Keeping annualized sports franchises fresh year after year is an unenviable task, especially within the constraint of a ten- or eleven-month development cycle. Generally, sports-game developers endeavor to bring a few important improvements or additions to a series without overhauling the entire product; that’s usually all that can be done in less than a year.

Sony San Diego is one of the best sports developers where consistency is concerned; its MLB The Show series is, year in and year out, one of the best sports games available. The studio has revamped The Show this time around, adding analog-stick controls to MLB 11 -- a risky proposition for any developer. Did they pull it off?