Batting systems in baseball video games are constantly changing. When developers do change them, they tend to implement systems that either completely reinvent how users hit the ball or repeatedly refine the hitting experience that is already available.

From the simple button presses present in RBI Baseball to the more intricate right-analog stick system present in MLB 2K9, hitting systems have never remained exactly the same for very long. Like many other video games, as the technology has improved, hitting systems in baseball video games have become increasingly more challenging.

While it would take too long to detail each baseball video game’s batting system -- from RBI Baseball to MLB 2K9 -- I intend to look at the evolution of batting systems in a few key baseball games today.

The Old-School King of Baseball Video Games: RBI Baseball

One of the first baseball games released, and certainly one that is still recognized as one of the most fun baseball games to date, is RBI Baseball, which was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988.

Considering the fact that it was released so long ago, it is understandable that the game has a very simplistic, one-button approach to hitting. The user simply holds down the A button to swing the bat, along with having the ability to move the batter around in the batter’s box before the pitch is thrown. The system was and still is effective as well as easy to use.

One of the Best Batter-Pitcher Interfaces: High Heat Baseball 2000

3DO’s now-defunct baseball series always had one of the most impressive batter-pitcher interfaces in any baseball game available. For hitting, users are given the opportunity to guess which pitch is coming -- and the location of said pitch -- all before it leaves the pitcher’s hand. Another feature of the hitting system is the ability to move the player’s bat in the zone in order to make better contact with the pitch. While it is still possible to make solid contact with a pitch by simply pressing one button, it gives users a new level of control over their swing location, and, at the time, represented a step forward for batting systems in baseball video games.

The Challenge of Cursors: All-Star Baseball '99

All-Star Baseball '99 represented a huge leap forward in terms of batting systems for gamers when it was released in May 1998 on the Nintendo 64.

The game challenges users to match an on-screen batting cursor with the location of the pitch as it comes towards the plate. It was and is very challenging, but it is always very rewarding when you make solid contact with the ball.

At this point in history, a cursor system was new to baseball games, and it was a welcome sight since it got you away from the same one-button system that many other games were still employing.

The Hitter’s Eye: MVP Baseball 2005

Widely regarded as one of the best baseball games available, even to this day, MVP Baseball 2005 offered a simple yet deep batting system for consumers. The biggest innovation to the hitting system was a new feature touted as "The Hitter’s Eye."

This feature gives batters a split second to realize which type of pitch is on its way to the plate. The ball flashes one of five different colors while in the air -- white for fastballs, red for breaking pitches, green for changeups, pink for sinkers and orange for knuckle balls -- allowing the batter a chance to adjust to the pitch and hit it solidly.

The system works well and has garnered a number of fans over the years. The game also allows hitters to influence their hits towards a certain part of the field, along with influencing whether the ball is hit in the air or on the ground.

"Load and Fire Batting": MVP 06 NCAA Baseball

This game was the first of two collegiate-baseball titles released by EA Sports. The most influential aspect of the game was the new batting system that made its first appearance in it: "Load and Fire Batting." The concept was that the hitting system would mainly use the right-analog stick, only incorporating the left and right triggers to execute power and contact swings, respectively.

In this system, the user pulls back on the right-analog stick when the pitcher is about to release the ball, and then pushes forward on the right-analog stick when the ball is in the hitting zone. While this system takes some time to get used to, it is very rewarding and, at the time, breathed new life into the increasingly stale hitting systems that were in other games.

"Most Realistic Baseball Game Ever": MLB 09: The Show

The MLB: The Show series has remained relatively unchanged in terms of its hitting system during the past few years. However, this year’s game has a stronger emphasis on solid bat-on-ball contact -- assuming you want to have success at the plate. In the past, when gamers mainly just had to time their swing correctly in order to have success at the plate, MLB 09: The Show has made it more difficult for users to hit the ball solidly while using this tactic, especially on the higher difficulty levels in the game.

In this year’s game, there is a plate-coverage indicator (PCI) that is viewable after every swing. This indicator tells the user whether he or she is early or late, and also indicates what kind of contact is made on the previous pitch, ranging from a miss to making contact in the batter’s "wheelhouse." This can be viewed as a subtle change, but if you compare it to previous iterations in the series, it has actually increased the hitting difficulty in the game quite a bit, which is something many fans had been hoping for.

The Return of Zone Hitting: MLB 2K9

Following in the footsteps of the EA Sports NCAA Baseball games, MLB 2K7 also used a right-analog stick approach to hitting, which has since been refined in the most recent release, MLB 2K9. While 2K9 has made hitting the ball slightly easier by allowing the user to hold back on the right-analog stick at any time -- not specifically when the pitcher is in his windup -- it has also made hitting more complex by adding in a zone-hitting system.

The system is similar to All-Star Baseball’s because the user must line up a bat icon with the location of the ball when it crosses the plate in order to make solid contact with the ball.


Reinvention, minor tweaking and everything in between has gone on in the hitting world. The question is, what does the future hold for hitting systems?