The second patch will be live on Thursday 3-18-10. The fix list is below. Also, this patch was worked after the game had shipped, so we had a chance to address issued reported by consumers. We fixed all we could given the time frame for this patch to go live as soon as possible. While I’m sure it doesn’t cover all issues you are experiencing, we are continuously investigating other problems and we will update everyone once we have more concrete information. Regarding problems with leagues, some of these issues can be fixed server side, while others may require a patch. Again, we will keep the community updated on this situation as best as possible. We thank you for your patience and help identifying these issues.

PATCH 2:: - Fixed issue with the auto-fix feature in rosters not working correctly all the time when a downloaded roster was used. - Fixed issue to accurately show the number of games in progress when looking at the game/lobby room list. - Fixed issue causing players placed on trade waivers to not be withdrawn if claimed by a user controlled team (offline season). - Fixed issues with attendance. - Make sure players placed on release waivers retain their contracts until they clear waivers. - Allow teams to send down a reliever and keep 2 closers on the roster. - Only allow the CPU to trade a player once per season. - Unranked Online Games should not count towards points, win/loss nor stats. - Fixed issue causing trades to be offered by the user’s team even when set to MANUAL trades. - Fix catcher throw decisions when AUTOTHROWING is on - Create a player using these stances/deliveries: Stances: Bay, Jason Barmes, Clint Barton, Daric Fukudome, Kosuke Kemp Matt Longoria, Evan Pitch Deliveries: Kuroda, Hiroki Lilly, Ted - Scout challenge from certain locations addressed. - Intentional walk Online gaemplay issue addressed. - Merged Sounds of the show fix. Fix for overflow problem when storing more than 255 songs. This is referring to storing the songs in a playlist. - Exiting chatroom fix after completing the game. - Fixed bug with ball warping into fielder’s glove from the outfield on a line drive. - Fix exiting Bullpen issue. - Addressed issue with large attendance numbers being displayed properly. - Fixed bug causing position players to be in the bullpen leading to an issue in franchise and career mode.

Hello again everyone. This is Eddy Cramm, Senior Designer for MLB 10: The Show, and I am here today to talk about the new Catcher Calling the Game feature. Catchy name, huh? Road to the Show, since its inception has been a very well received mode because it gives the gamer a very deep, realistic, and fun alternative to the traditional career mode. The mode allows you to create the guy you want to create, in the position you want him to play. Depending on the position that you choose, you will be asked to do different things in the field that are specific to your position. Last year, as we looked back on our game, there was one position we wanted to improve upon. That was the catcher.

In MLB 09: The Show, the catcher had the same basic responsibilities as any other fielder: Field balls in your area, cover your base. The only thing unique to the catcher was the task of throwing out base stealers. But as “baseball guys,” we know that the catcher is a lot more involved than that. The catcher is a key part of every single pitch in the game. He is arguably just as responsible for the outcome of a pitch as the pitcher. So when making MLB 10: The Show, we kept that in mind. This year, we have added “calling pitch selection” and “calling pitch location” to your RttS catcher’s responsibilities. When you are in the game defensively as a catcher, you will be responsible to select the pitch that you want thrown. The system works just like it does for selecting pitches as the pitcher does. The pitcher might shake you off, or he might accept that pitch. If he does shake you off, you choose a pitch again. If you choose the same pitch, he will figure it’s really what you want and will accept it, at this point. Once you have selected the pitch, you will be responsible to select where you want the ball thrown. You can choose any of the nine zones within the strike zone, or you can choose eight areas outside of the zone if you want the ball off the plate (four outside edges and four outside corners). Now just like in real life, this doesn’t mean the pitcher will hit his spot. It just means this is where he is aiming. The better the pitcher you have throwing to you, the more effective your location calling will be. Adding this has really made the Road to the Show catcher more involved in the game like you would expect him to be in real life. I hope you enjoy the new Catcher Calling the Game feature when it, and the rest of MLB 10 The Show hits shelves, March 2.

In a continued effort to blur the lines between a video game and a televised broadcast, MLB 10: The Show is proud to introduce the brand new presentation mode: Real Time. Available with replays or without, Real Time is a new presentation mode designed to further enhance the realism our baseball simulation offers you, the baseball fan. Hoping to have you question whether you’re playing MLB 10: The Show or watching a live baseball game on TV, we’ve captured hundreds of new animations and have done extensive work with both our AI and our cameras. From the pitcher toeing the rubber until the next batter walks up to the dish, you’ll experience continuity with the seamless animations and positional intelligence of each player on and off the field. All new camera angles and cut-timing capture the player’s new movements and further enhance the presentation mode by mimicking the camera work seen on televised MLB broadcasts. Post-play has never looked this real. In this Real Time presentations video, we’re off to brand new Target Field where Joe Mauer and his teammates are kind enough to help demonstrate what this new mode has to offer.

SCEA has sent The Sports Game Guy 6 exclusive MLB 10 The Show Screen shots. Click read more to see them, or go to the screens gallery to see them full size.

The Show is all about bringing all the big moments in baseball to life, and the pre-order program is something we are really excited about. Pre-order the PS3 version of MLB 10: The Show at any of these retailers here (pre-order the PS2 or PSP versions!) and get a “6-Pack” of Classic Stadiums at no additional charge. These stadiums are some of the most famous in Major League Baseball history, so the team down in San Diego has spent a great deal of time making sure each stadium is to exact specifications. So when the game launches on March 2, punch in the voucher code on your PS3 and you’ll be able to play on the same fields as some of the all-time greats. *Stadium Pack not available for PS2 or PSP systems. Shibe Park – When it opened April 12, 1909 in Philadelphia, it became the first steel-and-concrete stadium in Major League Baseball history. Forbes Field – Opened in 1909, it was home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and was witness to a World Series-winning 9th inning homerun in 1960. Polo Grounds – Opened in 1890, it was known for its extremely deep center field (483 ft) and unique bathtub shape. The “Shot Heard Around the World” homerun was hit here. Crosley Field – Was a Major League ballpark located in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was the home field of the National League Cincinnati Reds from 1912 through June 24, 1970. Sportsman’s Park – Was built in St. Louis in 1902. Left-handed power hitters loved hitting here, including a Hall of Famer who hit two epic homeruns on consecutive days, shattering the same window in the car dealership across the street twice! Griffith Stadium – Stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965. Not only was it was over 400 feet down the left field line, the outfield took an unusual right-angled jut into center field due to the unwillingness of nearby houses to sell to the ballclub during construction of the stadium.

Hey everyone, the MLB FE team here to bring you the first installment of the MLB 10: The Show blogs. For this entry, we’ll be talking about some of the details that have gone into the new 30-Player Franchise Mode. One of our goals going into this year was to finally enable the ability to mimic your real-life counterpart rosters when in Franchise mode. In order to do so, we had to allow all 30 teams to be set for user control. Before we could even dive into that, we had to change up how profiles and options work. In the past, we’ve allowed you to create a total of four profiles. With this new 30-Player control, we had to open the profile system up to accommodate the potential for a full 30 players. One of the biggest reasons was to have the ability to support up to 30 different option sets. So now you have the ability to create 30 different profiles, and assign any or all of them to your selected teams. If you want only one team to use a custom option set, assign a profile to only that team, and all other selected teams will use the Global options set. After crossing the options hurdle, another area we needed to expand on was our player injury system. In order for you to have that true-to-life roster, we saw the need to allow you to manage your player injuries. We now support a system that allows you to select which players should be injured, choosing their injury type and injury duration. You can also choose to remove players from the disabled list at any point, ensuring your roster can be kept in sync with the actual club roster. In order to use this feature, you need to first set the Injuries option to manual. During our design phase, we realized one important roster control aspect we desperately needed to add — Class-A rosters. This year you will now have a Class-A team roster to work with, giving you even more wiggle room when making roster decisions. The Class-A team cannot be taken in game, but you can use it as another 15 roster spots for your organization. Once we finished addressing the tools vital for you to support your rosters, we looked at polish features. We came up with a new email system in Franchise mode to provide you with one convenient place to keep tabs on your organization needs. This email system will provide with you updates in a variety of areas, including day-to-day operations, roster related information, Minor League player updates, and league transactions. You will have the ability to cater your inbox by selecting which areas you want to be notified of, and which you don’t. One last area expanded upon was the waiver system we implemented last year. We’ve added real-time waiver periods. Now when a player is placed on waivers, teams will have 48 hours to place a claim on the player. After the 48-hour period, the claiming team with the highest waiver priority is awarded the player. Teams are now able pass players through revocable trade waivers and, if he clears, can trade that player after the July 31st trade deadline. Also, when a player is designated for assignment, teams will now have 10 days to decide whether to release him, trade him, or if he clears waivers, assign him to the minor leagues. As was the case last year, we have a transaction handbook that you can visit at any point to familiarize yourself with all of the rules. As you can see a lot of focus has been placed on providing you with all the tools necessary to keep your Franchise roster up-to-date with its real-life counterpart. These enhancements aren’t limited to only Franchise mode, and the same 30-player control can be found in Season mode. - Aaron Luke and Kolbe Launchbaugh