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I have been looking forward to the 4th of March for an unhealthy amount of time. It’s a holiday for me. A day in which the other 364 will be judged against. As opposed to some holidays with religious, political, or romantic connotations, March 4th is much deeper.

It’s the day I jack my wallet off until it ejaculates money* all over the cash register at my local electronics store.

It’s the day the baseball video games all street. My volley of greasy green fiscal semen will attack on three fronts, a tri-pronged attack that will result in myself walking with an ear-to-ear grin from the store with little discs for my 360, PSP, and PS3.

MLB The Show 2008 (PS3)

I am not yet a fan of the PS3. I cannot believe that people are buying into the machine over the incredibly superior XBOX 360, especially by folks whose main impulse is simply to go against Microsoft at all costs. Face it: Microsoft has done a fabulous job with the 360. Whether they succeeded despite themselves or if they just happen to have married two paradigms in a kismet laden situation doesn’t matter.

That said, MLB The Show is a Sony exclusive and will most likely be the best baseball game of 2008. Last year’s edition was and all signs indicate that this one will be taking everything up a notch.

So I guess it means I’ll be spending a good amount of time with the horrible Dual Shock controller. Fuck that, I’ll be loving every minute of it.

Buy it from CHUD!

MLB The Show 2008 (PSP)

Now, though I harbor possibly unfair disdain for the PS3, the PSP is my little plastic fuckbuddy. I cannot tell you how incensed I get when this little charmer gets dissed by people, whether because of the UMD media fiasco or just too much hard-on for the DS (which I do love, don’t get me wrong). The PSP is a fantastic little device.

MLB The Show was very good for the PSP last year as well, though human eyes are not built to see a baseball a pixel wide and hope to be able to catch and hit the thing.

I have no doubts there’ll be sacrifices aplenty in the transition from PS3 to PSP in the quality of these games but when you’re either on the train or toilet, there are worse things to do.

Buy it from CHUD!

MLB 2K8 (360)

Ah, yes…

This is by far the game I played the most of last year. It’s not even close. Even though there were serious issues with the game, it was still a lot of fun to play and the load times were super fast and there was a ton of customization. The online element was lame as hell, but I hope the 2k Sports folks learned their lesson there.

I think it’s good to mix it up with baseball games and I’m sad that All-Star baseball died and that they never fostered that NCAA franchise enough. I can’t get enough of these babies and have a feeling that there will be things lacking in Sony’s game that are made up for here.

One thing that sucks. NONE of these games offer Create a Franchise, Create a Stadium, and other really fun detailed customization options that really make a difference. It ain’t all about graphical tweaks, people.

Buy it from CHUD!

Even after the baseball games, there are three other fantastic things arriving in stores. Click the images to buy them if you’re so inclined.

For example, one of the best films of last year.

Sidney Lumet’s brilliant courtroom classic. Amazingly now 50 years old.

And the latest from one of my favorite living comedians, Todd Barry. Medium Energy is one of the best comedy CD’s in the past decade. You really ought to grab it. I have no idea what to expect from his new one other than brilliance.

* Paraphrasing the wondrous and lovely Lydia.