The power is in your hands — literally. What you do with it is all on you.
For MLB the Show 16, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) wanted to make it a conscious choice to credit gamers who are more accurate batters and pitchers. Thus, its overhaul of the new precision input gameplay engine, which governs every pitching and batting method throughout the game online and offline, is described to Game Informer by SCE San Diego's Ramone Russell.
"So, what we've done is we have really prioritized user skill over everything," Russell told Game Informer, as part of a 30-minute video about new features of the game. "What would happen in previous games is you'd be playing and you'd be like, 'Man I squared up on that ball, I thought I hit it hard and it's a pop-up or bad fly ball.' Now, when you square up on the ball and make good contact, you're more often than not going to get good results."
That being said, Russell wants to make sure that gamers don't get carried away with their expectations.
"It doesn't mean you're going to hit 60 home runs and it does not mean you're going to bat .600," he added. "That's just archaic baseball. That's not us."
That being said, your input and gamers' individual skills will come into play, whether it's being patient enough at the plate to get an apt pitch to swing at or painting corners with pinpoint location with your pitches from the mound.
"Your input is going to mean a lot more now, and it will mean a lot more in the positive and negative, so if you're more accurately pitching, the pitching is going to go more where you want them to go," Russell continued.
The balance with that is if you swung too early or wildly in previous titles within the series, it's likely going to get tougher for you with this year's installment. The same can be said for pitchers who throw wildly and fail to pitch with accuracy and location ... you're going to be in trouble with MLB the Show 16.
Take a look at more of the new features of the highly-anticipated game, hitting stores March 29, below.
