It must be hard to make a good baseball game, it’s not like football, where all you really have to control is the quarter back and a runner, it’s not like basketball, where all you have to control is one person, with a bouncing ball and worry about passing it. It’s not like curling where you have to worry about......rubbing ice with a broom? Anyway, Baseball is not an easy transition to video games, if your the pitcher, you have to worry about the how fast to throw the pitch, where to throw it, what kind of pitch to throw, and what are the batters strengths and weaknesses, \"If I throw a fastball to this guy will he swing and miss, or hit it so hard my grandchildren will cry?\". If your the batter, where is this pitch going, should I swing, maybe a bunt will be best. Then you have the base runner, should he steal or stay where he is? Like I said, it’s a lot more complicated than most of other sport games. As a rule I\'m not a big fan of baseball as a video game, I don\'t even like watching it, but I do love to play. I love the smell of the grass, the feel of the ball smacking into a mitt, and the \"Oh crap\" sound of someone about to be tagged out (short stop was my position). I\'m sure football players feel the same way, and so do basketball players, and so do .......curlers? Anyways on to the game. Major League 2K5 is the latest in the $19.99 titles for the XBOX, You will remember NFL 2K5 taking some thunder away from the Demi-God of football known as Madden. The character maker isn\'t really the best that I\'ve seen, but its not that bad, the play ball option is just what it says, one game between the two teams of your choice. GM Career allows you to be the General Manager of a team, decide who comes up from the minors, who goes down, who gets traded, and when you should check your email. Your able to decide which team you would like to be hired by based on the owner, is he a fan? or an Investor? or a Dictator? It’s up to you who you work for. The other modes are all very standard so I won’t go into them, if you have ever played Madden or any other sports game, your going to pick it up very quickly. The skybox is where you buy different cheats (using tokens you earn from games) Different uniforms/stadiums and even arcade machines, (yes I said arcade machines) bored with baseball and want to play air hockey? No problem, for only a few tokens you can buy an air hockey table, or even darts.Graphics - Graphics are really good, everything is done very well, the fans are actually done fairly well to, most of them are the same models but you can’t get everything. The players all kind of look like there real life counterparts, stadiums are very well done, and the fireworks are pretty. The game board on the field even changes immediately to reflect the base count and the score.Sound - Wow, great job here too, the crack of the bat, the fans, the ump are all very well done. The stadium songs are customizable with your own music from the hard drive. (The Ballad of Chasey Lane, by the Blood Hound Gang, goes really well when your batter is taking the plate.) The only problem I have with this is the same problem I have with Madden, the commentators; I realize they can’t make new phrases for every situation. But hearing about someone trying to catch a fish 50 times a game gets tiresome. (you\'ll understand if you play)Controls - Pretty standard for a baseball game, when pitching, the A-B-X-Y and sometimes black, chooses which pitch in the arsenal to use, while batting you hit with the A button, power swing with the B, and bunt with the Y. The directional pad lets the AI know which base to steal.Game Play - Pretty good, not really any lag or loading screens to mess with, and the controls respond real well. The AI is very well done, they know which plate to throw the ball to, and have no problem in catching you trying to steal. Of course you can dumb them down if you want to with the options menu.Overall - If you hate sports and don\'t like baseball, don\'t get the game. If you do like sports games and are a huge fan of baseball, pick it up. For only 19.99 in a world of 49.99 or more games this is an easy choice, great graphics/sound/game play for only 20 bucks. Of course rent it first so you can compare it to the other Baseball titles before you make your decision.
