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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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