EBaseball Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2020
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''eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball'', previously known as ''Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū'' and marketed internationally as ''Power Pros'', is a Japanese baseball video game series created by
Konami , is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company, video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machin ...
. The game is known for its super deformed characters, and fast-paced, but deep game play. Most games in the series are developed under license from the
Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
(NPB) and the Japan Professional Baseball Players Association (JPBPA), letting them use the league's team names, stadiums, colors, and players' names and likenesses. There are also six games in the series with the
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
(MLB) and Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) license, two with the
Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...
(KBO) and Korea Professional Baseball Players Association (KPBPA), and one with the
World Baseball Classic The World Baseball Classic (WBC) is an international baseball tournament sanctioned from 2006 to 2013 by the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and after 2013 by World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) in partnership with Major Leagu ...
license. It is long running in Japan, starting out in 1994 for the Super Famicom, and appearing on many different consoles:
Saturn Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant with an average radius of about nine and a half times that of Earth. It has only one-eighth the average density of Earth; h ...
(1995–1997),
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
(1994–2003), Nintendo 64 (1997–2001),
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
(2000–2009), Dreamcast (2000),
GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
(2002–2006),
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...
(2007–2009),
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
(2010–2016),
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
(since 2016) as well as
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
(2007–2013) and
Vita Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to: * ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography * Vit ...
(2012-2018). The game has two spin-off series: '' Professional Baseball Spirits'', a baseball
sports simulation A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport (s ...
series with more realistic graphics and physics, and ''
Power Pro Kun Pocket ''Power Pro Kun Pocket'' (パワプロクンポケットシリーズ, abbrv. :パワポケ), sometimes simply called ''Pawapoke'' or ''Power Pocket'', is a spin-off of the '' Power Pros'' series of baseball games developed by Power Pros Productio ...
''. The latter was released on handheld systems between 1999 and 2014 with versions for the
Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
, Game Boy Advance, and
Nintendo DS The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
. Although the series was originally designed as the side-story of Success mode and was part of the main series, Konami retroactively declared it as a separate series. On May 12, 2006, a version of ''Power Pro'' was released featuring Major League Baseball players, under the title ''Jikkyō Powerful Major League''. The ''Power Pro'' series has featured online play since its tenth incarnation on the PS2 and its first handheld version on the PlayStation Portable. A version of ''Power Pro'' was announced for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
, first shown at the
Tokyo Game Show , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in September in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. The ...
in 2005, but it would take another five years for the series to reach the PS3, with the system instead getting Power Pro's sister series, ''Professional Baseball Spirits'', for the interim. On August 3, 2007, an American release of the series was announced for both the PlayStation 2 and the Wii. The game, titled ''
MLB Power Pros ''MLB Power Pros'' is a baseball video game developed by Power Pros Production and published by 2K Sports in North America and Konami in Japan for the Wii and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. It is part of the traditionally Japan-only ''Power P ...
'', was published by
2K Sports 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. 2K was founded under Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports labels, following Take-Two Interactive's acquisition of Visual Concepts that same m ...
, and features a Success Mode set within Major League Baseball. The most distinctive feature of the ''Power Pro'' series is its odd depiction of characters. The basic design of the ''Power Pro'' baseball player is a short figure with an excessively wide, gashapon capsule-shaped head, lacking a mouth, nose, ears with expression being mainly in the eyebrows. ''Power Pros'' characters are somewhat similar to the character
Rayman ''Rayman'' is a franchise of platform video games, created by video game designer Michel Ancel for Ubisoft. Since the release of the original ''Rayman'' game in 1995, the series has produced a total of 45 games across multiple platforms. The s ...
, in that they do not have legs and thus their feet are not connected to their body. ''Power Pros'' characters do have arms and hands; however, their hands are finger less and bear more resemblance to a sphere than a human hand. The ''Power Pro'' series has used this comic design for every single one of its games. In Japan, the series has been critically acclaimed and commercially successful, while in North America it received mixed to generally favorable reviews and sold poorly. , the series has sold over 23.5 million copies, in addition to
mobile game A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...
downloads .KONAMI HOLDINGS CORPORATION
/ref>


Games in the series

This is the major system development in the main series (as well as information of seasons series and MLB Power Pros series), some minor development, such as player's ability, are not included in the development


Pawapuro '94

Released on February 24, 1994 for the Super Famicom. The game has the license of the Nippon Professional Baseball and the Japanese Professional Baseball Players Association, though the
Meiji Jingu Stadium The is a baseball stadium in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. It opened in 1926 and holds 37,933 spectators. Property of the Meiji Shrine, it is the home field of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball team. It also hosts college baseball, incl ...
and the
Hanshin Koshien Stadium , commonly referred to as simply Koshien Stadium, is a baseball park located near Kobe in Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The stadium was built to host the national high school baseball tournaments, and opened on August 1, 1924. It was ...
are listed under a fictional name. Success mode is not included in the first two installments. Commentary is provided by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation radio commentator Abe Noriyuki.


Pawapuro 2

Released on February 24, 1995 for the Super Famicom. The first game in the series with full Pennant mode, and save game features. The Hanshin Koshien Stadium is fully licensed, but the Meiji Jingu Stadium is still listed under a fictional name. Commentary is provided by Asahi Broadcasting Corporation radio commentator Motoharu Ōta.


Pawapuro 3

Released on February 29, 1996 for the Super Famicom. Success mode, which becomes one of the main features in the ''Power Pros'' series, is firstly installed in this game. Commentary is once again provided by Abe Noriyuki, who stayed in this position until ''Power Pros 8''.


Pawapuro 4

Released on March 14, 1997 for the Nintendo 64. With the generation leap, the game's graphics (polygon-based stadia), and controls greatly improved. The Success Mode firstly features original characters, some of them become regular even nowadays.


Pawapuro 5

Released on March 26, 1998 for the Nintendo 64. In March 1998, the game was the best-selling game for the Nintendo 64 in Japan.


Pawapuro 6

Also known as ''Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū 6''. Released on March 25, 1999 for the Nintendo 64.


Pawapuro 7

This game was the first in the series to be released on the
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
. First game in the series with fully polygon-based graphics.
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
thought that the game was fun, but criticized the games for its "horrible" graphics and for its lack of power on the new console. The game was due to be released on March 4, 2000, but was later pushed back to July 6, 2000.


Pawapuro 8

Vocalized opening ("Little Soldier" by
Chihiro Yonekura is a Japanese singer and songwriter from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. History While Yonekura was attending university, she sent off several demonstration tapes to recording companies. She was scouted out, and received the opportunity to do the op ...
) is firstly featured in the series, with the openings made by Kyoto Animation which mainly works on animation after-production at that time. They have been working on the openings until Pawapuro 11 as they had started working on the anime version of Air, a famous production from Visual Arts/Key. The production works are passed to
Production I.G is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise, founded on December 15, 1987, by Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and headquartered in Musashino, Tokyo, Japan. The letters I and G derive from the names of the company founders: producer Mitsuhisa Ish ...
in Pawapuro 12.


Pawapuro 9

This game was the first in the series to be released on multiple platforms –
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
and
GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...
. This game was also the first in the series to employ
cel shading Cel shading or toon shading is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make 3-D computer graphics appear to be flat by using less shading color instead of a shade gradient or tints and shades. A cel shader is often used to mimic th ...
.


Pawapuro 10

Success Mode first features creating teams instead of individual players. Online mode is firstly available in a main series title. And the only installment that allow machine crossovers. Mylife mode, an alternate type of Success Mode that player controls the Japan League player instead of original character (but you can still play created player in Success Mode), is firstly placed in this installment.


Pawapuro 11

Created for the 10th anniversary of the ''Power Pros'' series. Audio endings are first featured in Success Mode (made by Kyoto Animation), as well as the ability to break the bat and performing safety bunts.


Pawapuro 12

Modified player password system, means password systems cannot be placed on previous installment (for Nintendo side). However, password from 12–14, can be used on Portable 1 and Portable 2 (within Sony platform only). Cheering Songs Editor is available since this installment, like players, password system are used to transfer and import the songs. Cheering Songs can be transferred to any installment within the Sony's platform without restrictions. As long as that installment support Cheering Songs.


Jikkyō Powerful Major League

The game firstly features
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
instead of
NPB or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
series. It also holds the license for the
2009 World Baseball Classic The 2009 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international baseball competition. It began on 5 9 and finished 5 26. Unlike in 2006, when the round-robin format of the first two rounds led to some eliminations being decided by run-difference ti ...
.


Pawapuro 13

As Nintendo's GameCube has stopped production at that time, it is the only installment of main series that only features in PS2 platform since 8. Major system changes have been placed in this installment. In online mode, every players only control one player in the team, not a whole team. Scenario Mode, a feature since the first series is cancelled from this installment.


Pawapuro 14/Wii

Wii platform is added in Nintendo side, replacing GC for the future installment in Pawapuro (and MLB PP series), as a feature of Wii, motion control system is supported in Wii side, both versions support online mode which adepts system in 13 (but controlling three players instead), in separated server. Success Mode firstly features leading a high-school team, targeted at Summer Koshien Champion. Later also feature currently Japanese NPB players as members of the National Team.


Jikkyō Powerful Major League 2 (MLB Power Pros)

The series finally officially has its debut in America, numbers of Japanese players who had turned into a Major League Player participated.


Pawapuro 2009/NEXT

Released for the 15th anniversary of the series. Also, numbered versions are established for the first time since '94. And different unique contents (apart than control and console feature differences) are firstly featured in different versions.


Power Pros 2010

Released on July 15, 2010 for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
and
PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...
. ''2010'' is the first game in the series which supports
high-definition video High-definition video (HD video) is video of higher resolution and quality than standard-definition. While there is no standardized meaning for ''high-definition'', generally any video image with considerably more than 480 vertical scan lines (No ...
(
1080p 1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen vert ...
), true surround sound (5.1 channel LPCM). Mylife mode is omitted from the PlayStation 3 release.


Power Pros 2011

Released on July 14, 2011 for the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...
and PlayStation Portable. Unlike the previous installment, the two version have the same content.


Power Pros 2012

Released on July 19, 2012 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and
PlayStation Vita The PlayStation Vita (PS Vita, or Vita) is a handheld video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 17, 2011, and in North America, Europe, and other international territo ...
. The game introduced significant gameplay mechanic changes to the series, including the PawaSta mode, which is only available in the PlayStation 3 and Vita versions.


Power Pros 2013

Released on October 24, 2013 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita. Unlike ''2012'', the game is also compatible with the PlayStation TV microconsole.


Power Pros 2014

Released on October 23, 2014 for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita to commemorate the series twentieth anniversary. ''2014'' is the first game in the main series, which have active Japanese MLB players as "OB players".


Power Pros 2016

Released on April 28, 2016 for the PlayStation 3,
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and PlayStation Vita to commemorate the Success mode's twentieth anniversary. The game introduced many game play elements to the series, lifted from the '' Professional Baseball Spirits'' series. On April 27, 2017 the game was updated with 2017 season rosters, the players are able to choose from the 2016 and 2017 rosters upon launching the game. The game also introduced two new game modes to the series, "PawaFes" and "Challenge".


Power Pros 2018

Released on April 28, 2018 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita. ''2018'' is the first game in the series to support the PlayStation VR and PlayStation 4 Pro, along with
high-dynamic-range video High-dynamic-range television (HDR or HDR-TV) is a technology that improves the quality of display signals. It is contrasted with the retroactively-named standard dynamic range (SDR). HDR changes the way the luminance and colors of videos and ...
and
2160p 4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the dominan ...
resolution. The game also includes a new game mode, "Live Scenario", lifted from ''Professional Baseball Spirits 2015''. A 2019 season pack was recently added as an updated feature to Power Pros 2018.


Power Pros (Nintendo Switch)

Released on June 27, 2019 for the
Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
. The Success mode is a remake version of some scenarios in Power Pros 9.


eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2020

Released on July 9, 2020 for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. It is the first entry in the series to feature Konami's ''eBASEBALL'' branding in its official title.


eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball 2022

Revealed on January 13, 2022, this game was released for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on April 21, 2022.


WBSC eBaseball Power Pros (tentative)

Announced on July 20, 2022, which will collaborate between Konami and World Baseball Softball Confederation. The game will also become the first Powerful Pro Baseball game featuring English since MLB Power Pros. In October 24, 2022, Konami had filed a trademark for “eBASEBALL Power Pros”, this trademark was confirmed by Japanese authorities and made public on November 1st, 2022.


The Success Mode

The Success Mode is the game's most notable feature , combining
role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
and
life simulation game Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation ...
s elements with the
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
sport. The basic objective is to train a generic Pawapurokun to become a professional baseball player. The Pawapurokun starts out with low stats, but often ends up exceeding the real professional players included in the game. Generally, Pawapurokun begins as an amateur player (ranging from high school, college or company player) who must become a professional in a certain period (usually three years). The Success Mode takes only about 2 hours to complete, but creating a good player requires an extraordinary amount of skill and luck, giving the game almost infinite replay value. Various random events will affect the growth of your player, for example, getting a girlfriend will allow you to regain motivation easily and receive presents (which drastically improve your player's stats) on your birthday. The amount of stress caused, and number of Pawapurokuns killed off in the Success Mode can be very large, as someone can spend hours carefully training a Pawapurokun, only to see him become severely injured in a car accident, ending any chance of his becoming a good player. "All A's" Pawapurokuns (characters that have all of their stats in the highest range) are particularly sought after, since you can transfer Pawapurokuns from one memory card to the other using a password, and use them in exhibition games (''It is noted that password have different formats between Sony and Nintendo side, which means you cannot transfer a password from PS2/PSP to a GC/Wii/NDS/GBA Pawapuro installments, and vice versa''). Often a cheat device such as Action Replay is used to generate incredibly strong Pawapurokuns, and several fansites (such as mlbppworld.com) offer to create customized Pawapurokuns in exchange for voting for the site in a web ranking. As Success mode is the most popular major part of the Pawapuro Series, thus there are no ability editing mode in Pawapuro series (except American installment's MLB Power Pros) which become a regular element in other sport games. The plot as well as the storyline of the Success Mode has a profound effect on the game's popularity, as many users would rather replay older Pawapuro games that have good Success Modes than buy a newer installment that has new data and improved gameplay, but a bad Success Mode. In Pawapuro 14, players can become a coach instead of Pawapurokun, leading a high school team to Koshien Champion, it is somewhat an alternate way to create a large amount of Pawapurokuns in the same time. The mode does not require any skill in pitching, catching nor batting on their own, but require planning and tactics skill like other sport-manager game. Later, 14 Kettei-ban firstly features enhancing current NPB players, and placing them as original players. The main background of Pawapurokun in various installments are below: *3: Reserve player (in NPB team) *4: Reserve player (in NPB team) *5: High School Student *6: University player *7: Reserve player (in NPB team) *8: Fantasy Story (High School/University/Company player can be chosen) *9: High School Student *10: An NPB fictional team Reserve *11: University Team/Japan National Team (as amateur player) *12: Student in baseball academy/Company amateur player/Dropout in baseball academy *Major League: Player in independent league *13: High School Student (World High School Championship is added in Kettei-ban) *14: Reserve of Vulcans, An NPB fictional league team. *MLBPP: University Student *15: Company amateur player *MLBPP08: An AA/AAA player For Managers: *10: Playing-owner of the professional- Success All Stars (Kettei-ban only) *14: High School Team, Japan National Team (Kettei-ban only) *15: High School Team Through the background of the story and events of the series usually have connection with the sequel and the pre-sequel (which also gives conflicts, which sometimes major character returns to university or company), but may not be in the same chronological order. For example, 7 is actually the sequel of the events in 9, and 11 is the sequel of 7. But 13 is actually the story paralleling to 10, in which the previous characters appeared. The only exception is Yabe Akio, the original outfielder who appeared in every installment of main series (since 4) who will always be the Pawapuro-kun's first partner no matter what (in which he appeared wearing
Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the majority of their home games at ES CON Field Hokkaido. The Fighters also host a ...
(now the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters) uniform in the openings in 7, 8 and 9). Currently Konami should have set the main storyline in the sequence of 9 (P3) -> 7 -> 13 -> 10 -> 11 -> 12 -> 14. In the early series before 10, major characters are spread into different real NPB teams, after the installment 10, four original teams (Powerfuls, Keysers, Cathands, and Yanks) were formed in
Pacific League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the annual Japan Series. It currently consis ...
and
Central League The or is one of the two professional baseball leagues that constitute Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship plays against the winner of the Pacific League in the annual Japan Series. It currently consist ...
to room original characters, in which some minor characters would stay in the real teams and being opponents. Two more teams, Vulcans and Busters were added in 14 and formed the fictional third league "Revolutional League" with the prior 4 original teams, according to storyline of 14, the league participated in Japan Series in its fourth year since establishment. Other than team formations, the major regulations of NPB are kept (including the playoff system introduced in 2007 season), only having a shorter Pennant span, in order to keep the gametime under three hours. (Except Pawapuro 9, 10 and 99' which there are more complete matches, or particular mode in 11, 13, 14). Usually players are not needed (and not permitted to) play all innings unless player involves it, being a captain in final stages of the success mode, or the success mode itself does not give status point in practices. Due to the possibility of copyright conflict towards MLB (particularly before the release of the MLB series after Pawapuro 12), the American League system in NPB series is called the UBL (Possibly named as USA Baseball League) in NPB series, which are composed by three grades: Single Star, Double Stars, and the top-ranked Regular League, similar to the AA,
AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...
, and
MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
system in the real world. Such naming were continued to use in 13 and 14 even the MLB series released, and it is believed to continue to use to make story connections to the other NPB installments since some players are set in the UBL. Currently MLB series' success modes did not feature as a position of MLB player yet (but AAA players in MLB Power Pros 2008). For another remarks, there are numbers of female players appeared in the series with some of them have remarkable performances. At least four female players in main series have gone through Koshien and turned Pro (through one is never seen as being released later). Since the 7th installment, usually the opening sequences gives some clues of the story line of the success mode, especially for the 9th and 10th installments while professional players are only given a very brief cameos, Success Mode characters filled the major parts in the openings. Sub-series usually featured independent scenarios (or even not featuring success mode), the most renowned one was in the 99' installment, which there has a mode called "Mekkou-Tou", which consecutive battles with all the original teams appeared in the past success mode (whenever appears in main-series,
Power Pro Kun Pocket ''Power Pro Kun Pocket'' (パワプロクンポケットシリーズ, abbrv. :パワポケ), sometimes simply called ''Pawapoke'' or ''Power Pocket'', is a spin-off of the '' Power Pros'' series of baseball games developed by Power Pros Productio ...
series, or even appeared in the later series), it is still one of the legendary modes that the later series didn't revive. The Power Pro Kun Pocket series, rather than focusing on real-life baseball worlds, many fantasy elements were added in the series. Since the second installment, two success modes were placed in each installments, while the normal success mode usually featured high-school or professional baseball (unlike main series, fantasy elements are usually mixed in the series), the second success, called "Inner Success" mode, usually placed the Power Pro Kun in the various worlds, varying from the
Medieval Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, ancient times, and to future worlds. Fantasy elements are very uncommon in the main series, but Konami did it in 8, which the (optional) final battle is versus aneroid players which legendary players' data were inserted.


Mylife mode

Due to the great success of success mode, Konami have someway extended to another game mode called Mylife since Pawapuro 10, which can use created player (or using an NPB player, even creating a player at place) to play in the NPB, with another series of events, through there are no more characters from success mode appears in it. The difficulty will change according to your performance in the game. The known mode in Mylife mode are: *Loan player: Playing as a loan player from other team, maximum playtime is one year. *Playing Manager: Playing as a playing manager, maximum playtime is one year. Whenever the team lose the possibility claiming the League Champion (or playoff in Pacific League). Currently available in 13. *Pro players: Choosing one current
NPB or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
players, maximum playtime is 20 years. ''Note: If you choose
Yakult Swallows The Tokyo Yakult Swallows () are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Yom ...
' catcher
Atsuya Furuta Atsuya Furuta (古田 敦也, b. August 6, 1965) is a Japanese former baseball player and player-manager for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows professional baseball club in the Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Drafted in the 2nd round in 1 ...
as your player in the Mylife mode in 13 or 14, playing manager duties are added. However, maximum playtime is reduced to two years. (Atsuya was a playing manager in 2006 and 2007 season, he retired in 2007)'' *Retiring player: Playing the retiring year of your career, available in 14. *Original players: Using players created in success mode to play in Mylife. MLB version did not feature Mylife mode until the 2008 installment, in which it is known as MLB Life mode.


The Gyroball within ''Powerful Pro Yakyu''

The ''Power Pro'' series raised some controversy in Japan with its use of the term "
Gyroball A gyroball is a type of baseball pitch used primarily by players in Japan. It is thrown with a spiral-like spin, so that there is no Magnus force on the ball as it arrives at home plate. The gyroball is sometimes confused with the shuuto, another ...
", a term made popular by Japanese pitcher
Daisuke Matsuzaka is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher, who pitched professionally for 23 seasons, 16 of them in NPB, 7 in MLB. He is currently a baseball color commentator, critic, reporter, and YouTuber. Daisuke is nicknamed in Japan and "Dice-K ...
when he signed with the
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
. The Gyroball appears not as a pitch usable in a baseball game, but as one of the special abilities assigned to particular pitchers. In Pawapuro, pitchers that have the Gyroball ability get increased velocity on their fastball, which is completely different from the actual definition of a Gyroball (a pitch with a spin resembling that of a slider). ''Power Pro'' and other baseball
manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
(which also give misinterpretations of the Gyroball) have given the impression that the Gyroball is an all-powerful strike out pitch, which it is not. Several professional pitchers (including classic players) are given this ability in the game, but Daisuke Matsuzaka is not given the Gyroball ability in any of the game's installments. Daisuke does not appear in Pawapuro 14 as he was transferred via Posting system to
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
, through two-seam ball which made closer to his pitching is added in this installment. It is expected Daisuke will return as a Seibu OB somedays (through Daisuke's official password has been released in MLB Power Pros 2), but his ability changes is still unknown at this moment.


Games in the series

Below is a rough list of the games within the ''Power Pro'' series. Basically, can de divided into certain categories below. Main Series: Ending with only number suffixes (except '94, the first series), most major system amendments (including success mode) are placed in the main series. Number series are not used after 15. Season Series: A
PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
exclusive series, ending with suffix in year number, it is mainly an alternate installment of the main series which is installed in Super Famicom and
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
. This series has been merged to the main series as the PlayStation had stopped being manufactured. Since 1998, two installments are released every year, one normal version in the start of the season, and one named ''Kettei-ban''(Post-Season version), with the latter have statistic (and sometime involving player transfers) update that reflects his performance in the season. This has become one of the tradition of Konami even after this has been merged in the main series, much like the Winning Eleven series with a more frequently update. Ketten-ban version is cancelled in 15 (But they used on
Pro Baseball Spirits is a Japanese baseball sports simulation game series, developed by Power Pros Production and published by Konami. It is a spin-off series of the '' Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū'' (''Power Pros'') franchise. Games ''Pro Yakyū Spirits 2004'' ...
instead). However, year series are revived after that. MLB Power Pro Series: The only series that is officially released in America, it features MLB series instead of traditional Japanese
NPB or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...
series, through Japanese version is also available. See the
MLB Power Pros ''MLB Power Pros'' is a baseball video game developed by Power Pros Production and published by 2K Sports in North America and Konami in Japan for the Wii and PlayStation 2 video game consoles. It is part of the traditionally Japan-only ''Power P ...
entry for further details. It is noted that passwords cannot be used on same installments with different manufacturer's machine (Sony/Nintendo has their own password format). Passwords of Power Pros (Japanese version) cannot be used on American version either.


Main Series


Consumer Series

* Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '95 (PS) – 1994 Dec 22 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '95 version of the opening (PS, SS) – 1995 July 14 (PS), 1995 July 28 (SS) * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '96 version of the opening (SFC) – 1996 July 19 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '97 version of the opening (PS) – 1997 August 28 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball S (SS) – 1997 yDec. 4 *
BASIC powerful professional baseball play-by-play version of'98 BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College in ...
(SFC) – 1998 March 19 * PAWAPURO GB (GB) – 1998 March 26 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '98 version of the opening (PS) – 1998 July 23 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '98 Ketteihan (PS) – 1998 Dec 23 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '99 version of the opening (PS) – 1999 July 22 * Jikkyou Powerful'99 Ketteihan baseball (PS) – 1999 Dec 25 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball DreamcastEdition (DC) – 2000 March 30 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2000 (N64) – 2000 April 29 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2000 version of the opening (PS) – 2000 July 19 * Ketteihan powerful 2000 play-by-play professional baseball (PS) – 2000 Dec 21 *
Basic version Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2001 BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College in ...
(N64) – 2001 March 29 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2001 (PS) – 2001 June 7 * Ketteiban powerful 2001 play-by-play professional baseball (PS) – 2001 Dec 20 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2002 Spring (PS) – 2002 March 14 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Premium Edition (PS) – 2003 January 23 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable (PSP) – 2006 April 1 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Major League (PS2, GC) – 2006 May 11 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable 2 (PSP) – 2007 April 5 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Wii (Wii) – 2007 July 19 * Ketteiban Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Wii (Wii) – 2007 Dec 20 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Major League 2 (a.k.a. MLB Power Pros) (PS2, Wii)- 2007 Oct 4 (Overseas Edition: October 3, 2007) * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable 3 (PSP) – 2008 May 29 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Major League 3 (a.k.a. MLB Power Pros 2008) (PS2, Wii, DS) – 2008 Oct 3 (Overseas Edition: July 29, 2008) * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball NEXT (Wii) – 2009 March 19 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2009 (PS2, Wii) – 2009 April 29 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Portable 4 (PSP) – 2009 September 17 * Pawapuro Success Legends (PSP) – 2010 February 25 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball 2010 (PS3, PSP) – 2010 July 15


Arcade Series

* Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '96 (Arcade) – 1996 * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball EX – 1997 year ※ PAWAPURO arcade version of the movie. Consumer Edition ahead of the home run race mode is added. * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '98 EX – 1998 year * Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball Ball Spark (Arcade) – 2015


PC Series

* Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball '96 (Windows version) (Win) – 1997 February 21 *
Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball ''eBaseball Powerful Pro Baseball'', previously known as ''Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū'' and marketed internationally as ''Power Pros'', is a Japanese baseball video game series created by Konami. The game is known for its super deformed chara ...
(Windows second edition) (Win) – 1998 *
Powerful professional baseball play-by-play online version Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power and control, ...
(Win) – 2001


Play Online Series

*
Powerful Pro Baseball Online Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power and control, ...
– (2004 April 30 delivered end)


Mobile Phones

*
Powerful mobile professional baseball official licensed version of 2007 Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may ...
(NTT DoCoMo au by KDDI SoftBank) – 2007 *
Powerful mobile professional baseball official licensed version of 2008 Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may ...
(NTT DoCoMo au by KDDI SoftBank) – 2008 * Power Pro World University Baseball Success Volume – 2009 * Power Pro World High School Baseball Success Volume – 2009 * Power Pro World Shakaijin Yakyū Success Volume – 2009 * Power Pro World Mobile – Powerful Pro Baseball MEGA-X – 2009 * Power Pro World Mobile Powerful Pro Baseball 6 – 2009 * Power Pro World Fierce Fighting High School Baseball Success Volume – 2010 * Mobile Powerful Pro Baseball 3D – 2010 * Social Appli Power Pro home run competition for GREE – 2011 * – 2013 * Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū (iOS/Android) – 2014 * Pawapuro Puzzle – 2021


Card Game

* Powerful Pro Yakyū Card Game – 2006 *
Powerful Major League Card Game Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power and control, ...
– 2006


Other Appearances

*'' Konami Krazy Racers'' (GBA, 2001)- a Pawapurokun appears as a racer. *''
DreamMix TV World Fighters is a crossover fighting video game developed by Bitstep and published by Hudson for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in Japan on December 18, 2003. The game features characters from Hudson and Konami's video game series and Takara's toy lines. G ...
'' (GC, 2003) – a Pawapurokun appears as a playable character, along with a Pawapuro Stadium stage. *''
New International Track and Field ''New International Track & Field'' is a sports video game by Konami for the Nintendo DS. Developed by Sumo Digital, it is the latest game in Konami's ''Track and Field'' series. Overview ''New International Track & Field'' features single-play ...
'' (DS, 2008) – a Pawapurokun appears as a playable character *'' Krazy Kart Racing'' (iOS, 2009) – a Pawapurokun appears as a racer.


Related Productions

*'' Shōnen Sunday x Shōnen Magazine: Nettou! Dream Nine'' (DS, 2009)- The baseball game developed by Pawapuro Production, featuring characters from
Weekly Shōnen Sunday is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan since March 1959. Contrary to its title, ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' issues are released on Wednesdays. ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' has sold over 1.8billion copies since 1986, ...
and
Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...
's manga (like ''
Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
, '' A of Daiya'', Touch'', '' Kyojin's Hoshi'', '' Fairy Tail'', ''
Kekkaishi is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe. The series is about Yoshimori Sumimura and Tokine Yukimura, heirs to rival families of ''kekkai'' (barrier magic) users, who must defend their school from the spirits d ...
'', ''
Samurai Deeper Kyo is a manga series written and illustrated by Akimine Kamijyo. Set during the Edo period of Japan's history, ''Samurai Deeper Kyo'' follows , a feared samurai seeking to regain his body after his soul is sealed inside the body of his rival, ...
'', ''
Project ARMS ''Project ARMS'', simply known in Japan as ''ARMS'', is a Japanese manga series written by Kyoichi Nanatsuki and illustrated by Ryoji Minagawa. It was serialized in Shogakukan's ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from April 1997 to May 2002, with it ...
'', and more).


Reception


Critical reception

The series generally receives favorable reviews from Japanese video game magazines. Twelve installment received the "silver prize" (30–31/40) from ''
Famitsu formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the fo ...
'', while twenty seven received the "gold prize" (32–34/40), and twenty installment received the "platinum prize". Only seven game in the series got a score below 30/40.


Commercial reception

, the series has sold over 23.5 million copies, in addition to 44 million mobile game downloads as of October 2020. ''Power Pros'' is the best-selling baseball video game franchise in Japan since 1997. ''97 Kaimaku-ban'', ''98 Kaimaku-ban'', ''99 Kaimaku-ban'', ''10'', ''12'', ''2013'', ''2016'', and ''2018'' earned the gold prize at PlayStation Awards, for shipping more than 500,000 units, including downloads, in Asia. The
mobile game A mobile game, or smartphone game, is a video game that is typically played on a mobile phone. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to ...
''Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū'' has received downloads.


Notes


References


External links

{{CloverWorks Nippon Professional Baseball video games Baseball video games CloverWorks Konami franchises Konami games Kyoto Animation Production I.G Video game franchises Wii Wi-Fi games Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games Wii games Video game franchises introduced in 1994 Konami arcade games Video games developed in Japan