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''MVP Baseball'' is a
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...
series published by
EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...
, running from 2003 to 2007 with five games produced. In 2003, ''MVP'' became the official successor to EA's long-running '' Triple Play Baseball'' series, and it simulated
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
from 2003 to 2005. However, an exclusive licensing deal between
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
and
Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major Imprint (trade name), publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K ...
in 2005 prohibited EA Sports from making another MLB game until 2012. In response, EA made
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...
games in 2006 and 2007, but discontinued the series in 2008 because of poor sales. The series is well-regarded, and MVP Baseball 2005 in particular is widely considered the best baseball video game of all time and possibly the best sports video game of all time.


History


''MVP Baseball 2003''

''MVP Baseball 2003'' was released in 2003 as the successor to EA's ''Triple Play'' games, though it bore little more than a graphical similarity to its predecessors, which had been heavily maligned by critics in the series' final years. Introducing an innovative pitch meter and zone-based hitting system (see below), ''MVP 2003'' was well received by critics, most of whom considered the game's overhaul to be a major improvement over ''Triple Play''′s last entry. At the review-aggregation site
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, ''MVP 2003'' was given a score of 81/100 for the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
and 82/100 for the
Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
.
Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...
and Miguel Tejada were the cover players. The 2003 game is the last game that uses a points system for player's salary, starting with the 2004 game an actual dollar amount is used for salaries. The 2003 game does not penalize a user for releasing a player during the season in franchise mode, whereas the 2004 and 2005 games invoke a salary penalty for releasing a player under contract.


''MVP Baseball 2004'' & ''2005''

Building on ''MVP 2003''s surprisingly successful rookie effort, the 2004 edition made major refinements to both the game's control scheme and its dynasty mode. In a baseball gaming first, ''MVP 2004'' was licensed by both the MLB and
Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...
, featuring real minor-league teams at the Class AA & AAA levels. These improvements netted the PS2 and Xbox versions of ''MVP 2004'' twin scores of 90/100 at
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, far outpacing the competing '' All-Star Baseball 2005'' and '' ESPN Major League Baseball''. Albert Pujols was the cover player for the 2004 installment of the series. ''MVP Baseball 2005'' brought subtle changes to the ''MVP 2004'' formula, including a "hitter's eye" system with color codes that helped players identify pitch types out of the pitcher's hand, as well as an owner mode, the addition of Class A minor-league teams to dynasty mode, and
spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...
minigames. Reviewers continued to rate ''MVP'' highly, with
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
scores of 86 and 87 for the Xbox and PS2 versions, respectively, though ''MVP 2005''′s marks were slightly lower than those of its predecessor. Even so, the game still edged out 2k Sports' ''Major League Baseball 2K5'' among critics. Reigning World Series MVP Manny Ramirez was featured on the cover of the 2005 installment of the series. In 2005, ''MVP Baseball'' released for
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PA ...
.


Exclusive licensing deal

In 2005, in response to EA Sports' exclusive license with the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
and
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
,
Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major Imprint (trade name), publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K ...
signed an exclusive third-party licensing contract with Major League Baseball (MLB), MLBPA and MLBAM to produce MLB games in its 2K Sports series, making MVP Baseball 2005 the last MLB game in the series. The agreement, which ran from Spring 2006 to 2012, allowed only Take-Two Interactive and the
console Console may refer to: Computing and video games * System console, a physical device to operate a computer ** Virtual console, a user interface for multiple computer consoles on one device ** Command-line interface, a method of interacting with ...
manufacturers
Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...
,
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
, and
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
to produce MLB titles for their respective platforms, but barred other third party developers such as EA Sports from continuing or developing their own MLB games. ''MVP Baseball 2005'' was the last official MLB release from EA Sports, also official support for the game ended. Despite that, a very active modding community exists for the PC version of the game, who kept the game up-to-date the last decade. Modders have added much to the game, including roster updates, uniforms, players, and stadiums, as well as total conversions for foreign and classic teams.


''MVP: NCAA Baseball''

Barred from making MLB games, EA Sports made
college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...
games for 2006 and 2007. Both editions of ''MVP: NCAA Baseball'' were officially licensed by the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
and released for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. The games featured actual NCAA teams and stadiums, though there were no real players. A new "load and fire" batting system was integrated in 2006, to be followed by the addition of a "rock and fire" pitching system in 2007, both features that would later be emulated by '' MLB 11: The Show'' and '' Major League Baseball 2K11'' on seventh-generation consoles. The 2007 installment also featured online integration with
ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
, including commentary from Mike Patrick and former Stanford
All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
Kyle Peterson. Former
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
star David Maroul was featured on the cover of ''MVP 06'', while ''MVP 07''′s cover athlete was former Long Beach State pitcher Jered Weaver.


''MVP Baseball Online''

In South Korea, EA has released 3 games called ''MVP Baseball Online 2012–2014''.


Possible revival

In 2011, EA Sports released an MLB-licensed game for
Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
called ''World Series Superstars'', which simulates team management, leading to speculation that MVP Baseball would return to consoles after the 2K Sports licensing deal expired in 2012. In 2013, EA Sports executive vice president Andrew Wilson told video game blog Polygon that "there is an inherent passion for baseball inside EA Sports", but that there were three barriers to EA's willingness to develop a new MLB title: the need for a modern
game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games which generally includes relevant libraries and support programs such as a level editor. The "engine" terminology is akin to the term " software engine" u ...
to power the game; EA's focus on other sports titles like '' NBA Live''; and that the status of MLB's licensing agreement with 2K Sports was unclear to them. In 2015, an EA Sports spokesman told Grantland that Wilson's comments were "still 'the most accurate reflection' of the company’s position on getting back into baseball: Maybe later, but not now." In 2018, EA Sports executive vice president Cam Weber said, "I would love to have a baseball game in our portfolio. ... It's something that once again, every couple years, we take a look and we talk about and theorize about what it might look like to get back into something like baseball." In 2021, a website called Sports Gamers Online published an article stating EA's Vancouver studio was working on a new baseball game but that it was years away from release. In 2022, EA Sports published ''MLB Tap Sports Baseball 2022'' for smartphones. In 2023, EA Sports published '' Super Mega Baseball 4'', its first console baseball video game since the ''MVP'' series. SMB 4 was developed by Metalhead Studios, which had been acquired by EA in 2021.


Features


Players

Until 2005, the game featured all players in the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), as well as fictionalized counterparts for players who are not in the union.
Barry Bonds Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Giants f ...
, while an MLBPA member, did not sign the common MLBPA licensing agreement and was replaced by the fictional Jon Dowd. Some players who are not members of the MLBPA were omitted completely. For example, Kevin Millar, who is not a member of the MLBPA, was omitted completely from the 2004 edition, with David Ortiz leaving his real-life
designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...
spot and filling in at first base for the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
. In ''MVP Baseball 2005'', he was replaced by the fictional Anthony Friese. ''MVP Baseball 2004'' featured a unique addition to any baseball game, allowing users to play as the
Minor League Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...
affiliations of Major League teams, a feature that was expanded in the following year. Various editions of the game have featured
Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...
, Miguel Tejada, Albert Pujols, and Manny Ramírez on its cover. Of those four, Tejada and Pujols have won
Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player (MVP) award is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particular competition, or ...
(MVP) awards during their careers, and the other two have been named MVPs of the World series.
Randy Johnson Randall David Johnson (born September 10, 1963), nicknamed, "the Big Unit," is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (1988–2009) for six teams, primarily the Seattle Mariners and Arizo ...
has also won the
Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (baseball), National League (NL). The award was introduced in 1956 by Commissioner of Baseball ( ...
five times.


Innovations

Upon its release in 2003, one of the game's most inventive aspects was its pitch/throw meter. Until then, most baseball games' pitching schemes required players simply to press the button corresponding to the pitch they wanted to throw, and hold the button down for a certain length of time to determine how hard the pitch was thrown. In ''MVP Baseball'', the player first holds down the pitch button (or throw button) to judge the power; once the desired power level is attained, the player must release the button and attempt to tap the same button within a target area. The closer the player gets to the target area, the more accurate the pitch or throw will be. While innovative within the field of baseball games, EA in fact adapted this feature from
golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
games, which often feature a moving meter to determine the power and accuracy of shots (golf games largely abandoned shot meters around the time that ''MVP Baseball'' introduced it). The game also incorporated a strike zone divided into nine areas of the plate designed as "hot and cold zones". The feature uses color-coding with the colors red, white, and blue to represent the player's ability to hit pitches in the given area; red, white, and blue indicate whether the player hits well, neutrally, or poorly, respectively, in the given segment of the strike zone.


Announcers

Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, television and radio announcers for the
San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...
, provided narration and commentary for the series. They had been approached in September 2002 and accepted EA's offer. They recorded most of the lines for all three games during the 2002-2003 offseason, with additional lines for the 2004 and 2005 editions recorded as necessary. Some of the sessions were recorded during the MLB regular season, often leaving Krukow and Kuiper hoarse during actual Giants games. They pronounced hundreds of names with multiple inflections. Some calls were recorded while they watched real games on TV. In a 2025 interview about the 20th anniversary of the 2005 game's release, Krukow said, "In our wildest dreams, never did we feel that it was going to be remembered 20 years after with the way the world of video games changes. It’s unique in that it’s managed to still maintain its life with respect and affection.”‘We did it right’: How Krukow, Kuiper became voices of MVP Baseball 2005
/ref>


Soundtracks

Like all recent EA Sports games, the soundtrack to each ''MVP Baseball'' title contains licensed songs, called EA Trax. The ''MVP Baseball'' series typically featured
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
, ranging from mainstream artists like
Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...
to indie acts like stellastarr*. The games featured several minor hits before they became popular such as "C'mon C'mon" by The Von Bondies which is also used as the theme song for the TV show '' Rescue Me''. 2003 soundtrack: * The All-American Rejects – "
Swing, Swing "Swing, Swing" is a song by American rock band the All-American Rejects, released as their debut single from their self-titled debut studio album on November 25, 2002. Background "Swing, Swing" was written by Nick Wheeler and Tyson Ritter. A ...
" * Boy Sets Fire – "Handful of Redemption" * The Donnas – "Who Invited You" *
The Exies The Exies is an American Rock music, rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States, formed in 1997. Their name, "The Exies", is short for "The Existentialists". Their two Virgin Records releases, ''Inertia (The Exies album), Inertia'' ...
– "Without" * Hed PE – "Blackout" * Revis – "Caught in the Rain" * Burning Brides – "Arctic Snow" *
OK Go OK Go is an American Rock music, rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar, bass, backing vocalist, v ...
– " Don't Ask Me" * Pacifier – "Bulletproof" * Shinedown – " Fly From the Inside" * Socialburn – "Everyone" * Soundtrack of Our Lives – "Sister Surround" *
Sum 41 Sum 41 was a Canadian rock band formed in Ajax, Ontario, in 1996. The band's final lineup consisted of Deryck Whibley (lead vocals, guitars, keyboards), Dave Baksh (lead guitar, backing vocals), Jason McCaslin (bass, backing vocals), Tom T ...
– "All Messed Up" *
Taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...
– "
Poem Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
" 2004 soundtrack: * Chronic Future – "Time and Time Again" * Hoodoo Gurus – " Bittersweet" * Lucky Boys Confusion – "Hey Driver" * Maxeen – "Please" * Seven Wiser – "Take Me As I Am" * Snow Patrol – " Spitting Games" * Stellastarr – "My Coco" * Steriogram – " Walkie Talkie Man" * To My Surprise – "Get It to Go" * Trust Company – "Surfacing" * The Von Bondies – " C'mon C'mon" *Jonny Lives! – "Get Steady" * Home Town Hero – "Robbers" 2005 soundtrack: * ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (called "...Trail of Dead" in the game) – "Let It Dive" * The Bravery – " An Honest Mistake" * Donots – "We Got the Noise" * Dropkick Murphys – " Tessie" * The High Speed Scene – "The IROC-Z Song" * Hot Hot Heat – "You Owe Me an IOU" *
Louis XIV LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...
– "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" * Rock n Roll Soldiers – "Funny Little Feeling" * The Zutons – " Pressure Point" 2006 soundtrack: * Action Action – "Paper Cliche" * Aiden – "Die Romantic" * Bayside – "Devotion And Desire" * Hawthorne Heights – "This Is Who We Are" * Silverstein – "Smile In Your Sleep" * The Forecast – "These Lights" * The Audition – "Approach The Bench" * The Black Maria – "Organs" * The Junior Varsity – "Get Comfortable" * Waterdown – "Repeater"


See also

*'' MVP Baseball 2005'' *'' MVP 06: NCAA Baseball'' *'' MVP 07: NCAA Baseball''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mvp Baseball College baseball video games in the United States Video game franchises EA Sports games Electronic Arts franchises * Video game franchises introduced in 2003