06:21 PM - January 15, 2014 by Steve_OS
The latest issue of Famitsu magazine has confirmed that Konami will be releasing Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2014 in Japan on March 20, 2014 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita and PlayStation Portable.
A PlayStation 4 version was not mentioned, which is surprising, given that Konami's soccer franchise, Pro Evolution Soccer, will appear on PlayStation 4 this fall.
Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2014 will include twice as many commentary lines as last year's game, plus it has re-recorded many of the game's sound effects by capturing audio directly from Nippon Professional Baseball stadiums.
Famitsu's preview also mentions a new "guess the pitch" feature, which increases the likelihood of a powerful hit if the batter correctly predicts the incoming pitch's location.
Pricing for the three versions was also revealed:
PS3: 7600 yen/$73 (retail), 7100 yen/$68 (digital download)
Vita: 6650 yen/$64 (retail), 6150 yen/$59 (digital download)
PSP: 3790 yen/$36 (retail), 3290 yen/$31 (digital download)
Konami's baseball games have traditionally been region-free, meaning the retail version of Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2014 should play on American consoles without any modifications. Preorders have not yet gone live, but expect import shops like Play-Asia and NCSX to start accepting orders in the coming weeks.
Downloading the digital version of Pro Yakyuu Spirits 2014 will require a Japanese PlayStation Network account.