MLB 09: Send Your Questions and Screenshot Requests

Good news arrived on my desk this morning: Retail code for Sony's upcoming baseball game MLB 09: The Show. Having played the demo--and knowing the game's pedigree--I've been looking forward to playing the full game for a while now. I haven't had a ton of time with the game so far, but I'll be playing it over the weekend. If you've got questions you'd like to know about the game, hit me up in the comments below and I'll do my best to get as many as possible answered. Also, if you've got specific screenshot requests, let me know and I'll try and do a bunch of those as well.

Gameplay movies:

Yankees vs. Red Sox

Angels vs. Yankees

Astros vs. Dodgers

Now on to my quick-hit thoughts on the game…

OPTIONS
My first stop each year with Road to the Show mode which is by far my favorite mode in the MLB series. This year's game has some features that serve to speed the game up which, in a mode solely devoted to your created player, is a good thing indeed. After you create your character, you're given a bunch of RTTS game mode options that you can tweak to tune RTTS to your preferences. These include:

Pitch Count: Setting this to "quick" will result in more strikes, fewer foul balls. Setting it to "full" will result in realistic pitch counts.

Umpire Balls and Strikes: Setting this to "variable" will result in umpires calling the game according to their built-in tendencies. Setting it to "standard" all umps call a game the same way. Finally, setting this to "off", the game will be called perfectly.

RTTS Fielding Opportunities: There are three settings here, all of which revolve around the frequency of your character's defensive appearances. "All" means that you play all chances involving your player. "Some" will result in only non-routine chances. "None" means that all your defensive chances are skipped. This is an ideal setting if you only want to focus on your player's batting.

RTTS Base Running Opportunities: Three settings here too, all tied to your base running chances. "All" means you'll play all base-running chances. "Lead runner" means you'll only run when you are the lead runner. "None" means you'll skip base running altogether.

RTTS CPU Teammate Hitting: This setting adjust the length of your teammates at-bats that you'll see as a base runner. "All" will result in the entire at-bat. "Half" will mean that half of the at-bat is skipped. "Quarter" will skip three-quarters of the at bat.

You can also enable or disable player ejections, player walkups and the broadcast presentation to truly streamline the game speed. There's also an interesting option that will toggle a CPU comeback handicap. Enabled, it will give the CPU a small hitting bonus when it is behind in a game, and a penalty when it's winning. That adjustment grows with a wider lead and is disabled when runners on base threaten the lead.

TRAINING
The core of RTTS still works much as in previous years: You'll have goals to accomplish during a game and completing them will earn you points you can put towards training in practically every aspect of your game, depending on your position. A new feature this year is actual training mini-games that will pop up periodically throughout the season (and in spring training). I played the base running minigame, which put my created player at second base and gave me twenty attempts to try and steal third. I really enjoy the base running controls in MLB 09 and this minigame gave me the chance to test them out to their fullest.

For each attempt, I had to keep my eye on the pitcher to try and time my release towards third with the beginning of his pitching motion. The minigame actually times your release and will grade you on how quick you are to start towards the bag, measuring it down to the hundredths of a second. You can also lead off the bag with the R1 button (and even lean forward by holding down the R1 button, which looks to give you a small advantage). Taking one step off the bag is listed as "aggressive"; taking two is "dangerous" and the game keeps track of each of your attempts. Successful steals will go towards your base running and base running aggressiveness attributes. Interestingly, if you happen to fail a steal attempt, you can still gain in your aggressiveness attribute if you have a strong lead-off. If your base-running is too haphazard, you can actually lose points.

SIGNS
During the game you'll get goals from your manager that try to compelte--everything from bringing in a runner in scoring position with a hit to turning a double play in the field. That's nothing new for the series--what is new are signals from your base coaches. During one base-running situation I found myself in, I was taken to a screen showing my third base coach giving a series of signals, like you'd see in a real game. A handy key described what the potential signals meant and that the coach would give the signal three times. Here's the key:

• Hold belt = Bunt
• Swipe leg = Steal
• Top of cap = Hit and run
• None of the above = Swing away

With a flurry of signals coming from the coach, some of them not even listed above, I watched as he finally tapped the top of his helmet three times. Hit and run, huh? I kept my eye on the batter and tried to time my lead-off with his bat and--what do you know?--the batter made contact and I was able to pull of a perfect hit and run. It will be interesting to see if the variety of signals given by the coach changes in different situations but my first impression of this feature was pretty positive.

[UPDATE: Sharp-eyed reader Kitty8472 pointed out that this feature was in last year's game and that, in that game, the third base coach would always give you the same sign. So I guess the question now becomes: have the signs changed up or become more varied this year?]

MISCELLANEOUS

• It seems like my RTTS player's fielding ability is much worse from the get-go than my shortstop from last year. As a result, I've been blowing a bunch of rudimentary throws to first and I can't attribute them all to my shoddy skills on the controller. I wonder if the developers have intentionally made up-and-coming players play a bit rustier in the field at the beginning? Nonetheless, I've been pouring a lot of training points into fielding to prevent further errors.
• Graphically this game is amazing. Not only are the light and shadow effects in the ballpark really nice, but there are some incredible player likenesses to be found. The Hideki Matsui character model, for example, is a spitting image of the Yankee's slugger. The frame rate too, seems to be holding up.
• The only graphical nuisance in RTTS mode that I've found so far is the camera. It's mostly excellent but, when looking around before the pitch when fielding or running the bases, it takes a little too long for the camera to return to its original position, which can be frustrating if the pitcher begins his motion earlier than you anticipated.

If you've got questions about MLB 09: The Show or screenshot requestslet me know in the comments below and I'll do my best to answer you.