NEWS - Thursday, February 26, 2004
Midway Unveils MLB Slugfest: Loaded
CHICAGO – February 26, 2004 - Midway Sports, the sports brand of Midway Games Inc., today announced MLB SlugFest: Loaded, the newest title in the adrenaline-style baseball series which, for the first time, takes America’s Pastime online with a host of new gameplay features. Also new for 2004, MLB SlugFest: Loaded will include the addition of the Baseball Mogul(R) engine into its franchise mode, adding great depth and endless re-playability to the game. Midway also today unveiled Sammy Sosa as the cover athlete for MLB SlugFest: Loaded, establishing a relationship with one of baseball’s all-time greats. MLB SlugFest: Loaded is scheduled for release in June 2004 for the PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox(R) video game system from Microsoft. “The improvements that we’ve incorporated into MLB SlugFest: Loaded offer fans everywhere a deeper, more complete baseball experience while still retaining the over-the-top action Midway Sports games are known for,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. “Specifically, the additions of the Baseball Mogul engine into our franchise mode and the ability to play online for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox(TM) Live open up several new, exciting means of enjoying the latest title in the SlugFest franchise. We are also very excited to have one of Major League Baseball’s all-time greatest players, and Chicago’s very own, Sammy Sosa as our cover athlete. Sosa truly embodies what SlugFest is all about: big talent, big hits and over-the-top action.” About MLB SlugFest: Loaded MLB SlugFest: Loaded is the only baseball videogame for the 2004 season featuring Midway’s classic fast and furious gameplay with beanballs, hard tags, and over-the-top animations. This year’s SlugFest features today’s greatest baseball players with the addition of over-the-top abilities, including turbo-speed running, highlight reel-worthy fielding, earth-shaking collisions and, as one would expect from a Midway Sports title, the ability for a player to catch fire and turbo charge the game action. In addition, all-new gameplay features add a measure of depth and adrenaline yet to be matched by competing, simulation-like baseball titles: Customizable Instant Replay, providing gamers with complete control of the numerous camera angles available to get the best view of towering home runs and diving catches, Exploding Scoreboards, giving players the ability to light up stadium jumbo-screens with one swing of the bat, and also, the most updated MLB team rosters available in any game of its kind. Furthermore, players will be able to for the first time in the SlugFest series, take coaching skills, players and/or teams online for both PlayStation 2 and Xbox Live, one of only three 2004 baseball games to have such capabilities. Additional online capabilities will include voice chat using an optional headset and an on-screen sports Ticker Tape that allows players to track ongoing MLB action with a live news feed from MLB.com, offering up-to-date scores and stats. It also features an Online Tournament Mode which allows online users to match-up at anytime and anywhere against the stiffest competition coast-to-coast where winners take all and the losers goes home. MLB Slugfest: Loaded also includes a completely original soundtrack from new breakthrough bands, including tracks from Ivory Wire, Buckfast Superbee and Flipswitch.Source: http://www.midway.com/
