The Konami developed/2K Sports published MLB Power Pros series is one of those games that has to be played and experienced to even be discussed.  At first glance, the cartoony graphics might turn off many hardcores, but those “accessible-looking” graphics betray the super-sweet, ultra deep baseball engine underneath.  Last years’ game seriously impressed me on both Wii and PS2, and even our co-founder Craig Gonzalez was hooked while playing the game for the first time at 2K’s E3 booth earlier this month.  Yes, the game is that good, and it will catch many people off-guard. 

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to be on the 2K Sports conference call about the new MLB Power Pros 2008 game, and I was able to take part in the Q&A session with producer Robert Nelson.  The main enhancements to this years’ version is in the “Success Mode”..which is a story driven rpg-like mode where you try to bring your user-created minor leaguer into the big leagues, as well as the “MLB Life” mode, where you can play the game as an existing MLB player of your choosing, or a user created one.   (Think “Superstar Mode”, except with MLB ballplayers)… and of course, there’s the Season Mode (which covers 10 years of your franchise).  Other gameplay enhancements are also being added, such as full 40 man rosters, enhanced bullpen management, greater pitch speed variations, etc. 

Unfortunately for XBOX 360 and PS3 non-backwards-compatible owners, the game is only for Wii, PS2, and Nintendo DS.  The other downer is that –like last year- there’s no online play for the Wii and PS2 versions (although there is wireless play for DS owners).  I did ask producer Robert Nelson if there’s been any progress with Konami regarding future versions of the game being on more platforms as well as online play support, and he said that its been discussed, but couldn’t go any deeper than that.  Hopefully, we’ll see this game hit other systems next year.  I personally think this game would be big on ANY system, especially on PS3 and 360 where a downloadable demo of the game could really get it in people's hands.  

As for this years’ game, I would encourage any baseball fan to try it.  To me, MLB PP is what I call the 3D spiritual successor to the old “Ken Griffey” baseball series, except way deeper, with better ball physics, and all the fun.  Yes, the game is that good.  This series is THE sports game in Japan, and spending a few minutes with the game – as Craig learned at E3- is usually all it takes to become hooked.  Cute graphics aside,  I’d go so far as to put its gameplay, stats, and realism up against both MLB The Show and MLB 2K.  If you have the system to play it on, and you like baseball, frankly, this one is a no-brainer.

Yes, its that good.  Don't let the cute player graphics fool you.  This one plays a mean game of VERY realistic baseball. Last years' version was one of my favorite sports titles of the past two years.

I should have impressions up from spending time with the full version of the game in the next week. The game should hit retaillers shelves this Tuesday (for the Wii and PS2 version) with the DS version to follow on August 26th.

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Its 2008, and after the advent of the Wii system sales explosion, game companies are perplexed about how best to go after our gaming dollar. Since the "Wii Explosion", the industry has tried to identify two distinct types of gamers with a label.

On one hand, you have what the industry calls "The Casual Gamer". These are the people content to play a quick game of something that can easily engross them with simple controls and minimal fuss. In more simplistic terms, these are the gamers that are looking for a "quick fix". Folks who "keep it casual" by playing Wii Virtual Console games, Wii Sports, XBOX Live Arcade, and Playstation Network vintage game downloads often get this label.

On the other hand, you have what the industry now labels "The Hardcore Gamer". These are the people who want to dive into a game with more depth, intricate controls, extensive options, and -in some cases- very deep game storyline. These are the gamers who want to "master" the art of a given "deep" game, and are willing to invest the time into doing so. These are the guys who have mastered "Madden", and often play other gamers of similar high skill level. These are the guys who dove into COD4 online and have the best weapon kits and the most kills. These are the guys who invested the time necessary to beat Metal Gear Solid 1 through 4. These are the gamers who beat Mass Effect, and do it again to see other endings.

So we have the "Casuals" and the "Hardcores"- and the media as well as the publishers would have us believe that these are two completely split groups of gamers of opposite type. In the minds of a few game execs out there, this hypothesis to be validated by the huge amounts of hardware sales for the Wii.

But is that accurate?

I would say "No."

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There's an old Season 1 Tony Soprano quote I like to use regarding sports video games...

"If you are going to show up, come heavy, or don't show up."

 Of course, we aren't talking about packing actual "heat"- but the same addage applies on the virtual gridiron.  In short- up until this time, NOBODY has shown up feature heavy on next gen in terms of football.  Of course, I'm talking about Madden 06 and Madden 07 on next-gen, as well as NCAA 07 next gen.  All three titles were pale imposters of their current-gen, relatively feature-heavy cousins.  Some will say that EA got lazy since it owns the exclusives to the NFL and NCAA football, while others point to the problems inherent to rebuilding engines on new hardware and the time needed to accomplish that.  Whatever the case might be, one fact remains:  The next gen efforts paled next to the current gen versions in terms of features.

And...features directly correlate to depth, which feeds into replayability...

However, things seem to have changed.  By all accounts, NCAA 08 Next Gen, and Madden NFL 08 Next Gen- look to be some of the most "feature-fat" offerings of any year of EA football... and I'd probably say that- at least on paper- its the biggest feature bombardments since the inception of both series'. (Madden Football on 16 bit, and Bill Walsh Football on 16 bit.

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Another NFL football season has almost come and gone.  We're deep into the playoffs now, and not too far away from the NFL Draft.  Its at about this time when I usually sit down and compose my own personal wishlist for the next installment of Madden on the game systems.

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