Let's Play Ball!

There might be snow on the ground now, but warm weather is right around the corner, and with the World Baseball Classic, spring training, and opening day coming up, a young gamer's fancy turns not to the opposite sex (I mean, who needs social interaction?), but rather to video game baseball.

The new Major League Baseball® 2K6 features Derek Jeter on the cover, an exclusive Major League Baseball license, and a locker full of new features.

Go ahead, try to make it home.

At the top of that locker of features is the hitting game. Let's face it—fielding is fun, pitching's a kick, but smashing liners off the wall is where it's really at. Major League Baseball 2K6 has added a couple of new features to its already robust hitting game. First up is the "Swing Stick." Cock the right thumbstick as the pitcher winds up, and then release to hit the ball. Control the direction you hit by pushing the stick left, right, or forward. It's such an obvious method of batting I wonder what took developers so long to implement it.

The players' tendencies have been compiled during
the last three years and translated to the game.

Another why-didn't-they-think-of-that-before feature is switch-hitting. Now, if you want to bat left against Roger Clemens (he's a righty) you can. Of course, your "off" side is less effective, but you need to weigh that against the benefit of batting against an opposite-armed pitcher.

Reacting to a wild pitch.

Statistics are a big part of the game. Certainly all the modern era video sports games are built on a statistical foundation, a foundation that gamers can then alter with their own thumb and finger skill. MLB 2K6 has put the statistics (or at least the relevant portion of them) front and center.

Scout the enemy, learn their tendencies, unearth their weaknesses. Delivered by Inside Edge, you can "purchase" scouting reports on specific players on the opposing team. Pitchers cost the most, franchise-type power hitters a little bit less, and so on. Usually you can only afford a couple of scouting reports, but they make a big difference. For example, it's nice to know what a pitcher likes to throw for his opening pitch against power hitters with a man on first.

In fact, Inside Edge statistics determines the performance of every player in the game. The players' tendencies have been compiled during the last three years, and those statistics have been translated to the game. You want realism? MLB 2K6 has it. You want visceral action? It's there too.

The end of the double play.

I love the immediacy of the fresh first-person view from the catcher when attempting to gun down a stealing runner. It adds a visual intensity that pulls you to the edge of your seat. Additionally, the catcher, which in many games seems more like an afterthought than a vital player, can be shifted to change the pitcher's target. Want to brush back the right-handed hitter? Place the catcher a smidgen to the right of dead center. The bad news is that if the pitcher misses his mark outside, there's a good chance for a wild pitch.

The pitching game adds the payoff pitch. It's an intriguing concept, yet simple. In tight situations, if your pitcher nails the target the catcher presents, his stats for that pitch will increase, making him harder to hit when it throws it again. It well replicates a pitcher who is "in the zone" and is as fun as it is realistic.

In fact that sums MLB 2K6 in a phrase, "as fun as it is realistic." The game couples authentic baseball action and strategy with Inside Edge statistical depth to deliver an absorbing baseball experience.

Note: Screenshots are from the Xbox® version of the game.

Article by Jad Reklaw