U.S. based Netamin Corporation, announced the world's first virtual reality, massive
multi-player online sports game Ultimate Baseball Online (UBO) is in the final stages of
testing and will be ready for a worldwide launch in Fall 2004.
Unlike current video games
that aspire to simulate professional sports, UBO delivers a first person perspective online
sports experience as real players team up and face off against another team in real-time. In
order to ensure accuracy, Darrell Evans, a two-time Major League All-Star ('73 & '74) and
World Series winner (1985), serves as UBOs principle baseball consultant. UBO software is
available for download and free
trial immediately at the official website.
In UBO,
baseball enthusiasts and gamers compete in 3D virtual stadiums. With stunning graphics and
surround-sound audio reactions from the crowd, participants control a player for a specific
field position. Players use an avatar to bat, pitch, field, run, steal and perform any
baseball action. Participants can practice, play pick-up games, join or
found their own
teams, compete against rival teams and win a league championship in the post season. Gamers
build their skill level (player stats) through successful play on the field against other
real human players. Netamin is now offering Ultimate Baseball Online at a special preview
discount price of USD 19.95 with free monthly play until the game
officially launches in
Fall 2004. Once launched, Ultimate Baseball Online will cost USD 29.95, which includes the
first month of play free, with a monthly subscription charge of USD 9.95.
To date,
baseball videogames, as with all sports video games, have been very solitary experiences.
You control a whole team against the computer, or against one other person, said Andy Wang,
president of Netamin Corporation. Ultimate Baseball Online is designed to simulate the
baseball team experience a team of nine real people playing against another team of nine
real people, with every participant viewing
the action from their own
perspective.
Netamin will maintain a secure listing of individual statistics and will
rank players daily and weekly in accordance to their performance. Winning teams will be
invited by Netamin to compete in a UBO World Series playoff event scheduled when the season
is over. In a sport where pitches fly at 100-miles-per-hour, ensuring every player sees
the
same action on screen at the same time is crucial. Netamin has addressed potential
Internet latency issues with a series of exclusive patented technologies that lie at the
heart of the UBO gaming engine.
Ultimate Baseball Online, for me, is the closest
thing to being back on the playing field, said Darrell Evans. The Mental part of baseball
has finally been captured. UBO will give players a great appreciation for the little nuances
of each position, as well as an understanding of the teamwork that is involved in playing
the sport of baseball
successfully.
Virtual Baseball World Cup
To promote
the addition of the new Tournament feature in Ultimate Baseball Online, Netamin is launching
a worldwide round-robin tournament that is open to anyone who wishes to join one of the UBO
teams, or form their own. UBO Summer Slugfest 2004, which will start at the end of July,
will feature dozens of teams competing in 3D virtual stadiums, to win great baseball prizes
such as customized team jerseys and caps, autographed baseballs, and the fame that comes
with being crowned the first Virtual Baseball World Cup
Champions.
