Ty Plays "MLB The Show"

You all know I'm not the biggest video game player in the world. I like some of them, but I usually grow tired of them quickly and find myself goofing off on the game, or out and out not playing it at all. The only two video games that I currently play with any regularity are NBA 2k and Mario Kart. I will always love NCAA Football. That is the greatest video game ever in my opinion. And games like NBA Jam, NBA Street, early editions of Madden and Crash Bandicoot will always hold a place in my heart.

My son has gotten back into baseball as of late. His little league started, he has been not so afraid of the ball and he seems to be having fun. The other day he wanted to buy a baseball game but he didn't have enough money. Like any 11 year old, he got one of his grandparents to buy him the game as an "early 5th grade graduation" gift. That game is MLB The Show for the Nintendo Switch.

He instantly loved the game. He kept telling me to play the game. He had a friend over the other day, and that friend has no interest in sports, so he didn't want to play the game. My wife has zero interest and I can say the same for my daughter. But I finally relented. I decided I was ready to give it a try yesterday. I had some free time in the afternoon and loaded up the game.

I was shocked at how much I found myself enjoying the game. I do play it on the easiest level right now, so I can learn how to play. But what struck me was the smoothness of the gameplay. It is a little easier to hit and pitch. I can locate the ball where I want when I'm pitching. While hitting it is all about timing. The ball is going to be most likely over the plate, but you still have to time it properly and watch the ball. But having the sense that the pitch is going to be most likely over the plate, I am ready to swing. I love that.

During the pandemic I tried playing other baseball games. I got the new edition of RBI Baseball. That was next to impossible for me to hit. The pitches were fast and wild and just crazy. I tried older versions of games I used to like and they weren't the same. They were too easy or too tough. There was no in between. Then I just forgot about any baseball game really. I played one of my phone for a few months, but then I let that go because I was bored with it. But two games into MLB The Show I am in. I like this game. I like hitting and pitching equally. I am having fun figuring out who some of these new players are that my son is into. I barely know anything about the MLB anymore, and that is a bummer. I used to love baseball. It was the sport I played and followed the most. Then it got boring after I stopped playing. That meant the video games held no weight for me. But MLB The Show is different. It is cool. It is more fun. There is cooler stuff to do in the game. The whole creating a player feature is dope. I haven't gotten into that part yet, but my son has and he has shown me his player's progress. That is cool. Then I got to watch him play as his created player and the story surrounding the game was cool too.

I am in on this video game. It is changing my perception on baseball video games. I think, if they stay like this, they may make it in my limited video game rotation. MLB The Show is a very good, very fun sports video game. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

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Ty Plays NB2K 20

During this quarantine/self isolation period I have done a number of new and old things. I clean more than usual, but I feel like I was on the precipice of doing that anyway. I have wanted to keep a cleaner house for awhile now. I exercise more, but I am doing different things. I'm not just running and playing basketball. I am still running, but I cannot play real basketball because all gyms are closed, as they should be. I am now running, doing HIIT workouts, riding my recumbent bike, going on walks with my kids and dogs everyday and I just recently started to do some yoga, which has been amazing. I'm also still writing, obviously, but I am stretching my ideas. I'm not just simply writing about sports 85 to 90 percent of the time. I love writing about sports, but without them, there is many other things to read, watch and find out. I've also taken on more of the cooking in the house. Once a week I make chicken wings, another day I will make some kind of fajitas, and not that it is warmer out, I have begun to grill again.

One thing that I haven't done in a long time, that i just started to pick back up last week, is playing video games. My kids are older now that I can get them set up on online school projects, or they go to bed at 8 every night, and I have some free time to play video games now, if I am not watching a movie or show with my wife. We have recently played Mario Kart and Party, Animal Crossing is a big deal, so is Minecraft. I have also reverted to playing the last made college football game on my Xbox 1 when I ride the recumbent bike. But, right when this all started, I bought two new games on our Switch.

I bought, and immediately played RBI Baseball, and let me tell you, it is not as easy as the original version for Nintendo was. I still hammer away at it from time to time, but I have to admit, I do get very frustrated at that game. The other game I bought online was NBA2K20. I needed to buy a SIM card so we could download it fully, and that took some time because it was an Amazon purchase, and SIM card are non essential, obviously. So, the card came about a week ago, and we fully downloaded the game.

I was dorking around on it the first night it worked, and it was fun. The next day, which was a Saturday, I really dug into the game. I started a career as a version of myself, and I loved it. There was this ridiculously melo dramatic movie attached to the story where your guy leaves his school right before the tournament because his coach is an asshole, and you have to navigate the draft, and all the stuff that comes with it, with this fake chip on your shoulder. It was hilarious, but also fun. My only gripe with this function, you can only control yourself. You don't get to force playing time, you have to sit and watch, it can be dull, and seem very long winded at times. Then I tried the create a team thing, but that had way too much reliance on other people playing the game online, and I am certain that the majority of those people playing are so much better at the game than I am. I played one game, got destroyed, and quickly abandoned that immediately.

So the other night I decided that I was just going to control my own team, the Grizzlies, let the computer generate rosters and play the, I think, 80 year dynasty that you can do. I have the time, I have the ability to control all my players, and I can play it at any level, I play on rookie for right now, that I want. And I love it. It is so cool. The graphics on the game are so realistic. My wife came out of the shower the other night and thought I was watching a classic game on ESPN. She said it looked so real. NBA2K is such a great, innovative video game, and I would have never even thought to buy it and play it unless something like a pandemic happened. I also love the music on the game. It is quality hip hop for the most part. It is also pretty easy to navigate and control. It also kind of scratches the itch that I am missing right now. I can sit down and get lost in the game for hours. I played it the other night for about 90 minutes, and I won every game I played by 20 plus points. I drafted Coby White with my first round pick, Morant was already off the board, and he is crushing it lately.

I just wanted to sing the praises for NBA2K today. The game is so cool, so fun and, if you are really missing sports like me right now, it helps. I promise. NBA2K is a great video game, that I believe is on any console, and I highly recommend buying it if you have the funds, and are looking for a great sports game. It rules. 

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.