I pose a simple question to you today: Do you want one million dollars?I know I sure do — who doesn’t?There are various ways you could go about doing this. You could win the lottery, rob a bank, spend 39 days surviving on an island or even put up with Meredith Vieira asking you questions for 30 minutes.But what if I told you there was a way for you to become a millionaire with your rear end firmly planted on the couch? Well, my friend, I hope you’re a fan of virtual baseball, because 2K Sports is giving you this golden opportunity.Recently 2K Sports, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, issued a million-dollar challenge involving its upcoming video game, “MLB 2K10.” The rules are simple: Be the first to pitch a perfect game, and become a millionaire.Seems too easy, right?For those unfamiliar with the sport of baseball, a perfect game involves the pitcher not allowing a base to anyone who steps up to the plate, either by striking them out or by receiving help from his fielders. No hits, no walks and no errors — 27 men up, 27 men down.As a large skeptic, I figured there was some big catch to make this challenge undoable, and 2K Sports was using this as some lame marketing ploy to sell its new game.But my skepticism just got knocked out of the park after reading the press release and official rules of the contest.”Our revamped pitching mechanic gives you more feel and control than ever before,” boasts 2K Sports’ Web site, “So we’re issuing a little challenge. Be the first to pitch a perfect game in Major League Baseball 2K10 … and you can win $1,000,000.”The company claims it’s taken its game “to the next level” and is putting its money where its mouth is.The only real catch I could find in the contest is you must complete the challenge on either the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 (sorry Wii owners) and you have from the game’s release date, next Tuesday, March 2, until 11:59 P.M. on May 1. The game must be played on “All-Star” difficulty setting and must either be recorded with a video camera or recording device with the footage sent to 2K Sports.Most companies would find some loophole to not pay the winner their earnings, 2K Sports expects to pay the full million sometime in that two-month span.”I would be shocked if someone doesn’t get it,” Chris Snyder, 2K Sports’ director of marketing, told video game blog Kotaku. “It’s very doable. It’s been budgeted for.”With lackluster baseball games in the past, 2K Sports knew it had to do something to get the franchise back on track. And this is one hell of a marketing strategy 2K is trying out.Coming from someone who loves video games, but isn’t too keen on baseball, I’m actually showing some interest in purchasing the game. The recent success of LSU baseball has me starting to show more interest in the sport. And with no proper college baseball video game, “MLB 2K10” might actually win me over.But in all honesty, I probably won’t purchase the game. Unfortunately wouldn’t have time to play it because of all the other great games coming out — plus my other time-killer known as school. Let alone get ridiculously good at the game to beat veterans of the “MLB 2K” series for that million-dollar prize.But who’s to say others won’t take that leap and make “MLB 2K10” their first baseball video-game purchase?The company will definitely see a rise in sales because of this challenge, and one of those sales will make someone’s bank account increase by six zeroes. But I can’t say that it will be mine.But hey, with all this clicker nonsense in the classroom, I’d be a shoe-in to win if I ever found myself sitting across Meredith on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” Right?
Adam Arinder is a 20-year-old communication studies major from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_aarinder.—-Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]