Wii baseball no home-run
By Jessica Berget, Staff Writer
Wii Baseball is the most unpopular of the Wii sports games, and for good reason, as it is the most boring and frustrating to play. There aren’t many Wii sports games I can say I’ve repeatedly cursed at other than Wii Baseball. The awful timing, lagging sensor, and awkward way in which you have to swing your arms in the game play is what makes this game truly irritating. It is because of all these factors—and many more—that I can say that this game did nothing to improve my athletic ability. It did, however, give me a sense of how baseball works, how to position myself when making a swing, and a sore arm.
One of the most annoying things about this game is how sensitive the sensor is. Even with the slightest flick of the wrist the avatar would throw the ball or make a weak attempt to hit it. On the other hand, no matter how hard or fast you swing, the avatar would either throw it too early, too late, or not at all. It seems the sensor only registers that you’re throwing when you’re halfway through your pitch, which can be frustrating when ’trying to play baseball. The game of baseball also includes a lot of running, an aspect of the game that is virtually absent in the Wii version.
The other frustrating thing about this game is how easy it is to hurt yourself. This may just be me, but after about 10 minutes of playing and swinging my arm in the same repetitive movement, I found my elbow and shoulder starting to feel sore. It’s not the good kind of sore you get from exercising, it’s more like the kind you get from tearing a muscle or doing strenuous activities. This could be due to the fact that swinging the bat at an imaginary ball does not give anything to make contact with, therefore there is no pressure from hitting the ball. It is literally just like swinging a bat in mid-air back and forth, which can be tolling on one’s joints and muscles.
The only good thing that came from playing this was that it taught me the basic rules and concepts of the sport, like how you get a foul ball, the scoring system, and how a home-run works. As someone who does not play a lot of sports, especially not baseball, this was especially helpful. I found myself actually having fun playing this game (but only in the instances that I was winning), and I actually learned a good deal about baseball. Wii Baseball can also show the player what positions to stand in, which is good practice for learning when to swing at a ball if playing the real thing.
Although it did not improve my athletic ability, and I probably won’t play this game again for a while, Wii Baseball did teach me a little bit about the game and how it is played. Wii Baseball is not as challenging as the real thing, and it can be useful when a player wants to learn about the fundamentals of the sport, but playing too much can be detrimental to one’s athletic ability, and possibly one’s physical health.
