It is no secret that I consider MLB 09: The Show to be the single greatest baseball game ever created. Hell, due to the fact that it can be played while sitting on your couch I would dare say that MLB 09: The Show is better than actual baseball. So how does one follow-up on perfection? Well, no one man can but thankfully SCEA has dozens of employees so maybe, just maybe, they can pull off the impossible.

Due on March 2nd, MLB 10: The Show is promising several new features, including a new pick-off mechanic, weekly roster updates and a revamped ‘Road to the Show’ which, for those of you who are uninitiated, is basically baseball-meets-RPG. The most important announcement is the promise of a “vastly improved” online mechanic. Not to say that last year’s was bad, but it was definitely the one blemish on an otherwise pristine title.

Here are all the new features being promised for MLB 10: The Show:

• HR Derby – The Home Run Derby and MLB All-Star Futures Game are now available during the All-Star break in our season modes and as a stand-alone experience.
• Catcher Calling the Game – Call pitches and play as the field general, just like Joe Mauer.
• Online Gameplay Improved – This year the online gameplay experience has been vastly improved and will detect and respond better to adverse network conditions along with reduced bandwidth to help the speed and flow of online gameplay.
• User Controlled Pick-Offs – Surprise a base runner with a quick move or lull him to sleep with our new pick-off mechanism.
• Custom Music, Fan Yells, and Chants – Assign music or a recording to an entire team, edit tracks to assign batter walk-up music, or record your own voice and assign it to play for the team or player during the situation of your choice.
• Movie Maker – Select up to ten replays to add to a single movie and do all the editing for your own highlight reel.
• New Stadiums – Five new Minor League stadiums as well as classic parks including Forbes Field, Crosley Field, Polo Grounds, Shibe Park, Sportsman Park, and Griffith Stadium.
• New Fielding/Pitching Training Modes and Practice Drills – New pitching and fielding training sessions will be part of our Road to The Show training suite.
• Road to The Show Version 4.0 – New option settings (Game Watch and Game Completion) allow users to set how much of the game they wish to view, our mistake tracking system and new Green Light system reward and penalize good play, and our new stat tracking system keeps stats for your player’s career versus every pitcher or batter faced during the current season that can be accessed at any time.
• Full Online Season Leagues – Fully functional online season leagues, save and display MLB Player stats, track player energy, allow for trades/injuries, and offer 40-man roster functionality.
• Weekly Live Roster – An updated live roster will be available every week throughout the entire season.
• Online Game History – View every game you’ve ever played online, complete with opponents, box scores, and game logs.
• 1-30 Player Season Modes – Control one or all 30 teams right from the start of your franchise or season.
• New Camera System – The most realistic camera system available will make you double take and make sure you’re not watching a live MLB telecast.
• Real-Time Presentations – More than 1,250 new gameplay animations, more than 1,000 new presentation animations, and more than 400 personalized pitcher and batter animations.
• Stadium Realism and Experience – Details, details, details! MLB 10 The Show offers daytime transitional lighting, shows all players on field in real-time (including players in the dugout and bullpen), and offers improved stadium ambiance with HR/splash counters, fireworks, steam, noisemakers, towels, thunder sticks, working digital and analog clocks, crowd reaching over the rails, and crowd detail, such as interaction with vendors and placing K signs.

If I can make a simple request? …Tiger Stadium. All I ask for is the ability to play at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull one last time… and if that isn’t possible, can we make it so that we never traded Curtis Granderson? No?

Well, piss.

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