EA pitches MVP 06 NCAA Baseball

For Electronic Arts, the sound of metal striking a ball is no longer the sole property of the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise. The publisher has sidestepped Take-Two Interactive's third-party MLB exclusivity and will take some hacks with the aluminum-bat-swinging action of MVP 06 NCAA Baseball for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox this spring.

The new game will feature all the NCAA baseball trademarks, such as "aluminum bats, intense action, and stadiums filled with school spirit and packed with passionate fans." The game comes from the same team that worked on MVP Baseball 2005, EA Canada, and will likely feature the same game engine as its professional predecessor.

This is the first NCAA baseball game, but it seems to have come at the right time. EA has enjoyed success with NCAA-licensed games, particularly its NCAA Football franchise, and college baseball is continuing to grow in popularity.

"We have heard tremendous positive feedback from the university athletic directors, conference commissioners and the baseball coaches. There is a great deal of momentum surrounding college baseball, and this project is another significant step forward," said Pat Battle, chief executive officer of The Collegiate Licensing Company.

MVP 06 NCAA Baseball will feature the broadcasting of ESPN's Mike Patrick and former Stanford standout Kyle Peterson. EA has not announced which teams and universities will be represented, but it does mention that "the nation's top universities and conferences" will be in the game. There will be create-a-player and create-a-stadium options, and both versions will be online-enabled.

The announcement may be as surprising to some as a manager walking Barry Bonds with first base open. Word of the game was leaked in August, when an article in the online version of The Indianapolis Star mentioned that the game was in development.

[What did you think of this news? Talk about it in GameSpot Sports.]