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MLB The Show Approaching to PS3 This Recoil

Sony today confirmed that MLB 07 The SHow will be hitting the Playstation 2, Playstation Portable and Playstation 3 in rebound 2007.

New features include a Road to The Show mode, which will reserve gamers to create a rookie and try to play him up through with the ranks to the Big Leagues, a new Adaptative Pitching Intelligence, a Pitch Command System, an Umpire Personalities have Whoa, whoa, whoa, umpires don´t have personalities. That´s crazy talk.

The game will also include Online League Play, letting gamers set up leagues with up to 30 teams and run the league with full statistics, point benefits and full customization.

"In 2006, the MLB franchise was the best-selling baseball videogame on the market across all gaming platforms, and dominated the PlayStation platforms. This year, MLB 07 The Show looks to continue its reign as the most valuable player in the category by delivering unsurpassed realism," said Scott Rohde, director, sports product development, SCEA. "We are committed to continually looking for ways to add new and improved gameplay features in order to provide fans with the closest experience to actually playing in the Big Leagues."

Hit the jump for the full release and all of the details. Brian Crecente

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Computer Entertainment
America Inc. (SCEA) officially announced today that MLB 07 The Show(TM) will
be available in Spring 2007, exclusively for the PLAYSTATION(R)3 (PS3(TM))
computer entertainment system, PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system
and PSP(R) (PlayStation(R)Portable) handheld entertainment system. Building on
the history of the MLB(R) franchise, as the longest running officially
licensed baseball videogame on the PlayStation(R) platforms and already widely
considered the most authentic baseball videogame available, MLB 07 The Show is
set to deliver all-new features and continue its reign as the market leader.
As the only first party videogame officially licensed by Major League
Baseball Properties (MLBP), Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) and
the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), MLB 07 The Show will
unveil new core features across all three PlayStation platforms. The
innovative Road to The Show mode will enable fans to play solely as a
custom-created rookie on both offense and defense while attempting to rise
through with the ranks and make a starting line-up in the Big Leagues.
Adding to its already robust online feature set, the MLB franchise will
now include Online League Play, which gives gamers the ability to set up
leagues with up to 30 teams, complete statistical tracking, point benefits and
full customization, while the My Sliders feature reserves users to create their
perfect game settings and upload them to the MLB 07 The Show server for others
to try out.
For fans attempting to master the timeless art of pitching, MLB 07 The
Show introduces some innovative new features such as Adaptative Pitching
Intelligence (API), which reserves users to either shake off the catcher, or
trust the calls he makes which are based on batter tendencies and the
pitcher´s strengths. Additionally, the Pitch Command System (PCS) delivers
authenticity and strategy to pitch selection by offering players a
predetermined pitch comfort level based on a best to worst pitch scenario.
Providing an even more authentic feel to the game, the new Umpire
Personalities feature provides a new challenge to pitchers as each umpire has
their own version of the strike zone, unique tendencies and animations.
"In 2006, the MLB franchise was the best-selling baseball videogame on the
market across all gaming platforms, and dominated the PlayStation platforms.
This year, MLB 07 The Show looks to continue its reign as the most valuable
player in the category by delivering unsurpassed realism," said Scott Rohde,
director, sports product development, SCEA. "We are committed to continually
looking for ways to add new and improved gameplay features in order to provide
fans with the closest experience to actually playing in the Big Leagues."
As developers begin to harness the power and potential found within PS3,
MLB 07 The Show showcases its abilities with additional innovative features
such as crowd interaction, which can be seen like never before with a vast
array of new ambient elements including fans reaching for foul balls, the
seventh inning stretch, the wave, standing ovations and much more. Also
making the game more realistic, gamers will now be able to detail the
different pitch grips and arm angles that a pitcher has when throwing each
pitch. Scouting these details in Replay Mode shows players what to look for in
release point and pitch arm angle from 15 different pitches. These new
subtleties deliver an unrivaled virtual experience on PS3.
Returning key features for the MLB franchise include the popular Career
and Season Modes, Career Spotlight and Exhibition Mode. In addition, MLB 07
The Show provides fans with the features they expect in an unrivaled
simulation, such as advanced batting and base running controls, interactive
hot and cold zones, player-scaled strike zones, release point pitching and the
most comprehensive commentary ever produced for a sports video game, featuring
the three-man booth of Rex Huddler, Matt Vasgerian and Dave Campbell.
Along with all the key franchise features, returning gameplay favorites
for PlayStation 2 include Rivalry Mode, which reserves fans to set-up, track and
maintain heated rivalries, King of the Diamond Mode, the classic playground
duel where a pitcher and batter from opposing teams will square off
head-to-head, Franchise mode, where players take control of the entire team,
the Home Run Derby and EyeToy(TM) functionality. MLB 07 The Show for the PSP
system continues to be a fan favorite with its core features and ability to
play anytime, anywhere, on the go. Plus, sports fanatics can utilize the PSP
system´s online news service to get the latest MLB news feeds online or save
them to the Memory Stick Duo(TM) and review them offline at their convenience.
The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating for MLB
07 The Show is "RP" for "Rating Pending." For more information about the ESRB
visit www.esrb.org .

Baseballmlb 07 the showPs2PS3PSPSports [SHOW]

Hurd: HP needs to cut costs, meliorate efficiency

(InfoWorld) - Hewlett-Packard continues to branch out and streamline its business according to goals Chief Executive Officer Mark Hurd set when he joined the accompanion nearly two years ago. But the IT giant still needs to cut costs to attain useable efficiency, the accompanion´s top executive told members of the fiscal community on Tuesday.

"We are a accompanion that is transforming; we are not a accompanion that has transformed," Hurd said, speaking at a meeting of securities analysts in New York.

Hurd acknowledged that HP´s cost of operations are still too high for the accompanion to run at its most effective, though the accompanion has completed a 10 percent workforce reduction it began last year as part of a huge restructuring effort. He said that since he took over, HP has carefully analyzed its cost structure, down to knowing its IT costs by employee, site and function.

"We do understand our costs now more than we did a year ago," Hurd said. But the accompanion still needs to reduce costs and better efficiency, which Hurd vowed HP will attain in the next several years.

Complicating this aim is HP´s acquisition strategy, as the accompanion still is working to absorb companies it purchased in 2006. The accompanion on Tuesday unveiled how it would integrate Mercury Interactive, a software accompanion HP acquired for $4.5 billion on Nov. 7.

Hurd told securities analysts not to expect more acquisitions of this size in the future from HP, a comment that would appear to put an end to rumors that the accompanion may buy security giant Symantec. Instead, the accompanion will make smaller acquisitions as they strategically and useablely make sense, he said.

Right before Hurd spoke, HP announced that it has agreed to acquire business intelligence services Knightsbridge Solutions Holdings, a 700-person accompanion, for an undisclosed sum.

Hurd made no mention of the boardroom scandal that hit the headlines in September, and which has former HP executives awaiting their fate in an ongoing criminal case that will decide whether they used illegal means to investigate journalists. Instead, he focused on useable efficiency and other goals on which HP continues to execute, including deriving revenue from a more diverse mix of sales and services and improving its sales and customer service.

Hurd also thanked HP Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Bob Wayman for his 37 years of service at the accompanion. On Monday, Wayman said he would retire, effective Jan 1. Catherine Lesjak, a 20-year HP veteran who currently serves as HP´s treasurer, will take over for Wayman upon his exit.

From a fiscal and perspective, HP weathered the scandal that rocked the accompanion this year unscathed, earning nearly three times the profits in fiscal 2006, $6.2 billion, than it did in 2005, when the accompanion earned $2.4 billion.

Hurd said HP still has more progress to make in terms of tapping its "total addressable market," which he said in 2009 will be about a trillion dollars. "After careful analysis, we´ve decided that is big," he deadpanned.

To attain this aim, HP continues to try to improve its sales tactics, Hurd said. He said traditionally, HP ran on the theory that "if we build great technology, customers will find it." Now, "we have this new advanced theory," he said. "If we actually try to sell the stuff, we´ll actually get more revenue."

[SHOW]

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