EA Sports Super Mega Baseball 4 is bringing real-life legends to the ballpark for the first time in the series’ long-running history. This obviously upsets the applecart a little bit, as past entries in the franchise have been built almost entirely around customisation. In order to maintain the balance, developer Metalhead has introduced some new features, including a Legends League which will pit different eras of baseball’s best against each other.

In total there will be 240 officially licensed legends in the release, and these will be rotated in and out of rosters in online multiplayer mode Pennant Race on a weekly basis. “Each week, four players on each Super Mega League team are replaced by four legends, which are now called Pennant Race Ringers,” a blog post explains. “Teams that haven’t been used much recently or on aggregate lose more than other teams, receive stronger ringers. Conversely, teams that are picked frequently or have high win rates on aggregate, receive weaker ringers.”

These all sound like smart changes to us, with the game seemingly able to balance the personable feel of past releases with the officially licensed content that some fans have been craving. We’re looking forward to entering the batter’s box from 2nd June, when this title is scheduled to release.

[source youtube.com]