Skip to main content

MLB The Show 16 gets two new modes

Oops! We couldn't load this video player
The smell of fresh-cut grass; the sound of a bat making solid contact with a fastball; the lingering suspicion that my Pirates will implode this year–baseball season is almost upon us, and along with an odd name change, MLB The Show 16 is bringing two new modes to help spice up the game for those fools who think that America’s Pastime is boring.

“Diamond Dynasty exploded last year and is quickly becoming one of the most popular modes in the franchise,” says designer Lance Leahy. The team at Sony San Diego is expanding on Diamond Dynasty with two new and violent sounding modes: Battle Royale and Conquest.

Recommended Videos

Battle Royale, which Leahy calls “the most challenging and competitive game mode Diamond Dynasty has ever seen,” uses your in-game stubs currency to buy elite players for the mode’s draft. After picking a legend like Al Kaline or Rollie Fingers and drafting the rest of your team, you enter a double-elimination tournament, with each game only lasting three innings.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Conquest, meanwhile, is described as a “classic turn-based strategy game,” not to be confused with the recent Fire Emblem Fates release. The mode tasks you with building up your fanbase to gain and hold new territory across North America, and fans can even change the difficulty for games. It’s certainly a departure from anything the series has offered before, with the map of North America looking more like something out of Settlers of Catan than a baseball simulator. Like Battle Royale, individual games of baseball in the mode are limited to three innings to keep the pace quick.

MLB The Show 16 launches for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 on March 29. An “MVP” edition of the PlayStation 4 version will be available for an extra $10, packaging the game with a steelbook and extra currency. Unlike the past several iterations of the franchise, it will not be available on the PlayStation Vita.

Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
No Man’s Sky is getting a Starship Troopers mode in huge new update
A No Man's Sky character in an orange space suit standing in front of a dead alien, with the ship in the background.

No Man's Sky, the open-world space discovery game, has become known for great community support and reinvention. In an announcement on Wednesday, it looks like that will continue with Update 5.0 -- officially called Worlds Part 1. This is because, as Hello Game founder Sean Murray says, "there's much more to come."

As with other No Man's Sky updates, the team is adding more planets, biomes, plants, and creatures. However, this is looking to be a huge technology upgrade that makes the game look more "realistic" and dynamic. It also adds a bug-hunting mode that is "Starship Troopers-inspired," according to Murray, which seems ... familiar.

Read more
Sony shows off a futuristic PlayStation controller, but don’t get too excited
A concept controller from Sony. IT shows two joysticks on either side of a ring.

In its annual corporate strategy meeting, Sony debuted a video that featured a blink-and-you'll-miss-it concept for a redesigned game controller.

The presentation, which you can watch below, was dedicated to talking about Sony's future "creative entertainment vision," and included a lot of talk about the metaverse, mixed reality, and what it perceives as the future of game development. During a segment that showed off many futuristic-looking devices, you can see a circular controller working with a projected screen.

Read more
New PS5 models are getting their own console covers, but old ones aren’t compatible
A PS5 consxole is opened up, showing its removable hard drive.

The newly redesigned PlayStation 5 is getting its own set of console covers sometime next year. Sony confirms to Digital Trends that several faceplate colors are slated to launch in 2024 but covers for the old PS5 models will not be compatible with the new systems.

One of the PS5's most unique features is its removable faceplates, which allow players to customize their console with new colors and designs. The new PS5 models will evolve that idea with a four-cover panel design that gives the system a slightly different look. Sony is already planning to make those customizable in the near future, according to a statement sent to Digital Trends.

Read more