Things have been pretty hectic lately, hence the lack of recent posts . I've since moved out of my old place and have settled into my new one while trying to get back into some vintage gaming. Sadly, when attempting to continue my Inside Pitch '03 season, the game froze! I keep getting a "disc may be damaged or dirty" message, subsequently forcing me to put an end to my experiment :( No worries as I have tons of other, mainly sports related, titles to blog about. Look for more Robocop updates as well.

I finally was able to sit and spend some quality time with my trusty 1st gen Xbox...exactly 40 minutes of quality time.Some would disagree about using the word "quality"in a post about Titus's 1st person shooter Robocop,but i'm here to put that crazy talk to rest.After all,that's what i do.I play the out of date crappy stuff and then attempt to find a silver lining.The first positive about this game is the price.You can find it on Ebay in the $3-$6 dollar range with free shipping.Gotta love that.Another plus is the fact that you get to walk around,patrolling the slums of Detroit as Robocop!Anyone who grew up in the 80's will definitely appreciate that.For the sake of nostalgia if anything.The game is cheesy yes,but then again so were the 80's.Remember guys,this is Titus's Robocop...not Call of Duty.It did take me close to 45 minutes to reach the games first save point,but it didn't feel like a chore.It actually adds to the challenge and forces you to be stealthy about things instead of running and gunning it.There is a zoom function so if you want to get rid of some baddies from a distance and even the odds a bit,you can totally do so.Robocop begins the game with his trademark pistol,the same one he used in the film!He even twirls it around like he did in the movie.Too cool.The first stage was quite lengthy but i enjoyed every minute of it.I'll let you know how stage 2 went later on this week.

BTW-Just picked up another Baseball game for the PSX so stay tuned for that!

...and my enthusiasm has curbed a bit.It's still fun to play but alot of the games have been lopsided affairs.15 run games are common and while i know that IP'03 is an arcade styled Baseball game,i would have liked the games to be a bit closer in the end.Some games are decided in the later innings and would you believe i almost threw a shutout!They scored 2 in the 9th.It's still fun as heck to knock the ball around and keeping the opposition from scoring remains a challenge.Another turn off and something die hard fans may not like are the overblown stats your players will accumulate.It's not so much the HR's,although you'll hit alot of them,but more-so the batting averages.The majority of my team is batting close to, or over .400 and i'm already at the end of the first month of play.I don't think i'll be able to get through a whole season without simulating at least a month and a half of the 162 game schedule,and that should bring some stats back down to earth.Other than that,Buck and McCarver still call an awesome game and every once in a while surprise me with player insight and comedic commentary.If i could sum up what i think about Microsoft's Inside Pitch '03 with one word,i'd have to go with "charming".And while it was far from being on par with any of the other MLB games that released in '02,IP'03 dared to be different.And that uniqueness is what i enjoy most about this game even now in 2013.It would be great if IP'03 made a jump to the next generation console.A few tweaks here and there and fans of MLB video games could have a whole new way to play MLB in '13-'14!

The experts were right about this one,mainly about the save option,or lack there of.I've ventured into three different sections of the first stage,a good 25-30 minutes of gameplay,and still no save points.This will definitely be a challenge,if i do decide to play again.Reaching that first save point alone will be a huge accomplishment.On the bright side,it was kind of cool to walk around as Robocop,unleashing cyborg-justice in a run down city of Detroit.While i'm not happy with the save options,i have gamed on the NES,GENESIS and SNES systems and know what it is to spend an eternity on a board in order to get to a password.The alure of reaching that first save point will make me come back to Titus's Robocop.Let's see where everything goes from there;)

As promised in my last blog post,we have yet another older,crappy(according to the vast majority) game to chronicle.I've finally taken a small brake from Inside Pitch '03 to give Titus's 1rst person shooter Robocop a whirl.I picked this one up purely for nostalgias sake and also because of the fact that it was selling for 3 bucks on Ebay with Free Shipping!I did read the reviews and knew what i was getting into before hand but being the masochist that i am,decided to give Robocop the benefit of the doubt.Be back later with the dirt!

8 Games into the season on the hardest(All-Star)mode and i find myself in last place with a 2-6 record :( All the more reason to keep playing IP'03.My goal is to at least reach the playoffs, but at this rate i'll be lucky to come out of this a .500 team.Overall i'm impressed with the degree of difficulty in this game.It's not easy to keep the other team from scoring.In fact, i'm starting to believe that throwing a shut out will be pretty much impossible.Forget aout 2k13's perfect game challenge,i dare you to pitch a shut out on Inside Pitch '03!That's what i think has me coming back for more,the challenge.And did i forget to mention the beautiful ball parks!Working scoreboards light up the stadium(especially at night) while the jumbo screen prominently displays the outcome of your AB's with cool little graphics.There's also an awesome fireworks display after all home-team homers!The sound is also top notch and contrary to what others have written in past reviews,there are hecklers.I think people,primarily Baseball gamers,expect too much out of Baseball video games.I can be that way too,but if i go into an arcade/sim styled baseball game knowing that it's an arcade/sim, then i gotta see it for what it is and not expect to see cut scenes of Tony LaRussa crapping in the clubhouse or a players splits vs. righties and lefties.IP'03 is a cross between the MLB series of games on the PSX and Ken Griffey Jr.'s Slugfest on the N64 .It's definitely arcade but true to the game of Baseball in many aspects.If you're looking for a winter beater Baseball video game to help you cope with the off-season blues,then drop $2 to $5 on Microsofts Inside Pitch 2003.For the price you won't be disappointed.I may wait until the end of my season's first calendar month before posting anything else Inside Pitch related as i'm pretty excited about getting started on another game that got a slew of horrible reviews....Titus's masterpiece of a shooter "ROBOCOP!"

I know,it's sad that i'm chronicling a 10 year old first gen XBOX Baseball game but can it be that Microsoft's Inside Pitch 2003 isn't as bad as everybody has made it out to be?

Before wrapping up my series with the Expos,i decided to check out Create-A-Player mode.The Mets were missing a key player (Jose Reyes) so i figured i'd create him and then hopefully be able to add him to the roster seeing as how i had already started a season without him.Turns out i was able to add him to the team with season in progress.Plus!Also,Inside Pitch has name recognition so even though you are required to give your created player a corny nick name (Lightning,Slugger,Big Dog etc.) ,the announcers will use the last name of the player you create, if it is a common one .Once in C-A-P mode you're able to name and customize players to your liking and then add and improve his attributes by acquiring points during other modes of play.There are also a set of drills you must complete to receive permanent hitting/pitching/fielding ratings.I tried using my created player (Reyes) in season at SS without completing the fielding drills and committed several errors on routine plays,prompting me to go back and pass those fielding drills.This added a bit,not much but a bit to the replay ability factor. That to me was another Plus! The drills are not easy but improving your attributes will assist you in completing them.For instance,one particular hitting drill requires hitting a HR.Improving your players power attribute before hand makes that goal a bit more attainable.This mode can be very addicting and i had a ball with it!Unfortunately in all the excitement of adding the player to my team,i accidentally reset my season...aaaargh!But that's cool because i was only 6 games into it and now i can have my created player start the season off fresh. It's been about a week and i'm still hooked on IP'03 even after having to start my season over.Will that desire carry over into the rest of the season..let alone the first half?Stay tuned!

O.K. i'm about to play the final game of a three game series with the Expos who have hit my pitching pretty well.In fact i'm finding it hard to keep any of my opponents from scoring less than 4 runs.I'm also hitting HR's more often than not.6 games into the young season and Ty Wigginton already has 4 homers.Today i will attempt to keep the Expos at or under 3 runs as i have my ace on the mound,to take the series 2 games to 1.I've also started to mess around with the create-a-player mode and found it hard to put the controller down,but i'll write more on that experience later. Still...no major nuances or preventative game play issues that have made me want to turn off my XBOX midway through a game or stop playing all together.On the contrary,something about this game just keeps pulling me back in :)

I must admit that hitting was a little easier the third time around and i was able to come from behind and win it in the 9th with a Cliff Floyd walk off 3 run shot!I was ahead for most of the game and then Benitez,much like in real life,blew the save big time.Nothing different or new as far as animations go three games into the season but the A.I. right handed pitcher has intentionally walked Piazza twice to get to Mo Vaughn who's a lefty.Nothing overly annoying yet though and i find myself wanting to play again so that's good news.Also,I think i may have found a chink in the armor of the A.I. hitters...but i'll have to play at least one more game to confirm that so stay tuned!