With the help of our readers and SCEA, we had an opportunity to interview Eddy Cramm, Senior Designer of
MLB '07: The Show.
Operation Sports: "Will there be more "Hit Variety" for all difficulty levels this year?"
Eddy Cramm: "This is probably my favorite improvement to this year’s game. Although last year’s title played very well and got a lot of great feedback, I still felt that the game resulted in a lot of “hit it hard, or don’t hit it at all” game play. As a result of this, it felt like the only way a pitcher could feel like he has success is with the strike out. But what about the Maddux’s of the world? What about the ground ball pitchers? How do we represent THEIR effectiveness?
This year that has all changed. We have improved ball reactions to more truly depict what would happen on the field. Now if you swing ahead of that change up on the outside edge, instead of missing, you will probably roll over the ball and bounce out weakly to the left side. Now that the system reacts better to the ball/bat impact, you can fight pitches off and try to work deep into the counts. But personally, my favorite thing is what it does for the pitcher. I can now feel that I beat a batter by making him my pitch. I can try to induce that ground ball for the double play. I can jam him. I can dominate a game without ever striking someone out."