MLB 16 The Show: 5 Most Anticipated Features for Upcoming Baseball Game

In a little over two weeks, pitchers and catchers will begin to report to spring training in the major leagues. That means baseball is coming, and so is another version of MLB: The Show.

Through the release of two trailers, we've learned a few tidbits about the game. Perhaps chief among the details is its release date: March 29. With the release of any new sports video game, there's always an interest in the new features added to the game.

Sometimes the features aren't entirely new. Revamped or reinvented might be more accurate terms. No matter what words we use, these details are usually the difference between the new game and last year's version.

Flip through the slides to take a closer look at the five most anticipated features in MLB 16: The Show.

New Scouting System in Road to the Show

Game designer and senior community manager Ramone Russell gave us a glimpse into the info release calendar. The initial vlog focused on Road to the Show and the ShowTime gameplay feature—more on the latter later.

Road to the Show is MLB: The Show's single-player experience in the same vein as NBA 2K's MyCareer concept. In this year's game, your created player will begin his journey by participating in Bowman Scout Day. 

Based on the way your player performs in a series of drills, he'll get an initial set of attributes. That's a very welcome change to the create-a-player concept. It's nice to make the genesis of your player interactive and not just a process of point allocation.

What's also sweet is the new 20-80 point scouting.

To mirror the real-life professional scouting scale, MLB: The Show 16 has adopted this new ratings system. It's a departure from the traditional 1-99 scale that most are familiar with in sports video games, but it's more realistic.

Commentary Improvements

Besides a few instances of player-specific streams of dialog, the commentary within MLB: The Show hasn't changed much over the years. This has been one of the few stagnant points in the game's development.

The biggest issue with the game's commentary is its lack of conversational value. There's a virtual three-man booth, but it doesn't sound as if Matt Vasgersian, Steve Lyons and Eric Karros are interacting with each other. Instead, there's just a host of singular comments from each of them.

That's not on par with what sports gaming fans get from NBA 2K, Madden or FIFA.

According to the info release calendar, there's at least some measure of improvement coming to MLB 16 on this front. We don't know the specifics, but it's good to know this aspect of the game won't be completely ignored.

Franchise Mode Improvements

For many hardcore sports gamers, the value of a sports video game is still largely determined by the depth and quality of its franchise mode. The other options are great, but the franchise mode epitomizes the concept of recreating your own sports universe.

Isn't that why we all play sports games?

The Show's franchise mode is already heavy duty, but there's still some room to grow. More flexibility with the minor league system and more mode-specific presentation should be high on the priority list.

On March 1, we'll get our first glimpse into what we can expect from the mode in this year's game. The phrase "new features" is used in the initial trailer, so there's reason to be excited. 

Battle Royale and Conquest

What exactly are Battle Royale and Conquest mode? Only the folks at Sony San Diego Studios know for sure. Based on the initial presentation, both seem like alternative mini-games or modes designed to support Diamond Dynasty.

DD is The Show's card-collecting mode that hasn't gained the same traction that EA Sports' Ultimate Team and 2K's MyTeam have sustained. Baseball is a different and slower-paced game than basketball and football. That's the way most baseball fans like it.

Ideas that speed up the action or abbreviate the game aren't always well received. Ultimate Team and MyTeam games are played with shorter periods, and that allows you to get in more games. The context of the sports don't feel compromised in this format.

That probably wouldn't be the case in a baseball game. It may be hard for a baseball game to ever duplicate the experience. Let's hope Sony never tries.

That said, Battle Royale and Conquest could be completely different, standalone experiences that wow us and bring in thousands of new fans. We'll just have to wait and see.

ShowTime

ShowTime is a new feature within Road to the Show that allows gamers to slow down the action during crucial parts of the game. Essentially, you put the game in slow motion to give yourself a better chance to make a diving catch, get a big hit, etc. Obviously, it makes the sequence look cool too.

It's cheating with style.

This will totally appeal to some gamers, and it'll be a complete turn-off to others. You have to accumulate ShowTime through the acquisition of player perks. The more perks you have, the more ShowTime you have at your disposal in a game.

Will this be a hit with gamers, or the Show's equivalent to Madden's Vision Cone passing mechanic? No one knows just yet.

Perhaps the best part about the feature is that you don't have to use it. Sony San Diego Studios has always been great about giving fans the option to use their new features a la carte and to keep the original mechanics they've grown to love over the years.

As a longtime fan of The Show, I can say that I'll give ShowTime a look, but it would be a shock if it's a feature that ultimately gets disabled.

That's all we know for now, but stay tuned for more information and reaction leading up the release.

Unless otherwise noted, information taken from Sony San Diego's Announcement Trailer and the Road to The Show and ShowTime VLOG.