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MASN to broadcast 80 Nationals / Orioles games in HD this season
Say it ain't so! After what feels like ages of watching the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals in shoddy SD, its regional carrier has finally decided to slip into this decade and go HD. As we'd heard rumored just weeks ago, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network will indeed be beaming out 80 MLB games this season in high-definition: 40 for the Nats and 40 for the O's. More specifically, all six interleague games between the two aforementioned clubs will be in high-def as well as the Nationals' first game back after the opener. Unfortunately, 242 games between the duo will still be in SD, but at least we're making progress. Look for the complete schedule of HD games to surface "in the next two weeks."[Image courtesy of NastyNats]
2K announces Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars
Despite the game's unnecessarily long title, you might be happy to know that 2K is releasing Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars this April for the DS.We're not big experts when it comes to portable baseball games, but it's common knowledge around these parts that MLB 2K7 was pretty abysmal. Will this iteration be any better? Well, it probably can't get any worse.Fantasy All-Stars will take advantage of the DS's stylus controls, utilizing the touchscreen for hitting, pitching, fielding, and running. You'll also be able to use "special power ups" (we hope that's not code for steroids) to help improve the players' performances. Other features will include themed stadiums, and -- wait for it -- Wi-Fi multiplayer.We'll put this one in the "wait and see" category, because it sounds like 2K is really trying to improve this series. Hopefully Deep Fried Entertainment can do a better job with MLB 2K on the DS than Skyworks Technologies.[Via press release]
Toronto Blue Jays to get 144 games in HD this season
No sooner than we get wind of the Huskers' plans to air a handful of its upcoming games in HD, along comes word that Blue Jays fans in Canada will be treated to a whole slew of its matchups courtesy of Rogers Sportsnet. Reportedly, the station will broadcast the season opener followed by around 99 more games on "all four Sportsnet channels and Sportsnet HD." Better still, the rest of the club's games will be carried (in HD, no less) by CBC and TSN, meaning that all 144 televised Blue Jays games will indeed be in high-definition. If only the Orioles / Nationals were so lucky...[Image courtesy of Mike Carlson / ESPN]Read - Sportsnet to carry 100 Blue Jays gamesRead - Blue Jays 2008 TV schedule includes 144 games in HD
Nebraska Cornhusker baseball seeing lots of HD this season
For fans of Big Red and baseball alike, get ready for quite the baseball season -- from the comfort of your couch. Reportedly, a minimum of eight Cornhusker baseball games will be televised this year, with the vast majority in HD. The team's first TV appearance will be a showing on FSN on March 29th, while five others will be carried across the state on NET-1 and NET-HD (Nebraska Educational Television). Nationally, supporters of the team can catch their April 8th tilt with Iowa on the Big Ten Network, and we wouldn't be surprised to see more games added in the future.[Image courtesy of CollegePublisher]
SportsTime Ohio announces full-time HD channel
Not only is Cleveland, Ohio the first US city to boast four HD news channels, its MLB club will now have 100-percent of its games broadcast in high-definition. Just a month before it's second birthday, SportsTime Ohio is already launching a dedicated HD channel, which aims to provide "all Indians games and replays in HD." Furthermore, the network will reportedly have 24 / 7 HD programming available starting April 1st, but we're not exactly sure if non-game content will be shot in HD or simply stretched à la TBS. Currently, carriage deals have been landed with Armstrong, Buckeye CableSystem, Cox Communications, GLW Broadband, Insight Communications and most Time Warner Cable systems, and STO has vowed to work with other providers to get the channel loaded on as soon as possible. From the rest of the US to Northeast Ohio: congrats, we're quite envious.[Thanks, Dan]
MASN to offer up select Orioles / Nationals games in HD?
For fans of the Baltimore Orioles and / or Washington Nationals, things could be getting an awful lot clearer when you tune in to catch their games this season. After the Kansas City Royals found a way to get its games broadcast regionally in high-definition, the O's and Nats stood as the final two MLB clubs with a dedicated channel that only beamed out its games in SD. According to an e-mail reportedly forwarded from an employee of a "local cable company," MASN is indeed planning to finally ditch its pixelated ways and go HD. More specifically, the note states that customers that receive the channel will be able to catch "at least 60 MLB games in 1080i" during the 2008 season, and that those matchups would be split evenly between the Orioles and Nationals. When a MASN publicist was questioned about the apparent leak, he casually stated that the station was working with its cable and satellite operators on "providing some games in HD in 2008," but didn't go out of his way to outright confirm or deny the whispers. Sounds like positive news, but we aren't getting our hopes up (too high) quite yet.[Image courtesy of NastyNats, thanks Tom]
Daktronics plans 12000-square feet of HD signage for Citi Field
Daktronics is continuing its quest to slather all available areas in your local MLB stadium with an HD screen of some type, with the latest target Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. Apparently eschewing the bigger/biggest race for a moment, no word on the size of a specific Godzillatron display, but Mets fans can expect 12,000 total square footage of display technology when installation is completed by August, ahead of the stadium's inaugural 2009 season. The main displays feature Daktronics' HD-X technology and will ensure that the best place to watch the game on TV is at the park itself. In other news about 'dat 'tronics, Bloomberg profiles the company's work on the Cowboys' enormous screen, and more than 18,000 sq ft of displays going into the new Giants-Jets stadium. Update: The Mets also just acquired Johan Santana, so Mets fans can rest assured the next time their team is busy blowing the pennant race, they'll be doing it in a top quality ballpark with one of the game's best pitchers on the mound. Read - Daktronics to provide 12,000 square feet of integrated scoring and video display technology at Citi Field Read - Giants, Cowboys Pack Screens Into Stadiums for `Wow,' Revenue
Arbitrator orders Time Warner Cable to carry MASN
It's been a nasty battle between Time Warner Cable and Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, with the latter even going so far as to buy airtime on local North Carolina radio stations pleading for consumers to prod the carrier until MASN appeared on its lineup. Thankfully for fans of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals (among other squads), an FCC-appointed arbitrator has finally ordered TWC to carry the network after finding that it "deliberately discriminated" against the station. What has yet to be determined from the decision, however, is whether or not customers will be forced to pay extra to receive it, and more importantly, whether or not this presumably lucrative outcome will push MASN to finally make the leap to HD (if TWC doesn't appeal and win, that is). As it stands, the O's and Nats are two of only a few MLB teams with a home channel that doesn't air any of its games in high-definition, but if you're impetuously determined to see your Birds in HD, you could always find an empty seat (or ten) at Camden Yards. [Disclosure: Engadget is part of the Time Warner family][Via The Wolf Web, image courtesy of Nasty Nats]
Arizona Diamondbacks getting ginormous HD-X display from Daktronics
Daktronics is certainly no stranger to ridiculously huge displays, and it now looks set to expand it big screen empire even further, with it just announcing that it's signed a deal to outfit the Arizona Diamondbacks with one of its newfangled HD-X displays. Apparently scheduled for completion before the start of the 2008 baseball season, the new display promises to be the widest in the major leagues, measuring 136 feet wide by 46 feet high, or about eight times the size of the CRT display currently in place. Among other things, Daktronics' HD-X technology allows the display to be divided up into any number of zones, allowing for various configurations of video, animation and statistics -- and no doubt a few Halo 3 multiplayer games during downtime.
Ambient Baseball ScoreCast keeps you in the game
Sure, you've got a few wireless scoreboard options out there if you're not down with keeping tabs via your PC / handset, but for fans of MLB and fashion alike, Ambient Devices' Baseball ScoreCast really is in a league of its own. As with the firm's Market Maven, this device also relies on the InfoCast Network for updates, meaning that it doesn't require nearby WiFi to function. 'Course, InfoCast can reach "only" 90-percent of the US, but if you're blanketed, all you'll need to provide is four AA cells and input on which team is your favorite. The device receives data updates every half-inning, and if nine just isn't enough, you'll also be kept current with extra inning action. Of course, whether such a unit is worth $124.99 is another matter entirely. %Gallery-12593%
Non-Seattleites can now buy a limited DS that is irrelevant to non-Seattleites
Thanks to some enterprising eBayer, the limited-edition Seattle Mariners DS Lite is available outside of the confines of Safeco Field. We aren't really, uh, sports people, but we do know that extreme team fandom usually coincides with proximity, meaning that the people who are all about having the Seattle Mariners logo on a DS Lite probably live close enough to just go buy one. But that doesn't take into account the crazies who collect systems. Crazies, this auction is just for you. The good news is that eBayer diet_bill isn't asking any more than the $195.99 the unit costs inside Safeco Field. The bad news is that the picture he's using for the auction is the same one used when the Lite was first discovered back in May. It could be that this guy is a) too lazy to take his own picture, b) actually the same person that took it before. But with even the slightest amount of evidence that this isn't an actual picture of an actual product, we advise that you proceed with caution.[Via GameSniped]
VC Monday Madness video wrap-up 12/10/07
Well, our video is later than usual, but with the big Shop Channel update hitting tonight, we kind of had our hands full. It's not often where we have to shoot and edit two videos in one evening. Still, we hate to disappoint, so check out our video wrap-up above and be sure to head past the break for our other coverage of this week's Virtual Console games.
Take me out to the robot cat ballgame
There is a noticeable dearth of robot cat baseball games on the DS -- or robot baseball games, for that matter. Or cat baseball games. Luckily, Dorabase will fulfill that obvious need for the Japanese audience, at least. It also fulfills another desire of ours. In addition to its wacky concept and equally wacky stylus control scheme, Dorabase will feature some nonstandard tactics. For example, a robotic-penguin-looking hitman can trip a runner by firing at him with a rifle. Kuroemon seems to be able to spin his bat so quickly that he creates a vortex, sucking the pitched ball towards his bat. An item called the "Big Light" increases the ball to an enormous size, so that it crushes any fielder who tries to catch it. As fans of wacky superpowered baseball, we wholeheartedly approve.
Power Pro Baseball trailer and commercial knock it out of the park
A pair of videos for Power Pro Baseball Pocket have hit the net and they're chock full of gaming goodness. Heck, the promise of Wi-Fi Connect compatibility alone has us biting our fingernails down to the bone. A portable baseball game that's actually good? Are you kidding us? Yes, we're so down.Check past the break for a Japanese commercial for the game.
Robot cats that play baseball? Where do we sign up?
It's no Baseball Stars, but for those of you craving a good portable baseball game, Dorabase DS might be your best bet. The game is set from a Japanese manga of the same name (sans the "DS" part), featuring a baseball loving, cat-like robot named Kuroemon and his team.We recently told you about another baseball game called Famitsa DS, but unlike its sounds-like-a-Japanese-magazine counterpart, Dorabase DS utilizes stylus controls. For example, the ball is hit or pitched depending on the direction of the line drawn with the stylus. We know we made that sound as lame as possible, but the controls actually appear to be easy and natural.Another nice thing about Dorabase DS is the Kuroemon themed, screen cleaning strap "reservation gift" (pictured after the break). Of course, this is (currently) a Japan-only title, so if it strikes your fancy, you'll have to import it come December.Check out some game-related pictures after the break.
Power Pro Baseball Pocket screens pitched straight at your eyeballs
With it being November and all, we're sad that we have to wait until April of next year before we can start enjoying baseball again. Sure, we've got baseball games to keep us company and help pass the time, but it's no substitute for the real thing. We'll be glad to have a game that we can turn on and go a few innings with no matter where we are, though. There are other baseball games on the DS to be considered, sure, but we've got our eye on this one, to be honest.Any of you out there fans of the sport, as well?[Via Go Nintendo]
Promotional Consideration: It pays to have word ability (word smarts)
var digg_url='http://digg.com/gaming_news/Practice_vocabulary_get_lucky_according_to_this_ad'; Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.While we've exposed you to sexually-charged promotional materials in the past, much to the disapproval of your uptight parents, the last game we ever expected to feature for its immodest advertising was My Word Coach, a vocabulary trainer due for the DS and Wii this November 6th. Read on for the titillating piece and our analysis on how Ubisoft put together one of the most salacious ads to appear in Nintendo Power in recent memory without baring a single inch of skin.
A Wii Sports-alike on the DS? Simple!
D3 Publisher's Simple DS Vol. 29: THE Sports Daishuugo (The Big Sports Assembly) is exactly like Wii Sports. Except it doesn't look as good, has different sports, doesn't have any kind of motion controls, is probably lacking in polish to the point of glitchiness, and nobody's ever heard of it. But outside of those and probably some other things, the two are the same.THE Sports Daishuugo contains five main games: baseball, golf, volleyball, tennis, and futsal, as well as minigame variations on all of those. Like any decent casual sports game, it allows for multiplayer-- four-player single-card play.We're actually surprised by how bad this doesn't look. The characters are cute and the graphics are non-awful. We wonder if this cute sports game will take off in Japan, where Wii Sports sells tons as a standalone product.[Via Siliconera]
Have you heard of Famista DS?
Famista DS (Family Stadium) -- not to be confused with Famitsu, the magazine in which Famista DS was first announced -- is the latest entry in a series of baseball titles that go back all the way to the Famicom. The franchise has gone by other names the few times it has popped up in western markets -- RBI Baseball and Super Batter Up.Developed by Namco Bandai, Famista DS combines retro graphics with modern video game elements (e.g. unlockable uniforms/stadiums, online support, and gratuitous cameos from Namco mascots), while keeping with the simple A+B controls you remember from your NES days. You can view a short commercial and a minute-and-a-half trailer at the movie section of the game's official site.Famista DS arrives in Japan this November 15th, and while it's possible that Namco Bandai will eventually bring this one to the states, we're not getting our hopes up. Consider it your punishment for not buying enough copies of Rebelstar Tactical Command.
Virtually Overlooked: Super Baseball Simulator 1.000
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.There aren't many sports games that we have enjoyed over the years. Not being fans of real sports, we have understandably little interest in simulating them in a video game (although that argument doesn't really track for all gametypes-- we enjoy Duck Hunt without caring to hunt real ducks, etc.) Like everyone else, we enjoy Wii Sports, but before that we've generally shied away from team-sporting games-- except for Culture Brain's Super Baseball Simulator 1.000, which is so delightfully idiosyncratic that it got even our attention. Super Baseball Simulator 1.000 is the Super NES sequel to a very similar NES game called Baseball Simulator 1.000. Really, we'd love to play either on the Wii, but we have more personal memories of the SNES game, so that's the one we'll discuss in this column.
