MVP 06 NCAA Baseball

It looks like my video gaming sabbatical will be coming to an abrupt end later this week when MVP 06 NCAA Baseball delivers the ping of the bat to the PS2. I have been writing for years that I am sick of the crap that goes on between the MLB owners and the MLBPA – yes, I still love the game, but I could do with less of the politics that result from labor disputes, weak drug testing policies, and all the other stuff that goes with the constant bickering between the all powerful players’ union and the owners.

Baseball as a sport is still wonderful; it is not like I do not watch the Braves, keep up with baseball news (I especially love The Sporting News’ baseball coverage), or debate stats with my friends. I am just at a point where I have more fun playing Out of the Park Baseball with fictitious players or historical rosters than playing console MLB games.

In fact, it has been several years since I last picked up a MLB (or MLBPA) licensed game that I kept for a significant period of time (i.e. longer than a month). Each year I am tempted, but somehow I am able to keep my spending in check. There was once a time when I owned each and every baseball game every season, but now I limit myself to one purchase, and typically sale the game on eBay after a week or two of uninspired play. If a really good baseball game ever gets released for the PSP, then my self-imposed sanctions may come to an end, but until then, I wonder if I will ever find my way back to console baseball.

Writing this now, I find it rather surprising that I have made it this long without keeping a baseball game in my console library. What once was a staple of my gaming rotation is now a fond memory, but that is about to change unless the baseball gods just do not want me to play console baseball. It is one thing to keep a man down on MLB, but it is another thing entirely to keep a man away from the bliss of college baseball. I have been begging for a college baseball game for years, and thanks to EA getting the short end of the MLB license stick, we are about to get a huge prize – MVP 06 NCAA Baseball.

I have read nothing except positive press about the game, the new Load and Fire batting system, the game play, ESPN propaganda, the graphics, etc. Of course this is to be expected from the mega sites – they are going to give EA good press. I am just keeping my fingers crossed that the game is actually good, and maybe, just maybe, I will find some time to play some college baseball this weekend.

Of course the interesting test will be to see if I am just down on MLB, as I keep telling everyone, or if I am really just down on console baseball. The latter would be a scary revelation because it may tell me some things about myself that I have been scared to admit – namely that I am no longer a true console sports gamer.

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