Hello, my name is Soda and I am a Baseball Mogulaholic. I'd like to share my story with you. I have been a baseball fanatic all my life. I would say that I have invested more time playing baseball games than any other type of video game. Before Baseball Mogul came into my life, I'd say that I was pretty strong. I could play a game for a few weeks and than be able to put it down. I wouldn't say that I ever really struggled with "addiction" to video game baseball. Than came Baseball Mogul. I thought I would be able to handle myself. "I'm not addicted, I can quit anytime I want."

Boy was I wrong. Admitting you have a problem is the first step to getting help.

When I first started playing I didn't see how I could get addicted. It's just a sim; there is no actual game to play. Originally my addiction began with Baseball Mogul 2002. My addiction carried over it 2003 as well. One feature I always looked forward to with each new addition was the new player pictures and action photos. I bought Baseball Mogul 2004 over the web for download and I was disappointed that it didn't come with any player photos at all. Other than that it was the same old Baseball Mogul screens that I have become so accustomed to looking at. The best new feature graphically is the ability to resize that game window. Sometimes that comes in handy.

Baseball Mogul is all about control. Being a GM of a professional baseball franchise is my dream job, and Baseball Mogul puts you right in that seat. You control every aspect of how your franchise is run from how much money you have in your farm system budget to how much you charge for hot dogs at the ball park. Trying to find the balance of building a winning team while staying within your budget and keeping all the fans happy is one heck of a job. At first I would play as the GM of my favorite team, the New York Mets, but because of their fan loyalty and high income and exposure they were too easy to win with. You want a challenge? Try playing as the GM of Montreal. I spent 25 years building that club into a respectable franchise, and the only thing I could do to make them any better was move them to Washington DC where I could make more money. Like I said before, you have complete control. If you're a franchise sports junky, than this is your game.

The main challenge of Baseball Mogul is just keeping track of everything that's going on. You have to r em ember who you have in the minors and who gets paid what and when their contract ends and if you can afford to keep them. The best thing that they did with Baseball Mogul 2004 is instead of player contracts and budget being based on a "point" system, they are now in actual dollar figures. It makes it a lot easier to put things in perspective. It takes a lot of time and creativity to build a franchise that is successful year after year. Another part of the challenge is keeping your cool. One season I got swept in the series and got really pissed off. I went out in the off-season and signed everyone who was anyone. The results turned out to be a disaster. Plugging that many new players into a core that I already had built turned into more losses than wins, I didn't make the playoffs, and because of the huge contracts of every player on my roster I ended up going into debt. Once you're in debt you can't negotiate with any of your players who's contract term ends, and I ended up losing five of my best players.

Baseball Mogul is the most fun and addicting baseball franchise game I have ever played. Everyone who considers himself a fan of baseball must play this game at some point in time. There are very few games that I can imagine that you could invest any near as much time in as you will to Baseball Mogul. If I were to rate games on a scale Baseball Mogul would get a 10 out of 10 on replay ability. Yes, it is that good.

The best part, its only 20 bucks. Do yourself a favor, go out and get this game or download it online at www.sportsmogul.com. It might take awhile to get the swing of things, but we'll be seeing you in our Mogulaholic's support group in no time.

-Soda Out

May 11, 2003 | 7 comments
Shane Quast