Here are 50 improvements being made to MLB 13 The Show

When it comes to baseball video games, MLB 13 The Show is the king of the crop. For any baseball fan, this is a must-own game. And the reason why is that despite being an annual release, Sony continues to make changes and improvements to enhance the overall gameplay experience. As highlighted by the recently released fact sheet, there are a ton of new features and improvements being made in MLB 13 The Show. Before we get into the real details, here is a brief glimpse at the 50 enhancements coming in this year's version:

  1. Hitting engine improvements deliver more hit variety than ever before
  2. Wider timing window across all difficulty levels
  3. Improved ball physics (less ground rule doubles etc.)
  4. Over 250 new fielding and running animations
  5. Over 90 new batting stances
  6. Over 130 batting stance re-captures for players who changed their stances
  7. Over 50 new pitching motions
  8. Over 60 new HR swings
  9. New Defensive Positioning screen, view the whole field and watch your players shift on the fly
  10. Franchise Mode: Team specific player valuations, which affect drafting, trades, free agency, etc.
  11. Franchise Mode: Projected team budgets and free agents for the upcoming season
  12. Franchise Mode: Previous award winners and each team's Hall of Fame members will now be tracked and displayed
  13. Franchise Mode: Ticker in Franchise that displays scores, milestones, trades, etc.
  14. Franchise Mode: Top 50 Prospect icon, used to indicate the best up-and-coming minor leaguers
  15. Franchise Mode: Organizational Depth Chart which displays your starters at each level (AA, AAA and MLB)
  16. New CBA "Qualifying Offer" system included
  17. 7 New Minor League and Spring Training stadiums
  18. On screen Tutorials to help you navigate some of the more complicated screens
  19. New silhouette bat when bunting
  20. Back picks while a catcher in RttS
  21. Ability to assign swing animations when creating or editing a player… follow through, step in, etc…
  22. Big glove for catcher when a knuckle ball pitcher is on the mound
  23. Over 500 new presentations 
  24. Pitcher Energy/Rotations for Online Play Now
  25. Mercy Rule for online games
  26. Twitter in The Show
  27. Ping indicators in online game rooms
  28. New online ranked game Play Now flow with game worth
  29. New post-game summary screen for all online ranked games
  30. Player photos updating with Roster updates
  31. In-game simulator when FF to the end of game
  32. PCI Appearance – There are 4 alternate PCI appearances
  33. Pitcher Batter Analysis will now display 40 instead of 25 pitches
  34. New Throwback uniforms
  35. More catcher animations on plays at the plate providing more exciting outcomes
  36. Enhanced CPU base running. Less predictable and more human like behavior
  37. New base running animations "around the bases". Allows for more control of your base runner
  38. New Pulse pitching, Meter pitching, and strike zone art 
  39. New player accessories
  40. New online ticker design, more stats and information
  41. RTTS infielder’s pickoff request
  42. New more interactive user steal system
  43. Improved CPU pitcher substitution logic
  44. New player card
  45. Guess pitch evolution
  46. RTTS Removal of the “green-light” system
  47. Over 1,000 new RTTS-specific presentations
  48. New RTTS user catch option
  49. New RTTS On/Off options for ball halo and ball trail
  50. Over 15 new batting camera’s and 5 new pitching camera views

That's not all either. As we already mentioned, MLB 13 The Show will add a new "Post Season" mode that replicates an authentic playoff atmosphere and experience, cross platform online Home Run derby, and improvements to Diamond Dynasty.

Other changes that we didn't already know about is the addition of Steve Lyons in the broadcast booth and, of course, changes to many of the already established game modes like Road to the Show, Franchise Mode, and Season Mode.