The Bigs

Summary

The Bigs (stylized as The BIGS) is an arcade-style baseball video game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii and PlayStation Portable. It was released in June 2007 in North America, and in October in the PAL region (Wii only). A sequel, The Bigs 2, was released on July 7, 2009.

The Bigs
Developer(s)Blue Castle Games
Publisher(s)2K
Platform(s)Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, PlayStation Portable
Release
  • NA: June 26, 2007
  • PAL: October 26, 2007 (Wii)
Genre(s)Sports, baseball
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay edit

It features "outrageous visuals and intuitive gameplay mechanics", focusing on stylistic rather than realistic design, and gameplay featuring power-ups and turbo. It has also given the game of baseball a more "street" feel to it.[1] The game features online play capability for up to four players on most of the seventh generation consoles, though online play is not compatible on the Wii. The St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman, Albert Pujols, is on the cover. Minnesota Twins first baseman and former MVP Justin Morneau is featured on the cover of limited edition Canadian version sold exclusively by Future Shop and Best Buy. Radio host Damon Bruce provides play-by-play commentary.

When the first trailer was released, gameplay bore a striking resemblance to Midway Games' MLB Slugfest series. However, in an IGN interview, producer Dan Brady stated that "the Slugfest design team made a lot of choices that really made it difficult for a fan of baseball to take the game seriously. Punching on the base path was just one of many of those decisions. The Bigs is authentic baseball taken to arcade proportions".[2]

Game modes edit

  • Rookie Challenge: The user designs a custom player, assigns him to an MLB team and guides him through spring training and the MLB season. Attribute points to improve the player are rewarded for offensive prowess and the completion of various mini-games that test the player's skill in a variety of areas. The player can also steal 10 players from opposing teams after defeating them in certain games.
  • Home Run Pinball: This mode puts the player in the middle of Times Square, New York City with the objective of hitting baseballs into neon signs and windows in order score the highest points possible. The player can then upload their score to the online leader boards and see where they rank.
  • Home Run Derby: A first-to-10 showdown between two hitters.

Multiplayer edit

Offline multiplayer supports up to four players, with Xbox Live support for two.

Reception edit

The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 2, PSP, and Wii versions received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[30][31][32][33][34]

References edit

  1. ^ Gibbs, Matt (April 2007). "The BIGS Features and Details". Planet Xbox 360. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  2. ^ Goldstein, Hilary (November 15, 2006). "Making The Bigs". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  3. ^ Zuniga, Todd (June 25, 2007). "The Bigs (PS3)". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  4. ^ Zuniga, Todd (July 2, 2007). "The Bigs (PSP)". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  5. ^ Zuniga, Todd (July 17, 2007). "The Bigs (Wii)". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  6. ^ Zuniga, Todd (June 25, 2007). "The Bigs (XBOX 360)". 1Up.com. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on May 22, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  7. ^ a b EGM staff (August 2007). "The Bigs (PS3, X360)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 218. Ziff Davis. p. 76.
  8. ^ a b Reiner, Andrew (July 2007). "The Bigs (PS3, X360)". Game Informer. No. 171. GameStop. p. 96. Archived from the original on January 14, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  9. ^ Thomas, Aaron (June 27, 2007). "The BIGS Review (PS2)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Thomas, Aaron (June 26, 2007). "The BIGS Review (PS3, X360)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  11. ^ Thomas, Aaron (June 27, 2007). "The BIGS Review (PSP)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  12. ^ Thomas, Aaron (June 26, 2007). "The BIGS Review (Wii) [date mislabeled as "July 3, 2007"]". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  13. ^ Steinberg, Steve (July 16, 2007). "GameSpy: The Bigs (PS3)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 21, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  14. ^ Steinberg, Steve (July 16, 2007). "GameSpy: The Bigs (PSP) [Incomplete]". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 4, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  15. ^ Steinberg, Steve (July 16, 2007). "GameSpy: The Bigs (Wii)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on July 26, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  16. ^ Steinberg, Steve (July 16, 2007). "GameSpy: The Bigs (X360)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 7, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  17. ^ Bedigian, Louis (July 2, 2007). "The BIGS - PS3 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on March 25, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  18. ^ Hopper, Steven (July 9, 2007). "The BIGS - PSP - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  19. ^ Knutson, Michael (July 16, 2007). "The BIGS - WII - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  20. ^ Haynes, Jeff (June 28, 2007). "The Bigs Review (PS2)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  21. ^ Haynes, Jeff (June 26, 2007). "The Bigs Review (PS3)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  22. ^ Haynes, Jeff (July 2, 2007). "The Bigs Review (PSP)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  23. ^ Bozon, Mark (June 25, 2007). "The Bigs Review (Wii)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  24. ^ Haynes, Jeff (June 26, 2007). "The Bigs Review (X360)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  25. ^ "The Bigs". Nintendo Power. Vol. 218. Nintendo of America. August 2007. p. 83.
  26. ^ "The Bigs". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. August 2007. p. 78.
  27. ^ "Review: The Bigs (PS3)". PSM. Future US. October 2007. p. 84.
  28. ^ "The Bigs (2007) MobyRank". MobyGames. Blue Flame Labs. Archived from the original on October 23, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  29. ^ Zuniga, Todd (July 23, 2007). "The Bigs (X360)". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on November 4, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  30. ^ a b "The Bigs for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  31. ^ a b "The Bigs for PlayStation 3 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  32. ^ a b "The Bigs for PSP Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  33. ^ a b "The Bigs for Wii Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 15, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  34. ^ a b "The Bigs for Xbox 360 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2020.

External links edit