NCS
Game Notes
» The intro features crisp slow-motion captures of
pitchers and batters doing their thing followed by a
stylized collage of images tied together by
streaming tendrils of light....
» Press START and the following options appear:
MATCH UP - Play an exhibition game with the
following choices:
1P vs COM
1P vs 2P
1P & COM vs COM
1P & 2P vs COM
COM vs COM
STARDOM - Choose a team and then create a
pitcher or batter from scratch by naming him, giving
him an age, and then designing his entire facial
structure (eyes, ears, nose, lips, chin, etc),
making him right or left handed, and customizing his
uniform. You can even give him a cord necklace to
wear and also change the color of his glove. Once
the player creation is over, unleash him onto the
baseball field and help him become a superstar. Life
starts in the farm system playing for the minor
leagues but as your skill and renown grows, you'll
eventually make it into the bigs.
PENNANT RACE - It's the start of a new season
so select a professional team from 12 choices and
play an entire season's worth of games against other
professional squads. The season starts on March 28,
2008 and you may choose five different ways of
playing as follows:
Team Play - You control all aspects of the pitching,
fielding, hitting
Manager - Take a backseat and direct the players
from the bench
Field Play - Only control the infielders or the
outfielders
Tag Play - Two players handle the pitching, batting,
and fielding chores
Watch - Spectator role only
SPIRITS - Select a training camp in Hawaii,
Okinawa, Kochi (locked), or Home (locked) and then
choose a team from twelve possible selections. Name
your crew and then design a custom-made player from
scratch by choosing his eyes, nose, cheeks, lips,
chin, ears, etc. You can even give him circular
studded earrings... on both ears. The possibilities
when choosing a player's detail is exhaustive. The
Spirits Mode is the trading card portion of the game
where you imbue three players with skills by using
Batting, Fielding, and Special Training cards. The
Joint Practice card is used to train all three
players at once so they level up together.
TRIAL - Play situational fielding and base running
exercises where you assist in double plays, throw a
batter out at first, score on a pop-fly to the
outfield, steal second base on a bunt, etc. Each
exercise takes only a few seconds to play and
complete.
TRAINING - Practice Batting, Pitching, and Fielding
accompanied by meters which measure distance and
pitch location
VP SHOP - Purchase assorted items by using VP
(points) earned during the course of playing the
game.
UTILITY - Arrange & Trade, Copy Player, Create Song,
User Settings, Player's Password, Player's Ability,
Delete Player, Copy Song, Sound Settings, Load or
Save
STRIKE PITCH - Select a team and try to throw eight
straight strikes by hitting the blue panel overlays
over home plate. You'll want to avoid hitting the
center red square which contains a skull.
HOMERUN RACE - Choose a baseball team and hit as
many homers as possible on 10 pitches
HOW TO - Learn the basics of pitching, batting,
fielding, and running bases through repetitive
exercises.
»
When pitching, a nine-box spotting overlay appears
over home plate which designates the strike zone.
Your job as a pitcher is to spot the pitch within
the strike zone. Pitching is a three-step process as
follows:
1) Press the X button to wind up
2) Move the location cursor with the L-Analog
thumbstick
3) When the spotting cursor appears on the catcher
and starts shrinking, press the X button again at
the point where it shrinks to the size of the ball
» Batting is a simple two-step process where the
L-Analog is used to position the bat outline and the
"X" or "O" button swings. To change the bat-shaped
outline to a ball-shaped outline, press the
R1-Trigger. To bunt, press and hold down on the
R2-Trigger and then position your bat's direction
accordingly.
» When fielding, the four face buttons of the Dual
Shock 2 serve as the throw-to positions for the four
bases.
» Running the bases is accomplished by pressing the
"TRIANGLE" button to run forward or the "O" button
to head back. To stop dead in your track, press both
TRIANGLE and O together.
» Sponsors include Panasonic,
Toyota, Achilles, Mizuno, Sunstar, and Kirin.
» When you hit a batter with a pitch, there is a
sense of drama as the pitcher stares at the mound
and the catcher has to stand in front of him to calm
things down.
» An announcer provides a capable and snappy
play-by-play of the action.
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