Entertainment
The Sanford Herald / Sunday, April 4, 2010 / 11A
VIDEO GAMES
E-BRIEFS
Baseball sims strive for perfection By LOU KESTEN Associated Press Writer
The perfect game is one of baseball’s most elusive accomplishments. That means no hits, no walks, no errors — no opposing baserunners, period, over the course of nine innings — and it’s happened just 16 times in major league history. 2K Sports is offering $1 million to the first person who can pitch a perfect game in its “Major League Baseball 2K10� (for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99). It’s a gimmick designed to attract fans who jeered last season’s entry in the long-running series, which had more errors than a Little League game. “2K10� is far from perfect, but it’s a solid recovery: Let’s call it a quality start. Developer Visual Concepts, which reclaimed the franchise with last year’s model, has had some time to resolve the kinks. There are still some issues, such as sluggish baserunning and choppy player animations, but the sport’s core conflict — pitcher vs. batter — is satisfying. 2K’s “Total Control� mechanisms, which use an analog stick to mimic pitching and batting movements, still take some getting used to, but you can switch to “classic� button-pushing techniques. Either way, the
AP photo
Above is an animated image of Los Angeles Dodgers’ Manny Ramirez swinging the bat in a scene from, “MLB 10: The Show.� results are more realistic: Patient hitters will draw more walks, and games are less likely to turn into homer-happy slugfests. The major addition to “2K10� is “My Player,� which lets you simulate a player’s career from double-A ball to the majors. It’s not as well developed as Sony’s similar “Road to the Show� career mode, but it does move a bit faster and is just as addictive. Speaking of Sony, it’s back on the diamond with “MLB 10: The Show� (for the PlayStation 3, $59.99). Developed by Sony’s San Diego studio, “The Show� is the gold standard for sports simulations. Its graphics are so dazzling that my girlfriend, who
arrived as I was in the middle of a hard-fought MetsBraves clash, thought she was watching an actual major league broadcast. This season’s edition doesn’t tinker too much with the already solid fundamentals: Pitching, batting, fielding and baserunning are all smooth and intuitive. That core dependability has allowed the designers to focus on details, such as giving pitchers a variety of pick-off moves. Every little detail adds to the uncanny realism. The “Road to the Show� career mode is as robust as ever. The major addition is a full-fledged catcher simulation that lets you call every pitch. It’s so demanding that you’ll feel
your knees creaking. Since the career mode only shows the plays directly involving your character, you can zip through it much more quickly if you park him out in right field. “Road to the Show� isn’t ideal — I wish Sony could find a way to minimize the loading times between plays. But it’s the most rewarding career sim of its type, offering the satisfactions of a good role-playing game. With “MLB 10,� Sony has pitched an almostperfect game; I give it four stars out of four. “Major League Baseball 2K10� still has a way to go, but the franchise is heading in the right direction; it gets twoand-a-half stars.
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Lawyer: ESPN’s Andrews getting death threats LOS ANGELES (AP) — Erin Andrews has been getting death threats in a stream of e-mails to a media outlet, an attorney for the ESPN reporter and “Dancing with the Stars� contestant said Andrews Friday. Attorney Marshall Grossman said that a man had sent at least a dozen e-mails since September threatening Andrews. DirecTV provided them to Andrews’ representatives Thursday, but it was not immediately clear to whom the e-mails were addressed. The e-mails were at first sexual, but the most recent were explicitly violent and “threatened Erin with murder,� Grossman said. They also had details about location and method. The messages discuss the case of Michael David Barrett, who was sentenced last month to 2 1/2 years in federal prison for secretly shooting nude videos of the ESPN reporter. “He refers to Barrett in his e-mail in a way to make clear to us that situation had some influence,� Grossman said, but added that the man appeared to have no ties to Barrett. The FBI has been notified, Grossman said. He said the man’s identity is known to law enforcement and is believed to live on the East Coast. An e-mail message left for an FBI spokes-
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woman was not immediately returned. Andrews is not yet seeking a restraining order but has asked ABC to beef up its security on “Dancing with the Stars,� Grossman said. Private security also has been hired to protect Andrews and her family. Andrews has no plans of quitting the show. “She’s not the type to be easily threatened,� Grossman said. “She has every intention to meet her obligations.�
Sheen allegedly looking to leave popular sitcom LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charlie Sheen is looking at a future without “Two and a Half Men.� According to a person close to the actor, Sheen has told friends that he wants to leave the hit CBS comedy in which he’s starred for seven years. The person spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because Sheen had made the remarks in private and had not intended them to be discussed publicly. CBS had no comment, spokesman Phil Gonzales said Thursday. An after-hours call to Sheen’s representatives was not immediately returned. “Two and a Half Men,� which also stars Jon Cryer, is the top-rated comedy on TV and a key part of CBS’ Monday night lineup. Last year, CBS gave the show a three-year renewal, through the 2011-12 season, but Sheen’s contract is up at the end of the current season. Sheen, 44, has tired of the demands of a weekly show and wants to focus on movies, the person close to him said. Sheen is in the upcoming film “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,� a sequel to the 1987 “Wall Street.�
Badu to be cited for public nudity LOS ANGELES (AP) – Iconoclastic R&B singer Erykah Badu is expected to receive a disorderly conduct citation this week for stripping naked in her new video at the Dallas, Texas plaza where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Dallas Police Deputy Chief Mike Genovese told the Dallas Morning News that a witness had come forward who “observed Ms. Badu remove her clothing on the public street. The witness had two small children with her and was offended.� He told the paper the citation, which is to be issued this week, was “about as serious as a traffic ticket.� In her new video “Window Seat,� filmed in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza, Badu — once known for her towering turbans — progressively loses her clothes, keeps walking in black lingerie and then peacefully strips.
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Showtimes for Showtimes for August 21-27 !PRIL ND !PRIL TH **Clash of the Titans 3D PG13 10:45am 1:05 3:20 5:35 7:50 10:10 **Tyler Perry’s “Why did I Get Married Too� PG-13 11:30am 2:00 5:00 7:30 10:00 The Last Song PG 10:50am 1:00 3:15 5:30 7:45 10:00 **Hot Tub Time Machine R 11:00am 1:10 3:10 5:10 7:10 9:40 **How To Train Your Dragon PG 2D 10:45am 12:45 4:45 7:00 9:15 3D 11:15am 1:15 3:15 4:45 5:15 7:30 9:45 Diary of a Wimpy Kid PG 11:00am 1:00 3:05 5:10 7:15 9:20 The Bounty Hunter PG-13 11:00am 1:10 3:20 5:30 7:40 9:50 Alice In Wonderland 3D PG 10:45am 1:00 3:15 5:30 7:45 10:00 Remember Me PG-13 10:45am 2:50 7:10 Our Family Wedding PG-13 12:55 5:00 9:20 CALL 919.708.5600 FOR DAILY SHOWTIMES
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