Sports fans –
Zone Analog Batting is a by-product of our original Zone Batting hit mechanic and our most recent Analog Batting feature so we wanted to give users the best of both. From talking to our community, we found that some of our Zone Batting players weren’t using the Analog Batting because they couldn’t choose the zone they wanted to swing at. So, we decided to mix the two features and came up with ZAB (Zone Analog Batting). We went through many prototypes before we ended up with what we think may be the most realistic way to bat, ever, in a baseball game.
The concept is both intuitive and challenging at the same time. Getting your stride down with the right stick and simultaneously using the left stick to choose your zone was difficult at first. The key was getting your foot down early (stride with the right stick) to give yourself time to read the pitch and use the left stick to push in the direction of the ball. It’s the most organic and satisfying way to hit and dangerously close to feeling what it’s like to hit a CC Sabathia fastball!
We have five levels of ZAB to choose from, starting with Rookie, where you can get your stride down extremely early without getting penalized, all the way to our most challenging level, Legend, where you get to hit just like a true Major Leaguer.
Pulse Pitching spawned from our first ever pitching style for The Show, Classic Pitching. We like to keep the “classic” features around since we know there’s still a lot of people out there who use them. Pulse pitching is a more interactive and challenging way to pitch, combining both user skill and pitcher attributes that creates a unique way to deliver a pitch. There are five levels of Pulse Pitching, all the way from Rookie to Legend. The better pitchers will have a smaller pulse ring based on the command they have with that particular pitch. Alternatively, the worse command a pitcher has, the bigger the ring and the harder it is to hit your spots. It’s a really fun way to pitch, you may never go back to what you were using before! Here’s a look at our video…
Don’t forget, MLB 12 The Show for PS3 and PS Vita will be hitting store shelves in just a few weeks on March 6th. Be sure to keep an eye on the PlayStation.Blog and TheShowNation.com for more information in the coming days and weeks on this year’s game. And for our Canadian fans, if you haven’t seen yet, we recently announced that Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista will be gracing the cover of MLB 12 The Show in Canada. Here’s a look at our announcement video featuring Jose in action!
Welcome to The Show!
Now this is how you do a sports blog no antiquated photos to represent the game. Videos does a great job of showing off features and game play. Zone Plus, is going too eat some people up. I love that you guys have so many different interfaces to play the game something for everybody. How many batting/pitching interfaces do we have? 6 or 7? anyways I can’t wait too try pulse pitching that looks like a mode were walks will be at a premium.
When does the “Fact Sheet” i.e. features list come out? I’m starving for that one.
Yay I saw in the video you guys added the batters eye bar at progressive field way a go MLB The Show Team. Looking forward to March 6th and the release of MLB 12 The Show on PS3.
These are all great features for die hard baseball game fans. I’m a die hard Baseball fan, but can’t play the games for squat unless they’re on Rookie Mode :( .
I just want the old school Rookie mode back. Guess a pitch and swing away. I suck so much I can’t ever guess the actual location of the ball. That’s the single reason I actually traded in MLB 11. I couldn’t do anything right in that game.
Please add the rest of the MLB Team avatars to the PlayStation Store. Also I just pre-ordered MLB 12 today for the Vita. I can’t wait until March 6th. I still hope you guys announce a deal to save money when buying both the PS3 version and the Vita version. An MLB 12 Vita/PS3 bundle would be cool.
Will the Vita version include a tutorial of some sort? I am interested in the game, but I’m not that familiar with the intricacies of baseball and was utterly clueless in the MLB 11 PS3 demo; the other team scored over eleven points on me.
Is there a substantial discount if we buy both versions at the same time????
A bundle of sorts?
I still say, throwing the Vita version (along with those artbooks and soundtracks) into a PS3’s “Collector’s Edition” would finally make them worth buying.
Pulse pitching is dull. Give me gesture-based pitching. Make it fun instead of tedious.
ZAB… love it. it was needed last year. don’t know why location was excluded. as far as pulse pitching… eh. your pitcher’s speed and effectiveness depends on his attributes and game situation? lame. so all we determine is the accuracy of the pitch? the wind-up takes long enough for there to be 2 actions… one to try to ramp up the speed (if desired) and THEN the ability to control accuracy. taking the player’s ability to control speed out of the equation takes away a lot of strategy, imo. as much as i wanna try the new mechanic, it just reminds me of the hitting from mlb 11 the show… take away one thing in order to add another. bad move. i’ll stick with last year’s pitching and this year’s batting mechanics.
I’m excited to try out this new Pulse Pitching and ZAB. That’s what I love about The Show, they give you PLENTY of options on how to play this game to suit your needs. March 6 can’t come soon enough, my PS3 and VITA will be very happy!
mlb the show is the second best video game in the franchise of gaming history thanks guys keep up the good work :)
Game looks great I cant wait to play it just a lil info to my fellow members of the playstation nation if I may if you preorder the game from newegg before sunday midnight it will be $48 no tax free 3 day shipping if you use promo code EMCYTZT1144 they only charge after the game ships also
@jim488: I guess they could have made pitching so that once you’ve pressed X to determine the location of the pitch, you hold it down with a speed meter with a “safe zone”, where if you pass it, your circle gets bigger.
Still time to patch it in or for next year, like they adjusted for analog/ZAB this year. At least they listen to their fans’ feedback, there’s your proof right there. Either way if Move support is good, I’ll probably use that most of the time. Also, I mostly vary speed when I have trouble finding the plate and guide the ball, other than that, I almost always go top speed.
Hopefully they added a better base running control scheme as well.
This all looks very interesting. Hopefully the trophy list for the PS3 & Vita versions are the same and that they’re easier to achieve compared to the show 2011.
i didn’t think i would care about this but the new hitting system looks pretty cool so i’ll try that for sure
will not bother with the pitching i prefer what EA perfected in 03 with MVP Baseball so i’ll stick with that system likely forever lol…..
You guys need to add depth to this game. The franchise mode needs to have features like that of madden 06 i had on ps2. spring training actually meant something, ability to relocate a team, build new stadium, create your own jersey, rename team, edit logo etc. would all be a nice welcome.
3/4 way team trades, trade for a player to be named later or cash. i liked the whole drafting atmosphere in madden also idk how mlb operates drafts but it would be nice to not just pick from a list of names if ya know what i mean. A pic editor would be a nice welcome to change the cap of the players after a trade had been completed, i like my stuff up to date.
i didn’t player mlb front office manager but i’am sure it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a look for ideas from that game i def. wanna try it because of the depth it may have on the management side.
I love the new Zone Plus Analog Batting after just watching it, can’t wait to try that. Not wild about Pulse Pitching, however, and will probably not use it much if at all, after I try it a time or two that is. Outside of that, I’m not opposed to patching in new features post-launch (provided they don’t screw everything up as some patches do) and for the love of Chewbacca, I want to customize uniforms and stadiums. Custom teams with custom uniforms and stadiums. Please?