2K Sports is taking a huge gamble this year. Releasing two new IP's, the first of which being The Bigs, they are competing not just against other companies, but against themselves. Normally, one would think this would be a nerve-racking time for the company, as they gear up for The Bigs' release on the 25th. 2K on the other hand, seemed relaxed, releasing a host of new information on their brand new arcade style baseball game.

Built from the ground up without a single line of code from the MLB series, The Bigs is attempting to carve out its own special niche in the baseball games arena. Described as "heroic baseball", the gameplay stands as one of many differing factors between The Bigs and MLB. Importantly, 2K stresses that this is not MLB Slugfest or some other made up game of baseball. This is still the sport of baseball, just amped up considerably.

Take, for instance, the way players perform even the most common tasks. Big time players will dive a bit farther, jump higher, or run faster to get the ball, much like in real life. If a ball grounds past the pitcher, a player like Derek Jeter will dive for the ball, come up with it and make an amazing throw towards first. Normal players, on the other hand, can much more easily mess up in that same situation, either by fumbling the throw or just missing the dive. This is something that makes real baseball so exciting, especially as new players develop and grow. Some moves are a bit more over the top, like the incredibly high, leaping catches or monstrous collisions at the plate, but this is arcade baseball, after all.

More than anything, there is an obvious attempt being made to distance itself from other arcade style baseball games released before. The core of the gameplay remains between the batter and pitcher, with balance being a key factor. Although the developers said that their first attempts were made to focus exclusively on offense, it became clear that both sides of the ball needed attention. Therefore, the game still retains that level of strategy inherent with any batter/pitcher duel, except now it plays out very differently. As great plays are made both offensively and defensively, a player's turbo meter increases. If a pitcher is throwing a lot of heat or the batter just wants to try and go big, he can then activate his power blast and swing for the bleachers. Pitchers can counteract this or take the offensive by turning on the big heat, meaning that they're far more in the zone than ever before. When both players reach their max turbo, they enter what's known as the duel, where the players are both ultimately focused on each other's destruction. This feature is considered one of the key aspects of The Bigs, and although the game is meant to be completely over-the-top, this strategizing is ultimately what defines baseball today, so it's not so far out there.

Another difference between The Bigs and other sim-style games is that there is no dynasty mode. Instead, there's something called Rookie Challenge mode. In this mode, players go ahead and create a rookie using the same basic statistics of any baseball game. From there, it's your job to move your career forward, starting in spring training, trying to reach various statistical goals while helping the team win. As you succeed, you make money that is used to upgrade your player, both statistically and graphically, with things like fashion apparel and tattoos. Although purists may scoff at the lack of a true dynasty mode, The Bigs is clearly focused on a very different experience. There are also a few minigames that also help to increase your player's stats. One of the most interesting is Home Run Pinball, which is basically a batting practice that's set up in New York City. The point of this mode is to do as much damage to buildings as possible, gaining more points with each one you destroy.

Graphically, the game does have some players who look huge, but to be fair, there are a considerable amount of players who really are gigantic in the actual sport. David Ortiz for instance is a huge, and in The Bigs, he's equally enormous. The stadiums are also larger than life, with the little features that set each field apart, blown up to a massive scale. For example, The huge bottle at AT&T Park is even bigger, making the stadium even more recognizable to the casual fan.

The multiplayer, however, appears slim, with the only option being that four players can play online at a time on both the Xbox 360 and PS3. The Wii does not have any online multiplayer, but the four player option is still present. Another seemingly negative aspect to any statistic hound is the total lack of stat tracking, both online and off. The good news is that the game does have numerous Xbox 360 achievements, so there are some statistical goals to achieve in that regard.

The Bigs hits stores on June 25th and it looks promising. For all those tired of that plodding, slow, "realism" of traditional games, this looks to be just the ticket. The only question now is whether or not 2K can keep up their grand slam winning baseball tradition, or strike out before they begin.