Sony Computer Entertainment America is getting ready to take gamers out to the virtual ballpark. Just as MLB teams are forking over millions for players, gamers can experience the new season on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP. Jody Kelsey, producer of Sony's MLB Franchise, which is developed in Sony's San Diego Studios, stepped out of the dugout to talk about the new season of gameplay. And he has a LOT to say about Sony's new MLB 07 The Show.
Can you talk about the PlayStation 3 platform and what that allows you to do with MLB 07 The Show?
The PlayStation 3 is giving us the freedom and flexibility to move forward with our ideas and visions at a much more rapid rate. Any developer will tell you that when there's more processing power and more memory, it translates to better visuals and more content. When nearing the end of the life cycle of an existing piece of hardware, you end up spending large amounts of time and effort trying to improve your product the way the customer has come to expect it to be improved. It's as if your team is this massive force pushing up against a flexible barrier of some sort. If you push really hard, things will definitely move forward, but it's still holding you back. When a new platform comes along, it feels as if that barrier has suddenly been torn down and all of the creative energy that was pushing against it is suddenly allowed to flow forward into brand new territory.
As we explore this new environment, we're discovering new and exciting ways to present our visuals more realistically. We're able to increase our animation count and complexity considerably, adding to the depth and realism of the experience. The gameplay and artificial intelligence are increasing in complexity, making for a much more sophisticated CPU opponent and a richer, deeper gameplay experience in general. In fact, in just about every area, the transition to this new platform is fundamentally changing the way we look at building our product. In the coming years, the gaming community will see new and exciting things that they couldn't even have imagined on previous generations of the hardware, and for baseball fans, it all starts with the release of MLB 07 The Show for the PlayStation 3 this Spring.
What types of online features will be in this game?
For MLB 07 The Show On the PlayStation 3, users will have the option to be “always online”. Check out the scores of your favorite team on any screen. What you used to consider an offline screen now has live data. Users will be able to access items, such as the MLB Live SportsCast Ticker, Instant Messaging, Buddy Invites, game challenges, etc. on any screen. You can be playing an Exhibition game, receive an IM from a buddy who wants to play against you online, and jump into a game room to meet up for a game. Once in online home, users will have plenty to do. Features such as Online Leagues, MLB.com Headline News, Leader boards, Player Card, Buddy Lists, Message Boards, Mail and the all-new My Sliders features will give the user a variety of things to explore. These features will be on all three platforms.
Our biggest feature this year, by far, is the Online League system. Online Leagues will be offered on all three platforms. Users will have the ability to set up to 30 team leagues. Included will be full statistic tracking, league leader boards, play-offs and a league champion. Each league will be it’s own sub-community, complete with bragging rights, all customized. Be the commissioner of your own private league or join up to four public leagues that suite your preferences.
When developing these games across platforms, can you talk about sharing of assets and how the development works?
With regards to assets, we have been lucky in that previously we only had to worry about the PS2/PSP. The abilities of those two systems are similar enough that the same source art can be used to both platforms. The artists export a single file, which is then "cut" to the appropriate platform. Add in the PS3, and now you're talking some fun. Instead of 32 Megabytes of memory we've now got 512 Megabytes -- and believe me, we're using it! That affects everything along our pipeline and has created a tremendous amount of new data. And tools, keeping the maintainability and reusability of the tools themselves are something we've always put a high priority on. When you put out a game every 12 months like clockwork you have to. So even with all the changes, we've managed to keep most of our pathways the same, adding features such as progressive mesh levels of detail and cloth rendering, without having to develop and maintain separate tools.
Are the same mo-capped player data shared among platforms?
All three platforms share the same core animations. The PlayStation 3 has higher memory and disc storage space, which allows for over twice the amount of animations than on the PS2 and PSP. When playing MLB 07 The Show on the PlayStation 3, the user will observe more variety of animations.
Can you talk about what's new for the PS2 MLB The Show?
There are plenty of new additions to MLB 07 The Show for the PlayStation 2. Lets start with Online. MLB 07 The Show for the PS2 will also feature Online Leagues. Again, users will have the ability to set up custom leagues, private or public, with up to 30 teams, offering full stat tracking, league leader boards, playoffs, league champions, and rewards. Choose your teams, length of league, rules, and much more.
“My Sliders” is a new fun option that allows users the ability to create the perfect game. For any gamer whose ever wanted to be a designer, here’s your chance! While offline, you can adjust over 30 sliders that affect the way the game can be played, save these changes, and then go online to upload them for others to try out. Other online users can view, download, and vote on your slider set. The online community can judge who creates the best slider set.
“MLB Live Sportscast” is MLB 07 The Show’s live MLB game tracker. Users can select the actual ticker from in the icon bar while online, and watch his or her favorite team live. This enhanced view offers complete score tracking, base runner positioning, balls, strikes, and much more, all in real-time!
The online Player Card, New in MLB 07 The Show, allows users to see more information on their online opponents, as well as themselves. It’s a easy way to view vital player information, such as stats, ratings, MLB points, Skill Progression history, and Achievements. Achievements will be just one of the many views in the online Player Card. Here users will see a list of accomplishments and when it happened. If a user hits their first online HR on March 3rd, they will stay tied to their user name for anyone to see. Completing all achievements is the name of the game. All is updated in Real Time. Check out Player Cards, and find worthy opponents for a quick game or an online league.
MLB 07 The Show has taken a robust Career mode and added to it. Career mode now offers Classic Career and the all-new “Road To The Show." This new true-to-life experience presents the user the challenge of advancing his MLB career by playing only his player on both offense and defense, making plays from the player’s perspective. If the users desire is to be a Shortstop, he’ll take part in all plays involving a shortstop, such as turning DP’s, being the cut-off man for a throw from the outfield, and taking his hacks at the plate. Get on base and experience base running from your player’s perspective as you try to make it home. If you want to be a Starting Pitcher, then get in the rotation and take the mound every fifth game. See if you got what it takes to be a big league pitcher.
Throughout the game, the user will receive situation-based goals from his manager. Accomplish these goals, and your career could take off.
MLB 07 The Show will feature our new Pitch Command System. This system is designed to add a level of authenticity and strategy to pitch selections, and shows the user what type of confidence he has on each pitch in the pitcher’s repertoire at any point in the game. If a Curve ball is being thrown in the zone successfully, you’ll see a “yellow” bar next to that pitch on screen letting the user know he’s throwing that pitch well. At the same time, if the user has been neglecting to throw his slider, that pitch will have an “empty” bar next to it letting the user know it’s not a confident pitch to throw. New to pitching this year is API, Adaptive Pitching Intelligence. This comes into play when trying to decide on a pitch and location to throw. Our API tells the user what pitch and what location he might want to go with in any situation. If you’re not sure what to go with, MLB 07 The Show’s API takes into account the pitcher-hitter match up, and other things like pitcher & hitter tendencies, which can help you make the better decision.
While batting in MLB 07 The Show, the user now has our new “Swing Analysis” to provide feedback on his timing when swinging at a pitch. If you swing and miss, and wonder to yourself… “How did I miss that one”… you can now initiate the “Swing Analysis” which displays fundamental information for the user to correct his swing. New base running controls for MLB 07 The Show is being introduced to help simplify base running. The user will now “target” a runner by pointing it in the direction of the desired runner using the analog stick. Once the runner has been targeted, the user can send him to any base by pressing the corresponding button for that base.
If you feel like the umpire in MLB 07 The Show is squeezing you when pitching, you might just be right. Three types of Umpire Personalities will be present in MLB 07 The Show. You might get a tight zone, you might get a wide zone, or maybe you’ll just get a perfect zone. It’s up to the user to determine how the Umpire is calling the game, and adjust properly to get the job done.
What do you think baseball fans will be most excited about?
I think there are a few things that a true fan can really get into. The new “Road to the Show” in our Career Mode is really something that could get someone excited. Playing a baseball game, while only using your created player, and playing it from your player’s perspective on both offense and defense, is really different and new to the user. Building on the success of MLB 06 The Show, we truly think the Online area may be the front-runner. From jumping into a quick game against someone across the country, to reading news about your favorite MLB team using the MLB.com headline news feature, to joining a league, MLB 07 The Show’s online community has a tremendous feature set to offer a user. The online experience does not end at the PlayStation console. Same as last year, we are again offering our SportsConnect website for MLB 07 The Show. Here users will get more interaction than ever before. Once a user creates their user name and password on a PlayStation console they are free to log-in and access all features of the MLB 07 The show SportsConnect Web site. One of the coolest features is the ability to upload their own personal profile image. This image will be shown to the entire community on the Online Player Card, once approved of course…
The online experience doesn’t end there. We target the cell phone next. The MLB 07 The Show SportsConnect website will be offered in a WAP version. You’ll always know who’s playing or where your league stands. This year we have the ability to collect users’ cell phone numbers. This is huge for ensuring league games get played. Once you’ve registered your cell phone and accepted to receive text notifications, the system will text you when you next game has to be played. That’s right a TEXT MESSAGE from the system. Don’t worry the rest of the community never sees this!
What type of online play will there be?
Online will allow the user to join into head-to-head exhibition games, and also join Leagues to play scheduled games within the league.
After all of these years, can you talk about how you're able to milk better graphics and gameplay out of this system?
I think its inspiration and focus from our team. We have a large group of very inspired programmers, artists, and producers who strive for the opportunity to make this game better. Each person is focused on a specific area of development, constantly pushing the envelope. In the early days, each of us on this team had ideas about what we might be able to do someday, but we were a very small team, working hard just to get the basics in. As it stands today, this team has the manpower, the existing code base, and most importantly, the level of motivation to move forward with our ideas and vision. When you're in a positive environment like this, where the whole team works together toward a common goal and sees the fruits of their labor year after year, the level of inspiration and
motivation just keeps going up.
On the PSP front, what did you bring new to the table with MLB The Show?
MLB 07 The Show for the PSP will have a lot of the new features that you’ll see in MLB 07 The Show for the PlayStation 2. New features like ‘Road to the Show, Online Leagues, My Sliders, Pitch Command system, and API will all be in the game. New this year to the PSP for MLB 07 The Show is the Player Profile system. Users can create a profile and track their progress. Within the Profile are Goals, which award points to the user when the goals are matched. The points can be used to unlock things like Easter Eggs and Old Time Players.
What type of exclusive content will be on this platform?
Exclusive to MLB 07 The Show for the PSP is our online “NEWS2GO” feature. Users can connect online, access MLB.com Headline news and select whatever feeds they want saved to their memory stick. Users can pick their favorite teams’ feed and the feed of their teams’ rival. Once saved, users can take these stories on the road and read them wherever they’d like…Hot Spot or not.
Can you talk about working on PSP and how far you've been able to push the technology?
The MLB team has been pushing the PSP to the limit since its release of MLB 2006 in March of 2005. MLB 07 The Show on the PSP runs the full PS2 game play engine including all the AI, animations, graphics and audio. MLB 2006 PSP was one of the first titles to offer play-by-play audio commentary in a sports game, and it used the same script as the PS2. Last year MLB 06 The Show incorporated, among other features, Career mode, improved network play, and auto replays. This year it's taking it a step further and offering 'Road To The Show', a feature that requires more memory but is well worth it. Our engineers are always looking for ways to push the machine just a little harder to get more responsive game play, realistic audio, and visual excitement.
What type of multiplayer and online gaming will there be?
Although the console is smaller, the Online feature set will not be compromised. Everything users get to do with the PS2 they will be able to do on the PSP. From Online Home users will be able to select from Online leagues, MLB.com Headline News, Leader boards, PlayerCard, Buddy Lists, My Sliders and much more. PSP and PS2 online users will share one community. Share one account, one buddy list and one mailbox. Users don’t have to let road trips stop them from climbing the leader board. Also available is head-to-head exhibition games in Ad-hoc.
Via Sports Gamer