What better way to prepare for the first pitch, and the next 162 games of your favorite team (and hopefully more), than by stepping up to the plate in the latest edition of Sony’s critically acclaimed baseball game, MLB 10: The Show? For those of you returning from last season’s release, you are in for some new additions. If you are new to the series itself, then you are in for a Major League treat.

This is more than just a simple baseball simulator. With the upgraded “Road to the Show” mode, you can start out as an 18 year old prospect, playing for a Single A farm team and work towards that call-up that all aspiring baseball players hope and pray for. While that isn’t new, additions of two new interactive training modes, new settings, and new presentations are. Interactive training consists of a set of mini-games designed to improve a player’s fielding and pitching ability, adding to last year’s introduction of batting and base-running training. In Road to The Show you also have the new Game Watch and Game Completion options which allow you to set how much of the game you wish to view.

The catcher plays a bigger role in season modes, Road to The Show, and exhibition games. The catcher now gives a sequence of signs and you have the ability to change their indicator. Specifically for Road to The Show, this feature allows a catcher to call the game. This feature also gives a new level of control to the catcher where he has the responsibility to select pitches and position himself to block balls that are in the dirt or that are wild.

In addition, the Home Run Derby has been added this year. Fully implemented in the season modes and available as a stand-alone mode, Home Run Derby follows the MLB rules and flow. The MLB® All-Star Futures Game™ is also available within season modes in its correct timeframe (just before the Home Run Derby). Not only can your RTTS guy be called up to the majors, but if he’s good enough, he could get invited to both the HRD and the Futures Game.

Newly added is the Movie Maker menu within the Pause Menu. This gives you the ability to select up to ten replays to add to a single movie and do all the editing from this menu. You can now start recording your movie on a newly created timeline and then pause that movie, choosing different camera angles for your plays. Once finished, the video is saved to the hard drive of your PS3 and can be found under the Video section of the XMB. Think of it as ESPN for your XMB. You can also transfer these videos to an external source and then upload them to YouTube (or a video site of your choice) to share with friends (or rivals). You can also choose to save the entire highlight reel to your XMB as well.

Another new addition to The Show this year is user controlled pickoff moves. Want to surprise a base runner with a quick move, or lull him to sleep? The new pickoff mechanism allows you to choose from a quick, casual, or deceptive pick-off style. In exhibition, season, and Road to The Show modes, you have the ability to decide which move you want to make as a pitcher. As a base runner in Road to The Show you now have to pick up on the pitcher’s move or get thrown out leaning!

New this year as well is the pitcher warm up mode, which gives you the ability to try out each of the new pitcher’s pitches. This can come-in-handy late in a game when you’re not sure how much command your guy will have of his curve ball, slider, change-up, or fast ball. This could make the difference between a Save and a Loss.

Sports video games have been around for many years, and seem to be recycled every year without bringing much, if anything, new to the plate. Sony has broken away from that stereotype and refreshed The Show with enough new additions to actually make it feel like a brand new game. The graphics are top-notch, the stadiums make you feel like you’re actually there, and foul balls straight back toward the screen will make you flinch.

Play Ball!

10

Pros

+ “Road to the Show” updated & improved

+ Outstanding graphics

+ Outstanding realism in player movements

+ Attention to minute details such as ball rotation with each pitch

Cons

– PS2 version allows for actual photo capture using the EyeToy but no PSEye support for the PS3.

* MLB 10: The Show was developed by SCE San Diego. It was published by Sony Computer Entertainment America and is available on the PlayStation 3.