Another Good Review: Chet's Corner

[Donevyn]

viewfromthebleachers:

Chet's Corner: Review: OOTP 2011 for iPhone (this from Facebook. I tried to find it by going there, but couldn't. So here a cut and past of the review:

"...
I’m not a gamer per say. I play games on my IPhone when I need to burn a few minutes. While I sit on the toilet I play Angry Birds. When I am in a waiting room I play Alchemy. Occasionally, when I ride the train I play poker. Solitaire is fun for a long trip.

It will be a while before I figure out where Out of the Park Baseball fits in the “time suck” portion of my daily life. These things take time and every app has it’s place, you just need to find it.

iOOTP is basically a baseball sim game. From what I can tell, the developers compiled a group of stats for each player/team and add in the probability of said player to make a hit, strike out a batter, or catch a ball. Where the gamer makes a difference is the strategy chosen for each pitch , at bat , inning, or even a whole game sim. You have control of starting pitcher, lineups, whether you want the infield to shift or the corners to come in. All matter of minutiae to control at your finger tips.

*A cool bonus

One of the best features this game offers is a sim of historical seasons. I played as the Detroit Tigers in the 1926 season and sure enough Heinie Manush and Ty Cobb were on the roster. It is by far my favorite part of the app. I actually wish more decades were represented as there is only 1926 , 1964, and 2004.

Below, I give a grade to iOOTP2011 in three different categories: graphics user interface (AKA GUI), game content, and overall game play. The grading scale is based on a simple 1-5 scale with 5 being best and 1 worst.

GUI: 4

I like the layout. One thing that can drive down a simple iPhone app is the interface. Too much and the screen looks jumbled with useless info, too little and you can hunt forever looking for what you want. Each screen in iOOTP2011 has purpose and is very easy to navigate. This game makes no assumptions other then the user knowing what baseball is and how it is played. It’s an easy game to navigate and figure out…..I did it in about 3 minutes……and I am sort of slow. No five rating here because I was not blown away, but I’m like that A-Hole teacher who never gives an A.

Game Content: 4

From what I could tell (I did not play with every team in the game) the rosters are all quite accurate and up to date. In my opinion, this makes and breaks baseball video games. It also shows that the developers want to make sure the details are there. Kudos to the iOOTP team for keeping these rosters legit. They get a four instead of a five for the cheesy logo’s representing each team. I know the licensing costs bucks in order to use a team logo, and I am not even sure the rights are there to buy, but you lose a point for that.

As a side note, I also noticed that when I played the Cubs first game of this season they hit 4 home runs. The Cubs may not have hit that many HR’s in all of April….just saying and from what I understand the stats even out in the end to a realistic number for each player.

Game Play: 3.5

Overall, the actual game play is a little slow and involved for an iPhone app game. I want to fling birds at a hut made out of bricks when I go into my time suck. This game is almost too much for a simple iPhone app. However, at $4.99 can you really lose much, especially if you are one of the many followers this sim has attracted over the years on the full PC version. This may be the perfect little escape for those of you. I think the iPad version will be better and of course the full PC version is probably the complete package and fits the gameplay best. I am yet to play the full PC version, but the app was enough to peak my interest.

Overall, a good effort and well worth the $4.99 purchase price.

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