Winning one million dollars can mean the world to someone. That someone could win it in the lottery, in a cereal box contest or, like Wade McGilberry, by playing MLB 2K10.

McGilberry is last year's winner of the MLB 2K10 Million Dollar Perfect Game Competition, which awarded him with one million dollars for being the first to pitch a perfect game in last year's game.

"I'm a pretty low key guy, I didn't really have a loud shout of joy," said McGilberry. "It was just like 'oh my gosh, I can't believe this happened.' It was a very unreal moment. The code appeared to enter online, and when I saw that, I knew I had to hurry and [enter the code] before someone else got to it."

In other words, he received a bank-load of money for being really damn good at playing a video game.

Surprisingly, 2K10 was the first game from the series McGilberry bought. Before 2K10, the last baseball game he played was from the All-Star Baseball series, which has been dead since 2005.

Once the contest was announced last year, the 24-year-old-soon-to-be millionaire made a quick decision that he was going to chase the dream. He downloaded the demo two weeks prior to the retail release to practice, and he would come home from work every night and hit the couch.

After playing six games once the title was released, McGilberry never took his perfect game past the fifth inning. It was always a line drive or one home run that crushed his chances. But when he got home from work and booted it up for game seven, that all changed.

It was the New York Mets versus the Atlanta Braves -- the Braves being McGilberry's favorite National League club. On the mound, and in his control, was the right-handed 77 overall pitcher Kenshin Kawakami.

McGilberry made it out of the fifth inning clinging onto his perfect game, and at that point he started thinking that the prize really could be his.

"When I got to the seventh inning, I was a little nervous. I just had to go through the lineup one more time," McGilberry said. "I really started thinking it could happen; I was just trying to take it one batter at a time."

During the game, McGilberry enjoyed three heart-stopping shots to the warning track. He also encountered two full counts, admitting those were the most pressure-filled situations.

"Just the stress of thinking 'I have got throw a strike' is one of those things where you got to hope nothing happens, and it works out," he said. I did not want to see a homer, not then."

After the final out, McGilberry rushed to his computer to input the code, and, well, the rest is history. Since the fateful day of his perfect game, he has not pitched one since, though he has attempted it on a few occasions.

Lincecum versus the Dodgers may be a good opening-day matchup for those wanting to win a million bucks in 2K11.

This year, with MLB 2K11 being released yesterday, McGilberry will just be picking it up for old time's sake because he is not eligible to win the contest this year. But the contest has brought back his passion for more than just sports gaming; he is now watching baseball again.

And the million dollar question for the million dollar man: What did he buy with the money?

"We paid off our house, and I bought my wife, Katy, a dog," he said. "[The money] is not something that really changed our lives much. I feel like we're the same people. Money affects people in different ways, but we try not to let it get to our heads."

The rest is sitting pretty in a savings account, but that doesn't mean McGilberry does not want to have some fun with the money. Since he was young, he has always wanted to own a Harley Davidson motorcycle. But Katy, being the concerned wife that she is, opted for a compromise.

"The dog's name is Harley, and she says it's the only Harley I'll ever get," McGilberry said. "I believe the words were 'You weren't getting a [Harley] then, you aren't getting one now.'"

Even with one million dollars, you don't always get what you want.