2K Sports, Konami Bring Power Pro Baseball To North America

Officials from Take-Two subsidiary 2K Sports and Konami have announced that the companies are partnering to bring Konami’s perennially popular Power Pro baseball franchise to North America this fall for both the PlayStation 2 and Wii. Developed by Konami and published by 2K Sports, MLB Power Pros will feature the series signature cartoon style, though a statement from both companies notes that players can still expect to recognize popular baseball players “through comic usage of facial expressions, facial hair, and hair styles.” In addition, Konami has also included recreations of every MLB ballpark in the game as well. As with other game in the decade-old series, MLB Power Pro with forgo realism for fun, accessible gameplay. The upcoming title will feature more than a dozen game modes, including a detailed season mode and the success mode, which combines traditional role-playing elements with baseball scenarios. The latest 14th iteration of the franchise, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 14 debuted at the top of the most recent Japanese charts, with 153,000 copies of the PS2 version sold, and 48,000 for the Wii. "For years, Konami's Power Pro Baseball has been Japan's No. 1 baseball game, in sales and fan ratings," said Kazumi Kitaue, chairman and CEO of Konami Digital Entertainment. "Now, in an excellent partnership with 2K Sports, it is with great pleasure that we bring Power Pro Baseball to the North American market as MLB Power Pros, where this great sport was born."