
A smartphone port of MLB The Show could be in the pipeline, as Sony San Diego Studio continues to bring its baseball sim to more systems. The company confirmed last week that it will add Nintendo Switch to the series’ list of supported consoles starting with MLB The Show 22, and now the team is recruiting a Mobile Graphics Expert with an interest in baseball, as spotted by Reset Era.
While this could, potentially, be related to some kind of Companion App, it would make sense for Sony to port the series for smartphones. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan hinted last year that his company is looking to bring more franchises to mobile, and baseball feels like a perfect fit for touchscreen-based gameplay controls.
The Japanese giant renewed its license with Major League Baseball a couple of years ago, under the stipulation that it would expand the series to as many platforms as possible. Since then, this has become one of PlayStation’s bigger earners, particularly in North America, where baseball is one of the most popular sports.
[source twitter.com, via resetera.com]
Comments (38)
The best baseball game is in Yakuza 6! Otherwise, it's more boring than cricket.
@Apfelschteiner Cricket is definitely more boring. I don't know how anyone can say cricket is better.
I’m surprised it’s not coming to PC before mobile. Seems like a strange omission.
Or it could be the fact that the Switch is based on mobile technology and Sony may be looking at ways to make the best possible version it can for both handheld and docked modes.
It was already strange enough seeing the PlayStation Studios logo on Xbox; it's going to be even weirder seeing it on Nintendo Switch.
@nessisonett Got to imagine it will, but maybe they think it'll be harder to monetise Diamond Dynasty or something?
@GamingFan4Lyf Honestly, I'm finding it hard to imagine playing The Show with Switch's analogue sticks!
The first smartphone was in 1992. When are we just going to call them phones? 😁
@get2sammyb I'm not saying that cricket is better, just less boring. Cricket is pretty boring, but then again it's supposed to be played on a lazy Summer day. American sport in general is just not that great.
@get2sammyb But I bet you will because you know you want portable MLB The Show! LOL!
@Apfelschteiner American sport is great if you like adverts! 😁
@get2sammyb no way cricket is more boring! Big bash, IPL, One Day, 20/20, Limited Overs, The Ashes are all more entertaining. Test Cricket is more tactical and nuanced. Only County Cricket I'd agree is duller, but then it's played by average players. But at least they don't cover everything in spit. Baseballers are disgusting!
@get2sammyb Watch the world cup final between England v New Zealand then tell me it's boring
Cricket: a sport that breaks for tea, can be rained off, lasts a week and can still end in a draw
@MatthewJP and the ref will hold your jumper if you're hot 😁
@get2sammyb How are Switch's analogue sticks less usable than DS4/5's? I mean yeah they have a different feel and range of motion, but they're not really limiting in any other game I can think of. It's not like it's Vita's weird feeling sticks. And the series WAS on Vita!
Certainly more playable than mobile, lol
@get2sammyb Both boring
@NEStalgia The Switch’s sticks are utter garbage. A Pro Controller is borderline mandatory.
@NEStalgia
As a Switch owner and big fan of the console, you’re wrong on that bud.
The Joycon sticks are acceptable for short game play sessions or slow paced RPGs and point and click games.
For shooters or any game requiring complex analog motions, they’re trash. Very limited travel, poor feedback on the click in functions, and the location of the stick on the right joycon is suboptimal for comfortable play in long sessions.
Now the Pro controller is a different story. Outside of being overpriced and a so-so D-Pad that controller is a masterpiece and I’d argue it’s Nintendo’s greatest controller of all time.
I respect the Show. But man baseball is boring.
The only two sports I’ve ever gotten hardcore into is Basketball and what you old worlders call “football.” I love playing soccer and I enjoy watching it.
American football isn’t half bad either even though I feel the sport has been watered down over the past twenty years.
@nessisonett I have a lot of bones to pick with Switch, but TBH the usability of the sticks, when they're not drifting, has never really been one of them. I use it almost exclusively as a handheld at this point, so my pro controller goes a year at a time untouched, but the joycon have never really interfered with play. Even with precision shooting like sniping in Splatoon (admittedly that's gyro assisted, but the speed and precision still matter.)
It's not as nice as PSXB controllers of course, but it's a big step up from Vita's sticks which handled MLB just fine.
The mobile version will have you grip the phone like a baseball bat handle and you'll be able to swing using the gyroscope, the phone will slip out of your hand while hitting a home run, hitting the big burly guy sitting at the front of the bus, he'll get up and a brawl will be activated and the crowd goes wild (on the app) . Fun for all!
Sony should push their mobile division more tbh, I mean look at the success of games such as league of legends wild Rift, Pokémon Go, mario kart tour, genshin impact, clash of clans etc they bring in billions per year each and at a fraction of a cost to make compared to console games.
Sony could use the money they make from mobile games to inject into its console division to create more games or save up so after 4-5 years they have around at least 5 Billion for studio acquisitions, and whilst their at it they should revamp playstation now and also put that back onto the android market.
That coupled with more pc releases and Sony will rake in the money.
@nessisonett @TheRedComet I suck at Souls and at MH, so I feel awkward saying this, but I think you scrubs just need to git gud
I jest of course, but seriously, I've never felt impacted by the joycon sticks, at least not on the order of the Vita or 3DS sticks. I've played a lot of Splatoon, up through S+ rank (not into the crazy X ranks or anything) on that thing, and don't do any worse on there than on the pro controller. Obviously, plus lots of other games. I admit fighting games are a bit rough, but I'm a joystick guy through and through for fighters, and I'm super casual at them.
I can't refute the specific criticisms though. Yeah, limited travel is a thing, but that's the obvious nature of what they have to do. The click feedback isn't necessarily great (and accelerates drift), and the grip with the position of the right stick and dimensions of the unit aren't ideal. Obviously there's the caveat that it's a portable sized control stick versus a full sized controller, but within the necessary limitations of a miniaturized control, it's very well designed (note I said designed, not well made, which it is most definitely not, lol.)
When I first got the Switch my first action was to test the sticks to see if they were as bad as Vitas, and fortunately they were way better. I love my Vita, but those sticks..... The only good thing about them was there were actually two, and neither of them skinned your thumb down to the muscle tissue unlike PSP.
@get2sammyb How DARE you! Cricket matches can last for days 🙈
i'd be happy with a pc version
@GamingFan4Lyf MLB wants the license everywhere to reach more players. Sony don’t really have a choice in the matter.
@NEStalgia Vita sticks, Dual shock 4 and to a lesser extent Dual Sense sticks all stink. Your thumb don’t rest into it, it lays on it. Which is more prone to slipping. The rubber grip wears off easily and quick. Awful travel. As someone that has owned every PlayStation and Xbox ever made. Xbox controllers straight punt Sonys into another galaxy. Joycons are average to me. They aren’t awful, but I’m way better on the Pro controller. For portable they are above average. Like to see them improve on switch 2. I don’t think it’s a reach to say they can and should improve.
@Rural-Bandit I played on PS consoles since the PS1 and love my PS controllers. Fingers that slip of i never had that issue.
I dont like US sports Rugby is better then American football and baseball yeah its boring as F***. Icehockey thats cool to see but besides that its all boring its a pity they force you to take US based crap with our European sports soccer and formula 1. Its my personal opinion so thats it sorry US fans.
@Flaming_Kaiser yeah I’ve been playing since PS1 also and just never loved their controllers. There’s a fancy word word for this, so pardon me for not knowing it. Best way I can describe it is, on PS4 and PS5 controllers the sticks have a big hump that is outwards and rounded. For shooters moving fast I slip off them and they don’t have great textured rubber grips, on Xbox they have a indentation where your thumbs rest in it and really good rubber grips. Makes a world of difference. Throw in off set sticks vs in line for me and it’s not even close what I am more accurate with. But for single player games and RPG’s both work fine, but still prefer Xbox controllers. It’s subjective. All hands aren’t measured the same. But Sony controllers never did it for me. Most Nintendo ones didn’t either. But I like the switch’s Pro controller fairly well. Could improve some next Gen, but it’s got killer battery life.
@Rural-Bandit Just buy a few stickcovers thats cheap and easy the only thing is that sometimes i like the sticks to be a little higher with shooters so i use those for the PS4 controllers.
@Flaming_Kaiser I’m holding out on my dream they make an expensive pro controller some day geared towards shooters. Now that they will be making more games in that space.
@Rural-Bandit I know, I am not complaining. It's just so weird seeing the logo. I am sure it's weird seeing Xbox Games Studios on PlayStation as well.
It's just interesting times!
@GamingFan4Lyf interesting times indeed buddy. Industry seems to change by the week and January and February are normally the slow months. So much for that. Haha
@Flaming_Kaiser I have to agree with @Rural-Bandit I've played on pretty much every controller from the big 4 and some 3rd party controllers. Sonys analog sticks have been a weakness for them all along. To be fair the ds1 sticks were head and shoulders above the N64, but all their controllers since then have had pretty shoddy sticks with terrible range and really terrible dead zones. Ds3 was the low point. Ds4 did improve but was still pretty below average. Ds5 finally is the first ps to actually have decent sticks. Idk who Cerny had to kidnap to make that happen but it finally happened. I happen to prefer the ergonomics of xsx and especially the elite V2, but the ds5, though slightly bulky, finally can "disappear" while I play games.
@NEStalgia Agreed, PS3 was a $600 dollar console, with a $1.99 controller. Dual shock 4 was actually a decent controller outside of the track pad and awful sticks. Yes dead zone is quite a known thing and to add to that on DS 4 the grips wore off easily.
Triggers would break at the bending point. Now is were I will give the Dual Sense some praise, outside of the ridiculous wasted space for the track pad, everything else seems to be a step up in quality build. Triggers seem better built, rubber grip’s on the sticks feel better thus far, still loads of dead zone compared to series X sticks but it smashes the six axis, DS 3 and is still Better than the DS4. Sony controllers will never be my favorite. But I agree I can use Dual sense on PS4 exclusives and be just fine I replayed God of War on PS5 with the Dual Sense and I was actually faster and better. It was noticeable at how much better i was playing. In fairness there is some dead zone on the switch Pro controller also. Noticed it a lot on Metroid Dread. People can say whatever they want about Xbox. But their sticks and triggers are easily the best of the big 3. Dual sense is a step in the right direction, I give praise where it’s due. But six axis was a $1.99 controller and I’m probably overselling by $.79 cents. Hahaha
@Rural-Bandit DS4 actually had a quiet revision that fixed the breaking triggers and self destructive stick caps....I have both the launch model that fell apart everywhere and the fixed version that held up a lot better. But the buttons were mushy, the grips short, and the terrible range and dead zone....
But yeah definitely agree. The ds5 sticks still aren't the best, but it's such an improvement I can cut it some slack
@NEStalgia absolutely, Dual Sense sticks are the best Sony has ever had. I find the dead zone to be larger than it should be. Not holding it against mouse and keyboard or anything crazy.But its largely a area Sony hasn’t been able to compare to its rival. Yeah I had a post launch DS4 that held up way better. My triggers only loosened to the point of I knew it was broke. So I got a new one and it lasted. Tho part of that could be its a exclusive platform for me. So little wear and tear. My Nintendo fandom took a massive stride today. I bought a Switch lite in grey this week. It feels so much nicer to play on it in handheld in bed and the go. It’s such a steal at $200 it’s criminal. Sturdy build, light weight. Perfect size for me anyhow, I could go on and on. I get it, I have a switch. You don’t need a handheld lite version. It takes away from what the “switch” is. But honestly I freaking love it. Think they nailed what a $200 dollar device looks and feels like. Sure it’s a switch that don’t switch. It’s a luxury item for me. But I freaking love it. On Super Punch out for SNES, I was smashing my records, and not to brag, but I’m already good at the game. But the feel and size actually makes me better on some games. You can blast me for double dipping or buying something i already had, and i wont argue a bit. I love the device to much to admit I’m wrong.
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