Season Ticket Baseball 2003

Rating:
Summary: Great Baseball Sim
Review: First off, let me make one caveat: if you like to see the action, swing the bat, or lunge for the ball, don't buy this game. It is a stat game for stat heads, not an action game. In Season Ticket Baseball 2003 you play the role of owner/general manger/field manager (during the games). You draft players, sign free agents, hire coaches and scouts, make trades, set your bullpen and lineups, and play. You control the big league club as well as your three minor league clubs. You can cut the rookie who doesn't have it, or bring up that blue chip prospect when your star player gets injured. You deal with the players, some are team oriented and loyal, others are prima donnas. You can create your own league and run it for decades! Play one or a couple teams (daily news will keep you up on the happenings around the league) or take the god-like view of running the whole enchileda.

You can also download a database that contains all the rosters of all the teams that ever played from 1871 to 2001 (the game comes with 2002 already loaded). Want to coach the Big Red Machine or the 1927 Yankees? You can!

Now the most important part, accuracy. The players perform pretty much as you would expect them too. You may not be able to perfectly replicate a season, as you have little control over injuries or freak occurances, but historical players and teams generally perform the way they did in actuality. The game engine has been around for quite awhile and has proven itself to be excellent.

But if that's not good enough, you can change anything and everything about each player. From their name and their age, or their pitching velocity and batting averages vs lefties (or righties), to their desire to play for a good team or their leadership skills. You can even go in and "fix" a player who's been hurt instantly (as opposed to letting nature take it's course) or injure someone otherwise healthy, if you want to truly simulate real history.

If love you love the statistical side of baseball, the operational and managerial side of the game, buy this! Also if you have the older version of this game and are thinking of going to XP, buy this as well. The older game (at least for me) became extremely unstable with XP. This one works like a charm.

Rating:
Summary: The undisputed king of baseball text sims
Review: First off, yes, this game can & will overwhelm you if you let it. Straight out of the box, there are no real player names in the game, but with minimal searching you can find not only the opening day 2002 rosters, but also the Lahman database, which will let you replay ANY season from 1901 to present day. This is a HUGE positive for such a game, because in ye olden days of yore with APBA Baseball, you had to pay for the privelege of having individual historical years on disc. Now, you can download the entire history of 20th century baseball for FREE! And Season Ticket 2K3 is indeed equipped to handle info from the Lahman database, though you might need the latest patch from Infogrames website.

So there are 3 downloads you might need to make to increase your enjoyment exponentially: current patch, 2002 rosters, Lahman Database (which I believe has recently been renamed as the Baseball Archive.)

Now, if you're wondering what the difference is between this and Out Of The Park Baseball 4, there is none. It's the same game. This is a fairly hardcore micro-management sim. It has the APBA on-field managerial aspects, like setting lineups, pitching rotations, deciding when to pinch-hit, bring in a reliever, double-switch, etc. But it also has the Baseball Mogul aspect (another fine game, I'll add) of being the GM, pulling the trigger on trades, managing your minor leagues, contract negotiation, expansion, fan promotions (bobbleheads!), and other front-office duties.

The stats are as wide as they are deep, meaning there's hardly any stat that you won't know about your players. This leads to a lot of pondering and thinking on your part, but if you've read this far then I think you can handle it.

The Out Of The Park engine (which the game is based on) is very sound and has a great history. It has been tweaked to almost perfection with this release, and I would say that there is no other sports sim that approaches it in terms of depth, except perhaps the immortal Championship Manager soccer series.

So if you think you're ready to graduate from the kiddie-land of games like Triple Play, step up to the plate and take a swing at Season Ticket 2003.

Rating:
Summary: A Dream come true
Review: For all you out there that love stats, this game is for you. I played it for all of 5 minutes, and I was hooked. Not only do you tell the players what to do in a game, you control all the front office issues. This game is packed with features. I've waited a long time for a game like this because I'm not that fond of arcade baseball. Many people have told me there's not enough action, but that's not the main package. Buy it. Now. You'll be glad you did.

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly engrossing
Review: Given this as a gift recently, I have found it hard to put aside. I gave Baseball Mogul 2003 to my son, and he likes that. Since playing this, though, I have since given copies to several of my friends. My old favorite was the Front Line Sports baseball game. This tops that.

There are a number of features that I enjoy. Sign free agents (and bid against the other teams for them each spring). Negotiate contract extensions with players on my roster. Sign coaches for the major and minor leagues teams (with varying degrees of talent, and bidding against the other teams for their services), as well as a scout, and watch them develop the talent. Manage the roster during the season, responding to injuries and changing levels of performance, including players who get old before your very eyes or prospects coming of age. Make trades. Draft amateurs every spring, looking for those blue chip prospects. Set ticket prices and institute promotion days, trying to strike a balance to maximize profits that fund future player acquisitions. Yes, you can change the parameters of the stadia. They even include 31 stadia for the 30 teams, including one in Washington. (I promptly moved the Expos there!) If you want, you can abandon league profit sharing or institute a salary cap for all teams.

If I can ever tear myself away from this to play Baseball Mogul, maybe that will be impressive, too. However, this game is, at this writing, the best computer baseball game I have ever played.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best Baseball games out there..
Review: I've played quite a few baseball games over the years,my all time favorite being Front Page Sports Baseball. However, even that was missing the front Office duties like signing free Agents, or telling high priced whiners to take a walk until I came across Season Ticket Baseball 2003. Although there isn't much in the way of graphics, I like the overall design. It makes you feel like you are running the team, as a GM and a coach. I've had the game for well over a year now and I still play it quite a bit. I don't think it will be a game you play a few times and then it collects dust. About the only real minor thing in the game I didn't like is a feature where you can argue against the call of an umpire. Maybe it's meant to mirror real baseball or something, but if you do decide to argue with an ump on a call, either he refuses to listen, or you end up getting tossed, so it's sort of pointless unless you just want to make a fuss. Overall, a great game. It's fun to see players you pick turn into stars.

Rating:
Summary: More of a good thing
Review: If you like Season Ticket Baseball 2003, then check out the internet version of the game, called Out Of The Park Baseball or OOTP. Out of the Park Developments authored both games. Atari plans no update for Season Ticket Baseball 2003 but OOTP does. The latest version is 5.14. It makes a few improvements in the play of the game and provides a link to a website where the user can download historical stats from 1877-2002, and soon to be 2003. Some of the improvements include more sophisticated contract negotiations with players with hints as to the player's mood during them. There are even online leagues. To get the game, download and then pay to have the license activated.

There is also a companion game called Inside The Park Baseball. It is a role playing game that uses the OOTP/Season Ticket Baseball system to let the user set up an individual player and pursue a baseball career from Single A through retirement from the majors, including activities both on and off the field.

(I am not affiliated with this product in any way, except that I enjoy playing it!! Just trying to be a good Scout...)

Rating:
Summary: Be prepared for late nights
Review: If you want to control almost every aspect of a pro baseball franchise, then this game is your dream. Manage players, coaches, ticket price and broadcasting revenues...everything except beer and nacho prices. Just the front office functions will keep you busy, learning what players are there for the long haul, and which ones are likely trade bait. Gamers like me, who are tired of hand-eye coordination games, and really want to immerse yourself in a game will go nuts. Showed it to my buddy, and 15 minutes later, we drove to the mall for his own copy!

Rating:
Summary: Bad Game!!!!!
Review: It would be a good game if it was licensed by the MLBPA so, you can have the real players names. Baseball Mogul is better because there are the real players there.

Rating:
Summary: Be prepared to spend many hours playing this game!
Review: Pure Baseball fanatics will certainly fall in love with "Season Ticket Baseball 2003". It is a "stat-geek's" dream! STB3K is a total package of baseball simulation. You can serve not only as your team's manager, but GM as well. Create some terrific teams through not only the draft, but the trade route as well!
I might add that the game's Artificial Intelligence makes it very difficult to take advantage of a computer-controlled team and make a steal through the trade route.

A game can be played in a little over 10 minutes and a whole season can be simmed in under an hour. It's your choice and you have total control in this game.

One of the game's most appealing features is email messaging. As GM or manager, you can receive emails offering trades from other teams, info from your coaching staff about the progress of younger players, and even comments from your PR director about the success of "promotional days".

The game comes "packaged" with fictional players playing for fictional teams in real cities. But, if you like, you can download historical players from The Baseball Archive which can be accessed from a great website (ootp4.com) that (sort of) accompanies STB3K. This website is run by the folks who created STB3K and it's sister program, "Out of the Park 4", which is the downloadable version of STB3K. This website has great tips for adding enjoyment to your gaming experience, while providing great support for the game.

For those interested in purchasing this game, please be advised that it is not loaded with dynamic graphics and sound. This is pure "stat" baseball and for those of you who grew up with "Statis Pro Baseball" of 'Sports Illustrated Superstar Baseball" you'll be absolutely thrilled with this program. Just be prepared to spend countless hours simming season after season watching your young players develop into major league stars and your veterans lead your franchise to championships.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable Baseball Simulation
Review: Season Ticket Baseball is a dummed-down version of Out of the Park Baseball that you can buy on-line. Buyer beware because this point isn't advertised. But, STB is a lot cheaper, so it can be worth it. And best of all, it is a lot of fun.

I've only played 4 seasons so far, so I haven't seen how the game progresses once your current crop of players retire. But the best part of the game is the entire minor leagues/financial model. You take the role of GM as you try and decide which aging veterans to resign or which to trade for prospects. I'm sure there is lot this game could do better, but it is still a lot of fun if you like Baseball sims.