MLB 2K12: 3 Great Features We're Excited to See Return

2KSports is set to deliver another version of their long-running baseball series, MLB2K. In sports games, it's all about what improvements have been made from year to year.

Lets examine the features of MLB2K12:

Even More Stats

The MLB2K series has always been stat-heavy, and this year the game is leaning on Stats Inc. (a leader in sports statistics, technology and content) and Inside Edge (a baseball scouting organization) for even more statistical and strategic support.

Veteran gamers who have played the series over the past few years will see the familiar stat overlays related to pitch count-specific statistics and righty-lefty comparisons.

Gary Thorne and Steve Phillips still deliver the periodic references to pitcher-batter matchups. That is something that isn't present in any other baseball simulation.

Stats are such a major part of baseball—it is the one sport in which you can never have too many number references. MLB2K lays it on thick in this category again this season.

My Player

The My Player mode has returned this year. There aren't a ton of major changes, but 2K has implemented a new player role system.

This year, you will pick from roles such as "Slugger" and "Ace" to determine your goals, benchmarks and overall path as you progress through your career.

This could provide a bit more of a focused experience in My Player, but it would have been nice if the developers added more to this feature.

The lack of expansion in this mode is sure to be criticized among sports gamers.

$1 Million Perfect Game Challenge

The Perfect Game challenge is back, and it has changed a bit.

The last two years, some super-gamer has completed the task within 24 hours of the game's release. That has discouraged all the normal people in the world from competing, as they fear the prize will already be claimed by the time they even throw their first shutout.

This year, 2K has changed things up a bit. Now, there is an algorithm placed within every game to rate each perfect game's effectiveness. 

For example, a perfect game with 19 K's will rate higher than one with only 10, and so on. With that in place, there is a rating given to each qualifying perfect game. Players with the top-eight perfect games will be entered into a tournament to compete for the prize.

That may be more appealing to some, but to others it could be just as daunting.

Either way, the $1 million giveaway is back, and some baseball/gaming savant will be one happy fellow again this spring.

It seems the MLB2K team took the year off in regard to adding new features. Instead, they focused on tightening up the existing options.

The demo plays well, so that is a plus. But we will have to wait and see if the full game lives up to expectations.