MLB 14 the Show: Release Dates, Screenshots, Mini-Fact Sheet and Trailer

With almost every major league franchise having had pitchers and catchers report for spring training, the baseball season is so close we can taste it.

If you're a gamer/baseball fan, the season isn't complete without the best virtual diamond simulation.

At last, we finally have some solid information about MLB 14 The Show. On Thursday, Sony released a trailer, some awesome screenshots and a mini-fact sheet.

Let's start off with the release dates.

Release Dates

PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita - April 1

PlayStation 4 - May

While PS3 fans are rejoicing at the sight of a concrete release date for the king of virtual baseball titles, PS4 gamers are probably a little antsy about not having a specific day to countdown to.

One look at one of these awesome screenshots will undoubtedly cool their jets, though.

The Screenshots

image from Sony

Take a look at these renders of the Boston Red Sox's Mike Napoli and Dustin Pedroia. Dare I say these facial renders are on par with—if not superior to—the ones in NBA 2K14 on next-generation systems.

image from Sony

image from Sony

The Trailer

The trailer primarily features footage from the PS3 version. It looks good, but not much different than last year's version. To be fair, I've long believed the series had maxed out the visual power of the PS3.

Tight gameplay, a full feature set, dependable servers and roster updates will continue to make the PS3 and PS Vita versions a success.

Thursday's news was about more than just eye candy, though. There was also a mini-fact sheet released detailing many of the game's new modes and functionality. A full fact sheet will be released on Monday, per Steve Noah of Operation Sports.

Most of the information from Thursday was released before, but in case you missed any of it, here are key features mentioned in the press release I was sent from Sony.

Key Features

Next-Generation Baseball Has Arrived - (PS4)

The PS4 version will feature detailed and fluid gameplay, improved presentation, additional animations, and a dramatic increase in environment and player detail.

Year-to-Year Saves - (All platforms) 

Gamers' saves in Road to the Show and Franchise mode can be carried over from MLB 14 to future releases of The Show. That's awesome.

Player Lock (All platforms) 

Jump in any game as any player, Road-to-the-Show style.

Quick Counts (All platforms) 

This is one of my favorite new features. Baseball is a long game, but we all love realistic stats.

This feature generates realistic pitch counts and allows gamers to shorten at-bats, thus making the game finish more quickly. In turn, you get to have a life and a 162-game season on MLB 14 The Show.

I dig it.

Universal Profile (PS3 & PS4) 

This is your baseball gaming DNA, so to speak. It's a tendency-tracking system that monitors your decision-making and crafts a baseball-gaming bot.

Online opponents can view your Universal Profile to scout you. It can also be subbed in to play games in place of a CPU opponent in Diamond Dynasty and Online Franchise.

Community Challenges (PS3 & PS4) 

The MLB The Show community can customize any situation by altering details like inning, score, runners on base and where the ball is hit.

These details can be amalgamated to create custom challenges for the community to conquer.

Online Franchise (PS3 & PS4) 

Thankfully, The Show has made the jump into the current era of franchise modes. All the functionality of offline franchises and the ability to experience those goodies with friends is here.

Scouting, the amateur draft, free agency and CPU trades are all part of the package.

Stubs (All platforms)

This feels a little like virtual currency, but we'll have to wait for a bit more clarification on it. The press release describes it as followed:

"

Playing games in MLB 14 The Show rewards players with Stubs. Stubs can be used to purchase additional in-game content – like Road to the Show training points – or used in our new mode, Community Challenges. Stubs can be earned in any mode, and they are not required to progress through a mode. You can still purchase additional in-game content through the PlayStation Store.

"

Diamond Dynasty Extra Innings (PS3 & PS4) 

For those that are unaware, Diamond Dynasty is very similar to NBA 2K's My Team and EA Sports' Ultimate Team. DDEI is essentially extending the concept to offline play and allowing players to use their team against CPU-controlled teams to earn bonus rewards.

When online, the player can challenge other user-created teams in offline games where the CPU controls that team.

To get a bit more insight on the news, you can read community manager Ramone Russell's blog on the official PlayStation site.

More to Come..

Additional information will be available on Monday with even more details coming in the weeks before April and May.

Follow me. I really like sports video games.

@BMaziqueFPBR