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Who says you have to grow up? Here at SI.com's Game Room, our staffers review the latest sports video game titles to hit the market and welcome your feedback.
  
2/08/2007 01:17:00 PM

Cover Boy Jered Weaver

Jered Weaver
Jered Weaver
Photo by EA Sports
Game Room's Jacob Luft caught up with Angels pitcher and MVP 07 cover boy Jered Weaver for a quick Q&A on his love for video games and his rapid ascent to stardom in the major leagues. Weaver went 11-2 with a 2.56 ERA as a rookie last season. In 2004, he was named the Baseball America College Player of the Year after going 15-1 for Long Beach State. Come back Monday for our review of MVP 07 NCAA Baseball, which was released this week for the PS2.

Game Room: How did you end up on the cover for MVP 07 NCAA Baseball?

Jered Weaver: I got approached about it in Oakland. They pulled me into a room and told me they were thinking about using me for the cover of the game. Obviously I wasn't going to pass up a chance like that. It was an honor to even be considered for it.

GR: Did you have any input into the development of the game itself?

JW: No, I just got a chance to play it afterward.

GR: What was your initial reaction to the game?

JW: I think it's fantastic. It's the most realistic baseball game that I've played and I've played all the MVP games ever since they have been coming out. Every year they think of something new to put in there to make it more challenging. This year they came out with the Rock and Fire Pitching technique [Editor's note: You begin your delivery and throw pitches using the right analog stick instead of simply pushing the button] which really puts the player into the mindset of going through it from a pitcher's standpoint.

GR: Are you in the game, as an unlockable player or in a throwback mode?

JW: No I'm not in this game but you can easily create yourself in the game. It wouldn't be too hard to create myself.

GR: What kind of talent attributes would you assign yourself?

JW: I'd be 99s across the board, obviously.

GR: Are you avid video game player?

JW: Yeah, I love video games. If I'm not doing anything, I'm playing video games or playing golf.

GR: What games are you into right now?

JW: I've been playing Gears of War [on the XBOX 360] a lot.

GR: Have you finished the game yet?

JW: No, not yet. I haven't really had time yet. I've been moving so I've only played it for about three or four days straight.

GR: Are you playing on the "Insane" difficulty setting?

JW: No, I'm going to do it on normal first and then go back and do it on hardcore and insane.

GR: What are your favorite games of all time?

JW: All of the Tiger Woods games. Those are my favorites. Halo is definitely a good one.

GR: Do you ever game with any of your teammates on the Angels?

JW: Not really. I didn't have enough time with the team last year to find out who plays and who doesn't. I know [catcher] Mike Napoli plays a little bit but he's a Playstation guy.

GR: Do the Angels have any video games in the clubhouse?

JW: No, not on in our clubhouse.

GR: Who do you usually game with?

JW: Just my buddies back home. Eventually when I get all moved in and get the online setup done, I'll do that.

GR: Tigers pitcher Joel Zumaya recently hurt his pitching arm because he played too much Guitar Hero II. Have you played that game or, knowing he got hurt, would you ever play that game?

JW: No, I don't play with guitars on game consoles. I like sports games.

GR: Which systems did you play growing up?

JW: I went from Nintendo to Super Nintendo to Genesis to N64 to XBOX.

GR: Incredibly, you won your first nine starts in the major leagues last season as a rookie. Is it fair to say you "went Nintendo" on the league?

JW: Not to lie but it kind of did feel like I was in a video game. You don't think it's real. You grow up playing these guys in video games and all of a sudden in real life you're playing against them, so I did picture it like it was a video game and I did take that approach. It worked out for me.

GR: You dominated in college and in the minor leagues. What did you learn during the season about what works in the majors and what doesn't?

JW: Nothing really changed from the minor leagues or anything up to the big leagues. It's just a matter of going after hitters. Obviously, now you've gotta stay down in the strike zone. If you get the ball up they will do damage. The other big difference is that all nine guys in the lineup can hurt you, so you have to keep your focus from the first pitch to last pitch. If you make one bad pitch, that could be a game-ending mistake.

GR: What did you learn from the experience your older brother, Jeff, went through as he got cut by the Angels and ended up as a World Series hero with the Cardinals?

JW: You never know what can happen you switch leagues or switch teams. If you get a little bit of confidence, you never know what that can do for a person. He got picked up by St. Louis and that gave him confidence. His story turned out be a little bit better than mine toward the end of the season.

GR: Your brother and you look so much alike. Was it easy to envision yourself being out on the mound in the World Series one day?

JW: It's always your childhood dream to pitch in a World Series and it's just a matter of being patient and being on the right team to do it myself, and I think that being on the Angels gives me a chance of doing that.

GR: You were part of an amazing rookie class last season. What was it like to be in an American League rookie race with guys like Detroit's Justin Verlander, Boston's Jonathan Papelbon and Minnesota's Francisco Liriano?

JW: It was a really good freshman class and it was fun just to be mentioned in a group of guys like that. I mean, they're throwing 100 mph and a guy like me is throwing 90-93. It was just nice to get started on the right foot like that.
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Posted: 11:39 AM, February 10, 2007   by Anonymous
great game but who cares about college baseball. mlb in one of many selfish cash grabs (think extra innings only on satellite) sold off the liscenec to the highest bidder robbing its fans of real competeion for adecent video game. the last Ea MLB game was amazing and im sure ncca is good but who wants to play a gem with college teams and fictional players. this is a joke screw money hungry major leage baseball and theri total disregard for the wishes of thier fans
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