MLB 2K12 million-dollar video game competition

If you’re an awesome baseball video game player, you might end up being $1 million richer in just a few months.

For the past two years, 2K Sports has given away a pretty impressive prize to the game that it deemed was the best virtual baseballer in the country – a cool $1 million.

However, while it drummed up a lot of excitement among the loyal fan base, and got some attention in the gaming media, for a million-dollar competition it still seemed kind of low-key. That will change in a big way this time around.

In previous editions of the contest, players had to not only score a perfect game but also had to videotape themselves doing so, and submit the video to 2K Sports to be verified. That terribly restrictive requirement has been lifted.

Now, if anyone playing MLB 2K12 has a perfect record, they’ll automatically be enrolled into the pool of potential finalists. Just getting a perfect game isn’t enough, though. Gamers will be scored based on the teams they used, and the top eight scoring players will win a trip to New York City.

In the Big Apple, they will then compete in a live tournament that will eventually whittle down to a solitary winner. This will all be filmed and packaged into a two-day TV event on SpikeTV.

So the best baseball gamers in the country won’t just receive accolades among the hardcore MLB video game crowd. They’ll be starring in a mini reality show. That is what you call raising the stakes.