Is the MLB Power Pro Series Dead?

[FootballSchemer]

Doesn't surprise me...

I officially do NOT support 2k ever again

always making awful decisions...

Power Pros was a great game...

[StormJH1]

This news is terrible, but not unexpected. It was not a good omen when you only saw the $39 and $19 versions of '08 for Wii and PS2, and very little had changed with them. Even though it is licensed, I can understand how it would be hard to market. The average gamer wouldn't touch a crap game like Backyard Baseball, but PowerPros looks like that kind of game, based on concept and cover art.

All that said, the product is good enough that if they would've put actual efforts into an HD version for 360 and PS3, perhaps even seling it for $49, but getting like roster updates and other features in there, I think it could have done well over time. Particularly on PS3 where it would at least offer something different than The Show, as opposed to 2k9, which is just a crappier sim.

Nevertheless, since MLB PP 2008 has rosters that are over a year old anyway (and can't easily be updated), it's not like I was expecting any huge difference in picking up an '09 version anyway.

[ComfortablyLomb]

I find it increasingly frustrating that gamers care so much more about graphics and "wow factor" than actual gameplay. The next gen systems have really been a plague upon gaming.

[ComfortablyLomb]

Word on the street over at Power Pro World is that there is no official decision yet. That's better news than knowing the game will not be out, period.

[Tomahawk]

Quote: Originally Posted by ComfortablyLomb

Word on the street over at Power Pro World is that there is no official decision yet. That's better news than knowing the game will not be out, period.

That is good news!!!

[StormJH1]

Quote: Originally Posted by Tomahawk

That is good news!!!

I love PowerPros, but is that really good news? We are almost into the month of May 2009. We have yet to receive a PP game for the 2009 MLB season. If they haven't even decided if there will be a U.S. release, what kind of release could that possibly be if we did get one? I would not at all be stunned if they put out another $19.99 PS2 edition with haphazard roster updates and nothing else (except maybe new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field). What does that really accomplish for us?

I think the gameplay, art concept, and features of this game are great, but the Japanese-influenced menu system kills it in a lot of ways for me. Much like PES/Winning Eleven, you'll never seen anything like an OVR rating, and there's no real roster editor. Arrange mode is not a roster editing mode, but more like the option to create 32 teams with an image of what the updated roster should look like. Plus, the rosters are so old that practically every breakout/rookie stud player that wasn't notable on Opening Day is terrible in the game.

There's also some other lingering problems like no bullpen in Franchise mode (why?), but I doubt we'll see any fixes to that, if they release the game at all.

[Tomahawk]

Quote: Originally Posted by StormJH1

I love PowerPros, but is that really good news? We are almost into the month of May 2009. We have yet to receive a PP game for the 2009 MLB season. If they haven't even decided if there will be a U.S. release, what kind of release could that possibly be if we did get one? I would not at all be stunned if they put out another $19.99 PS2 edition with haphazard roster updates and nothing else (except maybe new Yankee Stadium and Citi Field). What does that really accomplish for us? I think the gameplay, art concept, and features of this game are great, but the Japanese-influenced menu system kills it in a lot of ways for me. Much like PES/Winning Eleven, you'll never seen anything like an OVR rating, and there's no real roster editor. Arrange mode is not a roster editing mode, but more like the option to create 32 teams with an image of what the updated roster should look like. Plus, the rosters are so old that practically every breakout/rookie stud player that wasn't notable on Opening Day is terrible in the game. There's also some other lingering problems like no bullpen in Franchise mode (why?), but I doubt we'll see any fixes to that, if they release the game at all.

The game has already been made with the World Baseball Classic and the ability to do more edits to players and rosters. The only problem is the game is only being released in Japan and everything is in Japanese. It is not like the game doesn't exist....they just need to translate everything into English.

[ComfortablyLomb]

One major reason that I like this game is the lack of overall ratings for players. Overall ratings are at best useless and at worst damaging because they tend to lead to nitpicking the rosters even though they're just the sum of some arbitrary formula that the roster guys came up with. I wish they would be ripped out of every sports game in existence or at least something that could be shut off and completely out of sight.

As tomahawk has said, the game is made and will be released in Japan in a couple days. It hasn't come out very early in the US in each of its two years here. July or August basically and we never got much information until close to launch. With the information I've been able to gather I'm giving it 50/50 odds this year but we'll see.