MLB 10 The Show is also building upon an already stellar reputation for immersion and unparalleled delivery of the baseball experience.  With several new key features and enhancements to the critically acclaimed title, MLB 10 The Show is poised to continue the franchise's reign as the premier MLB licensed game on any platform.

The long awaited Home Run Derby leads the deep features list in MLB 10 The Show for the PS3.  Fully implemented in the season modes and available as a stand alone feature, Home Run Derby follows the MLB rules and flow.  The MLB Futures Game will also be available within season modes in its correct time frame (just before the HR Derby), as well as fully functional online leagues.  The new online season leagues will save and display MLB player stats, track player energy, allow for trades/injuries, and offer 40-man roster functionality.

Additional new features for the PS3 game include "Catcher Mode," the ability to call the game as the catcher, select pitches, and be the ultimate field general, just like Joe Mauer.  MLB 10 The Show will also offer daytime transitional lighting, user controlled pick-offs, a newly added "Movie Maker" menu giving the user the ability to select multiple replays to add to and edit a single movie, and 11 new stadiums.  Five new Minor League stadiums will be introduced, as well as a selection of classic parks available on the PS3 system for the first time including Forbes Field, Crosley Field, The Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Sportsman Park, and Griffith Stadium.

The popular "Road to The Show" mode returns with version 4.0 featuring the addition of two new interactive training modes, new settings, and new presentations.  Interactive training will consist 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.  "Franchise Mode" also returns to the game, including the 40-man roster, salary arbitration, waiver transactions and September call-ups.  

Road to the Show Enhancements

This year’s PS3 Create Player system has received some new accessory additions, giving you even more options to customize. You can now select a variety of color settings to nearly every part of your player’s gear. Among many other options, you can customize three areas of your glove with different colors, set both the barrel and handle colors of your bat, and customize your shoe colors. We’ve also added a field to the General tab that will allow you to determine whether or not your player was born in the U.S. This will determine which roster you would appear on if your player were to be selected for the All-Star Futures Game.

After finishing up your player’s look and deciding whether to enter the draft or select your team, you’ll notice on entry of the mode that your season begins right at the start of the Double-A season. You will no longer start out in Spring Training and have to square off against MLB-caliber players. We’ve changed this flow to better mimic the real world, and to make an invite to Spring Training something that’s earned. Plus, to give you a good head start right out of the gate, we’re giving you some training points to help you get through your initial advancement goal set.

Now that you’re in the mode, you should take note of some new options this year that will certainly change how you experience games. The new Game Watch and Game Completion options will certainly change how you play RTTS games, as they’ll now give you the ability to determine how much of the game you want to view. Set your Game Watch option to All Pitches if you want to see every pitch of the entire game; All Fielding if you only want to see your at-bats and be a part of every fielding play; Result Play if you want to expedite your games to see only the final pitch of an at-bat while on either offense or defense; or Classic if you prefer the old style and only want to see plays involving your player.

Game Completion is similar to Game Watch, however it only takes affect after you’ve been removed from a game. So if you’re a starting pitcher, this option will let you see what your bullpen does with the runners they inherited from you. This option has similar settings as Game Watch, so you can set it to All Pitches, Result Play, or Off. When any of these options are set, and you’re on the bench waiting for your next opportunity, you’ll also notice a new custom view from the dugout.

We’re very excited about these new options as they really add to that feeling of suspense as to whether the ball will be hit your way or not. Now, more than before, you’ll need to be on your toes in the field.

Among other options to note, we brought back the classic L1/R1 baserunning controls for you old-schoolers. The RTTS Baserunning option will default to New, but if you prefer the single button press style controls, be sure to change it to Classic. We’ve also added in the ability to take pregame batting practice when you’re in the starting lineup for that game. You can step into the cage and take ten swings to help get your timing down before game-time. You won’t receive any training points or attribute improvements, but this will definitely help get you into a nice rhythm. To ensure you participate in batting practice, set the Pre-Game Batting Practice option to On. Lastly, we’ve added a new Mound Warm-Up feature that will give relievers a chance to throw eight warm-up pitches on the mound, after coming out of the bullpen. Just like pregame batting practice, you won’t receive any training points for this, but it does give you the chance to get a good rhythm before facing live hitters.

Moving on to other new game features, one area of focus for us this year was to emphasize fundamental baseball. As a result, we came up with two new systems that are sure to reinforce the notion of “team first.” First we created a new mistake-tracking system that keeps tabs on what you do during a game, and will penalize you for not playing smart baseball. If you do things like throw to the wrong base, forget to cover your base on a force out, or get caught stealing with the pitcher batting to end of the inning, you will receive training point penalties. To combat the “me first” motto a lot of RTTS players have taken when on the basepaths, we’ve created a new Green Light system. When you first start out with a club, you’ll have the Green Light. From there, it’s up to you how you handle it. If you’re a slow runner, and you take the risk of stealing and get caught, there’s a good chance your manager will take away your green light. Continue to steal without it and you risk getting benched for a game or even losing your spot in the lineup. Once the green light is removed, you’ll have to improve your speed and baserunning ability to a level that satisfies your manager in order to regain it.

For you stat-heads, we’ve created a new career stat-tracking system that keeps tabs on your stats versus every team. We aren’t tracking every stat, only the top-level stats. For position players, we track total games played, average, at-bats, hits, home runs, runs batted in, walks, and strikeouts. For pitchers, we track your games played, won-loss record, ERA, innings pitched, hits allowed, home runs allowed, walks allowed, and strikeouts. You can view these stats at any time during the game, or in the front end. When in a game, access your career stats by pressing the select button. The in-game display has even more detailed stats than the front end, as you’ll get a breakdown of your stats versus every pitcher or batter on the opponent’s roster. The front end will display only your total stats versus each team in your current league.

We’ve also done some polish on the overall game flow and information presented when in a game. This year, you can now access your stat-based advancement goals at any point during a game. To do so, press up on the D-Pad and you’ll see both your stat-based advancement goals as well as your current dynamic goal. We’ve also altered the flow for presenting dynamic goals when pitching. You’ll no longer be taken to the “presentation land” to get your goal screen. Now your goal will appear out of the score bar, and the game flow won’t be interrupted. If you missed the goal display, you can press up on the D-Pad at any point to check if you have a dynamic goal.

Not only have we included the new Catcher Calling the Game mode to RTTS, or the new Pitching/Fielding trainings (post coming soon), but also we’ve put a big emphasis on a lot of little things that have a big impact on the mode. As stated in a previous post, the All-Star Futures Game and Home Run Derby also find their way into RTTS.

New Game Features:

• HR Derby – The Home Run Derby and MLB All-Star Futures Game are now available during the All-Star break in our season modes and as a stand-alone experience.
• Catcher Calling the Game – Call pitches and play as the field general, just like Joe Mauer.
• Online Gameplay Improved – This year the online gameplay experience has been vastly improved and will detect and respond better to adverse network conditions along with reduced bandwidth to help the speed and flow of online gameplay.
• User Controlled Pick-Offs – Surprise a base runner with a quick move or lull him to sleep with our new pick-off mechanism.
• Custom Music, Fan Yells, and Chants – Assign music or a recording to an entire team, edit tracks to assign batter walk-up music, or record your own voice and assign it to play for the team or player during the situation of your choice.
• Movie Maker – Select up to ten replays to add to a single movie and do all the editing for your own highlight reel.
• New Stadiums – Five new Minor League stadiums as well as classic parks including Forbes Field, Crosley Field, Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Sportsman Park, and Griffith Stadium.
• New Fielding/Pitching Training Modes and Practice Drills – New pitching and fielding training sessions will be part of our Road to The Show training suite.
• Road to The Show Version 4.0 – New option settings (Game Watch and Game Completion) allow users to set how much of the game they wish to view, our mistake tracking system and new Green Light system reward and penalize good play, and our new stat tracking system keeps stats for your player’s career versus every pitcher or batter faced during the current season that can be accessed at any time.
• Full Online Season Leagues – Fully functional online season leagues, save and display MLB Player stats, track player energy, allow for trades/injuries, and offer 40-man roster functionality.
• Weekly Live Roster – An updated live roster will be available every week throughout the entire season.
• Online Game History – View every game you’ve ever played online, complete with opponents, box scores, and game logs.
• 1-30 Player Season Modes – Control one or all 30 teams right from the start of your franchise or season.
• New Camera System – The most realistic camera system available will make you double take and make sure you’re not watching a live MLB telecast.
• Real-Time Presentations – More than 1,250 new gameplay animations, more than 1,000 new presentation animations, and more than 400 personalized pitcher and batter animations.
• Stadium Realism and Experience – Details, details, details! MLB 10 The Show offers daytime transitional lighting, shows all players on field in
  real-time (including players in the dugout and bullpen), and offers improved stadium ambiance with HR/splash counters, fireworks, steam,
  noisemakers, towels, thunder sticks, working digital and analog clocks, crowd reaching over the rails, and crowd detail, such as interaction
  with vendors and placing K signs.