"Tuned Into Pop Culture" guest contributor Nick Carrabine is a News-Herald staff writer.










Contrary to most guys in their early to mid-20s, I have lost almost all interest in playing video games.

Back in high school, I was fond of spending an hour or two a day playing Madden, NBA Live, or Grand Theft Auto. Once I hit college, I for some reason just lost interest.

So naturally, I spent $450 on a Playstation 3 eight months after graduating college.

I justified this notion by telling myself it had a built-in Wi-Fi and a built-in blu-ray DVD player (which at the time, were $300 plus dollars on their own.)

I figured I’d start buying blu-ray DVDs to add to my already stellar standard DVD collection and start experiencing Hollywood in High Definition and also get a little game time in here and there.

So naturally, I’ve yet to purchase one blu-ray DVD in the 15 months of which I’ve had a PS3. In that time span, I’ve probably purchased 25 standard DVDs.

I did, however, receive six “free” blu-ray DVDs with my purchase of the PS3.

Naturally, I have not unwrapped the plastic surrounding one of those DVDs.

Waste of money? Debatable.

Both this year and last, I have purchased the newest editions of MLB The Show, which is for playstation consoles only.

This game makes me feel like a child again.

The graphics on an HDTV are jaw-dropping. These guys look way better than I do, or anyone else I know for that matter.

The ballparks are as real as it gets, the three man announcing team is fluent and barely repetitive.

The game isn’t a walk in the park either, which is nice. Back in my day, they made these sports games way too easy on the rookie and veteran levels. Now, you have to work for the victory, you have to work to get the opponents pitch count up and pitching can be adventurous too if you aren’t careful.

The Show also features each major league team’s entire farm system, it allows for banking, marketing and promoting different aspects of your franchise, purchasing different items to make your ballpark or team more successful, etc.

Of course what MLB The Show is known for is its Road to the Show feature, which allows you to create a player and develop that player from scratch. The idea is to mold your player into a major-leaguer after starting out in spring training and working your way through the minors.

There is also many online features allowing you to download current rosters once a week and even play in online leagues. (I’m not that big of a nerd...yet).

Other unique features include implementing your own music to play during various parts of the game, including batter and pitcher introductions and recording and implementing your own fan chants or taunts during the games.

Obviously, gaming has come a long way since the last time I was interested in sitting in front of a TV with a controller in my hand for 90 minutes.

Now all I have to do is buy a few blu-rays to fully enjoy the PS3 experience.