The smell of pine tar, the crack of the bat, the thunk of ball hitting mitt, and the total absence of EA and ESPN logos in the background. Truly, baseball as it was meant to be played. Going with, from the looks of the screenshots, a substance over style approach, Nintendo has teamed with developer Exile Interactive (of World Series Baseball 2K2 and 2K3 fame) to put out their own, fully legit and MLB-licensed baseball title, Pennant Chase Baseball.

Going into the game, Nintendo took the pains to make sure nothing would be lacking from the meat of their new title – receiving license agreements from Major League Baseball Properties, the Major League Baseball Association, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum to include the players and fields from all thirty present-day MLB teams, along with a handful of legendary players and stadiums.

I'm a Mets fan, and this is my preview. Therefore, you will look upon the greatness that is vintage Doc Gooden, and like it.

As you can see from the screenshots, the graphics of the game, while perfectly good, are at this point in development not attempting to visually out-duel this year's crop of installments in Electronic Arts' and ESPN's line of baseball titles. Apparently conscious of this fact, Nintendo and Exile have incorporated gameplay features intended to overcome this seeming deficiency in the player's mind. For instance, the standard franchise mode will be available, but alongside modes like “Home Field Evolution”, where the player builds up his field from sandlot to major-league quality through adding pressboxes, concession stands, and other types of improvements. How the money for these improvements is earned remains to be seen at this time, though one (read: me) hopes that actual playing of the game of baseball is necessary, rather than just playing the role of sports tycoon. Another mode is a Rookie Of The Year feature, which has the player earning points to improve their athlete's performance in various skill categories. You get the feeling that this is a single-player feature of the game: one player going through the season, looking for their particular league's RotY title.

”If you build it...you can get the city to put up half the money and still charge people .50 for a hot dog...”

With some interesting innovation on America's pastime, accompanied by statistics and ratings meticulously compiled and approved thanks to an agreement with Stats, Inc., and the endorsement of both Major League Baseball and David “Senor Octobre” Ortiz (Red Sock, Yankee-crusher, and cover man for the game), I'm looking forward to giving this title a shot.

Nintendo's Pennant Chase Baseball is scheduled to drop on May 4th, 2005.

Mike Twomey