Baseball Mogul 2004

List Price: $9.99 Discount Price: $1.25

Features:

• Start out in a tight situation - You're four games behind and have to decide how to get ahead. Should you pay top dollar for new talent, or can you lead the current team to victory?
• Browse through over 100 seasons of historical stats to build the perfect team
• New player scouting reports offer year-by-year stats for each player, as well as a 5-year performance graph
• Enhanced minor league control lets player talk to coaches about the rookies they should recruit
• Improved news headlines for easier & quicker reading of the newspaper articles

Accessories:
PC Gamer (1-year)	Games for Windows: The Official Magazine

Customer Reviews:

Fun, but not a good simulation [Posted on 2004-01-22]
I've enjoyed the game, but its outcomes don't seem realistic. For example, I've just reenacted the 1908 season, and Harry Lumley of Brooklyn hit 132 home runs. In real life, he hit 4. Mike Donlin was the batting leader with a .514 batting average. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong, but I suspect that it would be important to think of this as a game and not as a simulation.

Game that makes you think! [Posted on 2004-02-08]
Many games today don't require much thinking, but this one does. This game is wonderful because you can take any team, and pretty much manage the entire organization for the entire season. If your team isn't doing well, trade players or bring someone up from the minors! You can change ticket prices... I found this game very fun too. I was able to have the Padres win the world series (after trading much of the original team). If you are looking for a game that requires you to think while having fun, get this game!

Addicting! [Posted on 2004-02-12]
OK, if you're looking for an exact historical simulation game, this isn't for you. It's not perfect, has some errors, and typos. But the ultimate test for a game is if it's fun, and this game is a blast-it's addicting. Once you start, you can't stop! I play the fantasy draft option, rather than replaying real seasons, as it is a real trip. You enter an alternate universe where some real players never existed, and some fictional ones pop up each season. It takes a while to learn all of the ins and outs of the game, but it is a lot of fun. There ARE a few things the makers could do to improve it: make free Agency competitive, go into the Awards/All-Stars areas more (the All-Star Game especially)as well as refine existing features, but overall i love this game!

Well worth it [Posted on 2004-10-29]
While Baseball Mogul is not perfect, I have logged dozens of hours as a general manager. In fact, I am in the 75% through a campaign to win the World Series with every team in the league and (in homage to Wowbanger the Infinitely Prolonged from Hitchhiker's Guide) in alphabetical order. The fun I have had with this game is particularly suprising since I haven't followed baseball since the strike.

In Baseball Mogul you do not play baseball, you do not coach baseball, you play the general manager. Each season runs by in as little as a minute or two, then you make trades and grab free agents and dump overpaid "stars" to keep you budget in line. This game turns Moneyball into reality: your job is to send the best team you can afford out onto the field.

The interface can seem clunky in some places until you get used to it, and the game is certainly not perfect. However, at this price you will certainly get your money's worth from the game.

Hint - every year grab a bunch of younger relievers, sign them for two years at about 700k-1.2m, and trade them for cash or players the following year. You can trade 3-4 of them for a top notch player, or far more cash than you paid them, and heck, they did pitch for you for a year. Also, never scrimp on scouting, always be first in spending or very nearly first if you cannot afford to outspend every other team.

Highly recommended.

Statistical Drug for Baseball Fanatics [Posted on 2006-03-05]
I'm old enough to remember the old strat-o-matic baseball games, as well as the first fantasy league baseball games, as a kid, and I have always been disappointed by baseball video games more concentrated on graphics, instead of variable and situational realism. Baseball Mogul is an attempt to mitigate some of those shortfalls. It is by no stretch perfect, and if you're simply looking for a software game that gives you enhanced graphics, you're better off with X-Box. Nevertheless, it is a first class game from the perspective of a GM/Owner, in which you can operate your own team, set your lineups, pitching staff, conduct trades, etc., based on real MLB teams, historically, as well as recent ones. It even allows for a draft, although it waits until after the season (even though MLB's draft occurs during the season).

The 2004 version allows for improvement in minor league players, ones you historically know would never be that good in the bigs, simply by spending the most money and resources on minor league player development. You know something is wrong when Joe Oliver can develop into a 50-homerun per year hitter. However, the recent versions of this game, which are not contained on amazon.com, particularly the 2006 version, and its 8.50 patch, correct many of these flaws. It even takes into account year-to-year fence setting changes in ballparks, which the 2004 version does not. Overall, I was extremely pleased and impressed, but again this is a game for those that look to the strategic aspects of baseball over aesthetics.

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