Chris,
Looks to me like High Heat Baseball is a better game than I thought.
Here's some news from the Business Wire today:
The 3DO Company's Award-Winning Baseball Game Picks Yankees Again; High Heat Baseball 2000 Says 'Play Ball!' for PC and PlayStation Game Console
Business Wire - February 25, 1999 08:21
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 25, 1999--The 3DO Company's (Nasdaq:THDO) High Heat Baseball, winner of numerous awards including Game of the Year, is poised with a new and improved version High Heat Baseball(TM) 2000, for PC and PlayStation(R) game console.
In a simulation of the 1999 season, the High Heat Baseball 2000 game predicts the New York Yankees over the Houston Astros.
Last year in a similar simulation, the High Heat Baseball 1999 game correctly predicted that the Yankees would win the World Series and that Mark McGwire would shatter the home run record. In every head-to-head comparison with competing baseball computer video games, High Heat Baseball 1999 was named the No. 1 baseball game.
In the last month, "Oscar season" for video games has begun for annual awards and so far High Heat Baseball 1999 has "shut out" its competition and won six awards from various organizations and publications for 1998 Game of The Year.
"High Heat Baseball 2000 is an amazing game and we are very passionate about it being real baseball," said Trip Hawkins, chairman and CEO of The 3DO Company. "Last year one of the game reviewers complained because in High Heat Baseball the Yankees kept winning the Series and Mark McGwire hit 71 home runs. If it hadn't been for that umpire taking a homer away from Big Mac we'd have been right on the money."
For the upcoming 1999 season, the High Heat Baseball 2000 game is even better with licenses from both Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Player's Association, full management and career mode features, and state-of-the-art 3D polygonal graphics. The all-new version for PlayStation game console will bring the best gameplay in baseball to the huge PlayStation customer base.
The PC version has been enhanced to provide outstanding high-resolution graphics on a wide variety of PC hardware, including accelerated performance for all major 3D graphics chips.
"High Heat Baseball already had the best gameplay, but now we've added all the bells and whistles and expanded to the PlayStation platform. It is truly now the baseball game for everyone. As a result, we are offering an unprecedented 'satisfaction guaranteed' offer to our customers," said Hawkins. "And we will further expand our audience by being the price leader among new baseball games. We want baseball fans to feel comfortable that it is easy to try our game and find out how great it is."
To date, the list of awards for High Heat Baseball 1999 include:
-- 1998 Game of the Year, from "The Perfect Game" Web site
-- 1998 Baseball Game of the Year, WarZone.Com
-- 1998 Best AI in a Sports game, WarZone.Com
-- 1998 Best Hands-On Gameplay in a Sports Game, WarZone.Com
-- 1998 Top 10 Sports Games, Sports Gaming Network (only baseball
game in Top 10)
-- 1998 Top 10 Sports Games, PC Sports Games
"High Heat Baseball 2000 is right at the top of my most-anticipated-games list for 1999," said Rob Smolka of PC Gamer magazine.
"If you love the game of baseball and love playing computer baseball games then you owe it to yourself to get this game once it arrives," said Karl Anderson of WarZone.Com. "It has something for everyone no matter how you like to play the game."
In its first full simulation of the '99 season, the High Heat Baseball 2000 game predicted Anaheim, New York, San Francisco, and Atlanta as the leaders in the AL West, AL East, NL West, and NL East, respectively (see Table 1). And while predicting that Arizona will be one game back in the NL West race may be cause for playoff celebrations in San Francisco and "no joy in Mudville" in Phoenix, even mighty Casey would agree that the predicted results are remarkably true to life.
The game features an innovative Pitcher-Batter interface with 9 different batting swings and the ability to "Guess Pitch," which allows players to bat the way real Major Leaguers do by predicting the pitch, then timing their swing and choosing their bat location with multiple discrete swing positions. On defense, 3DO's proprietary TruPitch(TM) artificial intelligence features 9 different pitch types and virtually infinite pitch locations.
The High Heat Baseball 2000 game also features wild pitches and wild fielding throws, true-to-life base runner, fielder, and catcher actions combined with special effects such as clouds of dust during a hard slide. In addition to the new 1999 MLBPA team rosters and 1998 players and stats, High Heat Baseball 2000 will feature 5 new stadiums that include two classic stadiums (Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds).
The PC version of the game also includes career mode functionality (recruiting from the minors, multi-player trades, and player development: Rookie, Double A, and Triple A Players), as well as a player team management mode with an advanced player editor and multi-player functionality over LAN, modem and the Internet.
The High Heat Baseball 2000 game for PC is expected to ship in March 1999 and the version for PlayStation game console is expected to ship in the following quarter.
The 3DO Company's successful game lineup includes Army Men(TM), Might and Magic(R) VI, High Heat Baseball 1999, TOCA Championship Racing(TM), Vegas Games(R) 2000, Heroes of Might and Magic(TM) II Gold, Uprising(TM) 2: Lead and Destroy(TM) and Meridian 59(TM): Dark Auspices(TM) for the PC, TOCA Championship Racing and Uprising X for the PlayStation game console, and BattleTanx(TM) for the Nintendo 64(R) console.
Other upcoming products from the company include Heroes of Might and Magic III, Army Men II, Requiem: Avenging Angel(TM), and Might and Magic(R) VII Blood and Honor(TM) for the PC, Army Men 3D, Vegas Games(R) 2000 and Crusaders of Might and Magic(TM) for the PlayStation game console, and Army Men Sarge's Heroes(TM) for the Nintendo 64 console.
Table 1
AL EAST
W L PCT GB STRK
New York -A 119 43 .735 0.0 Won 3
Boston 103 59 .636 16.0 Lost 2
Baltimore 92 70 .568 27.0 Won 2
Toronto 77 85 .475 42.0 Lost 1
Tampa Bay 66 96 .407 53.0 Won 1
AL CENTRAL
W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 106 56 .654 0.0 Lost 4
Detroit 84 78 .519 22.0 Won 3
Kansas City 67 95 .414 39.0 Lost 3
Chicago -A 60 102 .370 46.0 Lost 1
Minnesota 48 114 .296 58.0 Won 1
AL WEST
W L PCT GB STRK
Anaheim 88 74 .543 0.0 Won 2
Texas 86 76 .531 2.0 Lost 2
Oakland 74 88 .457 14.0 Won 2
Seattle 68 94 .420 20.0 Lost 2
NL EAST
W L PCT GB STRK
Atlanta 103 59 .636 0.0 Won 1
New York -N 88 74 .543 15.0 Won 3
Montreal 83 79 .512 20.0 Won 1
Philadelphia 78 84 .481 25.0 Lost 1
Florida 44 118 .272 59.0 Lost 3
NL CENTRAL
W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 104 58 .642 0.0 Lost 1
Chicago -N 86 76 .531 18.0 Won 1
Cincinnati 83 79 .512 21.0 Lost 1
Pittsburgh 78 84 .481 26.0 Won 1
St Louis 75 87 .463 29.0 Won 1
Milwaukee 68 94 .420 36.0 Lost 1
NL WEST
W L PCT GB STRK
San Francisco 92 70 .568 0.0 Won 1
Arizona 91 71 .562 1.0 Lost 1
San Diego 77 85 .475 15.0 Won 3
Los Angeles 72 90 .444 20.0 Lost 4
Colorado 70 92 .432 22.0 Lost 1
The 3DO Company, headquartered in Redwood City, develops, publishes and distributes interactive entertainment software for personal computers, the Internet and advanced entertainment systems such as the PlayStation game console and Nintendo 64. 3DO markets and publishes its products worldwide under multiple brand names including New World Computing, Cyclone Studios, Team .366 and 3DO. More information about 3DO's products can be found on the Internet at 3do.com.
This release contains forward looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. Potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the company's ability to develop and ship future products, market demand and acceptance for the company's current and future software products, and the consequences of competitive factors in the marketplace. Further information on potential factors which could affect these forward looking statements and the company's financial results are included in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 1998 and the company's Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended Sept. 30, 1998 and Dec. 31, 1998.
Note to Editors: 3DO, Cyclone Studios, New World Computing, Team .366, Army Men, BattleTanx, Blood and Honor, Crusaders of Might and Magic, Dark Auspices, Heroes of Might and Magic, Meridian 59, High Heat Baseball, Lead and Destroy, Might and Magic, Requiem: Avenging Angel, Uprising, Vegas Games, and their respective logos, are trademarks and/or service marks of The 3DO Company in the U.S. and other countries. New World Computing and Cyclone Studios are divisions of The 3DO Company.
High Heat Baseball 1999 and High Heat Baseball 2000 are MLPBA Official Licensed products and portions of High Heat Baseball 1999 and High Heat Baseball 2000 are (c) 1998, 1999 MLBPA.
TOCA Championship Racing is (c) 1998 Codemasters Limited and The Codemasters Software Company Limited. All rights reserved. Licensed from and developed by Codemasters and exclusively published in North America by The 3DO Company. Codemasters and the Codemasters logo are trademarks of Codemasters Limited. TOCA Championship Racing is a trademark of The Codemasters Software Company Limited. TOCA is a trademark of TOCA Limited.
PlayStation and the PlayStation logos are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Nintendo, Nintendo 64 and N64 are registered trademarks of Nintendo of America Inc. and(c)1996 Nintendo of America Inc.
All other trademarks and tradenames belong to their respective owners.
CONTACT: The 3DO Company
Holly Hartz, 650/261-2775
holly.hartz@3do.com
Kate Hedstrom, 650/261-3137
kate.hedstrom@3do.com
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