Last week, I discussed some of the strengths and weaknesses of Visual Concepts’ Major League Baseball 2K9. This week, I will be turning my attention to the other baseball game being released on March 3rd, SCE San Diego’s MLB 09: The Show. In contrast to MLB 2K9, MLB 09: The Show is coming off of a stellar outing last year and is looking to improve upon its past efforts.

Much like MLB 2K9, MLB 09: The Show offers a very cinematic experience, and looks to be a very impressive game. However, not everything can be perfect in MLB 09’s video game baseball world. So with just days remaining until final retail copies of The Show reach OS HQ, here are some positives and negatives I have noticed in Sony’s latest baseball game.

MLB '09: The Show's lighting improvements are about as good as it gets right now.

The addition of a progressive lighting system, batting and base running training modes and a revamped, more realistic hitting system are just a few of the positives in MLB 09: The Show.

A Beautiful Sunset

Undoubtedly, the most incredible non-gameplay addition to MLB 09: The Show is its new progressive lighting system. With this system in place, night games will no longer always start in total darkness, but will instead begin with the sun sinking below the horizon. This system will create an environment where the user can see shadows stretching across the field and the stadium lights warming up. A few innings later, the sky will be much darker and the user will be able to see the lights shining brightly on the field.

It is truly amazing to see this progression take place, especially when the pitcher is partially bathed in sunlight on the mound, and the ball is hard to pick up coming out of his hand because of the shadows on the field.

Improved Hitting System and Artificial Intelligence

On the offensive side of the game, the bat speed seems to have been increased in MLB 09: The Show. This allows the user to get a slightly longer look at a pitch and affords the user the opportunity to pull more pitches than was possible in MLB 08. In the demo of MLB 09: The Show, I have seen a lot more hit types than I would have seen in last year’s game, including line drives down the lines that are now stand-up doubles and hard hits that infielders are unable to handle.

Another reason the variety of hits is possible is because of the new artificial intelligence routes for outfielders in the game. While it is not the kind of major feature that is likely to be displayed on the game’s packaging, it is nonetheless a huge gameplay improvement. It not only makes the game look more realistic, but it results in more doubles and triples because outfielders no longer take perfect, direct routes to the ball. Instead, they take a rounded approach to the ball, and play balls off-the-wall realistically.

Training Modes

New to MLB 09: The Show are training modes for hitting and base running. While they are primarily meant to be used in The Show’s career mode, Road To the Show, they can also be accessed while outside of the career mode. These modes could provide hours of extra enjoyment for consumers looking to increase their skills at the plate and on the bases, and will also allow consumers to hone their skills without having to resort to practicing in exhibition games.

Some fo the fielding and throwing animations could use some innovation.

What Is Not?

While there are many positives to be gleaned from MLB 09: The Show, there are still a few areas that could be upgraded. Unfortunately, these areas will not be changed for this year’s version, as it will be released in just a few days, but perhaps next year these areas of the game will be tweaked.

Time for the Pitching and Throwing Systems To Be Updated?

While both of these systems seem to work well in the demo of MLB 09: The Show, they have likely been tweaked over the past few years as much as possible. Though both systems produce realistic results, I believe it may be time to retire these systems and create something new in place of them.

That does not mean that the new systems should be exactly like MLB 2K9’s pitching and throwing systems, but a new system with more user control could likely be a change for the better. It is also possible that SCE San Diego is already planning to change the systems, considering pitching and fielding practice are the two modes missing from the aforementioned training modes, and both have been said to be planned for next year’s version. Perhaps the San Diego team wanted to focus on creating new pitching and throwing systems before implementing them in the training modes?

Full Day To Night Cycle

The progressive lighting system in MLB 09: The Show is fantastic, and truly adds to the immersion the user feels when playing the game. However, it would be even better to have a full day/night lighting system in place. If something like this was in place, users would be able to see night-time shadows stretching across the field in the later innings of day games -- possibly leading to the lights coming on in the stadium if a day game went into extra innings. As it stands, just the dusk to night cycle is fully dynamic.

Incorporation of Single-A Teams

The franchise mode has seen extensive enhancements in MLB 09: The Show. The user is now tasked with keeping tabs on player options, the Rule 5 draft, waivers, 40-man rosters, and much more -- all of which are significant changes to the franchise mode and are welcome changes for baseball fans. However, the game still only supports two levels of the minor leagues, Double-A and Triple-A. If next year’s game can incorporate Single-A teams as well, it will flesh out the franchise mode even more and will provide a truly accurate simulation of baseball, both in gameplay and in the managerial aspect of the sport.

MLB '09: The Show looks to improve upon last year's efforts.

Better Than Last Year?

In just a few days, MLB 09: The Show will be released, and it looks like it may have improved upon every aspect of last year’s game, which was already a huge success. Of course, there are still some changes and additions that can be made to future versions of the game to make it even more accurate. Right now, though, it appears Sony has another winner on its hands.