Spring training is less than two months away. Can you believe it? Seems like the World Series ended only a couple days ago.
With the smell of pine tar lingering on the horizon, Sony has announced their MLB franchise will return to Playstation 3 next spring with a host of new on and offline features.
MLB 09 The Show continues Sony’s tradition of allowing a user-created player to play both offense and defense in a season environment. New features for the Show in 09 include training mini-games for hitting and fielding, a new steal/ lead-off system, updated presentations and coach interactions.
Franchise mode in 09 expands as well with the addition of a 40-man roster, salary arbitration, waiver transactions and September call-ups. Players looking to take the game online will find new leagues with full drafts and flex-scheduling so games can optionally be played ahead of their scheduled date.
Sony is aiming to improve presentation and aesthetics in 09 with realistic wear and tear on field, dusk to night lighting transitions, crowd rivalries, team mascots with signature animations, crowd clothing that changes with the weather, crowds that reach for foul balls and homers, and stadium Jumbotron animations. The total animation cound is more than 700 new gameplay animations, more than 400 new presentation animations and more than 150 personalized pitcher and batter animations.
Customization will play a role in stadium ambiance with the My MLB Music feature. You’ll be able to insert your own music and record your own voice to announce players as they walk into the batter’s box.
Fielding AI and animations have been improved so players will take different routes to get to a ball. “Hotshot” plays will result in a fielder dropping or misplaying a ball that is “too hot to handle.” Bare-handed flips and grabs have been expanded to be more true-to-life.
Rounding out the new features is a fifth difficulty setting for hardcore players, Legend Mode, and the ability to create custom rosters and player attributes and share them with friends.
MLB 09 The Show for PS3, PS2 and PSP will be available around Spring Training. Check out the first high-res screenshots below.
