Power Pros 2016 News Post

Android)

02:27 PM - September 26, 2015 by Steve_OS

Baseball fans, don't be sour. Look above, and feel the power! It's a new day on PlayStation 4, yes it is! For the first time in the platform's short history, Konami is bringing one of their two Nippon Professional Baseball games to PS4. Power Pros 2016 is targeting a Spring 2016 release in Japan on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita, and that's all we really know about the game right now, based on an official press release that contains one teaser screenshot.

A new version of Pro Yakyuu Spirits is also being made for iOS and Android, and that product is far enough along in development that Konami has posted a pretty detailed trailer to their Japanese YouTube channel:

Pro Yakyuu Spirits Ace should be available on phones and tablets sometime in 2015, according to the above video. Konami's also uploaded lots of in-game screenshots and a few paragraphs describing Ace's game modes on its Japanese webpage.

Game: Power Pros 2016Hype Score: Vote Now
Platform: PS Vita / PS3 / PS4Votes for game: 0 - View All

Member Comments

# 161 C.J.S. @ 04/29/16 02:33 PM

so do you ever get to play a full 9 inning game in success version?

# 162 jyoung @ 04/29/16 04:52 PM

Man, this game really exposes how jerky and imprecise the PS4's analog stick is. It's super hard for me to control the batting/pitching cursor.

I wish there was a way to use Xbox One/Xbox 360 controllers on the PS4.

Maybe the newer PS4 controllers have improved sensitivity? I have three launch year controllers and they all suck for pitching/hitting in this game because the cursor is just jittering all over the screen with even the slightest movement on the stick.

# 163 RNunez187 @ 04/29/16 05:27 PM

I thought it was just me. I'm having a hard time batting. I seem to be doing ok with pitching though

# 164 jyoung @ 04/29/16 05:32 PM

I'm going to get a new controller this weekend and see if that helps any.

In the meantime, I recommend playing around with the cursor assisted hitting setting. I have it on level 2 assist right now.

There's no assist setting for pitching, unfortunately, so my pitching cursor is stuck being super wild.

# 165 jyoung @ 04/29/16 05:34 PM

Vernon has added translations for the Field Play mode, which is basically this game's equivalent of The Show's player lock:

http://powerprotranslation.com/field_play/settings.html

# 166 NeoTokyoOutlaw @ 04/29/16 08:12 PM

Just picked this up from Play-Asia even though it cost me a pretty penny to get express shipping. Super excited as I've heard of this series, but I've never played it before. It honestly looks fantastic both graphically, and gameplay wise. Bummed that I'm not able to fully enjoy the Success mode as the looks like it's right up my alley.

# 167 RNunez187 @ 04/29/16 09:21 PM

Express Shipping is worth it. It took 1 day from HK to Illinois. Best $16 ever spent on shipping

# 168 jyoung @ 04/29/16 09:48 PM

Amazon Japan ended up being 2-day shipping to the USA for $6, even though their initial shipping estimate was longer. It shipped Wednesday at 5 PM and arrived Friday at noon.

Amazon Japan also has the lowest base price I've seen for the game at $66.

# 169 jyoung @ 04/30/16 04:19 AM

Here's a full 9-inning game I played earlier today between my edited BayStars teams and the unedited CPU Dragons:

It took me a few innings to adjust to pitch speed 3 since this was my first time using it (I had been playing on pitch speed 2 for most of the day). But the hits finally started coming in the second half of the game once I got used to the quicker pitches.

I'm pretty happy with my other settings at CPU pitching difficulty 4 and CPU difficulty everything else 3. Those are working well for me. The games I've played on those settings have been close and could have gone either way.

I also have the hitting assist jacked up to level 3, because all of my well-worn PS4 controllers are incredibly sensitive in this game for some reason. Hopefully a newer, stiffer joystick will allow me to turn the assist level down on hitting.

# 170 jyoung @ 04/30/16 04:39 AM

And if anyone else wants to use the Baystars, here's the lineup I built with all of their players' special abilities listed to the right:

Starters

LF Tsutsugo -- good with RISP, good against LHP, injury prone, pull power hitter, multi-hit hot streaks, 7th inning comeback boost, good before 1st strike, bad with 2 strikes
3B Lopez -- pull power hitter, multi-hit hot streaks, walk-off hit boost
1B Romak -- bad against LHP, bad throwing, bad with 2 strikes
RF Kajitani -- good with RISP, injury prone, good baserunner, pull power hitter, runout infield hits, good before 1st strike, bad with 2 strikes
CF Aranami -- injury prone
2B Miyazaki -- bad against LHP, bad throwing
SS Kuramoto -- good with RISP, bad against LHP, good throwing, bad with 2 strikes
C Kurobane -- opposite field hitter, good bunts, good throwing
DH Simozono -- no special abilities

Bench

Ide -- walkoff hit boost
Gomez -- bad against LHP, bad throwing, 7th inning comeback boost
Ishikawa -- good runner, multi-hit hot streaks, runout infield hits, low ball hitter, bad with 2 strikes
Kuwahara -- good with RISP, bad against LHP
Minei -- good with RISP, good against LHP
Several other bench players with no special abilities

Removed from the main roster & sent down to the minors

Takajoh -- bad against LHP, bad with 2 strikes
Shibata -- good throwing
Sirasaki -- bunt master, bad with RISP, injury prone

Pitchers Page 1

Inoh -- good with RISP, losers luck (all hitters on own team -5 power)
Kubo -- quick delivery with RISP, fast recovery in season, throws meatballs, doesn't show fatigue/dizzy, pitch cursor appears late for batter
Moscoso -- bad against LHB, easily dizzied, slow delivery with RISP, throws meatballs, bad with 3 balls
Yamaguci -- throws meatballs, bad with 3 balls, starts out slow, good with 2 strikes
Suda -- throws meatballs
Osada -- not many meatballs, bad with 3 balls
Tanaka -- good fastball, bad with 3 balls
Kosugi -- bad with RISP, bad with 3 balls, control wildly fluctuates each inning
Fukuchi -- bad with RISP, good against LHB, good fastball, bad with 3 balls, good with 2 strikes
Mikami -- good with RISP, recovers quick in season, not many meatballs, good with 2 strikes
Yamasaki -- bad with RISP, good fastball, not many meatballs, good with 2 strikes

Pitchers Page 2

Miura -- throws meatballs, deceptive motion
Ishida -- bad against LHB, slow starter, losers luck, good pickoffs
Sunada -- good against LHB, doesn't show signs of fatigue
Mishima -- easily dizzied, throws meatballs, bad with 3 balls, good pickoffs, control flucuates wildly
Herrera -- bad against LHB, slow pitching motion, not many meatballs, good with 2 strikes
Takasaki -- bad fastball
Kuniyoshi -- bad against LHB, good fastball, bad with 3 balls
Ayabe -- slow to recover in season, deceptive motion
Hirata -- bad with RISP
Ohhara -- bad against LHB, throws meatballs
Mantani -- bad fastball
Kobasashi -- bad with 3 balls
Kaga -- bad against LHB, bad fastball, throws meatballs, deceptive release
Abe -- bad against LHB, bad with 3 balls

# 171 Will I Am @ 04/30/16 12:29 PM

Nice game. The cpu made a gutsy call in the 7th to play their infield in and it paid off when they gunned you down at the plate but then you came through with a 2 out hit to tie the game.

The way this game is so fine tuned with basically no sliders to speed of is great. Also liked your big hits over the outfielders heads, those are always nice. Ball physics and hit quality in general are great in this game.

Going to mention that I didn't notice an overly amount of jitteryness to the hitting cursor, maybe a bit more than mine though, it seemed fairly stable when you had it centered.

# 172 strawberryshortcake @ 05/02/16 02:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung


	The cost of localizing the game for any foreign region is more than they would make back in sales. Video game localization isn't as simple as running text files through translation software. They would have to hire multiple employees, or outsource the task to a company that specializes in localization. Modes like MyLife and Success have lots of story events and cutscenes that would have to be manually rewritten. The market for baseball games just isn't very lucrative. Even when Konami had a fully licensed, well-reviewed, cheap-to-buy game like MLB Bobblehead Pros, it still ended up being one of the worst-selling titles in the history of Xbox Live.

Isn't that a job for unpaid interns? Get their foot in the door to get an understanding of how working in the video game world works? It takes one time to translate the game and have it forever be available for future installments so to speak; the "blueprint" would be there without any additional "effort" in the future. Having it translated into English would theoretically reach a wider audience and potentially more sales.

Couldn't MLB2k baseball (xbox) and MLB the Show (playstation) have negatively influence the sales of MLB Bobblehead Pros? Given that there is essentially no real baseball game on the xbox platform (with the exception of RBI baseball) ....

Anyways, does Power Pros come with multiple season or franchise mode? And how many seasons do they last? How many games per season? Trades, or can I have the computer automatically run trades, etc.

Your lengthy gameplay footage is definitely selling me the game. Is there variable strike zone, and can the strike zone be completely turned off? Is it easy to pin point the exact location of pitches (or is it possible to up the difficulty and have your pitches jump around the zone)?

Is this available as a PSN downloadable title? (Gone digital. All sports game from here on out will be digitally purchased considering I like to flip between them.)

EDIT: Wait, if they already have an English version of Power Pros, why not simply "import" that translated language into their new power pro.

EDIT: The commentary is so rad in this game just from watching your youtube upload. Tremendous amount of stuff in this game simply looks amazing. The animations, the urgency throws, the arm speed of the pitchers, and all the animations looks realistic and on point, etc. Very natural and organic looking.

Might have to plunker down some cash. Google translation from the apple app store seems to help with translation. Taking a picture of the screen, it'll highlight the japanese words and translate it to english. Not perfect but definitely better than nothing.

# 173 jyoung @ 05/02/16 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawberryshortcake


	Anyways, does Power Pros come with multiple season or franchise mode? And how many seasons do they last? How many games per season? Trades, or can I have the computer automatically run trades, etc.

Season mode lasts 30 years with 143 games per regular season. There are playoffs afterwards, plus a draft.

Trades can be turned off entirely, or you can set the CPU to trade with everyone, or set the CPU to only trade with your team.

You can also sign local free agents or try to bring in foreigners from outside the country.

Quote:


	Is there variable strike zone, and can the strike zone be completely turned off? Is it easy to pin point the exact location of pitches (or is it possible to up the difficulty and have your pitches jump around the zone)?

The umps will always call balls and strikes accurately. There aren't any variable umps like in The Show.

There's an option to turn the strike zone lines on or off if you don't want to see them.

If you use the 2 button shrinking circle method of pitching (shown in my video), there will be some error added to your throwing target depending on how badly timed your button press was. If your timing is perfect, then the ball will go exactly where you told it to go. The timing window is larger for pitchers with higher control ratings. And the timing window also varies depending on a pitcher's specific release animation (there are lots of them; rarely will you have two pitchers on your team who throw the same way). Certain pitchers also have more target error than others on mistimed throws. There are two special abilities that will either increase or soften the amount of pitch error when you mistime a throw. Not all pitchers have those abilities, but some do.

Quote:


	Is this available as a PSN downloadable title? (Gone digital. All sports game from here on out will be digitally purchased considering I like to flip between them.)

If you want to download the game you will have to create a Japanese PlayStation Network account. You will also have to purchase enough Japanese PSN points to buy the game and deposit those points into your account, which is going to cost a lot more than buying a disc copy from Amazon Japan. The disc version is region free, so you can play it on a USA PS4 and on your USA PSN account without any issues other than you won't be able to download any DLC, since your system and account are connected to the USA PSN Store. You will still be able to play online and download the free patches and roster updates if you have the disc version.

# 174 Twigg4075 @ 05/02/16 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung


	Here's a full 9-inning game I played earlier today between my edited BayStars teams and the unedited CPU Dragons: It took me a few innings to adjust to pitch speed 3 since this was my first time using it (I had been playing on pitch speed 2 for most of the day). But the hits finally started coming in the second half of the game once I got used to the quicker pitches. I'm pretty happy with my other settings at CPU pitching difficulty 4 and CPU difficulty everything else 3. Those are working well for me. The games I've played on those settings have been close and could have gone either way. I also have the hitting assist jacked up to level 3, because all of my well-worn PS4 controllers are incredibly sensitive in this game for some reason. Hopefully a newer, stiffer joystick will allow me to turn the assist level down on hitting.

I would absolutely buy this game if it had an English translation. I'd prefer another MLB Power Pros but I'd gladly play through a Japanese league if I could actually read the menus.

What a shame.

# 175 djnate27 @ 05/02/16 01:47 PM

What a shame indeed! Konami put the MLB Power Pros series in the hands of 2K Sports - who did it no justice & failed to advertise it properly. Japan's Power Pros series is the deepest baseball sim I've ever played and has been successful for about 2 decades. MLB could have found success but all most people saw where the cartoonist looking players. I think had the games been marketed better, perhaps even provided demos to play in stores, maybe the series would still have life.

# 176 djnate27 @ 05/02/16 01:56 PM

This is a question for anyone who has played the Vita version of Jikkyou Power Pros 2016:

I have the 2012 PSP version, which is great. What (if anything) has been added to the game to make it worth importing?

Also if you've played the series on both the PSP & the Vita: How would you compare the controls (i.e. the left analog stick, use of the touch screen, etc)?

# 177 WhiteBunny @ 05/02/16 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung


	Here's a full 9-inning game I played earlier today between my edited BayStars teams and the unedited CPU Dragons:

Wow, it looks amazing. I don't know if it's Fox Engine, but it's very polish, crisp and performance wise seems to be really smooth ( 60fps ? ). Too bad it's only japanese.

# 178 Will I Am @ 05/02/16 09:07 PM

Seriously guys it's baseball it's not that difficult to figure out. Just order the game, then go to spiritstranslation.com and have fun, you won't regret it.

# 179 jyoung @ 05/02/16 09:12 PM

Unless you want to play MyLife and Success mode, the foreign text isn't much of an issue. Those two modes have lots of story events and cutscenes.

Exhibition mode and Season mode are easy to figure out thanks to the guides on powerprotranslation.com and the free google translator app.

# 180 Twigg4075 @ 05/03/16 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will I Am


	Seriously guys it's baseball it's not that difficult to figure out. Just order the game, then go to spiritstranslation.com and have fun, you won't regret it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyoung


	Unless you want to play MyLife and Success mode, the foreign text isn't much of an issue. Those two modes have lots of story events and cutscenes. Exhibition mode and Season mode are easy to figure out thanks to the guides on powerprotranslation.com and the free google translator app.

Unfortunately I'm a grown man with a full time job. I barely have enough gaming time as it is, let alone have to sit and use a translator to navigate though one.

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More Links

Konami's Making Power Pros 2016 (PS4/PS3/Vita) & Pro Yakyuu Spirits Ace (iOS/Android)