When Electronic Arts (EA) snagged exclusive rights to all things NFL, Take 2 Games, the other sports games powerhouse, countered by securing an MLB exclusivity deal that left EA with only the college baseball scene to virtualize this year. Hence, MVP 06 NCAA Baseball offers low-rent baseball from a high-rent publisher, which is odd, but it works.

Typical of EA Sports games, MVP 06 is chock-full of authentic university teams and stadiums, gameplay modes running the gambit from quick mini games to full on Dynasty mode, two player co-op and a scant but effective online multiplayer component, all drenched in an ESPN presentation with Mike Patrick's exuberant play by play and former Stanford All-American Kyle Peterson doing color. There's even a quasi-live ESPN SportsCenter radio upstream to your PS2 (presuming it's connected). Too, there's create-a-player, create-a-ballpark... probably a kitchen sink in there if you looked hard enough.

Also in the way of the mighty EA, there are just enough gameplay improvements to entice you into tossing last year's MVP, which seemed so complete a mere year ago.

We're talking "Load and Fire" hitting that that uses the analog thumbstick to shift body weight and control your swing. Precision Throwing, also analog, that lets you pick and throw to the bases with realistic fluidity (optionally, you can keep it old school with buttons only).

Best of all, MVP 06 retails for in the $30 range, so even if you're not that interested in the college scene - or aluminum bats, for that matter - this is top notch baseball at generic, bargain bin, one-year-life-span pricing.