Flatbush comes to the flat screen? Well, it doesn't look like Ebbets Field to me.
Chevrolet is offering iPhone, iPod touch and iPad owners a chance to play a three-dimensional baseball game simulation, along with a contest to win a trip to attend the 2010 All Star Game – not exactly peanuts and Cracker Jacks, but a new age version of “I don’t care if I never get back.”
Users can play three inning (Three, huh? Must be a reference to how long this year’s Detroit Tigers starting pitchers last.) or nine inning games with what is claimed to be life-like control of pitching and hitting “via the accelerometer and simple tap to throw fielding mechanics.”
Chevy Baseball also includes a catching mini-game and a “Spring Training” tutorial mode to help newcomers around the electronic diamond.
The “app” also allows players access to the Chevy Dugout where fans can learn more about guess whose vehicles.
“We think the Chevy Baseball App is a take on two American icons delivered in a modern way,” said Jim Campbell, U.S. vice president Chevrolet Marketing. “The program is designed to give baseball fans the opportunity to experience some of the magic of America’s favorite pastime, and provides information on our cars, crossovers and trucks from Chevrolet.”
Chevrolet worked with Small Planet Digital, a Brooklyn, New York based software and game developer with a concentration on iPad and iPhone platforms to create the game.
I am betting that no one at Small Planet Digital was around in 1955 when the Dodgers won their first and only World Series in Brooklyn against their hated cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees.
Players can also send Postman cards to social networks to brag about their baseball skills. (Right – let’s see you hit a real curveball that’s breaking 12 inches, geek.) Plus+ integration, whatever that is, allows players to track their progress around the world with online leaderboards and unlockable awards.
No matter.
Here’s to The Boys of Summer: Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Carl Furillo, Don Newcombe – the first black pitcher to win 20 games in a season – and Johnny Podres, who pitched a shut out against the Yankees in the decisive game seven, as well as Gil Hodges who drove in both runs.