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Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) announced today the North American launch of MLB 09® The Show™ available for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™), PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), and PlayStation®2. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, San Diego Studio, MLB 09 The Show continues its hall of fame run, providing fans with ultra realistic gameplay while continuing to raise the bar on unique offerings and subtleties not found anywhere else. With improved franchise and online modes, transitional lighting effects, and customizable fan chants and yells, the series promises to deliver yet another incredible baseball gaming experience to fans everywhere.

With its meticulous attention to detail, MLB 09 The Show offers gameplay and graphics that truly set it apart from the competition, while adding exciting new features to its all star lineup that brings fans closer than ever to the action. Incredible stadium detail and signage, wear and tear on the field, dusk to night lighting transitions, and stadium JumboTron® animations help bring the baseball experience to life.

“As the industry leader, we continue to deliver features that consistently set the standard for next-gen sports gaming,” said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President, Product Marketing, SCEA. “With MLB 09 The Show, we are excited to deliver true-to-life gameplay, deeper franchise and season modes, and incredibly realistic detail. We look forward to fans’ reactions as they participate in this unparalleled baseball video game experience.”

For everyone that is looking to live out their dreams of hitting a clutch homerun or striking out the side, MLB 09’s “Road to the Show” returns, providing aspiring big leaguers the opportunity to immerse themselves in the ultimate baseball experience. Further putting fans in the game, players can engage in action from a custom-created player’s perspective, this popular feature includes additions such as interactive training and coaching to further encourage player development in the game and allow users to take their player’s game to the next level.

As users navigate through a career, the newly available “Online Season Leagues” help raise the stakes by making every play count and statistic matter, thus turning fantasy into a reality that players have complete control over. This new acquisition to the game also allows fully functional drafts and provides players with a flex calendar to play games ahead in the schedule.

MLB 09 The Show brings back the ability to create custom music tracks using the “My MLB Music” feature. However for this year, players are able to edit music tracks to assign batter walk-up tunes using the “Custom Music” feature. Additionally, fans can record their own crowd chants and yells to assign specific players and situations of their choice bringing rivalries to life and into the living room.

As any seasoned veteran will attest, practice makes perfect and with MLB 09 The Show, players can also hone their skills using a wide variety of “Training/Practice” drills, with each set of drills focusing on a different area of the game. Utilizing the “Progressive Batting Performance” feature, players can find their hot zone and are rewarded for superior skills at the plate but are also penalized for hitting slumps.

Also returning for PS3 and PlayStation 2 is “Franchise Mode,” complete with the long anticipated 40-man roster. In franchise, fans are in full control and given the responsibility of thinking and acting like an owner, while dealing with issues such as salary arbitration, waiver transactions, and September call-ups along the way. To further experience the challenges of running a team, users must also deal with unhappy players, roster management, and other issues that arise over the course of a season.

MLB 09 The Show for PS3 and PSP brings back the popular “Pitcher/Batter Analysis” feature that details the breakdown of how a batter has performed based on several statistics including pitch type and result. The game offers up 17 different pitch types for players to master and MLB 09 The Show details the different pitch grips and arm angles that hitters must contend. Players are given full control and will be responsible if the pitcher is having trouble locating his fastball, and can gloat when he is hitting his spots.

For batters who are more concerned with heating up at the plate, or pitchers who want to bring the heat and create game winning highlights, the “Replay Vault” feature allows players to save each dazzling play to the PS3 hard drive where every key play in the field and clutch at-bat can be replayed at any time. Also new to the highlight system is “End of Game Replays” where users are given an instant post-game summary of the most exciting and important plays of the game.

Fans looking for the ultimate personalized experience, the unrivaled “Player Creator” allows users to create their own player, deciding on their look, pitch/swing style, and even emotions as they create and place themselves in the heat of a pennant race. PlayStation®Eye for PS3 and EyeToy® for PlayStation 2 are available to even allow users to create the player’s face.

Lastly, for fans who never want to miss an inning and like to take the show on the road, MLB 09 The Show for PSP delivers big baseball action in the palm of your hand by utilizing core gameplay features found on the PS3 version. Unique to PSP, MLB 09 The Show will feature “SportsConnect News2Go” which offers fans the ability to go online to select and save the latest news feeds to their Memory Stick PRO Duo™ and review at their leisure.