Atari and Major League Baseball (MLB) have announced that Backyard Baseball for the PlayStation 2 has shipped to retail stores nationwide. Starring Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees newly acquired third baseman, Backyard Baseball is the newest game in the Backyard Sports franchise.
A PC version of the game, Backyard Baseball 2005, will ship in June 2004. Both games are being developed by Atari's Humongous Entertainment, the creators and developers of the Backyard Sports series.
The Backyard Sports series is unique compared to other sports games in that they are designed specifically for kids. The Backyard Kids, a group of everyday kids that players can easily relate to, are included in each of the Backyard games, and are made up of fifteen boys and fifteen girls with different nationalities, skill levels and abilities. With the Backyard Kids and MLB pro players featured as kids, players have the opportunity to build teams that they aren't able to create in other sports games.
Locations in the new Backyard Baseball games range from a junkyard and drive-in to the dessert and an Aquadome. Once they select a field, kids can choose to play a single game or a season's worth and can set the difficulty level (Rookie, Pro or All Star), game length (six or nine innings) and season length (18 or 32 game season). As they play, they earn crazy power-ups like a Fireball or a Lightening Bat that add to the fun of the games by giving kids the chance to hit the ball out of the park and play as they never have been able to before. In addition to enhanced power-ups, the two new games also feature multiple camera angles, new animations, a smarter AI and mini games like Home Run Derby and Darts which give kids the opportunity to practice their skills before taking them to the field.
In Backyard Baseball for Play Station 2 and Backyard Baseball 2005 for PC, players select to play as one of the 30 Major League Baseball teams or design their own team by choosing custom team names and uniforms. In both games, kids create their line-ups by choosing from the MLB pros and the 30 Backyard Kids. In addition to Rodriguez, Major League Baseball athletes include Carlos Delgado of the Toronto Blue Jays, Eric Gagne of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Nomar Garciaparra of the Boston Red Sox, Ichiro of the Seattle Mariners, Alfonso Soriano of the Texas Rangers, Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs, Jim Thome of The Philadelphia Phillies, and Dontrelle Willis of the Florida Marlins. In addition, as kids progress through the game, they will be able to unlock six additional MLB stars including Randy Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Mike Piazza of the New York Mets.
Backyard Baseball for PlayStation 2 is currently available at retail and Backyard Baseball 2005 for PC will be available in June 2004. Both are suited for ages 7 and up. The award-winning Backyard Sports line-up also includes Backyard Basketball for Playstation 2, and Backyard Basketball 2004, Backyard Hockey, Backyard Football 2004 and Backyard Soccer 2004 for the PC.
