Videogame Remake of 1986's World Series Game 6

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Even non-baseball fans must concede that the re-creation of the bottom half of the 10th inning of Game Six of the 1986 World Series, using the original broadcast audio and a replay with Nintendo's RBI Baseball, took enormous dedication. 'Something like the Keith Hernandez at-bat, where he flies out to center, took like 200 attempts,' Creator Conor Lastowka told WSJ.com. Though it wasn't quite as hard as it looks: 'Thanks to the emulator software, each time Mr. Hernandez's at-bat strayed from history's script, Mr. Lastowka was able to replay from the previous at-bat. Using a computer rather than an actual game console like a PlayStation allowed Mr. Lastowka to save his progress along the way. He built his precise Game-Six replica bit by bit -- not in one flawless, improbable take.' Before he made the viral video, Lastowka was jobless; three days after its release, he had a job with a classic-films company."

Blah

[michaelhood]

Using a computer rather than an actual game console like a PlayStation

Hmm? You mean like a Nintendo?

And can I get a supersubmitter account like the WSJ has? I have some regurgitated news with ads, too.

Re:Blah

[kitsunewarlock]

Or an emulator...

Re:Blah

[foundme]

There is no supersubmitter account, this article by WSJ probably took like 200 attempts to get accepted. He submitted this well crafted article bit by bit -- not in one flawless, improbable take.

Re:Blah

[michaelhood]

So does he have an emulator for Slashdot?

NESlashdot?

SlashMAME?

OK, I'm done.

Re:Blah

[Tezkah]

There is no supersubmitter account, this article by WSJ probably took like 200 attempts to get accepted. He submitted this well crafted article bit by bit -- not in one flawless, improbable take.

so what you're saying is we'll be seeing this again in a few days when the other takes get approved as dupes? :)

can anyone read this?

[1u3hr]

When I try to RTFA, I get caught in an endless Flash loop that tells me, ironically, that I have free access to the entire site. "Skip intro" just reloads it.

Re:can anyone read this?

[Propagandhi]

Ah yes, the chinese finger trap of flash-based splash intros... the harder you try to get past it, the firmer its grip becomes.

I'm afraid you've most likely "pulled" so hard that you're trapped forever.

Re:can anyone read this?

[1u3hr]

I went to the WSJ top page and searched for TFA, finally read it.

Re:can anyone read this?

[Propagandhi]

Mmm.. excellent, most buckle under the strain, allowing the little beast consume them totally.

Well played, sir.. Well played.

Re:can anyone read this?

[Firehed]

Finger traps don't have a close button, though.

Re:can anyone read this?

[1u3hr]

Finger traps don't have a close button, though.

More like a monkey-trap: some food inside a hole in a tree trunk. The hole is just small enough for the monkey to slide its hand in, but if it grabs the food it can't pull its fist out. So you can escape if you give up what you were looking for.

Re:can anyone read this?

[drsquare]

Also known as the 'Homer Simpson Vending-Machine Trap'.

I believe I speak for Red Sox Fans everywhere...

[jpellino]

.. when I say to Conor Lastowka,

Go kiss a duck.

Re:I believe I speak for Red Sox Fans everywhere..

[onwardknave]

I was going to say a blender, but I guess a duck works, in a way that would provide a lasting odd mental scarring value.

Re:I believe I speak for Red Sox Fans everywhere..

[TCQuad]

Go kiss a duck.

Actually, given that Red Sox fans (myself included) are everywhere, the best advice would simply be "Duck."

Er, Why?

[hackwrench]

What about this causes Red Sox fans ill-will?

Re:Er, Why?

[corrosive_nf]

One man. Bill Buckner. Dont ask them about it or they start sobbing.

We don't sob ....

[ipjohnson]

We usually kick the douchebag in the genitals and move on with our day .... Mass. has inacted a law where we can violate moron's civil liberties if they mention Bucky F*ckin' Dent,Arrone Boone, and of course Bill Buckner.

Re:Er, Why?

[ElvenMonkey]

http://www.time.com/time/2003/worldseries/moments/ 4.html [time.com]

About says it all really.

Redemption for Mr. Lastowka is possible...

[dcavanaugh]

If he recreates the entire 2004 ALCS playoffs vs. the Yankees. To make this daunting task a little easier, we would settle for games 4,5,6, and 7.

Buckner's error in 1986 was just management stupidity, the guy was in the lineup for his bat, not his glove. Since that time, many teams have gone so far as to have a defensive specialist first basement who is on the roster for the sole purpose of playing the field late in the game.

Re:Redemption for Mr. Lastowka is possible...

[dcavanaugh]

Actually, the defensive first baseman was Dave Stapleton. He was a late inning first base replacement in games 1, 2, and 5.

Direct link to WMV

[tonsofpcs]

Ah, a direct link to a WMV3 w/ WMA2 audio. Very nice. Anyone want to give me a link that I can actually play?

Re:Direct link to WMV

[ZiakII]

Ah, a direct link to a WMV3 w/ WMA2 audio. Very nice. Anyone want to give me a link that I can actually play?

http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/news.html [mplayerhq.hu]

Google video link

[thepotoo]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8547285560 243429315&q=RBI+baseball&pl=true [google.com]

A quick google search would have done as much try "rbi game 6"

Re:Google video link

[DNS-and-BIND]

Thanks for your interest in Google Video.

Currently, the playback feature of Google Video isn't available in your country.

Re:Direct link to WMV

[19thNervousBreakdown]

Actually, I'm impressed with duffx.com, whatever it is. I just downloaded this at almost 700KB/s. Yeah, bytes.

Did you just make that comment without even trying the link?

Re:Direct link to WMV

[mrchaotica]

The issue is format, not bandwidth. Some of us don't use Microsoft's shit, you know!

Re:Direct link to WMV

[19thNervousBreakdown]

Microsoft makes Totem [gnome.org]?

Re:Direct link to WMV

[MelloDawg]

Not sure if this is any better, but at least Google has more bandwidth:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8547285560 243429315 [google.com]

RBI Baseball

[MBCook]

I always loved that game. It was very tough (or I was terrible, quite possible). But I just loved the way the little guys looked, all round and fat. It was my favorite baseball game for the NES. In the later versions, they "fixed" the people and they looked better but I always liked the original.

Baseball for the Game Boy looked almost identical, I always wondered if they were somehow "related" (like it was just published under Nintendo). Anyone know?

Re:RBI Baseball

[Anonymous Coward]

you should check out gantry's rbi page [dee-nee.com] for everything rbi... like the drinking game, roms with current rosters, and a forum with hundreds of members. go pedriq!

Re:RBI Baseball

[DeeKayWon]

I always figured there were several games that were related and possibly from the same codebase licensed to different companies. I have a Game Boy baseball game from Bandai called Extra Bases that has very similar mechanics, visuals, and sound effects - the "you're out" sound, for instance, is identical to that in RBI Baseball.

The biggest indication to me is a certain gameplay bug that shows up in several games (Baseball Simulator 1.000 is another). If the ball is in play, you have runners on first and th

Re:RBI Baseball

[Pollardito]

it wasn't so tough once you realized that you could run from one base to the next faster than they can make a throw between two bases, so you could extend any single to be an inside-the-park homerun.

the thing that struck me most about this recreation is how deadeningly slow they had to go, with huge pauses between pitches to simulate the real thing. maybe that's why real baseball is so excruciating to watch

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:Warning to Red Sox fans...

[blair1q]

Yeah...I thought I had it down to just the few minutes during my after-lunch food coma...now it's showing up on /. in the middle of the night...

Re:Warning to Red Sox fans...

[tylernt]

Yeah, this thing is every bit as boring as the real game.

Re:Warning to Red Sox fans...

[moosesocks]

This is like reliving a horrible, traumatic experience all over again.

But that's what being a sox fan's all about..... horrible......traumatic experiences.

Heck, after we won the World Series for the first time in 86 years, not knowing what else to do we rioted [wikipedia.org] anyway.

Re:Warning to Red Sox fans...

[hole725]

Even though I am a Red Sox fan, I enjoy dark humor. On a related note, why doesn't this guy remake the 2003 collapse of the Red Sox in the 8th inning of Game 7 of the ALCS? Or better yet, the A. Rod slap in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS....I'm sure RBI could depict something so hilarious fairly well.

Re:Warning to Red Sox fans...

[pthisis]

This is like reliving a horrible, traumatic experience all over again.

Watching this in 2003 HURT. Watching it now is a vaguely unsettling reminder of a darker time.

Big Papi, G38, Foulke, Pedro, David Freaking Roberts, Saturn Balls, Manny being Manny, Bellhorn, the Pro, Tek, Trot, Jesus, the Stud Who Hits Bombs, the OC, Timmeh, Timlin, Halloween, Embree, D-Lowe, Curtis the Mechanic, Eyechart, the Embedded Yankee, Buckethead, and the World's Hottest Jew have set us free.

Bucky Dent, Grady Little, and Bill Bu

...it gets through Buckner!

[Somatic]

And people said that the popular obsession with the Red Sox would end after they won a world series.

I have to admit, it did cool my obsession a little bit. I don't hang on to the idea of a World Series win with the same... what's the word... desperation? I don't do that anymore.

But I think that now, the obsession for most people is still there, it's just changed. It's like people who love the old Commodore 64 games, or old anything. It's a club now, people remembering when-- just like people recreating

Side-By-Side

[Flame0001]

Without having seen this World Series, a side-by-side of the actual thing and this recreation would be nice. He did, after all, try his best to mimic the real thing.

ObSeinRef

[mstra]

Who does this guy think he is?

Re:ObSeinRef

[Cobralisk]

I'm Keith Hernandez. You insensitive clod!

Re:ObSeinRef

[kahanamoku]

No!... I am Spartacus!

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Video clips on YouTube

[antdude]

Here [youtube.com] and here [youtube.com].

Piracy? DMCA? No problem.

[1u3hr]

From TFA: "Emulators, which are widely available free online, allow any computer to run the programming of older consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System. Combined with a pirated online version of the game called a ROM, a normal PC can duplicate the Nintendo experience. Mr. Lastowka spent about six hours recreating the bottom of the 10th..."

And nothing but praise in TFA for his ingenuity. Fine, so why are other people being threatened with enormous fines for doing exactly the same thing? Interesting to see if there is any fallout from that detail.

Re:Piracy? DMCA? No problem.

[omeomi]

Combined with a pirated online version of the game called a ROM, a normal PC can duplicate the Nintendo experience. Mr. Lastowka spent about six hours recreating the bottom of the 10th..."

Well, the article never explicity says that Mr. Lastowka used a pirated ROM. Maybe he made his own ROM from the original Nintendo cart. Unlikely, I know, but it is possible, and legal.

Re:Piracy? DMCA? No problem.

[CerebusUS]

Not to mention the use of audio from the broadcast without (I'm assuming) the express written consent of Major League Baseball (I always like that line best when it was spoken by Al Michaels)

There's a ton of copyright violations going on here, but anyone who sues over it will look like a major douchebag.

Re:Piracy? DMCA? No problem.

[jeffkjo1]

Not to mention the use of audio from the broadcast without (I'm assuming) the express written consent of Major League Baseball (I always like that line best when it was spoken by Al Michaels) There's a ton of copyright violations going on here, but anyone who sues over it will look like a major douchebag.

This is one of those situations where having copyright law be like trademark law, where you actually have to enforce your rights in order to keep them... would be really interesting, and would lead ev

Re:Piracy? DMCA? No problem.

[1u3hr]

Granted, those changes would probably be so you can use selective enforcement... doh.

Doh indeed. As it stands, copyright law does allow selective enforcement; unlike trademark law you're not obligated to defend your copyright. However, I imagine that while you could shut down anyone abusing your copyright, if you had been liberal in allowing abuse you might have a hard time collecting much compensation.

Implied oral consent...

[PhYrE2k2]

But it's all about rebroadcasting with only the implied oral consent rather than the expressed written... talk about living on the edge.

-M

And THIS is why...

[mrchaotica]

...we need to defend Fair Use!

Simple answer

[Atario]

Because there's no such thing as the Old Video Games That Don't Generate Incomes For Our Member Companies Anymore Association Of America to buy off our governmental representatives and sue random citizens.

I would have thought that was obvious...

The ESA

[tepples]

Because there's no such thing as the Old Video Games That Don't Generate Incomes For Our Member Companies Anymore Association Of America

O rly [theesa.com]?

Re:Piracy? DMCA? No problem.

[1u3hr]

the popular opinion is that all ROMs are, by definition, illegal

"Popular opinion?" Maybe 1% of the population knows what a ROM is. The WSJ stated they were pirated, and thus illegal, as if it were a fact. Personally I agree with you; however it seems odd that the WSJ (a rather staid, very pro-business newspaper) was implicitly endorsing what it said was an illegal act.

Buahaha

[19thNervousBreakdown]

From the About page of duffx.com [duffx.com]:

Duffx.com will live on until it reaches the point where Duff can no longer afford to support it.

Anyone want to start a pool on this one?

Re:Buahaha

[datafr0g]

Duffman says, hey - you may think that, but it's not the duff way!
You need some of Duffman's Duff Beer for that duff logic effect!

ooooooh yeah!

Buckner

[drDugan]

Buckner: a name that will live in infamy through to the end of human consciousness due to the tireless and (sometimes unbelievable) sports history fanatics!

How these these people love sports details so much is beyond me.

Re:Buckner

[climbon321]

Ya man, I'm all with you on being judemental about those sports fanatics. I mean it's a good thing you didn't post that on a website full of people who obssess over details about things that would be seen by other people as weird.

Re:Buckner

[saltydogdesign]

Buckner got a bad rap. The game was shot when Stanley threw the wild pitch. The Sox squandered a two-run lead in extra innings at field where they didn't have home-field advantage -- always a good recipe for a loss. Buckner, after all, didn't give up the three hits and two runs that got the Sox in that situation to begin with.

Moreover, most people don't remember how much Buckner did to help the Sox make the postseason in the first place.

Re:Buckner

[saltydogdesign]

Quite true. Plus, it's not like the Sox didn't have their chances in game 7.

the recreation most baseball fans are waiting for

[rifftide]

is Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS. As I remember it:

"He walked him, Millar's going to first base, and in comes Dave Roberts to run for Millar as Bill Mueller steps in the batter's box. The Yankees are just three outs away from a trip to the World Series and a sweep of the Red Sox. Roberts definitely has Rivera's attention, he's drawing a lot of looks from the mound. There's a throw over, runner back. Another throw over, runner back. Here's the pitch.

Roberts is taking off...."

Seinfeld

[CharAznable]

How about a recreation of the Keith Hernandez spitting incident?

Re:Seinfeld

[Physician]

As you may recall, Keith Hernandez was not the one who did the spitting.

Re:Seinfeld

[corrosive_nf]

Id love to see Nolan Ryan beaning Robin Ventura, who then charged the mound to get his ass kicked, recreated.

Ball doesn't go through Buckner's legs

[Rhett]

The one thing that people remember about this game was not re-created in the video game. So basically, this is just a big waste of time for everyone involved.

Re:Ball doesn't go through Buckner's legs

[TheCage]

huh? The guy got a job out of it, so it was hardly a waste of time.

I was entertained as well, so your argument fails on that count as well. There is more to that inning than the ball through Buckner's legs. I doubt that animation existed in the game anyway.

Re:Ball doesn't go through Buckner's legs

[bxbaser]

Unfortuanatly for red sox fans that was the game, the whole game. a collective groan from boston was heard as far away as portland maine. The buckner incident is forever etched into sox fans memory. "Buckner terrors" is the medical term for screaming in your sleep, there are support groups for the famlies of sox fans. buckner wives as they are called meet together for support and to try to understand how thier husband can cry daily 20 years later.

All joking aside its pretty sad when the most repeated phrase

Re:Ball doesn't go through Buckner's legs

[saltydogdesign]

I disagree. Most Sox fans I know (and having lived in Boston for a long time, I know many) have terrors over the Stanley wild pitch (which was really what cost them the game). Buckner gets a lot of slack in New England. It's mainly the rest of the country that harps on that play.

Re:Ball doesn't go through Buckner's legs

[Tickenest]

Given that millions of people in the US and billions of people worldwide care about games played by grown men, I'd say that with an attitude like that, you're not one of the in crowd, eh?

gg

it wont be long until..

[LOTHAR, of the Hill]

We see this real time in sports games, for instant replays or "what if" scenarios.

Re:it wont be long until..

[tighr]

[It wont be long until...] We see this real time in sports games, for instant replays or "what if" scenarios.

We already see that on ESPN, when they do the Maddden NFL replays of key moments in football games. They use the replay abilities of the video game to manipulate the camera angle.

How Cruel

[Physician]

Though I was a youngin living in Massachusetts at the time, the game being remade here is still very painful. Did they think of consulting Red Sox fans first? I may need to go see a counselor. Of all the totally insensitive things to do...

even...must agree...

[YesIAmAScript]

Ever notice that when you see the statement even [...] must agree..., it is always followed by a bald-faced assertion that everyone is never going to agree on?

If you find yourself making this statement, maybe you should just stop right there and rethink what you are about to say.

For his next project...

[Lord Aurora]

Do you think he could re-create my first date?

In GTA: Vice City?

How about the kennedy assacination

[SmallFurryCreature]

In unreal tournament. HEADSHOT!!!

Re:For his next project...

[Fex303]

So... Your first dates end with cops chasing you too, huh?

Re:For his next project...

[Achromatic1978]

"Bitch pressing charges? I get that all the time."

Re:For his next project...

[Loco3KGT]

did it involve a hooker and subsequently running her over to get your money back?

Anodyne link?

[Anonymous Coward]

From the WSJ article:
Unfortunately, Mr. Lastowka neglected to click an anodyne link at the bottom of the page marked "rules and regulations,"

Did anybody else not understand what an "anodyne link" is? As an adjective, anodyne means "capable of relieving pain".

Can somebody clue me in here as to what that could possibly mean?

dom

Re:Anodyne link?

[saltydogdesign]

I don't know what dictionary you're looking at. That's the noun definition. The adjective is "not likely to provoke dissent or offense; uncontentious or inoffensive, often deliberately so."

Just STOP already!

[Bob Cat - NYMPHS]

This was the single most painful event in the long Red Sox win drought. I was watching that day, and a simple fielding error by Bill Buckner, his failure to stop a ball hit between his legs, seemed to cause the Red Sox to lose their spirit, and go on to lose that game AND the next one to lose the Series.

It RUINED Buckner's life, although the rest of the team bore responsibility too, for not fighting back. Eventually Buckner had to move from Boston, because of abuse by fans, and then to Canada, to try to escape the taunts he heard every day.

But one day, it became too much for him, and suicide seemed to be his only option. On a street in downtown Toronto, he stepped in front of a bus.

It went through his legs.

Re:Just STOP already!

[saltydogdesign]

That's horseshit. I lived in Boston for nearly ten years, and Buckner was a frequent guest on tv and radio sports programs. Sox fans recognize he wasn't the only one responsible for that loss. Schiraldi and Stanley get the bulk of the blame (as they deserved) -- it's primarily the rest of the world that improperly place it on Buckner.

Moreover, Buckner didn't leave Boston because of abuse. He left because he was traded to the Angels. He wasn't even *from* Boston. And he moved to Idaho when he retired, not Ca

Re:Just STOP already!

[MrWa]

Maybe one day we will see a recreation Steve Bartman [thesmokinggun.com] ruining the World Series dreams of all Cubs fans.

Oh.

[Jacques Chester]

Well that was a spectacular waste of a few minutes of my life.

I'm glad that Slashdot is here to forward every lame video - now I don't need email.

He didn't even get it right

[mollusk]

At 314 seconds into the video, the audio says "...Kevin Mitchell at 3rd, Gary Carter at 2nd..." when the video clearly shows the runners at 1st and 2nd.

With such an obvious error as that, I guess we have a new definition of "precise".

Re:He didn't even get it right

[Tickenest]

No, he says, "Mitchell at 1st". The video's right.

well...

[illuminatedwax]

He wanted to do a recreation of the downfall of the 1969 Cubs, but couldn't figure out how to get a black cat into RBI Baseball.

As long as it's not the Red Sox

[ishmalius]

They have been boo-hooing and whining way too long. Get over it. You mistreated the Babe, thus you deserve it.

"Even non-baseball fans must concede"?

[imsabbel]

Well, i for my part didnt even feel the motivation to click on that link.
The description just sounded so... baseball-like. (yawn)

Re:"Even non-baseball fans must concede"?

[saltydogdesign]

Well, i for my part didnt even feel the motivation to click on that link.

But somehow you found the motivation to do something far more time-consuming: bitch about it.

I loved the way the video...

[Hamster Lover]

caught the reactions on the player's faces perfectly. :)

With the exception of Red Sox fans, I thought the video was very clever.

A (new?) idea?

[ksheka]

I've had this idea mulling in my head for a few months:

1. Take the soundtrack for an old sci-fi movie. Recreate the movie only on computer, with modern computer effects.

Either:

2. Release the video of the movie, with instructions that it should be played with the sound from the original film

or

2. Include with the video an application that will rip the sound from the original DVD, to create a new DVD.

Since you are technically not infringing on the copyright of the movie, you should get some interesting result

Re:Dirrect Link to Video...

[thepotoo]

You do realize that that was linked in the summary, yes?

Anyway, in case of slashdotting, here's a rapidshare downloadable (better than google video) mirror [rapidshare.de]

Re:Some people...

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"have WAAAYY too much time on their hand"

"I just figured I'd wander into the comments area and tell everybody that these people had too much time on their hands."

Re:Some people...

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

I love when people post anonymously to defend themselves. Not to mention the big enormous flaws in their argument.

Re:Let me be the first to ask...

[bladesjester]

Because he wanted to? Why do so many people write different versions of basically the same program on their own time?

Besides, it got him a job, didn't it?

Re:Let me be the first to ask...

[kniLnamiJ-neB]

Um, there were no NHL playoffs in 2005. The '04-'05 season was cancelled because of the lockout [wikipedia.org].

Re:Home page worthy?

[geminidomino]

Commander Taco, this is Echo 4. We have Soxfan-sign. Repeat, we have Soxfan-sign.