The Sporting News Baseball (1988) This simulation-style baseball simulation game was developed by Ogdon Micro Design and published by Epyx. Leveraging the official MLBPA license, it features real-life players such as Roger Clemens, Ozzie Smith, and George Brett. Players can also assemble custom teams from Baseball Hall of Fame legends, offering a blend of contemporary and historical gameplay. The game includes four modes: player vs. player, player vs. computer, and two computer vs. computer options, allowing for varied play styles .​ Internet Archive Notably, the game employs a detailed physics engine for realistic ball movement, taking into account factors like swing timing and contact point on the bat. This level of detail was advanced for its time, providing a more authentic baseball experience . The interface is user-friendly, making it accessible to both casual players and baseball enthusiasts. While it may lack some features found in other titles of the era, such as tournament modes, its combination of real player rosters and nuanced gameplay mechanics offers a compelling experience for fans of the sport

This was a great statistically-driven package and one of the developers, Rich Unruh, gave some details about the game’s development where he was shown an earlier C64 game that “sucked” and had only nine different hits (shallow, middle, or deep, to either the left, center, or right).  He was told “Don’t make it like that.” The result?  A bat with 32 contact points along the length, along with additional contact points up and down (along the curve), and of course a sweet spot that affected the strength of the hit… yielding over four billion different hits.  With a Qn.12 fixed-point 3D coordinate system, and initially support for wind, and drag (and of course gravity).  So much of the latter had to be removed because of CPU load though, not to mention code space. Between how far the genre has moved, and the additional licensing requirements between The Sporting News and the MLBPA license, we’re going to archive this title and aren’t seeking to revive it.  If you do want an Epyx baseball title, we’d suggest Street Sports Baseball, which is available for licensing.