be used to purchase more Topps cards. A pack of three random cards costs 50 points.
Before each game, the player chooses four players for their team. These players have to be a real part of the team. If the player has not unlocked all the characters on the team they have selected, they can use anonymous characters, skilled in specific areas.
When pitching the player can choose one of four pitches based on the four color buttons on the controller. These choices are a lob pitch, a fastball, a curveball, or a bouncing pitch. Each has its own uses, and the pitches are best when mixed and matched. After choosing a pitch and location, a meter appears in which the player must hold the button down for a certain amount of time in order to help guarantee the perfection of the pitch. The higher "green" (towards the top) of the meter that the player gets, the more likely the pitch will behave as desired. Power pitchers and accuracy based pitchers are more likely to have the ball go in the desired spot, but players like the power hitters can strike the computer out in the lower levels of Tour mode as long as they use the meter well. This is crucial because there are few ways to get an out in the game, and the most helpful to the player is a strikeout due to the five points received for its completion.
When batting, a player can only hit a ball that is located in the strike zone. The player may move the playable character back and forth in the batter's box. The player presses "A" with good timing to hit the pitch. If the player presses "B" instead, the batter is more likely to hit a home run, but also more likely to pop out. The characters baserun themselves and take only the minimum number of bases. For example, if there is a man on first and the character hits a double, the man on first would have advanced to third. Home runs are worth extra points, and a grand slam unlocks an achievement.
Before pitching the player also has the choice of moving fielding players around with the use of the right bumper. Many times the player can choose such things as left, right, deep, shallow, or normal. This will often be based on the stats shown in the bottom right of the opposing hitter - a hitter that is a pitcher will most likely have bad hitting stats, allowing the opponent to play shallow and get the out from the groundout more readily.
The player plays six innings per game in tour mode, though in exhibition the player can choose either three, six, or nine inning games. If the player is winning going into the bottom of the 6th, or the bottom of the last inning, the last half of the inning is not played, similar to MLB. If a team wins, its characters celebrate around home plate; if they lose, they look discouraged around the pitcher's area. After a game the player is presented stats of the characters used, including strikeouts, RBIs, hits, and ERA. [1]
After playing for the first time the player can look at the achievements at any point during gameplay simply by pressing start during a game or on the main title screen of the game. Some of the achievements require skill such as hitting for the cycle, while others require a certain amount of luck, such as hitting the basketball hoop. There are 12 possible achievements worth a total of 200 possible points.
Collecting points gives the player the opportunity to purchase a pack of cards for 50 points. Each pack contains three random cards out of a total of 120. Getting all 120 unlocks an achievement for the player. Three duplicate cards of the same player can be traded in for any card the player desires. A set of five duplicate cards of the same player can be upgraded to a gold card, slightly boosting the player's stats. It is possible to get four different players per team, and they are usually the most famous, or the most representative of the team, such as Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols, Ichiro or Josh Hamilton. Getting all four cards of a team also unlocks an achievement for the player.
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 46/100 [2] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| GamePro |    [3] |
| GameSpot | 4.5/10 [4] |
| IGN | 3/10 [5] |
| Official Xbox Magazine (US) | 6/10 [6] |
| TeamXbox | 8.5/10 [7] |
The game received "generally unfavorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic, even though fans felt the game was one of the greatest. Fans also are hoping for a comeback of some sort with this type of backyard gameplay fun. [2]
In baseball, a no-hitter or no-hit game is a game in which a team does not record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine complete innings recorded no hits. A pitcher who prevents the opposing team from achieving a hit is thereby said to have "thrown a no-hitter". In most cases, no-hitters are recorded by a single pitcher who throws a complete game; one thrown by two or more pitchers is a combined no-hitter.
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closer.
R.B.I. Baseball is a baseball sports video game series. R.B.I. stands for "run batted in". Launched in 1987 as a localized version of Namco's Family Stadium series, the R.B.I. Baseball series initially ran through 1995. In 2014, the series was rebooted as a competitor to MLB: The Show, with releases each year until its cancellation. The series ended in 2022 with the release of MLB The Show 22 on the Nintendo Switch.
Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup is a 2003 sports action video game that features the fictional sport of Quidditch from the Harry Potter franchise. The game was developed by two teams, EA UK and Magic Pockets, and was published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Game Boy Advance, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube. The game bears no relation to the abandoned Nintendo 64 project.
Baseball Mogul is a series of career baseball management computer games created by game designer Clay Dreslough. The product was first published in 1997. The 26th and latest installment is Baseball Mogul 2023. A proprietary database, included with the game, permits play in any season of historical baseball from 1901 to the present. The early Baseball Mogul games are considered to be influential works within the baseball management simulation genre.
Major League Baseball 2K8, or, in shorter terms, MLB 2K8, is an MLB licensed baseball simulation video game co-developed by Blue Castle Games and newly renamed 2K Los Angeles and published by 2K Sports for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, and Xbox 360. It was released on March 4, 2008. A demo was released on Xbox Live Marketplace the next day on March 5 for Canada, United States, and Asian markets and features the 2007 World Series opponents.
Cornhole is a lawn game popular in North America in which players or teams take turns throwing fabric bean bags at a raised, angled board with a hole in its far end. The goal of the game is to score points by either landing a bag on the board or putting a bag through the hole.
Midnight Club: Los Angeles is a 2008 racing video game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fourth installment in the Midnight Club series. The game features 43 cars and 3 motorcycles. The open world map of Los Angeles is the size of all three cities from the previous installments combined. After several delays, Midnight Club: Los Angeles was released in October 2008.
MLB Power Pros is a baseball video game developed by Power Pros Production and published by 2K in North America and Konami in Japan for the Wii and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. It is part of the traditionally Japan-only Power Pros series of video games, and is the first game in the series to be released outside Japan, which serves as the sequel to the first game, released only in Japan. It was released in October 2007, and is published by 2K. A sequel, MLB Power Pros 2008, came out in 2008. Another sequel, MLB Power Pros 2010, came out on iOS and Android devices in 2010.
Mario Super Sluggers is a sports and adventure video game for the Wii developed by Namco Bandai Games and Now Production, and published by Nintendo. It is part of the Mario Sports series, and the sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball for the GameCube. Mario Super Sluggers was released in Japan on June 19, 2008 and in North America on August 25, 2008. It was neither released in Europe nor Australia.
MLB 08: The Show is a baseball simulation video game developed by San Diego Studio published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable systems. It is the longest-running officially licensed Major League Baseball game series on the PlayStation systems. MLB 08: The Show is the third edition of the MLB: The Show series of video games. The game was announced for all three PlayStation consoles on December 11, 2007, and released on March 4, 2008 in North America. Ryan Howard, all-star first baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, is featured as the game's cover athlete.
Major League Baseball 2K9, or MLB 2K9 for short, is an MLB-licensed baseball simulation video game published by 2K. The game was developed for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Wii. The game was released on March 3, 2009, to mixed-to-positive reviews.
The 1967 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 38th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 11, 1967, at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California, home of the California Angels of the American League. The game resulted in a 2–1 15 inning victory for the NL. It set the record for the longest All-Star Game by innings, matched in 2008.
MLB Front Office Manager is a Major League Baseball-licensed sports management game developed by Blue Castle Games and published by 2K for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It was released on January 26, 2009.
In Major League Baseball, a shutout refers to the act by which a single pitcher pitches a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a run. If two or more pitchers combine to complete this act, no pitcher is awarded a shutout, although the team itself can be said to have "shut out" the opposing team.
Major League Baseball 2K11 or, in short, MLB 2K11, is an MLB licensed baseball simulation video game published by 2K. MLB 2K11 is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS, and Wii.
Little League World Series Baseball is a series of sports video games. Based on the Little League World Series, there are four games in the series. The latest release was on August 17, 2022.
Otomedius Excellent (オトメディウスX is a scrolling shooter video game, developed and published by Konami for the Xbox 360 video game console. It is the sequel to the 2008 game Otomedius G , a spin-off of the Gradius series. It was released in 2011 on April 21 in Japan and in North America on November 1.
Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is a video game based on the popular collectible card game of the same name, first published by Wizards of the Coast in 1993. The game was released on June 20, 2012, via Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network, and iPad, and is the third game in the Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers series. The gameplay follows that of the original card game, however within a more restrained framework. It received mainly positive reviews and was number one in the PlayStation Network sales for June. The sequel, Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014, was released in 2013.
Peggle 2 is a casual puzzle video game developed by PopCap Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is the official sequel to Peggle (2007), although a previous follow-up to the PC game was released in 2008. In production since 2012, Peggle 2 was announced during the E3 2013 press conference and also as a timed exclusive for the Xbox One. Although the gameplay mechanics remain mostly the same, Peggle 2 features a different set of masters, with Bjorn Unicorn and Jimmy Lightning (DLC) the only returning members among a set of five other new ones. There are also new gameplay options, in-game features, and more. An Xbox 360 version of the game was released on May 7, 2014, as well as a PlayStation 4 version on October 14, 2014. Critically, Peggle 2 was praised for its new masters and the implementation of them; its vibrant visuals; soundtrack; and the addition of trial levels and challenges. However, it was also criticized for not having enough facets that made it truly different from its predecessors.