MLB 07: The Show Preview

Ten months ago, Sony's San Diego Studios released MLB 06: The Show, which was one of the best sports games of the year. Easily improving on the formula of SCE's baseball franchise, MLB 06 improved on a number of areas, including a new batting control system, a new rivalry mode and presented an extremely fun mini-game known as King of the Diamond. But Sony's not resting on a simple roster update for next year's title; instead, they're putting in a load of features that will make any baseball fan look forward to the return of the Boys of Summer.

Two of the new features that have been included in MLB 07's gameplay focus on how confident a pitcher feels during a game, as well as the interaction between him and his catcher. The Pitch Command System evaluates just how comfortable a hurler is with his compliment of fast balls, sliders and other pitches as he comes out of the bullpen. Depending on where they happen to be after warming up, they might feel a bit stronger with one pitch over another one. If they throw the ball that they're feeling good about in a game and have success with strikes or even strikeouts, their confidence in that pitch will grow and it will be much more effective during the game. However, this comes with a price, since the other kinds of pitches will decrease in effectiveness the more you come to rely on one throw over another. To this end, you'll need to make a decision to either change up your pitches or specialize with one or two.

Full article at IGN