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!

Today we’re going to show you some of our new and improved A.I. for MLB 09 The Show. Realism is THE most important thing to use here on the MLB 09 The Show team. Year in and year out, with a development team that has a wealth of baseball knowledge, not only as fans of the game but development members that have actually played the game at very high levels, we dedicate ourselves to making the most realistic baseball experience possible. That being said, there were a few things about last year’s game that were a bit frustrating and not as realistic as we would have liked. As much as we would like to tackle every idea out there, we strategically have to pick and choose our battles. This year we decided to work on a little bit of everything, so today I’m going to highlight four of them.

1. CPU Fielder routes to the ball
In our quest to make the perfect baseball simulation, balancing the game can be a long difficult task. In order for our batters to reach the correct amount of doubles and triples in our game, we needed a couple things to happen.

• The batter needs to get out of the box appropriately, round the bases correctly, and have his true-to-life times from home to first, first to third, etc…
• The fielders need to react naturally, the same way they do in real life. Basically, if the runners are going to behave realistically, then the fielders need to as well, otherwise you would not have balance. So this year, our infielders and outfielders will react and behave appropriately on balls hit down the lines or in the gaps. No more direct routes to the ball keeping you at first if you should have had a double. Now, in MLB 09 The Show, you will see outfielders rounding the ball, cutting it off at a BACK angle or just playing it off the wall. This truly looks and feels like you’re playing in The Show.

2. Infielder Hot Shots
Another part of last year’s game that I felt needed improvement to bring it that much closer to real life was the fact that fielders would catch just about everything hit their way. For the most part, if they could reach it, they would catch it, with a few deflections here and there. This year, in MLB 09 The Show, our infielders become human again and are now vulnerable to Hot Shots coming off the bat of Albert Pujols. We’ve developed a system that will allow for the player to miss balls based on how hard they’re hit, the fielding ability of the player, and the player’s reaction time. Some balls are just too hot to handle for anyone, but if you are playing with the Gold Glovers, they’ll have a better chance of making some unbelievable plays. Balls will also take bad hops and hit off the player, and yes, your infielders will even make errors. Even though we’ve had errors in games past, we focused a bit more on it to, once again, bring this game closer to real MLB. The cool thing about this is, with the addition of the new routes to the ball, a shot down the line can get by that third baseman and give you a realistic chance to stretch it in to a double. These are my favorite plays.

3. Tags
We used to have a very generic set of tags that basically set the facing direction toward the incoming runner and then we would apply the tag. That OLD system would not account for the infielders set up at or around the base and the attacking angle of the runners slide. Now, in MLB 09 The Show, we consider all of that. We have all new setups that are tailored for every base and every direction the throw is coming from. The catcher also has his own setup and tag system. We even have an all-new system for pickoffs and back picks. This makes for some really exciting plays at the base that make you feel like you’re part of a real Major League Baseball experience

And I just wanted to mention this even though it really doesn’t have to do with the tag section. For those of you that play our game regularly, you will know that we have always had a problem with “going the short way” with two outs. Well, you’ll no longer be frustrated trying to go the “short way” with two outs. With the incorporation of our “on the run catch system,” on a ground ball to the third baseman with two outs, you can branch your throw to second and get a really cool catch on the run by the second baseman for the out, without having to throw across the diamond. The CPU will do this as well. Another side note, the CPU will tag your runner in the baseline if he can, instead of ignoring the runner and throwing to the base. You guys that play our game know what I mean.

4. Pitcher / Batter duel
The Pitcher/Batter Duel has always been what makes or breaks a true to life baseball simulation. We have dedicated a whole year to improving this feature and we will continue to do this as long as we make this game. This is extremely important to us here on the MLB 09 The Show Team, and I know you’ll appreciate the advanced technology, logic and dedication that has gone in to it. Oh yeah…we also have a new level for all you guys that brag about H.O.F. Mode being too easy. It’s called Legend Mode. Good Luck!!

Also, be sure to catch a special interview of MLB 09 The Show cover athlete Dustin Pedroia on ESPN First Take live from Sony HQ tomorrow at 11:15am Eastern Time, as well as a live ESPN News segment that will air throughout the day.

And, while the real-life season is just getting ready to warm up, the MLB team at the SCEA San Diego Studios are busy putting the finishing touches on what many already consider the best baseball game available, MLB 08 THE SHOW. It’s due to hit shelves on March 4th as the only officially-licensed first party baseball game exclusively for PLAYSTATION 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP.

Each week leading up to launch, we’ll be bringing you a new entry in the MLB 08 THE SHOW blog series, highlighting key features of the game.

Hello all, my name is Chris Gill, the Senior Producer in charge of Gameplay and Animation for the MLB franchise. This year our main focus was to make sure that not only was the gameplay solid, fundamentally sound and fun, but that all the players on the field behaved, situationaly, like they do in the big leagues, before, during and after the play.

For example, how they get ready in their pre-pitch stance, adjusting just slightly before the pitch to get in to position. How they adjust their positioning based on the hitters tendencies. During the play, how they approach the ball, the type of run they use, the angles to the ball they take, the way they play balls off the wall in the OF, the tags, the hot shot over the top plays, all of which are based on the current situations. You can play this game over and over and see plays you’ve never seen before.

Situational awareness is a term we use a lot here at the studio. For example, a routine fly ball hit to the outfield with no runners on and no outs. The OF knows he doesn’t have to hurry, so he performs a casual catch and throw back in. That same outfielder knows that when there’s a runner on first in that same situation and the runner goes half way, there’s no immediate threat, so he will perform an animation that’s a little quicker, than the first example but still semi casual.

The third case of course is when a runner is tagging up and you have to throw him out. In this situation, the OF will get behind the ball and make more of an urgent crow-hop type throw. This is just one example of our “situational awareness” that we use all over the game all the time.

Our infielders know how much time they have to perform certain types of animations as well. If a guy like Molina hits a ground ball to the SS, he knows he has plenty of time, the animation will reflect that. If Ichiro is running down the line, he’ll obviously have to get rid of it much quicker. For those of you that have played our game in the past, you know we have an enormous amount of animations in our game and we just keep piling them on.

This year, we added over 500 more gameplay animations. That number doesn’t even include the presentations, personal pitcher deliveries and batter stances (including their own personal walk up sequences). The pitcher batter duel is also an area where we put a lot of focus. Personalizing pitchers breaks, how they attack the batter/user and the adjustments that the pitchers make based on the users tendencies all were improved upon.

The overall idea is that when you walk away from playing our game, you’re going to feel like a big leaguer. We’ve worked diligently to not only make it look realistic but “feel” good as well. You’re going to see things in MLB 08 THE SHOW that you’ve been waiting on for a long time.

Stay tuned… we’ll have a new blog entry next week.