[typing] [jazzy organ music]
I have a slight confession to make.
I never owned a Game Boy or a Game Gear,
or any of those proper handheld game systems as a kid.
They were just too expensive.
And any money I had would go to extra computer games and hardware.
But there was one set of systems
that actually made portable gaming possible for my budget,
which was...zero.
Tiger Electronic Baseball,
first appearing on store shelves in 1987 from Tiger Electronics.
There were also versions that looked like this,
or even this,
but they're all identical, save for the artwork.
This 1994 MVP Baseball version with the skeptical-looking pitcher
is the one I got for Christmas of the same year.
Or maybe it was my birthday. I don't remember.
December 20th birthday resulting in combined gift-giving.
Three skill levels. Realistic batting. Control your baserunner.
Aw, man, these features were too good to be true to 8-year-old me,
since the only other way I had to play games was on my Packard Bell 486.
And while I adored that computer, I couldn't take it with me anywhere,
so having something to play on the go was a total game changer.
All I needed was a pair of AA batteries, and it was time to play ball!
Not Major League Baseball, mind. Just baseball,
or a reasonable facsimile thereof.
There was no MLB licensing, no real-life players,
not even the actual rules of baseball.
But it *was* an interactive game in the palms of my hands, and that was good enough!
Tiger Electronic Baseball begins by letting you select the number of players and your skill level,
and then beeps out a triumphant ditty
letting you know it's game time!
[triumphant beeping]
Even though this is supposed to be baseball,
which is a game full of technicalities, strategy and split-second timing,
Tiger's Baseball is an exercise in restraint.
Don't be fooled by the gray rubber options keys in the middle.
There are only two buttons you'll need for the main event.
The right button, which swings the bat,
while the left button runs the bases.
As you might expect, the aim of the game is to score the most points,
and that's it!
You'll note that I didn't say "score more points than your opponent,"
because the competing team never steps up to bat.
They pitch, you swing, and never the other way around.
This is the idea of an existing game
without the nuances of said game.
Which sums up Tiger Electronics games on the whole, actually.
Much like Nintendo's Game & Watch series,
these Tiger LCD games were meant to be a cheap burst of fun and nothing more,
and I can kinda respect that.
As I've said before, when you can take something that's complex and boil it down to its minimal form,
yet have it remain unmistakeable as anything else,
then that's a type of beauty.
Now I'm not calling this game "beautiful" by any means,
but I *am* saying that I can respect those who develop things
with such limited hardware and cost requirements
and still create something memorable.
With a system this cheap, gameplay is king,
because it sure as crap isn't going to impress you with sound and visuals.
Sound is nothing more than singular beeps from an obnoxiously loud speaker,
although it's absolutely key to playing well.
I played this so much, I can actually play it by ear due to the sound cues.
If you mute the sound– which my parents often wanted me to do–
then the gameplay suffered.
So I opted to lower the volume by covering the speaker
with masking tape instead.
And the graphics?
Well, it's an LCD, much like you would see on a digital watch of the time period.
You got preset text and graphics that lit up at different times in order to signify movement,
and a static, colorized background to give it a little extra flair.
As such, the graphics were sharp,
but not exactly versatile.
Tiger did do some impressive things with this tech,
but baseball was not one of them.
They convey nothing more than the bare details,
and since they're so insanely predictable,
you can really rack up the points with ease
once you get the timing of batting and running down pat.
Other than playing this blind,
the only challenge in the game is when you crank up the difficulty,
which makes pitches more unpredictable
with slow balls, curveballs, and fastballs.
And you know what?
I loved it!
I still do, in a nostalgic sense,
because it reminds me of when I was happy with a game of LCD baseball
that cramped my hands and hurt to listen to for extended periods of time.
These handhelds didn't push any boundaries,
and it would be hard to argue that they hold up well gameplay-wise,
but they filled a niche for several years
and gave kids like me something to do during otherwise boring road trips.
A part of me deeply misses that,
while the rest of me is incredibly thankful that we have smartphones now.
[rock music plays]
And, hey, what are some of your favorite Tiger Electronics games,
or games made by other companies of the LCD variety?
There were hundreds of them. Let me know some of them in the comments if you feel like it.
And you can also just check my channel
for other videos if you found this one interesting.
I've done a whole lot of 'em. More of them come around every Monday and Friday.
And you can also do the social stuff: Facebook, Twitter, Patreon.
Well, Patreon's not so much social as it is money.
But if you like what you see here, then that is always an option
that is very much appreciated.
And as per usual, thank you very much for watching.