Backyard Baseball (1997 video game)
The original backyard baseball game that started it all, featuring 30 diverse kid characters and classic cartoonish power-ups.
Last updated
Humongous Entertainment both created and put out the baseball video game titled Backyard Baseball.[1] The Backyard Sports franchise, initially called the Junior Sports series, had this as its first release.[1]
Making and release
Because the original source code was lost, Mega Cat Studios hacked a CD-ROM copy of the game to create the remaster.[2][3] Nick Mirkovich came up with the idea for the game after being inspired by children's baseball movies such as The Sandlot.[4][5] October 10, 1997, was the date the original game went on sale.[5] On October 10, 2024, a remaster called Backyard Baseball '97 was made available for Windows through Steam.[6][7]
Mega Cat Studios handled the development of the remaster, and Playground Productions handled its publication.[7]
What the cited sources add
Kram noted that the same 30 characters appeared in each Backyard game to maintain a friendly neighborhood vibe.[5] Delayo also noted that the game's 50-50 gender split between 15 male and 15 female players is rare in sports media.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Backyard Baseball (1997 video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Junior Sports", Humongous Entertainment (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Silberling, "Backyard Baseball '97 is back, with a re-release coming soon on Steam", TechCrunch, 2024-09-25. facts only, no text reused. techcrunch.com
- Frech, "Backyard Baseball '97 Reveals Console Launch Date", ComicBook.com, 2025-06-12. facts only, no text reused. comicbook.com
- Wikipedia, "Backyard Baseball (1997 video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kram, "How 'Backyard Baseball' Became a Cult Classic", The Ringer, 2017-10-10; "The First-Ever CD-ROM Sports Games Designed for Kids, Debuts at E3", Humongous Entertainment, June 10, 1997 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Kram, "How 'Backyard Baseball' Became a Cult Classic", The Ringer, 2017-10-10. facts only, no text reused. theringer.com
- Wikipedia, "Backyard Baseball (1997 video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silberling, "Backyard Baseball '97 is back, with a re-release coming soon on Steam", TechCrunch, 2024-09-25; Straw, "Original Backyard Baseball Released On Mobile For First Time", Insider Gaming, 2025-03-27; Frech, "Backyard Baseball '97 Reveals Console Launch Date", ComicBook.com, 2025-06-12 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Backyard Baseball (1997 video game)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Silberling, "Backyard Baseball '97 is back, with a re-release coming soon on Steam", TechCrunch, 2024-09-25; Romano, "Backyard Baseball '97 announced for PC", Gematsu, 2024-09-25; Franzese, "You can thank ROM hackers for Backyard Baseball's comeback", Digital Trends, 2024-10-10 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Delayo, "The Inclusive Legacy of Backyard Baseball", The Hardball Times, May 10, 2019. facts only, no text reused. tht.fangraphs.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Backyard Baseball (1997 video game) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Humongous Entertainment games
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Backyard Baseball (1997 video game) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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