Baseball is a sports game that Nintendo released for the Famicom in Japan on 7 December 1983, about five months after the console launched; it was the Famicom's first baseball game. Shigeru Miyamoto, who wanted a baseball game for the Famicom, was in charge of its character and game design. Players pick from six teams named only by the initials of real clubs: Central League teams in Japan and Major League teams in the West. A game still tied after nine innings ends in a draw.
Baseball was one of the NES launch titles in North America on 18 October 1985, and real Major League players demonstrated it at the 1985 test launch in Manhattan. The Famicom version sold 2.35 million copies in Japan, and the Famicom and NES versions 3.2 million worldwide.
Its influence reached beyond Nintendo: Namco's Pro Baseball: Family Stadium (1986), which became the R.B.I. Baseball series, was significantly inspired by it.123
Names and releases
| Region | Title on the box | Platform | Date | Publisher | Src |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NA | Vs. BaseballJapan May 1984; Europe 1986 | Arcade | April 1984 | Nintendo | 2 |
| NA | BaseballNES launch title | NES | Oct 18, 1985 | Nintendo | 2 |
| JP | ベースボールBēsubōruFamicom | NES | Dec 7, 1983 | Nintendo | 1 |
| JP | ベースボールBēsubōru | Famicom Disk System | Feb 21, 1986 | Nintendo | 1 |
| EU | Baseball | NES | Sep 1, 1986 | Nintendo | 2 |
| JP | ベースボールBēsubōruOne of the Game Boy's launch titles; North America 1 August 1989, Europe 28 September 1990 | Game Boy | Apr 21, 1989 | Nintendo | 2 |
| WW | Arcade Archives VS. BaseballArcade version | Switch | Jun 19, 2020 | Hamster | 2 |
Also known as: ベースボール JP1Bēsubōru JP1Vs. Baseball WW2
Box art by region
NA Baseball 
EU Baseball 
JP ベースボール
Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.
Version differences
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ContentFamicom (JP)NES
The six teams carry the initials of Central League clubs in Japan and of Major League clubs on the NES; neither version uses official team names, and the uniform colors differ.3
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TextFamicom (JP)NES
The Famicom version shows speeds in km/h and the inning in Japanese, while the NES shows mph and 'IN.TOP'/'IN.BOT'.3
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TextFamicom (JP)NES (NA)
The ball count is shown in strikes-balls-outs order in Japan and balls-strikes-outs order in the US version.1
Where to play legally today
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Nintendo Switch Online Subscription
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Arcade Archives Purchase
Arcade Archives VS. BASEBALL (Nintendo Switch)
Arcade version (Japanese ROM)
Checked: 2026-10-135nintendo.com
Reception
The Famicom version sold 2.35 million copies in Japan, and the Famicom and NES versions 3.2 million worldwide. According to Game Machine, VS. Baseball was Japan's most successful table arcade cabinet in June and July 1984, and it topped US conversion kit charts for several months. Later reviews were cooler: IGN gave it 5.5/10 in 2007 and GameSpot 4.2/10 in 2006.2
In lists
Sources
Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13
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