''Rusty's Real Deal Baseball'' was a

free-to-play Free-to-play (F2P or FtP) video games are games that give players access to a significant portion of their content without paying or do not require paying to continue playing. Free-to-play is distinct from traditional commercial software, which ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

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published by Nintendo for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo. It was announced in March 2010 and unveiled at E3 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games. As an eighth-generati ...

eShop The Nintendo eShop is a digital distribution service powered by the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, and by a dedicated online infrastructure for the Nintendo Switch. Launched in June 2011 on the Nintendo 3DS, the eShop was ena ...

. It was released in Japan in August 2013 and in North America in April 2014; the game was not released in Europe. The game and its minigames are no longer available to download due to the Nintendo eShop closure on Nintendo 3DS.

Gameplay

The game features baseball themed minigames, which can be purchased individually at Rusty Slugger's store, called "Rusty Slugger's Sport Shack". The player is given a free demo of one of the minigames, but will eventually need to pay for them. While each minigame is paid through

microtransactions Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...

, players can haggle with Rusty to purchase the games for a lower price. Playing the minigames will reward players with items that can be used to haggle with Rusty, which Rusty will accept and use to fix his life problems. One of Rusty's children will tell you if the price can not be lowered any further, and if a player chooses an ineffective option of dialogue, they can reset Rusty's mood with a

donut A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fran ...

for a better approach. Players can compare minigame score with other player via

StreetPass SpotPass and StreetPass are communication systems first introduced in the Nintendo 3DS. SpotPass was later incorporated into the Nintendo 2DS, models of the New 3DS and New 2DS, and Wii U game consoles. SpotPass delivers content from the Interne ...

. The game will intentionally keep players from trying to purchase the games for full price, but can still be purchased after multiple warnings. When a player pays for full price, Rusty's past mentor Pappy Van Poodle will give him the items awarded from the minigames instead. After the Nintendo 3DS eShop closure, you cannot buy the minigames anymore, but you can see the story in game for free.

Development

''Rusty's Real Deal Baseball'' was announced in a

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentation or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began ...

in 2014. According to

Satoru Iwata was a Japanese businessman, video game programmer, video game designer, and producer. He was the fourth president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015. He was a major contributor in broadening the appe ...

, the concept of the game was created with the theme of "good feelings". The game's release date was announced via

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, and released in Japan in August 2013 and in North America in April 2014.

Reception

The game received generally favorable reviews, scoring a 74/100 on

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

. The game was praised for the characters and humorous writing. Scott Thompson from ''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

'' called the game "uncharacteristically dark" and "surprisingly funny". Chris Carter from ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. History ...

'' liked Rusty's unique dialogue and multiple choices of writing during haggling portions of the game. He appreciated Rusty's characteristics and storyline, and believed the game had "awkward silliness".

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rusty's Real Deal Baseball 2013 video games Minigame compilations Nintendo 3DS games Nintendo 3DS eShop games Nintendo 3DS-only games Baseball video games Free-to-play video games Nintendo games Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Kenji Yamamoto (composer, born 1964)