PYS 2012 UPDATE:

MAIN MENU

All modes are explained below along with links which will take you to the respective translation pages...

HOW-TO:

Tutorial Mode: Learn the game through basic pitching, batting, defense, and baserunning drills.

Free Training: Practice your pitching, hitting and defense.

MATCH:

Exhibition: Play an exhibition game. When selected the game will automatically check to see if you have any saved games. If so, the left button will be highlighted. Click to load your saved game or select the right button to start a new game. You can play your saved game at any time (starting a new game will not delete it) but you can only save one game total.

Spirits: This is the Create-a-Player mode. Some gameplay is involved and the better you do the more points and better abilities your player will have.

Homerun Race: Jack homeruns and earn VP points

GAME:

Pennant Mode: You may play as the whole team, 1 player on the team only ("Field Play" which is similar to Road to the Show and is PS3/Vita only), or Manage.

• Once you click on Season Mode, the game will check for save data and you will see 3 options:
• Load a mid-game save (if available), Load, New Season
  

Playoff: Play in the Climax series. To learn more about the unique playoff format in Japan, click here.

Star Player: This is a career mode where you can create a player or choose any player from real life and play up to 20 years.

Grand Prix: Create your own team by collecting Player Cards and enter special tournaments. Both Action or Manage Mode available.

ONLINE/NETWORK:

AD HOC: (Vita/PSP only)

Online: Play vs human (PS3 only) or manage vs human (PS3/Vita).

COMMUNITY: (Vita only) - Trade user profiles & created characters with players nearby.

* PSP does not have DLC support or Field Play.

UTILITY:

Utility: Arrange rosters, install to hard drive, see full player abilities, create fight songs, etc.

VP Shop: Buy gameplay-enhancing items, uniforms, players, and awaken/level-up players.

SETTING OPTIONS:

The four choices here are

Beginners
Normal
Pro
My Setting

We recommend everyone go with 'My Setting' and ignore the top 3 (they are all presets)

SIMPLE SETTINGS:

This is a new short version of the User Setting screen. Click the top right button for the detailed settings screen which vets will be accustomed to from previous versions (covered below.)

Pitch Speed: Middle Speed
CPU Difficulty: Custom
Control Type: Analog Stick
Hitting Cursor: Normal
Batting Point: Normal
CPU Pitch Cursor: OFF (do not see)
Pitch Control: Classic style
Baserunning: Auto
Defense: Auto for fielding
Throwing Controls: face buttons
Substitutions: Manual

DETAILED SETTINGS (same as 2010 & 2011):

Note: to get to this page you must click the far right button in Simple Settings (es explained above.)

The below options are taken from the Season Mode - User Setting menus. Some choices (such as CPU Managing difficulty) may not be available in other modes such as Exhibition. For new players, make sure you set Part D. Batting - Batting Point to "Normal". "Real" is extremely challenging and should only be reserved for pros.

On left handed side, top to bottom:

A. Difficulty
B. Camera
C. Control
D. Batting
E. Pitching
F. Baserunning
G. Defense
H. Strategy
I. Stats Display

A. Difficulty

1. Pitch Speed - Slow, Slow+, Basic, Basic+, Middle, Middle+, Real
2. Difficulty - Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Perfect, Spirits, Self-Adjusting, Custom.

Note 'Self-Adjusting' difficulty is only available in Pennant mode (see settings explained page section A2 for full details on this option.)

If you choose 'Custom', the following difficulties will be opened up for adjustment:

3. CPU Pitching - Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Normal+, Hard -, Hard, Hard+, Perfect, Spirits

* We dedicated a whole page to this setting which analyzes 'CPU Pitch Difficulty' and gives you tips on how to draw walks. Here's the link..

Analysis of CPU Pitch Difficulty

4. CPU Hitting - Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Normal+, Hard -, Hard, Hard+, Perfect, Spirits
5. CPU Baserunning - Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Perfect, Spirits. Note: "Normal" is recommended in the 2011 version because there have been reports of over-aggressive baserunning on higher levels.
6. CPU Defense - Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Perfect, Spirits
7. CPU Managing (Pennant Mode only) - Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard, Perfect, Spirits. This option applies to Manager Mode only, it affects how well the CPU manager does. It does not effect player performance, only how smart the manager decisions are.

B. Camera

1. Pitching - TV (Stadium-Specific), TV (Set), Batting Default, Batting (Middle)
2. Batting - TV (Stadium-Specific), TV (Set), Batting Default, Batting (Middle)
3. Defense - Normal, Normal Wide
4. Running - Normal, Normal Wide

C. Control

1. Type - Analog, Digital (for moving the batting cursor and pitching cursor)
2. Rumble - On, Off (your controller will vibrate at times if ON)

D. Batting

1. Meet Cursor - Normal, Assist, Zone. (See settings explained section D1 for descriptions.)
2. Meet Assist Level - Level 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Self-Adjust (See settings explained D2 for descriptions.)
3. Batting Point - Normal, Real or Off. (See settings explained D3 for descriptions.)
4. Strike Zone - Show All, Only Weak/Strong Points, Only the Strike Zone, Off

• Strike Zone 'Weak/Strong Points' are crucial to seeing the fluctuating player abilities on a per pitch basis. This is covered in detail in the Anatomy of an at bat page.

5. CPU Pitch Cursor - On, Always in Center, Fade, Off. (See settings explained D5 for descriptions.)
6. CPU Pitcher's Pitches: Pitch Type And Info, Pitch Type, None. (See settings explained D6 for descriptions.)

E. Pitching

1. Pitch Style - Direct (Default), Assist (CPU help if you miss release point), 1 Button Simple style (you select pitch type and location, the CPU takes care of the pitch release timing.)
2. Pitch Cursor - On, Always in Center, Fade, Off
3. Pitch Display - Pitch Type And Info, Pitch Type, None
4. Pitch Point - Normal, Real, Off (same as D3: Batting Point)
5. Pitch Form - Real, Always From Stretch
6. Catcher Throw Back - On, Off (Animation of catcher throwing to pitcher after a pitch is thrown.)
7. CPU Strike Zone - Show All, Only Weak/Strong Points, Only the Strike Zone, Off

F. Running

1. Runner Control - Totally Manual, Classic, Assist, Auto

G. Defense

1. Defense Type - Manual, Assist, Auto Fielding Only, All Auto. (Assist will help you take a small automatic step toward the ball, so if your reaction is not that good you can try this.)
2. Throw Type - Normal, X + Direction. (This is like a tribute to old school gamers. X+D is how very old games on NES like RBI Baseball used to control, which older people may still prefer.)
3. Formation - Standard, Basic, Pro. There are really no substantial differences. Pro is supposed to simulate how real baseball players back up the bases in run-down situations or backup the bases but to be honest I tried using different settings and couldn't tell what was changed.
4. Flyball Cursor - On, Off
5. Fielder Cursor - Under Feet, Over Head, Name Only, None
6. Cursor Change - Semi-Auto, Auto. (This is how you switch to another defender. It's hard to tell the difference between semi auto and auto so personally I think the default is fine.)
7. Dive/Jump - Manual (Triangle - Jumping Catch, Square or O - Dash Catch, X - Diving Catch), Assist (Automatically determines type of grab)

H. Strategy

1. Managing - Manual, Auto

2. Defensive Shift - Aggressive, Medium, Conservative. For a detailed description of this setting along with a list of the shifts please see the settings explained page.

3. Shift Control - Guide, Simple. Press L1 in-game to bring up the shift menu. Guide will pause the action and show you big diagrams of the shifts. Simple is quicker and you will be scrolling through the different shifts right on the action screen at the upper right hand corner (above the wind meter.)

4. Block Sign - Guide, Sign Only, Off (press L2 to bring up Block Sign menu.) For a detailed description of this setting along with a list of the signs see the settings explained page.

5. Coach Advice - Auto, Manual (Press Square to listen to coach when available), Off

I. Stats Display

1. Player Name - Show, Don't show
2. Special Skills - Show, Don't show
3. Batter Attritbute Petagon Graph - Show, Don't show
4. Control Guide - Show, Don't show
5. Batting Timing Guide - Show, Don't show
6. Pitching Speed Gauge - Show, Don't show

PAUSE MENU: BULLPEN SCREEN

Left: This shows the available pitchers you have left in your bullpen along with their stamina bar. Dark blue is your base stamina, and light blue is the Starter Preparation Stamina, which is returning from 2010 (covered in detail in the our 2010 attribute page.)

Right: This shows your batting lineup which is convenient for making double switches. To the right of their "happy face" you'll see the symbol for right/left (this is a very right-handed batting order.) The 7 spot in the lineup is highlighted because this is the batter due up next.

To the right of the batting order is a dark grey area which will display player stats as the game progresses. To the right of that is an instructional graphic for beginners. For example the D with the C is just a sample picture, that pitch doesn't really belong to anybody.

Bottom Right: From top to bottom these are the symbols for Starter, Middle Reliever, Setup Man and Closer.

PAUSE MENU: DEFENSIVE SUBSTITUTION

PAUSE MENU: BATTERS INFO

PAUSE MENU: PITCHERS INFO

PRE-GAME SELECTION SCREEN: PITCHERS