World Series Baseball
- April 18, 2002 00:00 AM PST
World Series Baseball is stepping up to the big leagues, beginning with the Xbox.
The sports gurus at Visual Concepts are in full control of World Series Baseball now, and the game is hitting leadoff for the Xbox. WSB will use a highly refined version of last year�s game engine that seriously jacks up the visuals. As in Sega�s 2K3 sports games, player models in the preview version displayed an almost-eerie accuracy, and Sega is promising 50 facial emotions, 100 batting stances, new fielding animations, and even selectable shoes.The controls in the preview disc were sweet. The cool pitching interface featured a Hot Zone Box that indicated pitch location versus a batter�s hitting tendencies. At the plate, the batting cursor was unobtrusive, enabling you to hone your hitter�s eye.
You�ll get five modes of play, including exhibition, season, playoffs, and home-run derby, but Franchise mode, in particular, is looking formidable. You�ll hire managers, coaches, and scouts, and the money you pay these guys will even affect the quality of your players. During the season, you�ll be able to wheel and deal�even orchestrate multiplayer trades. Forget spring training, the World Series is just around the corner.
