March 4, 2005 - Sega's yearly Japan-only baseball simulation is all set for its second season on the PlayStation 2. Sega Japan announced today Pro Yakyu Team wo Tsukurou! 3 (Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team! 3).

The formula hasn't changed much over the years, but in case you haven't been keeping up, here it is. In Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team, you become the manager of a baseball team, controlling your team both on and off the field. In addition to serving as the skipper during games, you create your organization from scratch and even manage side businesses in order to build a profitable team. Most famously, you can even select a secretary for your office (with the new title adding Nancy Harrison to the list of selectable girls -- she speaks perfect Japanese!)

Part 3 builds on previous titles with all new features. Your stats now include "skill" and "player color" features. "Skill" involve special abilities possessed by individual players on your team. "Player color" changes based on player skills and your policies as the manager. We presume these will mean something once we've actually played the game. The game also improves the camera system of previous titles and adds a One Year Mode, where you aim for the pennant over a one year period.

Perhaps the biggest news is the inclusion of real Online play for part 3. While details are scarce, the game lets you put your team up against teams from players from throughout Japan via a network battle mode. This alone should make this a good buy for those who have part 2.

As with all the other Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team games, we expect part 3 to stay in Japan. Development is currently at 70% with a release set for Spring.

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