• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Offical MLB Power Pros Thread of Super-Deformed Awesome

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
With the impending arrival of the first Pawapuro baseball game to hit US shores, I present...

powerheader.jpg


pawamajor2.jpg


I will update the OP as more info becomes available or if corrections are needed. Note that due to the severe lack of info available at this time much of my gameplay info is based off personal experience with the previous Pawapuro MLB game, as well as info found over at the Japanese Baseball video game forums - major thanks to BigManZam, Shinigami, and jomcclane over there for much of the translated info from the first Pawapuro MLB game!

General Information
Title: MLB Power Pros, 実況パワフルメジャーリーグ 2 (Jikkyou Pawafuru Major League 2)
Published: 2K Sports
Developer: Pawapuro Productions (Konami)
Genre: Sports
Number of Players: 1-2
Release Date October 3, 2007 (US), October 4, 2007 (Japan)
MSRP: $29.99 PS2, $39.99 Wii (US), 6,980円 PS2/Wii (Japan)
Console: Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii
Official site: 2K Sports (US), Konami (Japan)

Japan's number one baseball series finally hits US shores this Fall thanks to Konami's partnership with 2K Sports! This is actually the second MLB licensed game Konami worked on, and counting the original J-League games the Pawapuro franchise has been around since the SNES days. The franchise is well-known for its deep realistic gameplay, unique game modes, and cutesy chibi player models.

Take-Two's MLB license didn't cover the Japanese territory, hence Konami's ability to make a MLB game. All MLB teams, stadiums, and players (that are in the union of course) are covered. There doesn't appear to be any major differences between the US and Japanese version, except the visual look of the models (US image first, Japan image second):

ppus.jpg


ppjp.jpg


Though the Japanese shot above is from the first MLB game released in Japan a year ago, I believe the Japanese version will keep the original look as supposedly the rabid Pawapuro fanbase hates the look given to the US version. Some long-time import fans may dislike the new look as well.

Game Features

Sim Gameplay
Bu, bu, but teh grafx are for kiddies, it cant be sim!1!! For new players willing to look past the graphics, you'll find the game plays pretty good!

3.jpg


Batting uses a cursor-based system which is freely controlled by the player. In normal mode, the batting cursor outline will change shape depending on the current situation and the batter's abilities and stats. The bigger or smaller the cursor, the easier or harder it will be to make contact for a hit. You can also switch to power swing mode, which reduce the cursor to a small circle representing the bat's sweet spot. While it's possible to get power hits in normal batting mode, it's easier to get them with the power swing cursor, though it will be harder to aim in general with the smaller cursor. Swing timing and bat position is everything in this game so if you expect something to happen it likely will - late swings on high pitches will likely be fouled back, etc.

Pitching is also simple, choose a pitch by holding a direction and pressing a button to initiate the wind-up. You then aim where you want to throw the pitch by moving the catcher's mitt, the location of which will become locked once the pitcher reaches a certain point in his wind-up. How accurate the pitch ends up depends on a number of factors, primarily the pitcher's personal stats, attributes, and his current stamina. Before the pitch, you can also adjust your defensive formations quickly and on-the-fly with separate settings for infield and outfield. There's the usual options available for showing/hiding various things like strike zone, pitch aim location (catcher' mitt), etc.

You can choose between Digital and Analog control for controlling the batting/pitching cursor, along with an option for "Lock-on" for batting which is a bit of an assist option - it will start to move the batting cursor towards the ball location, but you can't just sit there and just swing at the ball because the cursor will always get there too late by itself. You still need to move the cursor in time to hit the ball. Note that certain combinations may make hitting too easy or too frustratingly hard, so you may need to play a few games with different settings to find your personal preference.

12.jpg


Fielding is again simple (see a pattern?), you simply move the selected fielder and throw the ball to a target. You can use the now-standard control scheme of "one button mapped to each base" or the old-school control scheme where you hold a direction and press one button.

There's also options to semi-automate fielding and baserunning: for fielding the CPU will field the ball for you but you have to decide where to throw it, and for baserunning the CPU will initiate actions but you still have full control over all base runners. You can also set management decisions to automatic also if you don't want to worry about defensive shifts, changing pitchers, etc.

You'll also find all the usual things found in western baseball games from injuries caused by diving head-first into a barrier to home-run-robbing catches at the wall. You'll also find a ton of other things not usually seen, including:

- Dynamic Player Condition System:
If you're familiar with Winning Eleven's arrow system, you'll recognize this system.

20.jpg


Each player in a game will have a face icon in various states - the happier the face, the better performance you can expect from the player. So your ace pitcher will throw his pitches faster, have sharper movement on his pitches, and be more accurate. Likewise, if he's in a crappy state you can expect the opposite, in which case you'll have to actually pitch your way out of certain situations where you might have been able to get out of them with sheer power if he was in better condition.

It's also possible for these conditions to change during a game itself, so a player who gets a few extra base hits in a row may see his condition improve whereas a pitcher getting rocked in an inning may see their condition worsen.

- Player-controlled pitcher warm-ups:
This might seem like a small feature, but it's actually quite effective. When a new pitcher enters the game, you can throw a couple of warm-up pitches on the mound before play resumes. This allows you to get a feel for how well certain pitches are breaking, and how fast and accurate the pitcher is throwing on that particular day.

- Tons of Player Attributes:
You have your basic set of attributes that players have, such as Contact, Power, and Trajectory (whether a batter is likely to hit more ground balls or fly balls) for fielders, and Stamina and Accuracy for pitchers. But you also have these...

40.jpg


These may remind some people of APF2K8's attribute system, except some of Pawapuro's attribs have differing levels. Every player in the game has these in various combinations. All the attributes I list here are from last year's game (many of these will like have different names in the US release, the Pitching ones listed in the screenshot above are the only ones I'm completely sure of obviously). I'm sure there are more attributes than what I list below, these are just the ones I found translations for.

Consistent success in Pawapuro games relies on knowing a player's individual attributes!

These attributes are rated from 1-5, 1 being low, 3 being average, 5 being the best.

* w/RISP – How well player hit with runners in scoring position.
* Against LH Pitching – Self-explanatory, how well you hit left-handed pitchers.
* Sub-Position – How well you field your other/secondary positions, if you have any.
* Injury – How injury prone the player is.
* Base Stealing – How well player steals bases.
* Base Running – How well player runs the bases.
* Throwing Accuracy – Player's ability to hit target.
* w/RISP – With runners in scoring position, top speed, control, and break increases or decreases.
* vs LH Batters – Against left-handed batters.
* VS Runner – With any runners on base.
* Poise – How easily rattled a pitcher is.
* Fastball Life – More bite on fastball pitches.
* Spin – More bite on off-speed and breaking pitches (only works for a pitcher’s pitch with the most amount of movement).
* Release – With runners stealing, how quickly the pitcher delivers the ball to the catcher.
* Recovery – How long until your pitcher is ready to throw again.
* Consistency – How much your ability is affected by your Smiley Face/condition. 4 = Face has less influence. 3 = Normal. 2 = Inconsistent, good condition (RED or PINK Smiley Face) makes you much better, but bad condition (BLUE or PURPLE Smiley Face) makes you stink. So if a player’s got a 2 = Inconsistent Stability and a RED or PINK smiley face, he’s really going to be primed and psyched for the game.

Unlike above where every player is assigned a numerical rating, the next four rows are “all-or-nothing” attributes – a player’s either got it or he doesn’t. Note that all of these are not positive things (i.e. Strikeout or Unclutch)!

* Average Hitter – Easier to get base hits.
* Power Hitter – Easier to hit homeruns.
* Power Slice – Easier to hit for power to the opposite field.
* Control Slice – Easier to slap the ball to the opposite field for a base hit, a la Ichiro.
* 3 Hit – After getting 2 hits, its easier to get a 3rd hit.
* 2 Strike – Easier to hit with 2 strikes. But if you’ve also got Strikeout ability (see below), then this 2 Strike ability only works on full counts (3 Balls, 2 Strikes).
* Bunt – Easier to lay down bunts. (There might be two different Bunt attributes located in this box. I’m not sure. Either way, this box deals with bunting.)
* Infield Hit – Ability to quickly run to 1st base.
* Combo – Easier to hit when the previous batter gets a hit.
* 1st Pitch – Easier to hit 1st pitch in the strike zone.
* Rally Starter – Contact stat increases with no runners on base.
* Strikeout (K) Ability – Harder to hit for contact with 2 strikes. Eliminated on full counts.
* Bases Loaded – Easier to hit with bases loaded.
* Sayonara – Easier to hit when you have a walk-off chance (i.e. you could win the game in this at-bat).
* Come From Behind – Easier to hit when you’re losing.
* Pinch Hitter – Easier to hit when pinch hitting.
* High or Low Ball Hitter – Easier to hit pitches up (if you’re a high-ball hitter) or down (if you’re a low-ball hitter) in the strike zone.
* Head-First Sliding - Slides head-first instead of feet-first.
* Intimidator – Weakens opposing pitcher’s/batter's stats.
* Blooper – Easier for high fly balls to drop in between the infield and outfield for hits.
* Laser Beam – Ability to throw from far away with a lot of power. If you have Laser Beam without Throwing Accuracy, long throws from the outfield have a high chance of being wild.
* Top Defender – Good movement and footwork on defense. You can better avoid baserunners trying to break up double-plays.
* Block – Catcher’s ability to block home plate well. If the baserunner has the Extra/Special Ability of “Home Plate Tackle,” then this “Block” ability cancels it out.
* Spider Catch - Increased ability to rob home-runs over the wall.
* Catcher – Ability to strengthen your pitchers’ attributes.
* Gyroball – More pop on fastball.
* Low Pitcher – Better control with low pitches.
* Heavy Pitcher - Harder for hitters to launch high fly balls.
* Light Pitcher – Easier for hitters to launch high fly balls.
* Escape Pitch - On “mistake” pitches the ball won’t tend to stay over the middle of the plate.
* Homerun Pitch – On “mistake” pitches the ball will tend to stay over the middle of the plate.
* Clutch – Movement and speed increase in the 3rd, 6th, and 9th innings.
* Unclutch – Abilities decrease if leading after 7 innings.
* Walks – Easy to walk batters on 3-ball counts.
* Slow Starter – Abilities decrease in first 3 to 4 innings, if starting.
* Strikeouts – With 2 strikes, Fastball Life and Spin attributes increase to 4.
* Runners Check – Better at checking / picking off baserunners.
* Release Motion – Harder for batters to discern what pitch you’re throwing.
* Reflexes – Easier to catch balls hit back to the mound.
* Lucky – Easier to win games. (Your team’s batting ability might also increase)
* Unlucky – Easier lose games. (Your team’s batting ability might also decrease)
* Short Temper – When rattled, instead of becoming “dizzy” your pitcher’s face turns red and steam comes out of his ears. He’s angry. Your max speed doesn’t drop, but your control drops a lot.
* Poker Face – Your pitcher won’t appear tired (start huffing and puffing) when his stamina runs low. This ability can sometimes be beneficial (especially against a human opponent), but also detrimental (if you’re not attentive to your Smiley Face and pitch count).
* Fighting Spirit – Makes the ball seem heavier (i.e. harder for hitters to launch high fly balls, see “Heavy or Light Pitch” above). Toughness attribute increases to 3.5 if player's toughness is less than 4. Also cancels out “Intimidator” (see above) if the batter has it. This ability activates only when pitcher's in-game ERA is < 2.00, their team is leading by less than 3 runs, and he isn't tired.
* Power Allocation – You tend to make stronger/better pitches to the top of the lineup and weaker ones to the bottom.

- In-depth stat tracking:
Stat lovers rejoice, for Power Pros features some of the most in-depth stat tracking in videogames. One thing I enjoy is the post game pitch analysis screen:

16.jpg


The image above shows a chart for all the pitches thrown by the pitching staff in the played game. You can further filter the chart to a specific pitcher, and even replay their entire pitch sequence in order and the game will report the result (foul tip, swing and miss, strikeout, groundout to short, single to right field, etc).

There's other screens covering box scores, a chart for analyzing batting results, and more.

Season Mode

49.jpg


In the original MLB Pawapuro game, this was called "GM Mode," this is a franchise mode spanning multiple seasons (max of 10). I never did manage to play through a full season in the first game myself, as my Japanese skills are pretty crappy.

Beyond playing a team throughout the course of a season, you also handle many front-office and management tasks as well, many not found in other baseball games. You'll find your standard features here such as making trades, moving players between your club and the AAA affiliate, manage-only mode (similar to MVP 05, with the option to jump into the game at any time), end-of-season awards, and managing salaries, but also some new things including:

-Player training:

52.jpg


You can put various players in various drills to improve specific stats. There's batting practice, baserunning practice, fielding practice, and two practices for pitchers (one for improving top speed/stamina/control, the other for working on breaking pitches). You can also choose to specifically group certain players together during these practices, which may alter the effectiveness of the training depending on how well they all get along. Practices are also affected by...

-Training equipment:
You can purchase equipment to try and improve your training sessions. These are generic items such as bats and gloves with different star ratings that will boost the effectiveness of the associated practice. Note that these items will wear out over time, so a 3-Star bat will eventually become a 2-Star bat which gives a lower boost, etc. 1-Star items will eventually disappear.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Success Mode

21.jpg


One of the main attractions of the Pawapuro games is Success Mode, which is a RPG-esque mode where you create a new player trying to make it to the big leagues. It's not the same thing as MLB The Show's "Road to the Show" mode, as that would be more comparable to Pawapuro's "My Life" mode (though at a basic level, as My Life has way more story than Road to the Show), which unfortunately is not in the MLB games.

If you've been playing the recently released Persona 3, you may be able to compare this mode to that title - a life sim coupled with the "main game" (in this case, baseball). You create your player, choose a position, and customize him the way you want, so you can make a switch-hitting shortstop with a wacky high-motion batting stance or a left-handed pitcher with a 3/4 overhand delivery.

28.jpg


You'll have to choose how your create player spends his time, from what kind of training drills do you want to go through to how often you work your part-time job to earn more cash to what equipment you purchase with said cash.

27.jpg


There are a set of stats unique to Success Mode (such as strength or quickness) that help determine how much your regular stats (i.e. power, run speed, etc). As you do well in training, your stats will increase and your stamina will go down. Each stat will require a different set of training drills to increase them, i.e. to improve power do more strength training. One stat that made it's Pawapuro debut in the last MLB game is "Guts" (looks like they're calling it "Mentality" in the US version?). This stat works as an experience modifier and helps you get better results in other training exercises. This stat can also be improved by a mental training drill, and is also affected by other events such as winning or losing games, or getting paid.

34.jpg


Practicing too much when you're vitality is low increase the chances of injury, forcing you to spend time recovering - meaning time lost that could have been used for training for the next big game!

30.jpg


There's plenty of social interaction in this mode as you interact with teammates, rivals from other teams, your coaching staff, the media, and more. How you respond to these will lead you to different paths, some of which will give you more opportunities to improve your stats.

During actual baseball games, you'll only be controlling your player unless you become captain of your team. So you'll be only taking your at-bats, or pitching when the coach puts you in (note that you'll only pitch if there's a runner on base, otherwise your pitching is simulated...at least this is how it worked in the last MLB game, hopefully we get full control this year). If someone in your infield makes an error and costs you the game, those are the breaks. If you become team captain, everything works as above until the 8th inning, where you have full and complete control of your team for the remainder of the game.

The big reward for completing Success Mode is that your player will then be available to include on any MLB roster in the other game modes. Even better, you can further improve your created player's stats in Season Mode through the various practices and training options there!

Finishing Success Mode also gives you a password code for the player you just created, which you can then share with any other owner of the game so they can add your created player to their rosters!

As mentioned above in the Concerns section, this is the only way to create players in the game, so it may seem tedious for some people who want to quickly create a bunch of new players.

Create-A-Team

44.jpg


You can create your own custom teams using existing or created players. Standard fare for baseball games.

Home Run Challenge

89.jpg


62.jpg


What's a baseball game without a Home Run Derby? Choose a player from any team, including created players, and try to earn as many points as possible. More distance per home run = more points.

Practice Mode

Even the practice modes in the Pawapuro games stand out from other games. There's several different modes available...

61.jpg


In batting practice you choose any batter then any pitcher you want to practice against. You set what kinds of pitches you want thrown (i.e. only fastballs, only breaking balls, a mix of everything, etc) and off you go. While batting practice is continuous, there's a sort of mini-game that happens as well where you try to score as many points as possible for a set of 20 (I think, might be 10) pitches. Anything that would end up as a hit (singles, doubles, triples, home runs) give you a number of points, the better the hit the more points you get. There's also a little meter during batting practice that shows you your timing and how much you're off by in your swing (i.e. you swung 2 seconds too early). You can ignore the mini-game if all you want to do is swing away of course.

Pitching practice is the same thing - you can pitch for as long as you want, but there's a little mini-game where you have to try and hit a target.

65.jpg


This is kinda neat, and is used for fielding practice. You can set the trajectory of a hit ball with the meters shown above, so you can practice fielding literally any type of hit. Do you have issues with hard line drivers that carom in the right-field corner of AT&T Park? Set it up here and practice away.

66.jpg


The above pic is from baserunning practice, and lets you practice with the controls for advancing and retreating base runners. You choose how many base runners you want on the diamonds (max of 4 of course), advancing a runner home lowers the amount by 1.

General Offensive practice basically plays out like a real game, except there are no outs and you're always at-bat. You choose yours teams, set your lineups, and go at it. Same deal with General Defensive except you're always in the field instead of at-bat.

Wii Remote Mode

79.jpg


Exclusive to the Wii version only of course, it looks like these are the same modes that they included in the J-League version of Pawapuro that came out a few months ago. This is basically Wii Sports baseball, except that you can play with MLB players and teams (and created players/teams of course) in addition to your Miis. So if you ever wanted your Mii to take Carlos Zambrano deep, now's your chance.

Concerns

Long-time Pawapuro veterans are well aware of the declining quality of the last few Pawapuro games, but the MLB games are developed by a separate team and the first MLB Pawapuro game managed to avoid many of the larger gaffes seen in the mainline series. There were still a number of minor bugs and issues, but there are a few notable concerns.

- Inaccurate player stats and batting lineups:
This is a biggie with this game being released in the US. In last year's game, it looked like Konami simply looked at the end of season stats for each player and assigned stats accordingly without looking at career performance or season context, so injured players like Thome were given a C for power because of their low HR total. As a result, this affected batting lineups as the CPU tries to setup an optimal batting order with these skewed player stats. They might have been able to get away with this last year with their Japan-only release, but this isn't going to fly at all in the US.

Update: Now that a full edit mode has been confirmed in the US version, this is less of an issue since we can now fix bad stats. However, this will take a lot of work if you don't want to wait for an "ultimate roster" file to be posted.

- In-game commentary:
Last year's game actually had an option for English commentary, and the results are sub-par compared to western baseball games - the stitching was pretty obvious and resulted in many lines sounding off due to frequent changes in tone and speed. To be fair, since the game was a Japanese-only release there wasn't a need for Konami to polish this up, but with a US release this year hopefully they'll clean this up with 2K's involvement.

- No true player-edit mode:
The only way to create players is through the Success Mode, with no way to edit existing players. Many of the stat issues mentioned above could have been easily addressed with an Edit mode, but the only real way to do it is to completely replace a player by creating them from scratch, playing them through all of Success Mode, then replacing the original player on the appropriate team roster.


Full edit mode is confirmed in the US version! Above still applies to the Japanese version though.

Previews/Impressions
Gaming-Age Preview
Gaming-Age Screenshots
Gamespot Preview
Wii Screenshots from Inside-Games.JP
PS2 Screenshots from Inside-Games.JP

Reviews
IGN - 8.4/10 (Wii)
The gameplay is arcade-like and simplistic, but still a strong enough balance of pure pitching, fielding, and batting. You aren’t losing the control you get in new MLB games; you’re just loosing the complicated feel of more recent next-generation controls that – quite frankly – don’t need to be there. Baseball doesn’t need guess pitch systems, golf-meter sliding bars, or overly-intricate base running to be good. MLB Power Pros balances simple, classic controls with tons of customization, a fun-loving style, and more bang for your buck than the majority of sports games out there. It’s hands-down the best baseball game on Wii, and a no-brainer for sports fans.
Cheat Code Central - 4.5/5 (Wii)
MLB Power Pros is a great game. From the ultra-engrossing success mode to the unexpectedly deep season mode, there's a lot to love about this game. I'm very proud of 2K for localizing this game and finally bringing this Japanese hit stateside. Sure, it was a risk, but I think it paid off in the form of a unique and memorable sports title. If you give this one a chance, I'm almost certain you will enjoy it.
Gamespy - 4/5 (PS2)
MLB Power Pros is an excellent alternative to the other baseball games on the market, especially friendly to those who aren't very keen on sports but who may enjoy the strategic options that the game offers up. The RPG is delightful to play, and the game's visual style is an excellent way to attract friends to the game who may otherwise want to pass on anything sports-related. After all, who can pass up on watching 'lil Manny Ramirez, or the most adorable Big Papi you've ever seen knocking balls over the fence? There are more in-depth options available, of course, and obviously more impressive-looking games from a technical standpoint. But MLB Power Pros is a lot of fun, and quite accessible. That the game has just enough depth to satisfy a baseball fan's need for stats and realism is just icing on the cake.
GamesRadar - 8/10 (Wii)
As you can tell, this is not your average baseball game. That may be what makes MLB Power Pros such a refreshing change of pace. While hardcore baseball fans may be turned off by its cutesy style, MLB Power Pros is fun, and that's what matters. Give it a swing.
Gameshark - A- (Wii) (Metacritic lists it as a 91/100)
MLB Power Pros is a must-own baseball game. The price is a bargain ($39 for Wii) and you could be playing this game alone all the way to next opening day.
AtomicGamer - 90/100 (Wii)
Overall, Power Pros is one of the most complete baseball games out there and, provided the super-deformed character looks don't bug you, there's a lot of fun to be had here. This is one of the most “complete” games on the Wii to date – and at only 40 bucks instead of the normal 50 dollar price point.
1up.com - 8.5/10 (Wii)
Baseball's biggest surprise this season isn't the Colorado Rockies winning nearly every game they've played down the stretch and in the playoffs -- it's that the best baseball game of the season just came out. MLB 2K7 on Xbox 360 and PS3 looks the part, MLB 07: The Show on PS2 plays it, but MLB Power Pros is a kiddie-styled import that comes out of left field all the way from the Far East and topples the perennial powers.
1up.com - 8.5/10 (PS2)
There's no question the PS2's sports outlook is bleak; most games are trending toward roster updates as the main addition, leaving the gameplay as is. But MLB Power Pros rallies to make the system briefly relevant again, though we're crossing our fingers this hits the PS3 and 360 next season.
Gamespot - 8/10 (PS2, Wii)
The PS2 version costs 10 dollars less, while the Wii version offers slightly quicker load times and lets you save your data to the system memory. Otherwise, both versions of the game look, sound, and play the same. Much ado has been made about the Wii version's support for the remote's motion-sensing capability, but it's really not that compelling of a feature since it's restricted to exhibition games and home run derbies. Simply put, get the game for whichever system you play the most. It's a fantastic choice for anyone in the market for a fun-loving alternative to all of the other hardball sims out there, and one that doesn't skimp on statistical and physical realism in its pursuit of goofiness.
OperationSports review - 9/10 (Wii)
Many avoided this game due to the look, and I was almost one of them. After a bunch of games and trying almost every game mode, I can say without a doubt, this is my favorite baseball game of the year. The Show is great, no question, but it takes about an hour to complete a game. I get into MLB Power Pros and whip through a game in 20 minutes. Sure, I don't have to warm up bullpen pitchers, but is it really that important? How annoying is it when you've forgotten to warm up a pitcher and then they come in cold? Come on, I know I'm not the only one to ever do that!

I know the forums may explode with those comments, but as I've gotten older, games have been more and more about fun. This game just combines the two - fun and realism. If you are a baseball fan, and you own a Wii (it's also on the PS2, but I have not played that version), this is a must own. If 2K Sports could figure out how to put all of the features and gameplay from this title to their flagship MLB2K series, then they would be gold. Until then, play MLB Power Pros and be happy.
Gaming-Age - A- (Wii)
Getting past the presentation of MLB Power Pros is not easy. We've become accustomed to fairly realistic sports games. But we've also become numb to how poorly sports games represent the real thing. Power Pros is definitive proof that baseball can be recreated on a console. The game is fun, consistent, accurate and is, in every way, baseball. Over the course of nine innings and several seasons, it's clear that Konami knows baseball better than any other developer.

GameRankings - Wii
GameRankings - PS2

Videos
Official US trailer
Official Japanese trailer
Clip showing some training and character interaction in Success Mode.
Short gameplay clip of Cardinals vs Cubs, shows 2 at-bats.
Short clip of the beginning of a game with the Giants vs A's, shows 1 at-bat.
Japanese Wii Gameplay vid 1, off-screen capture from TGS
Japanese Wii Gameplay vid 2, off-screen capture from TGS

Videos from previous Pawapuro games:

Pawapuro 13 clip showing some pitcher/batter matchups.
Pawapuro 11 clip showing some more pitcher/batter matchups
Pawapuro chant creator/editor (unlikely to be in the MLB games)
Pawapuro clip showing two created teams playing each other in Watch Mode (CPU vs CPU). You can hear various custom created chants in this clip (i.e. Popeye, SMB underground theme)
Pawapuro OP montage created from the OPs of Pawapuro 8 - 13 (uses Pawapuro 10 OP music)
Pawapuro 13 OP sequence
Pawapuro 11 OP sequence
Pawapuro 10 OP sequence
Pawapuro 9 OP sequence
 
D

Deleted member 284

Unconfirmed Member
Geez, I knew the game was deep, but damn. I think XiaNaphryz probably wrote a thread better than any booklet insert that Konami/Take 2 was planning for this game. :lol My first Baseball game purchase (since Baseball on the Odyssey 2)
 

kamikaze

Member
distantmantra said:
I'm all over supporting Power Pro in North America, but why did they have to mess with the character models?!?

if you're talking about this picture, this is only in wii mode since it uses miis.


79.jpg
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
Awesome awesome thread.

Will be picking this up.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
BrodiemanTTR said:
You ever wonder why 2K Sports is pubbing this and not Konami?
Not really, I was simply stating it for those who might not be aware...perhaps my phrasing isn't clear?

Konami's alternative would be to work a deal with a first-party publisher instead, which would mean either Sony or Nintendo and thus restricting one version from being released over here.
 

kamikaze

Member
BrodiemanTTR said:
You ever wonder why 2K Sports is pubbing this and not Konami?

because take-2/2k sports has the exclusive north american mlb 3rd party license which doesn't apply in japan...pretty much what the OP mentioned.
 

Rat Salad

Banned
65.jpg


Mota about to be taken deep.:/
Anyways,looks kinda cute,reminds me of the old R.B.I. baseball days.
Its weird seeing this now though,I just bought MLB'07 last night from Ebay.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Moor-Angol said:
i have the japanese version, so i can use this topic as a FAQ

Thanks XiaNaphryz for all the information you provided to us :)
To be clear, you have the J-League game, not the japanese version of the MLB one. But yeah, there's several things that are common between the games. :)
 
D

Deleted member 284

Unconfirmed Member
titiklabingapat said:
This one didn't sell that well on both the PS2/Wii.
Doesn't this version (MLB) come out on the 4thof October?
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
I think he's referring to the last Pawapuro games release a few months ago (Jikkyou Pawapuro Yakyuu 14 (PS2) / Jikkyou Pawapuro Yakyuu Wii).

Unfortunately the mainline series has been on a bit of a downswing recently (see my Concerns section in the main posts), which likely explains the lower sales.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Fatalah said:
I think this game can be done very effectively on the DS. I would love a good baseball game on the DS.
There's a long history of the franchise on portables actually. There's a few DS games and PSP games out, and it's been on the Game Boy platforms forever.



PA.32438.003.jpg

 

FFSabin

Member
PawaPuro 2 on PSP DOES NOT have a success/my life mode.

PawaPuro Koushien on DS was really fun... since you work as a coach in a high school for 10 years, all I did was build up a strong team every 3 years. 4 title wasn't bad at all! :D
 

itxaka

Defeatist
could there be an arcade port of this game???

i remember playing a baseball game years ago (1999 maybe?) with deformed players like that on an arcade. Yo had this little guys and sometimes big guys that broke the bat when gived a 3-strike out.
 

allen1982

Banned
XiaNaphryz this is an awesome thread, i think u probably helped 2K/Konami sell a few copies :D :D i am definitely going to get the Japanese version though, I have a feeling 2K made more changes than just the graphics, they probably made the hitting easier so kids could play it
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
...okay... stupid, stupid question(s) time...

1) Who made the old Extra Innings game for the SNES?
2) Some of the Power Pro stuff reminds me a lot of Extra Innings -- am I nuts, or are they similar (somewhat) in gameplay styles?

I loved Extra Innings (and I -hate- most sports video games), so I'm curious...
 

AlternativeUlster

Absolutely pathetic part deux
Holy crap, this is a well informed thread. I will add this to my list of games to get. I loved WiiSports' Baseball alot and this looks like it might take the cake and be the full game version of it. Do you know if you can make your entire team full of Miis so say if I was going to play a full season with a bunch of friends, we could do that?
 

allen1982

Banned
If this is anything like the previous Japanese version on the Wii, then no, you cannot use a Mii team in Season. In the previous Japanese version of the Wii Power Pro game, you could only use Mii during Wiimote mode, and you can only play Exhibition and Homerun derby in Wiimote mode
 

allen1982

Banned
Gamespot has 3 videos up on MLB Power Pros

...and it is looking good. The pitch speed looks good, the new fielding camera looks good, and my god, the video included Hit by Pitch and Mistake Pitch, 2 things missing in the latest Power Pros for Wii (actually there hasn't been a hit by pitch in the Japanese Power Pros for years which is lame)!!!!!!!!
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Thanks for catching that, it looks like the English announcer is the same guy from last year's game. Sounds a bit better, but not up-to-par with the standards set by US games. It also looks like they're using rosters from the beginning of the season.

I've updated the Movies section with links to these new clips.

Clip showing some training and character interaction in Success Mode.
Short gameplay clip of Cardinals vs Cubs, shows 2 at-bats.
Short clip of the beginning of a game with the Giants vs A's, shows 1 at-bat.
 

allen1982

Banned
I am finally home from work so I can watch the videos with sounds, and you are right, it is the same dude from last year!! oh jesus...another reason to get the Japanese version right there and another negative to scare away new players in the US...but anywho, if people can't look past the sound and graphics for the deep gameplay, it is their loss, but 2K Sports should've thought of this before they ported it over here
 

Bluecondor

Member
I don't think the announcer is that bad. Besides - if you compare the crowd and the stadium animations (e.g., the buses driving outside of Wrigley Field in the one in-game video) to most sports titles - Power Pros seems much more lively and energetic than games like MLB2K7 and most Madden games. Hell - this announcer is already way more lively than the bland radio announcer in Madden.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
While the announcer doesn't sound too bad in the clips on Gamespot, anyone that's played last year's game knows he can sound pretty dreadful at times due to the lack of variation and the inconsistent tone used, so you see stuff like "IT'S A DEEP BALL HIT TO CENTER...fielded by...Edmonds. ThrowToSecond...HE'S SAFE WITH A DOUBLE!"

It may turn out okay this year, but I'm keeping expectations low to be safe.
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Gah, no idea how I missed this...Gamespot has a preview up. Should've guessed after seeing the new clips posted. I don't agree with the previewer continually calling this an "arcade" game though. Updated the Previews section with the new link!
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
DavidDayton said:
...okay... stupid, stupid question(s) time...

1) Who made the old Extra Innings game for the SNES?
2) Some of the Power Pro stuff reminds me a lot of Extra Innings -- am I nuts, or are they similar (somewhat) in gameplay styles?

I loved Extra Innings (and I -hate- most sports video games), so I'm curious...
According to Wiki, that game was made by Sony Imagesoft.
 

allen1982

Banned
no useful info so far, new stuff:

- spin on the breaking balls can be seen now (you can notice this in the GameSpot videos)
- there are hitter hot zones now
- not sure what this means, but it says there are 5 levels of lock-on, maybe level 5 lock on will be so fast that all you have to do is time the button press, and level 1 lock-on is no lock on at all, who knows.

everything else is similar to the last PawaMajor as far as i remember
 

XiaNaphryz

LATIN, MATRIPEDICABUS, DO YOU SPEAK IT
Some initial reaction from the JapaneseBaseball.com Video Game forum:

BigManZam said:
Official site is now up. Link is at the top of the thread. No new information, but there are a few small pics to look at.

I'm following the 2ch thread right now. One thing they're talking about is the fact that the American version is going to sell for 29.99 and the Japanese one will sell for around 65 dollars. As someone living in the US with an American PS2, this is great news to me. Japanese fans feel a bit ripped off, though. They feel that the American version is half priced, has facial graphics, possibly it's own presentation style, and possibly an edit mode. Needless to say, they think Konami is taking their home base for granted. I've been saying this for the past couple years.
 
Top Bottom