After nine versions, there is no question that OOTP is firmly atop the baseball general manager simulation heap. For new players this is stellar material despite its issues, but longtime fans and especially those who own last year's game need to weigh their options a bit more closely. OOTP 9 is worth the $40 upgrade, but just barely.
GameStooge announced the Technical Awards on January 1st, now comes the Genre Awards, in which they take a look at the best games of each genre category. GameStooge writer Jonathon Howard also chimes in with some of his own picks in categories he's familiar with.
Winners:
BEST ACTION GAME OF 2008: Grand Theft Auto IV
BEST SHOOTER OF 2008: Gears of War 2
BEST PLATFORM GAME OF 2008: LittleBigPlanet
BEST RACING GAME OF 2008: GRID
BEST SPORTS GAME OF 2008: NHL 09
BEST STRATEGY GAME OF 2008: Civilization Revolution
BEST ROLEPLAYING GAME OF 2008: Fallout 3
BEST MMORPG OF 2008: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
BEST ADVENTURE GAME OF 2008: Professor Layton and the Curious Village
BEST PUZZLE GAME OF 2008: Braid
BEST DIGITAL GAME (ORIGINAL) OF 2008: Braid
BEST DIGITAL GAME (ADAPTATION) OF 2008: Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix
The Awards will continue with the Platform Awards, including Best Game of the Year.
Gameshark talks with the OOTP developer about his sports management franchise.
Q: Could you provide a brief overview of your career in game development and how you got started in the industry for those that don't know about your body of work?
A: I started developing Out of the Park Baseball 1999 in the year 1997. It was my first attempt at creating a game; my programming background was from developing utilities, for example a file manager. Out of the Park (OOTP) started slowly with just 250 copies sold the first year, but it grew gradually and for several years now is widely regarded as the best baseball management game on the market.
If you're looking for a baseball management game, get this. The problem is, you're probably not. Or worse, you might be vaguely interested, but without a good grasp of the sport this will just put you off.
You'll love:
- Astonishingly intricate
- Historically accurate
- Great for play-by-play control
You'll hate:
- Not newbie friendly
- Appeals to niche gamers
- Must love menus
