Here are the things I think people will be interested in.

The menus are extremely confusing. I'm sure after a while I'll be zipping right through the, but for now its very confusing. Especially Loading saved games. The Rosters and Season/Franchise save as a block - a Madden type load screen would be nice.

Consistent with prior years the graphics aren't as good as the other games out there. They aren't painfull to watch or anything though.

As mention in the other thread the swings are slower. I don't know if it can be adjusted or not. The only time its effected my gameplay is when I'm in the middle of a proactice swing when the pitcher throws the ball. I don't see it as an issue.

You can edit as many players as you want. To create a player you overwrite an existing one. There are plenty of free agents and minor leaguers to overwrite, so you don't have to worry about messing anything up. All of these adjustments can be made at any time during the season (or outside the season mode).

You can customize this game to get realistic results. I simulated a season and got very realistic statistics. The leaders are who you would think they would be.


The new franchise mode is very deep. You can control AAA, AA, and A rosters, including promotions, trades, free agents, draft, etc.

The gameplay is good. Nothing too fancy just about right. The best part, no batting/pitching cursors! Manny Ramirez doesn't have a cursor when he hits so why should you? Watch the pitch, identify the position and motion, then hit it. Same idea for pithcing cursors. The ball doesn't always go exactly where it is supposed to, even if Zito is throwing it.

All in all I think its a very good game. No one has released a game that is the absolute total package yet (this years Sega game is the only hope). Until they do, I am willing to sacrafice some graphics and a few bells and wistles for a realistic game. If you aren't you'll probably want to stay away from this one.