Pawapuro 13 Ketteiban On 12/14/06

BigManZam,

I wholeheartedly agree.

This is a shot in the dark, but is there any way to use Pawapuro 13 to update Pro Spirits 3? I realize the answer is probably, "No." But I just thought I'd ask because it seems to me that this is all Pawapuro 13 could be good for...

Not that I know of. PYS3 edit mode is useless, IMO. Graphics are too specific to make anyone decent in edit.

Any word on any releases for the PSP? Ketteiban or maybe even a Pawamajor? Thanks...

Nothing new has been announced for the PSP, so it doesn't look good.

Besides, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable I heard had some awful reviews, so you really shouldn't get your hopes up on this.

Anyway, the next future release that I know of is Power Pro Kun Pocket 9 for the DS on December 7th.

Ah well, I will just wait for others first

Aint gonna get another pawapuro and then get pissed off like 13.

Hope they don't quit on the PSP - I know it got lukewarm reviews at best, but I'm having fun playing it. I don't care so much about the Ketteiban edition, but I hope they at least give it another go when the beginning of season ones come out next spring. I don't think Pawapuro Portable is that bad for a first go at a console - sometimes franchises improve by leaps and bounds on their second version on a console...

New pictures of Success Mode are up. There's a national HS tournament mode now.

http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/2006/10/31/104,1162290221,62504,0,0.html

They mention nothing about change to the gameplay. That all A player also freaks me out.

Also, here's the official site.

http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/pawa/13ket/index.html

Hmm...I am having mixed feelings about this new scenario...u really could go on forever and there's no limits if u are really very good at the game...

For those who dun understand, in this new Nichi-Bei series mode, u will play against Korea-Mexico-USA over and over again until u lose. And in between each matchday u have 10 days to train pawapuro-kun.

And during matches if u can fulfill the requirements u will get stats ups/attributes after the match is over.

I suppose it will start easy with the yowais and the futsuus, and as it goes on they will be setted at tsuyoi and powerful...but for some good players, they can basically make MAX players easily. Might even be easier to make 165 AA 42 movement pitchers (10 days rest I suppose u can pitch every match?)

Success mode is supposed to be hard to make great players, and often requires TONS of skills and some luck factors in order to make a very good player. Along with it comes great satisfaction when u see urself successfully creating some monsters.

But already in 13, it was too easy to make good players (I had an all-A on my 5th try...with first 4 tries testing out the 4 scenarios...so basically on my first real try I got an all-A...), and seems like it could be easier to make these monsters now...

I cant say I am happy about it...and the main problem about 13 was the gameplay...so if they dun fix it no matter how good this can be, I wont play it. I rather play 11-ket's all Japan Team (now THAT one was great)

BigManZam and Shinigami,

I agree. Any new Scenario/Success/My Life stuff is meaningless if they don't remedy 13's horrendous gameplay.

And Shinigami,

I'm with you, 11 Chou Ketteiban is fantastic. I believe that it's still the best NPB-based Pawapuro available.

I've already created a Japanese World Baseball Classic team in 11 Chou Ketteiban (thank you again for your password attempts).

Finally,

I'd like to restate my Pawapuro Box Art/Cover theory here. Pawapuro 12, 12(no Chou!)Ketteiban, and 13 all have strikingly similar Box Art/Covers. And these are the three weakest Pawapuros I've ever played, in this order (from strongest to weakest):

-12 Ketteiban (The best of this infamous three. But the pixel glitches on the lower right of the main menu are a sign of things to come - this game just doesn't feel that polished.)

-12 (Similar to 12(no Chou!)Ketteiban, but even less polished.)

-13 (An abomination. This doo-doo doesn't deserve the Pawapuro name.)

Despite the return of the "Catcher Window," I too remain skeptical about 13 Final Edition's quality. I'm definitely not preordering it.

Ok...oops, I made a mistake there myself...

I didn't read carefully...this Nichi-Bei scenario is totally not what I was talking about. U just have 3 matches - Korea Mexico and United States, not unlimited until u lose.

Not quite sure what my eyes were reading last nite, but ya...U get 10 days in between each matches I suppose, and fight the different nations.

From what I saw on 2ch, Victor from Pawamajor will be on the USA squad(I suppose we will see Roddy as well).

Official site is now updated with pictures, info, and video.

http://www.konami.jp/gs/game/pawa/13ket/index.html

Here is info I gathered...

-Looks like they put more effort into this than the July version, because the commercial looks good and they have a decent traditional Pawapuro style theme song.

-Defense looks cool with the Araki and Ibata combo move and the diving catch to glove toss in the outfield. Only time I've ever seen that was when Shigeno Goro did it during high school in the Major anime.

-I can't fully tell if they fixed the problem with all contact hits turning into grounders. It doesn't look blatant, but it doesn't look like old Pawapuro mechanics, either.

-I can't tell if having the catcher window off makes the pitches all slow. Fujikawa's pitch was with the catcher window on, and it was very fast. I liked it a lot. Reminded me of Kroon's speed. At least we know that much is fixed.

-Showed a new batting stance for Soyogi and pitching form for Takeda Hisashi.

You can pick up the avi form of the promo video here...

http://hisazin-up.dyndns.org/up/src/22985.zip

I used an online stopwatch to check the pitch times for most of the pitches in the new video. Here is how pitch times break down. All marks are in seconds.

Kroon(12) - 0.5
Kroon(13) - 0.7
Kroon(13k) - 0.5
Sugiuchi - 0.6
Yamamoto - 0.6
Fujikawa - 0.5

That extra couple tenths of a second make a huge difference. Seems like they went back to the original pitch speeds, which is great news. After watching a video of Pawapuro 13 in action, I'm convinced that they also cleaned up the hitting mechanics. The ball doesn't lift at all in Pawapuro 13.

Superb preliminary information, BigManZam.

I'm seriously considering "13 Final" as my X-Mas gift to me. But I remain heavily disillusioned by the horror that was Pawapuro 13.

(And again, the PawaMajor Season Guide's completion will be my gift to non-Japanese speakers.)

Wait...I've just used multiple adverbs and the word, "horror" - all in the span of 3 or 4 sentences...I'm feeling inadvertently Goth...

Just wait for my report.

BTW, someone on the 2ch boards caught something that I let slip by. At the end of the video, you can see the Yuki Saitoh pitching form, complete with handerchief. How they can show that much love to detail and then make something as flawed as Pawapuro 13 is beyond me.

BigManZam,

That's what I plan on doing. I've always found your reviews/reports helpful.

Again, 11 Chou Ketteiban remains my favorite NPB-based/Japanese Pawapuro. I'm interested in how this new one compares to 11 CK.

Well, this is very early and hasn't been 100% confirmed, but someone is reporting Pawapuro 13k got a review of 9/9/8/9 from Famitsu. This is a two point increase from the summer version, which scored a very uninspired 9/8/8/8. I'm sure we all think that score was very generous, and possibly the main reason Pawapuro 13 wasn't a complete financial disaster. Usually with Famitsu, if the majority thinks highly enough to give it 9, then it's a great game. If the majority give it 8, that means it's uninspired or a paid off score.

My theory? I think Pawapuro Team stretched themselves thin with so many releases earlier this year. The end result was a string of half-assed titles, and I hope they learned from that experience. I'd like to think they value their reputation more than fast cash schemes.

So anyway, this score is enough to give Pawapuro 13k a Platinum rating, which is a somewhat rare honor. It's a title reserved for the most elite games. Here is how the score stacks up in the history of yakyu games.

36 - Pawapuro 6 (3/25/1999)
Pawapuro 10 (7/17/2003)
Pro Yakyu Spirits 3 (4/6/2006)

35 - Pawapuro 7 (7/6/2000)
Pawapuro 11 (7/15/2004)
Pawapuro 12 (7/14/2005)
Pro Yakyu Team O Tsukurou! 3 (7/28/2005)
Pro Yakyu World Stadium (5/20/1988)

Hideaki Wakui of the Seibu Lions got to test play Pawapuro 13k for Nikkan Sports. Here is how things went down.

First off, Wakui claims to be an avid gamer. He says his favorite was Pawapuro 98 Kaimakuban. Haha. What a slap in the face of the current developers, because 98 and 99 are known as the best years for Pawapuro, when Akada was still producer.

He faced an allstar team of PL players. Here's how it broke down.

1. Nishioka - grounder to third
2. Kataoka - pop up to pitcher
3. Rick - grounder to catcher
4. Matsunaka - grounder to second
5. Seguignol - grounder to short
6. Ogasawara - grounder to short
7. Fernandez - grounder to short
8. Shinjo - grounder to short
9. Satozaki - strike out

These results scare me, but the Famitsu review eases the tension. I think they set the difficulty to easy or left it default. I think if Konami didn't fix gameplay issues, there will be hell to pay with fans, especially with the false hope of a great Famitsu review.

The review has now been 100% confirmed, and it was the top review of the week, tying with Winning Eleven X which scored 9/8/8/10. The Wakui feature can be found here.

http://www.nikkansports.com/special/konami/2006/top-pawapro.html

I missed the part where he switched to using his Yokohama HS mentor, Daisuke Matsuzaka. Here is how things went for him.

He retired the top of the order using all of Matsuzaka's pitches. In the second inning, he threw a 155 km/h fastball to Seguignol, which means that Matsuzaka has Ham Killer ability, since his condition was normal. He gave up a hit to Shinjo. In the third and final inning, he struck out Takahashi, Kaneko, and Morimoto in a row. He use an outside low circle change on Takahashi to catch him looking. After that, he took out the final two with 150 km/h heaters.

Hopefully this means the strike out issue has been fixed.

Famitsu posted player stats for some guys. Here they are...

Saitoh Kazumi
152km/h
Control - B(179)
Stamina - A (172)
Slider - 2
Curve - 3
Fork - 5
Sharp break 4(Kire), Strike out pitcher, Escape pitch,
Short temper, Fastball AI, Tempo

Matsuzaka Daisuke
155km/h
Control - A(180)
Stamina - A(176)
High speed slider - 5
Curve - 2
Circle change - 2
Fastball momentum 4(Nobi), Strike out pitcher, Gains strength late into game

Fukuura Kazuya
Meet - C(11)
Power - D(84)
Speed - D(9)
Arm - E(7)
Defense - C(10)
Error - C(10)
Arch - 3
Base running 2, Three hit batter, Deep count batter, Bases loaded ability

Tyrone Woods
Meet - D(9)
Power - A(186)
Speed - F(5)
Arm - D(8)
Defense - F(4)
Error - G(2)
Arch - 4
Power hitter, Hits for power to other side, High ball hitter, Vs. lefty 4, Bases loaded ability, Intimidation, Strike out

Kanemoto Tomoaki
Meet - C(10)
Power - B(138)
Speed - C(10)
Arm - D(8)
Defense - D(8)
Error - E(7)
Arch - 3
Base running 4, Chance 4, First pitch, Injury 4

Murata Shuichi
Meet - E(6)
Power - A(144)
Arch - 4
Chance 4, Hits for power to other side

Maeda Tomonori
Meet - C(11)
Power - B(115)
Speed - F(4)
Arm - C(11)
Defense - C(10)
Arch - 3
Chance 4

Abe Shinnosuke
Meet - D(9)
Power - C(101)
Speed - E(7)
Arm - B(12)
Defense - D(8)
Arch - 3
Chance 4

Shinjo Tsuyoshi
Meet - F
Power - B(113)
Speed - B(12)
Arm - A(15)
Defense - A(14)
Low ball hitter, Vs. lefty 4, Deep count batter, Laser beam

Iwamura Akinori
Power - A(151)
Chance 2, Hits for power to other side

Kobayashi Masahide
Control - A(190)

Now, a lot of these are incomplete, because I'm assuming that writing and stuff covered up a lot of the stats. These all look pretty good to me. I don't know about Saitoh having the short temper attribute, since I've always seen him keep his cool.

More supposed stats. Remember, these are not 100% confirmed. This is allegedly from demo kiosks outside of electronics stores.

Kawakami
149km/h
Control - A(190)
Stamina - A(165)
Cutter - 5
Slow curve - 3
Shuuto - 2
Pinch 2, Gets better late in game, Short temper, Fast reflexes

Kobayashi Masahide
152km/h
Control - A(190)
Stamina - E(38)
Slider - 5
Fast shuuto - 3
Pinch 4, Injury 4, Quick 2

Kawagoe
149km/h
Control - B(160)
Stamina - B(138)
Cutter - 4
Fork - 3
Slow starter, Runner 2, Fast reflexes

Ichiba
152km/h
Control - G(99)
Stamina - B(146)
Slider - 3
Slow curve - 2
Quick 2, Hit pitch strength 2, Four ball pitcher, Fastball AI

Iwakuma
151km/h
Control - C(105)
Stamina - B(142)
Slider - 3
Shuuto - 1
Fork - 2

Uehara
148km/h
Control - A(185)
Stamina - B(148)
Slider - 3
Cutter - 1
Fork - 4

Rick
Arch - 2
Meet - B(12)
Power - D(80)
Speed - E(6)
Arm - D(8)
Defense - E(6)
Error - E(6)

Fernandez
Arch - 4
Meet - C(10)
Power - A(148)
Speed - E(6)
Arm - D(9)
Defense - G(3)
Error - G(3)

Aoki
Arch - 2
Meet - B(13)
Power - C(100)
Speed - A(14)
Arm - D(8)
Defense - C(10)
Error - B(12)

Ogasawara
Arch - 4
Meet - C(11)
Power - A(163)
Speed - D(9)
Arm - D(8)
Defense - D(8)
Error - D(9)

Inaba
Arch - 4
Meet - C(10)
Power - B(139)
Speed - C(11)
Arm - B(12)
Defense - C(11)
Error - C(11)

Fukuhara
152km/h
Control - B(160)
Stamina - A(155)
Slider - 2
Curve - 2
Fork - 3

Fukudome
Arch - 4
Meet - A(14)
Power - A(160)
Speed - B(12)
Arm - B(13)
Defense - C(11)
Error - C(10)

Iwamura(updated)
Arch - 3
Meet - C(11)
Power - A(151)
Speed - C(11)
Arm - C(10)
Defense - D(8)
Error - D(8)

Murata(updated)
Arch - 4
Meet - E(6)
Power - A(144)
Speed - E(6)
Arm - D(8)
Defense - F(5)
Error - E(6)

will this be out for the psp?

Nope.

More stats...

Fujikawa
155km/h
Control: B
Stamina: E
Curve - 4
Fork - 5
Straight fastball(Nobi), Escape pitch, Fast recovery time, Condition doesn't matter, Intimidator, Strike out pitcher

Akahoshi
Meet: E
Power: E
Speed: A
Arm: D
Defense: B
First pitch hitter, Infield hit, Vs. lefty 2, Base stealing 4, Slap hitter, Accurate thrower

Ishii Takuro
Meet: D
Power: E
Speed: C
Arm: C
Defense: B
Base running 4, Chance 2, Deep count batter, Head sliding, First pitch, Vs. lefty 2

Yoshimura
Meet: D
Power: B
Speed: D
Arm: D
Defense: E
First pitch, Strike out, Vs. lefty 4, Power hitter

Ushida
143km/h
Control: C
Stamina: C
Fork: 4
Fork(2nd): 2
Strike out pitcher

Suzuki Takanori
Meet: E
Power: D
Speed: C
Arm: F
Defense: F
Base stealing 2, Pinch hitter, Bats well when losing

I'd be suspicious of these stats, just because Yoshimura has power hitter ability.

Someone on 2ch gave a report from playing the kiosk demo at his local game store. First off, he comes with a few more stats for players.

Hirano Yoshihisa

150km/h
Control - C
Stamina - A
Slider - 2
Curve - 1
V Slider - 3
Pinch 2, Runners on 2, Slow starter, Pitches well deep into game, Hit pitch strength 2, Poor condition effects him a lot

Tamura
Meet - D
Power - B
Speed - D
Arm - C
Defense - B
Error - E
Injury 2, Strike out

Kuroda
153km/h
Control - A
Stamina - A
Slider - 4
Shuuto - 2
Fork - 4
Hit pitch strength 4, Injury 4, Release O, Check runner O, Straight fastball 4 (Nobi), Pitches well deep into game

Somebody asked him to find out if it's changed from the July version.

"Sorry. I never played Pawapuro 13, so I don't know what would be different. I felt like it was more realistic from Pawapuro 12 Ketteiban. Defense is fun to play. I couldn't really bat well."

Someone asks him about the defense.

"It seemed like it was faster than 12 Ketteiban. The matches had better tempo."

He also says that what felt like hits in 12 Ketteiban weren't hits in 13 Ketteiban, so that kind of worries me.

hmm, that was a big problem with 13...when u hit the ball, it seems to be well-hitted, and u see it fly fast in the batting camera, then suddenly it slows down and drops in the infield...as if there's some gravitional machine in that infield making it drop...

If they keep the heavy balls, even if they change the other aspects it's gonna ruin it completely

I HATE those lazy fly balls that suddenly drop fast before u reach them.