PSP Headed to The Show

December 13th, 2006, 02:24 Posted By: wraggster

via IGN

The only officially licensed first-party Major League Baseball game is returning in spring 2007. Today, Sony announced MLB 07 The Show for PS2, PS3 and PSP. MLB 07 offers a number of new features for all three systems to make it the most robust baseball game ever offered by Sony.

"In 2006, the MLB franchise was the best-selling baseball videogame on the market across all gaming platforms, and dominated the PlayStation platforms. This year,
MLB 07 The Show looks to continue its reign as the most valuable player in the category by delivering unsurpassed realism," said Scott Rohde, director, sports product development, SCEA. "We are committed to continually looking for ways to add new and improved gameplay features in order to provide fans with the closest experience to actually playing in the Big Leagues."

Once again, gamers can create a baseball player from scratch and work their way up to the Bigs. This year, a new wrinkle has been added with Road to the Show, allowing gamers to experience the game from the perspective of their created player. The game fast-forwards to a created player's at bats and defensive plays which involve your created superstar. Just like a real MLB star, it's all about you, baby!

Pitching has been given the greatest focus with next year's installment of MLB. Three new additions should make for a challenging (and hopefully rewarding) experience on the mound.

The new Pitch Command System measures the "pitch comfort" for each hurler. If a pitcher is comfortable with the heater, they will have an easier time getting strikes. But if they are struggling with their curveball, it will be difficult to avoid leaving a few hanging over the plate. Players can choose to either work out the kinks on the mound or focus on their comfort pitches. However, if you neglect working on your weaker pitches, they only get worse. And if you are only throwing the heater, sooner or later the hitters will catch on and smoke a few out of the park.

Adaptive Pitching Intelligence gives catchers control of the game. The man behind the plate calls pitches based on a pitcher's strength and the game situation. The pitcher has the right to shake them off, but it's never a good idea to disregard your catcher too often.

Lastly, MLB 07 adds umpire personalities. Each ump has their own idea of the strike zone, along with some unique animations and tendencies. Just like real baseball players, it's up to you, both as pitcher and hitter, to learn the strike zone of each ump and compensate. There's no word yet on whether or not any ump calls a "true" strike zone, but if Sony wants to keep it realistic, none of them will.

Online has also seen some improvements. This year, online leagues have been added (yes, even for PSP!), allowing 6-30 players to enjoy a full season of competitive baseball. Sadly, there are no cross-platform leagues available, so pick a console and stick with it for the season.

Baseball fans can stay in the loop on PS2 and PS3 with MLB 07's Online News Service featuring news feeds from all 30 teams, plus an overall MLB feed. Updated several times an hour, the News Service keeps you from missing out on breaking news. and provides live MLB Ticker for up-to-the-minute scores.

PS3 owners can exclusively tags themselves as being "Always Online." This allows for instant messaging, buddy invites and more. The MLB Ticker, normally only available in online games, will also appear when playing offline games.

Last year's highly-touted features return as well. Playmaker fielding, user-controlled slides and "progressive commentary" make a comeback for '07. We didn't call this "the most robust Sony baseball gave ever" for nothin'!

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