We are proud to present our interview with Eddy Cramm, Sr. Designer for MLB ’06: The Show.

Eddy Cramm: Let me begin by saying that when we began working on MLB '06: The Show, the key goals the team wanted to achieve were based on mainly feedback from our consumers but also the drive from our internal design group to continue to build upon the success of the franchise. See, the MLB franchise is the longest running officially licensed baseball franchise on PlayStation platforms and widely considered the most authentic baseball simulation available. And based on that, we are never quite satisfied and always striving to be the best -- to have the best gameplay, the best gameplay options and modes, the best broadcast simulation, the best replay value, the best product available on the market, but also, we want to make sure that the game is easy to pick up and play, yet difficult to master -- and ultimately to make sure the game is FUN!.

Operation Sports: Has the check swing feature been refined at all? Last year it was tough to accomplish and it also seemed kind of random whether it was called a strike or check swing.

Eddy Cramm: The window of opportunity for check swings has been expanded a bit this year. We were very careful to make sure it was not overdone because too big of a window will result in check swings when you actually intended to swing. It does take some getting used to, but you will find that it is very controllable.

Operation Sports: With regards to fielding, the clips still do not show any arc to throws made by players; they arrive on a straight line. Will this be addressed?

Eddy Cramm: There are definitely throws with arc on them. The ball flight is based on real physics, so arcing will happen if the ball needs to travel a certain distance. Typically a throw across the diamond will be thrown pretty flat which is true of the real game, but if you have an outfielder trying to throw home, or to a far base (like RF to 3B), you will most definitely see an arc. Of course part of this has to do with how much power the gamer puts into a throw. Tapping the button will result in a softer but more accurate throw, while holding the button will result in a harder throw with more of a chance of it being offline. The appearance of flatness might also be from the camera angle. If you go into replay and look, you will see that the ball travels on appropriate lines.

Operation Sports: Will the pitchers be able to field any hits instead of getting out of the way of the ball?

Eddy Cramm: We have specifically added animations (and the ability) for the pitcher to field comebackers and get off the mound in time to field weak grounders or bunts. This is something you will see a lot more of this year because there is a better variety of hits in the game. One of the improvements we have made was to create more weak grounders, flares, and jam shots depending on the timing of the swing, and where on the bat the ball hits. It really gives the sense that the pitcher can beat the batter in other ways than strikeouts.

Operation Sports: The SS and 2B range seems to be very high, has this been addressed?

Eddy Cramm: The opinion on fielding range has been something that seems to differ from person to person. Some will say that they cover too much ground, while other will say the opposite. We have stayed true to our simulation roots and base the player range on statistical information. We use each individual players RF (range factor) and ZR (zone rating) supplied to us by Stats, Inc to calculate these distances and efficiencies.

Operation Sports: Is the new Cardinals Park in the game?

Eddy Cramm: Yes. Would you expect anything less? The new park was completely modeled. It looks fantastic with the surrounding buildings and the arch in the background. Looks like Cards fans will have a great place to watch baseball.

Operation Sports: Are there any new crowd chants?

Eddy Cramm: Yes, to go along with our Progressive Broadcast with Situational Awareness, which adapts to current situations, and the addition of Rex Hudler joining Matt Vasgersian and Dave Campbell for a new Three-Man Booth, we’ve also added more team crowd chants, so that each team has at least two specific chants. We also have recorded more player specific chants, which will bring more life and intelligence to the stadium crowd.

Operation Sports: How many batter routines are there in this year's version? Which players have had new routines added?

Eddy Cramm: The number of our already extensive list of batter routines, along with individual walkups and pitching windups has grown to over 750 animations.

Operation Sports: Can you expand on the new online feature set?

Eddy Cramm: For a complete package of unprecedented online options, MLB’06 The Show now offers head-to-head gameplay for King of the Diamond to go along with 32-team tournaments, live sports tickers, downloadable rosters, instant messaging, buddy lists and more. Additionally, the implementation of a new online news service provides users with MLB updates on news and events from around the league or their favorite team. And, for the PSP version, sports fanatics can utilize the new online news service to get the latest MLB news feeds online or save them to the Memory Stick Duo™ to review offline at their convenience for news on the go. Also, our Sports Connect community allows for interaction between PS2 and PSP gamers. Everyone can communicate with each other in this same community through chat, IM, email and buddy lists. Sports Connect will also introduce a new icon bar that gives the gamer immediate notification of a game challenge, instant message, or buddy list notification. No longer will the gamer have to sit in a room and wait for a game, he can now cruise around the Sports Connect community freely and never miss a thing.

Operation Sports: Is there a fielding mode that allows players to control the throws without having to control defensive player movement?

Eddy Cramm: Yes, we do have that option. In our gameplay options we have a full list of adjustments that you can make depending on your preferences. Fielding Assist has three options alone. Manual, Auto, and Assist. Assist will start to lead the play in the correct direction but requires you to take over the action early on in the play. Those options can be combined with our Auto Throwing option (ON/OFF) to get the desired control. We also include Auto Baserunning and Auto Sliding as options as well.

Operation Sports: If you could point out two things that stand out about the game, what would they be and why?

Eddy Cramm: Only two?!? Why not just ask me to bunt when you know I'm a perennial homerun threat like our cover athlete, David Ortiz?

Anyway, I think if you ask 10 different people here in the office, you might get 10 different answers, but my choices would have to be gameplay and depth.

The gameplay is very balanced and realistic that it is both fun and competitive. MLB 06: The Show has a strong lineage when it comes to gameplay and seamless animations, but this one is definitely the best to date.

With all of the different gameplay modes, you can actually spend a fun afternoon on this title without every playing a game. I personally love simulating through season, franchise, or career mode trying to win just by making managerial or front office decisions. Also, the addition of King of the Diamond as a mini-game creates even more depth and replay value. But depth is not limited to our game modes. With the Situational Awareness, you will see new presentations and hear new audio specific to where you are in a game or in a season to keep you feeling like every game is a new experience.

I have to add in our online play as well. It plays so smoothly and the completely new interface is so much easier to deal with that I am sure that online will be a very popular feature with gamers. And yes, I know that was three things.

Operation Sports: Will we be able to select either or both teams’ jerseys during the franchise mode?

Eddy Cramm: No. Jersey selection in franchise mode is done automatically.

Operation Sports: Will Wrigley Field be updated with the bleacher expansion and the new "hole in the wall" like SBC Park where fans can see in from outside the park?

Eddy Cramm: Unfortunately I have to answer this with a “no”. We really pushed to get detailed information about the plans but were unable to get anything definitive in time, and feel that guessing would be worse than keeping things as they were for one more season. This goes back to our mantra that we want to be the most authentic baseball simulation available. That being said, we of course, will have it in for next year. We do however have plenty of other stadium updates. The seat expansion and press box changes in Boston, the dugout changes in Los Angeles (the one that is actually IN Los Angeles), and the fence changes in KC and San Diego are some examples.

Operation Sports: Will there be any connectivity between the PS2 and PSP versions of the game, i.e., can you play your PS2 season games on the PSP and vice-versa?

Eddy Cramm: The connectivity that exists between the PS2 and the PSP is in our “Sports Connect” the online community. You can now interact across the two platforms through all of the rooms, through email, or through the new Instant Messenger or new Buddy List systems. Basically our online community does not separate the PS2 player from the PSP player. Everyone interacts together in the “Sports Connect” community. The only limitation is when you attempt to challenge someone for a game. You have to be on the same platform for that. But we are working on it! 

As for the career mode question, we have added a Career mode to the PSP this year, but it stands on its own and is not compatible with the PS2 version. But we are working on that as well.

Operation Sports: Will the game support 480P this year? Last year it was only widescreen.

Eddy Cramm: Not this year. This year's game will only support widescreen.

Operation Sports: Will an "Announced Name Data Base" be offered for edited and created players?

Eddy Cramm: Because our focus was to expand on our situational awareness, play-by-play and color commentator script, we didn’t get a chance to fit the “Announced Name Data Base” into the game. This is on our “to do” list, so look out for that in next year’s game.

Operation Sports: Has the roster bug (i.e. pitchers hitting clean up) been fixed?

Eddy Cramm: Any bugs that were found in last year’s game were addressed as first priority.

Operation Sports: Will weather conditions be in this year’s game, such as rain, snow, etc.? How will it affect the gameplay?

Eddy Cramm: We do not have weather in our game. We have had discussions for the potential of rainouts causing double headers in our multi-game modes, and potentially even rain causing a game to be called early. The strategy behind trying to get 5 innings in, or having to be more aggressive in order to score runs before the game is called, sounds very interesting. It is something we are looking into. We do however have the “Coors Field effect”. The ball will travel 9% farther in Denver.

Operation Sports: Have the roster options been improved in MLB this year, and if so, what new additions can we expect?

Eddy Cramm: We have opened up the CPU rosters. What we ended up with was a system that allows you to do just about everything for each team. It is an option you need to switch on in the game mode entry, and once you do, you are responsible for keeping the CPU rosters up to date and in order. The items we give you full control over are: Player Movement (freely move any player to any team), Lineups, Defensive Positioning, Rotation, Inactive roster, and Send down / Call up.

Operation Sports: Did you add any more pitch types (ex.sliders)?

Eddy Cramm: If they throw it in the Bigs, we have it in our game. 4-seam fastball, 2-seam fastball, Slider, Sinker, Changeup, Circle change, Forkball, Knuckleball, Slurve, Splitter, Cutter, Palmball, Knuckle-curve, and Screwball. And of course, all pitches react exactly how they do in the real game. Of course, some are more vicious than others depending on who is throwing it.

Operation Sports: Have you improved the CPU pitcher control? What does the ball/strike ratio look like?

Eddy Cramm: This is something that we continue to improve on a yearly basis. We base our pitchers’ pitch selections and locations on actual statistical information. You will see that pitchers who are commonly aggressive or pitchers who try to make a batter chase will be reflected that way in our game as well. So the better you know your opposing pitcher’s true life strategy, the better prepared you are to face him in MLB 06: The Show. We also have added a feature in our CPU options menu called ‘Pitch Count’. You can affect the CPU’s choices to try and pitch more aggressively or nibble the corners with this adjuster.

Operation Sports: Will we ever see authentic batting styles of the legends in the game?

Eddy Cramm: In addition to all of the core game and current day animation additions, we have added close to 40 authentic batting styles for our Cooperstown legends.

Operation Sports: Has the collision detection been fixed in the stadiums?

Eddy Cramm: Yes.

Operation Sports: Will we be able to play online with multiple views, such as the outfield batting view?

Eddy Cramm: Not this year. The way it works now, both parties of an online game must play in the same camera for things to work properly. Since that is the case, it is easier to only allow the default camera instead of creating problems with one player trying to change to a different camera, and the other complaining about it.

Operation Sports: Are there any changes to EyeToy functionality?

Eddy Cramm: The basic functionality is the same, but we have just made improvements to the process.

Operation Sports: What’s new in career mode?

Eddy Cramm: Our enhanced Career Mode incorporates an all-new Career Spotlight underscoring all of the accomplishments and failures during your career and showcases them in the limelight. You still call the shots but now the ramifications of your actions are documented. It’s up to you to determine whether your reel consists of highlights or miscues. Additionally, the All-New Progressive Broadcast adapts and utilizes game-specific presentations tailored to your career spotlight player as the season progresses.

Operation Sports: We are all looking forward to the 40-man rosters; do the active rosters expand in September from 25 to 40?

Eddy Cramm: Not this year.... But we will consider it for next year.

Operation Sports: What will be the main difference between the PSP and PS2 versions of the game?

Eddy Cramm: What is impressive with the PSP version of our game isn’t with what is different, but what is the same. The PSP plays as smoothly as its PS2 brother, looks as good as anything you have seen on the PSP, and now has added features like Career Mode and King of the Diamond to give it an all new level of depth. Exclusive to the PSP is the “News to Go” feature. Through “Sports Connect” and our relationship with MLB.com, you can download the latest headlines for the league and for all 31 teams to your memory stick and read the latest news on the anywhere at your convenience.

Operation Sports: What are your plans for the PS3?

Eddy Cramm: At this moment, we can't really divulge any specifics. There's plenty of time for that, and more info will be coming soon. Right now, we're really excited about MLB '06 The Show - as it picks up where last year’s game left off and provides fans with new core features and platform specific advancements - providing fans with the most complete baseball game made to date on any console.

Operation Sports: Have you added the feature to control more that two human teams during a season, franchise, etc. so you can play with yours buddies offline?

Eddy Cramm: No, our multi player franchise is still limited to 2 players. This something we have discussed and want to look into for future versions of the title.

Operation Sports: How have the close calls been implemented this year? Any change from last year?

Eddy Cramm: There have been a few changes to close calls this year. Players, umpires and fans will react differently in close call situations. This can also lead to ejections of players for arguing. But we did not want to make the ejections feel like they are random, so we have players rated differently so that one may be more likely to argue than another. This all falls under the category of situational awareness. I talk more about in a later answer.

Operation Sports: Has the double switch been implemented better this year?

Eddy Cramm: You’ll be happy to know that we’ve spent a lot of time improving on the flow of the double switch as well as substitutions in general. It’s a lot more intuitive than year’s past.

Operation Sports: Do we have a variable ump when it comes to calling balls and strikes?

Eddy Cramm: Yes umpires have different calls, but not just for balls and strikes. As a part of our new “Situational Awareness” one thing that happens is the umpires will recognize the importance of his safe or out call and be more demonstrative on close plays, or more casual on routine calls. Our Situational Awareness takes into account different factors that influence how players, umpires and fans may react to a play and creates reactions that are appropriate. The purpose is to create an accurate sense of excitement. Realistically, a ground ball to the SS in a 5-0 game in the 3rd inning should not have the same feel as a ground ball to the SS in the 9th inning of a tie game with the bases loaded and 2 outs. For the first time, with Situational Awareness, you will feel the difference.

Operation Sports: Can you make contact with the ball on a check swing?

Eddy Cramm: Absolutely. The ball and the bat work on true physics, so that if the bat is there when the ball comes through, contact can definitely happen. Not only that, but you could potentially put the ball in play, even if you didn’t intend to.

Operation Sports: Will we see any foul tip outs?

Eddy Cramm: Unfortunately you will not. The way our catcher currently reacts to fouls of any kind, this won’t happen. But it is something that we would like to see, so as soon as I finish this interview, I am going to add it to our list for next year.

Operation Sports: Will we be able to see the pitch history of the hitter's every at bat in the game? Last year you could only view their last at bat.

Eddy Cramm: This is not something that made it into this year’s game. We do, however, have design plans to include this in next year’s title.

Operation Sports: When hitting, if you were called out on a third strike, it would never reveal its location. Can we see this in the game now?

Eddy Cramm: We have not made this change. This was not ignored but we feel that showing this, even briefly, really takes away from the excitement of the presentation that tells the gamer what happened. We do understand the concern, but feel this is a better way to go for the sense of excitement in the game. That being said, going forward, we will look into creating a system that can do both.

Operation Sports: How is the ball suction when fielding, has this been addressed at all?

Eddy Cramm: We have made great improvements to the angles that the player takes and added a ton of fielding animations so that it is a lot easier to lineup the player accurately. Because of this, we were able to close the window of what is considered a reachable ball without making it too hard to field. The result is the same balanced gameplay.

Operation Sports: On a clean single will the runner round first base instead of running passed the bag and down the right field line?

Eddy Cramm: Absolutely. The players will recognize the situation and if there is no danger of being thrown out, the will take an aggressive turn at first base and decide at that point whether to continue or retreat.

Operation Sports: How many new camera angles are there?

Eddy Cramm: There are new angles in our manage-only mode and a ton of new presentation angles, but our main gameplay cameras options remain the same.

Operation Sports: Has the scoring bug with the out of town scoreboard been fixed?

Eddy Cramm: We had a couple of scoreboard issues that were addressed this year.

Operation Sports: What has been enhanced about the franchise mode? Are player contracts close to real life, more in terms of years?

Eddy Cramm: We have done a lot of general balancing to the overall mode, but the major additions are the CPU Roster Control and the all-new Off Season Free Agent bidding.

Operation Sports: All in all, the free agency and trade logic were done fairly well last year. Will we see anything new?

Eddy Cramm: The trade logic was updated a bit to make their age less of an issue – the CPU teams look at how the new player(s) effects their team compared to the old player(s) did, takes into consideration the phase they are in (regular, rebuilding, or win now) and make their decision on weather or not the trade benefits their current or future position.

As stated above, the Free Agent Bidding is all new this year. Gone is the simplistic sign whoever you want to a contract so long as he agrees to it… This year we have a full biding season where Free Agents will mull over contracts and teams before they make their ultimate decision. Some will sign for money, others a chance to win, others still to play for a team they like. This adds a whole new dynamic to the off-season transactions.

Operation Sports: We would like to thank you for your time with this interview, is there anything else you would like to add?

Eddy Cramm: I just want to thank everyone for the interest in MLB 06: The Show, the only first party Major League Baseball game available on the PS2 and the PSP. The game will be on the shelves this March and you will see what we are so excited about. Also, if you are reading this, you made it all the way to the bottom of this Q&A session, so I would like to thank you for that. 

Although I think this had more questions than when I took the SAT’s, it is nice to know that there is such interest out there. So, please, keep the questions, comments, and complaints coming. We, the MLB 06: The Show development team, value all of it.