MLB 09: The Show is a baseball simulation video game produced by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable systems.[1] It belongs to the longest-running officially licensed Major League Baseball game series on the PlayStation systems. MLB 09: The Show is the fourth edition of the MLB: The Show series.[1]
The game is a baseball simulation in which, depending on the gameplay mode, the player controls one or all of the players on a Major League Baseball team or some select Minor League Baseball teams. Depending on the gameplay mode, the player may control a team for a single game, season, or franchise, and can also create a player and control his career.
New and updated features
MLB 09: The Show improved and added many features to the previous 08 edition.[3] The franchise and career modes were improved with Road to the Show 3.0, which updated popular mode with an all-new steal and lead-off system, and more interaction with the player's coaches; Franchise 2.0 added several new features to its career mode including salary arbitration, waiver transactions, September call-ups, and the 40-man roster. Also receiving an update was the game's online league play, including flex scheduling to allow players to play out-of-order games, and Roster Vault option to allow gamers can create their own custom rosters and upload them online for other gamers to use. The game also allowed gamers to store their favorite songs to their PlayStation 3 and assign them to be played at various points in the game, including a batter's walk-up animation. Players may also create custom taunts.[3]
Among the in-game improvements included "Hotshot Fielding", which allowed more dynamic fielder reactions and animations, as well as improved bare-handed flips, "Progressive Batting Performance", in which player abilities improve or regress depending on how the gamer plays. With "Multi-Branch Fielding", players could now take full control of fielders and break out of any animation in the process, while "Adaptive Pitching Intelligence" (API) allowed catchers to call the game based on individual strengths and weaknesses of each pitcher and analyze tendencies of batters. The game also accurately graphically reflected the pitch being thrown on the pitcher's hand, and included 17 different pitch types including five fastball variations (four-seamer, two-seamer, cutter, splitter, sinker), five breaking pitches (10-4 curve, 12-6 curve, slider, slurve, screwball), four change-ups (straight, circle change-up, palmball, forkball), and three specialty pitches (knuckle, knuckle-curve, and the gyro). The "Pitch Command System" (PCS) affected a pitchers' abilities to throw a specific pitch change depending on how often the pitcher throws it. Umpire personalities have been tweaked further as well.[3]
The game also featured pitch analysis, a breakdown of all the pitches thrown during the current game being played, which allowed gamers to be able to sort a pitcher by LHB or RHB, pitch type and result. This feature is also available for batters, and the batter analysis allowed for a breakdown of how a batter had performed based on LHP or RHP, Pitch Type, and result. SportsConnect Online User Tracking (SCOUT) allowed gamers to set their game preferences, store them on the server, and then allowed the system to look for a Quick Match with an opponent that fits their criteria.[3]
The game also featured live MLB updates in-game, as well as SportsConnect Headline News.
The game is a baseball simulation in which, depending on the gameplay mode, the player controls one or all of the players on a Major League Baseball team or some select Minor League Baseball teams. Depending on the gameplay mode, the player may control a team for a single game, season, or franchise, and can also create a player and control his career.
New and updated features
MLB 09: The Show improved and added many features to the previous 08 edition.[3] The franchise and career modes were improved with Road to the Show 3.0, which updated popular mode with an all-new steal and lead-off system, and more interaction with the player's coaches; Franchise 2.0 added several new features to its career mode including salary arbitration, waiver transactions, September call-ups, and the 40-man roster. Also receiving an update was the game's online league play, including flex scheduling to allow players to play out-of-order games, and Roster Vault option to allow gamers can create their own custom rosters and upload them online for other gamers to use. The game also allowed gamers to store their favorite songs to their PlayStation 3 and assign them to be played at various points in the game, including a batter's walk-up animation. Players may also create custom taunts.[3]
Among the in-game improvements included "Hotshot Fielding", which allowed more dynamic fielder reactions and animations, as well as improved bare-handed flips, "Progressive Batting Performance", in which player abilities improve or regress depending on how the gamer plays. With "Multi-Branch Fielding", players could now take full control of fielders and break out of any animation in the process, while "Adaptive Pitching Intelligence" (API) allowed catchers to call the game based on individual strengths and weaknesses of each pitcher and analyze tendencies of batters. The game also accurately graphically reflected the pitch being thrown on the pitcher's hand, and included 17 different pitch types including five fastball variations (four-seamer, two-seamer, cutter, splitter, sinker), five breaking pitches (10-4 curve, 12-6 curve, slider, slurve, screwball), four change-ups (straight, circle change-up, palmball, forkball), and three specialty pitches (knuckle, knuckle-curve, and the gyro). The "Pitch Command System" (PCS) affected a pitchers' abilities to throw a specific pitch change depending on how often the pitcher throws it. Umpire personalities have been tweaked further as well.[3]
The game also featured pitch analysis, a breakdown of all the pitches thrown during the current game being played, which allowed gamers to be able to sort a pitcher by LHB or RHB, pitch type and result. This feature is also available for batters, and the batter analysis allowed for a breakdown of how a batter had performed based on LHP or RHP, Pitch Type, and result. SportsConnect Online User Tracking (SCOUT) allowed gamers to set their game preferences, store them on the server, and then allowed the system to look for a Quick Match with an opponent that fits their criteria.[3]
The game also featured live MLB updates in-game, as well as SportsConnect Headline News.
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