World Stadium

World Stadium (complete Japanese title: Pro Yakyū World Stadium プロ野球ワールドスタジアム, lit. Puro Yakyū Wārudo Sutajiamu), is a arcade game that was released by Namco in 1988 only in Japan. It runs on Namco's System 1 hardware, and was inspired by the company's 1986 Famicom game Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium (along with its immediate sequel, Pro Yakyuu Family Stadium '87); the former was also released in the United States under the name of R.B.I. Baseball, and even got an arcade release on Nintendo's Vs. System hardware in 1987, with the name Vs. Atari R.B.I. Baseball.

At the start of the game, players must select one of twelve different teams in the "Urban League" (the Giants, Cars, Drasans, Sparrows, Wheels and Titans) and the "Country League" (the Lionels, Bravos, Hornets, Fires, Orients, and Buckaroos); they must then select one of 3 different stadiums (Kōrakuen, Kōshien, and Mejā) for the game's match to take place in, before selecting one of their chosen team's five pitchers (the rear views of whom will be displayed on the screen, as you push the joystick up and down to highlight them). Both of your chosen teams' full 9-player lineups will then be displayed on the screen, before all eighteen players run out and take their positions on the field of the chosen stadium.

This is the first game in the World Stadium series. It was followed by ten sequels: World Stadium '89 (1989), World Stadium '90 (1990), Super World Stadium (S2 1991), Super World Stadium '92 (1992), Super World Stadium '92 Gekitouban (1992), Super World Stadium '93 (1993), Super World Stadium '95 (NB-1 1995), Super World Stadium '96 (1996), Super World Stadium '97 (1997), and Super World Stadium '99 (S12 1999). Kyūkai Dōchūki (1990) and Great Sluggers (1993) also seem to have similar gameplay to this series - that former title also features characters from Namco's first sixteen-bit game.