In the real world, Major League Baseball pitchers do their best to avoid directly challenging a batter. They'll keep balls on the outside edges of the strike zone, change up speeds, and basically do anything else they can think of to get a batter to go after a bad pitch. That works pretty well in baseball video games too, unless you're talking about 2K Sports' upcoming The Bigs 2. A sequel to 2007's original arcade baseball game, The Bigs 2 will be hitting store shelves in just a few months. Last week, we had a chance to see the game for the first time and check out a  event with The Bigs 2 cover star Prince Fielder. While the sequel is very much following up on the successful ideas of the first game, some new ideas have been added to the mix to help change things up.

Among those new ideas is the concept of the wheelhouse. Every batter in the game has a wheelhouse zone, and if he makes contact with a pitch in that zone, the chances of that ball ending up as a hit, or even a home run, are greatly increased. In the game, the wheelhouse zone will show up as a colored circle in each batter's strike zone, and wheelhouse size will differ depending on the batter. Normally, as a pitcher, you'd want to avoid a batter's wheelhouse as if it were covered in oozing sores, but this being The Bigs 2, it pays to be aggressive on the mound. Each time you throw a pitch in a batter's wheelhouse and the batter doesn't make contact with the ball, you'll earn turbo (which you can later apply to an automatic strikeout), and, better yet, that wheelhouse zone will shrink slightly, making it easier to keep going after the hitter.

The risk of pitching in a guy's wheelhouse is obvious--there's a good chance that if he makes contact, he'll take you yard--but the reward of shrinking down a batter's wheelhouse (plus the added turbo) makes being aggressive a legitimate strategic choice. As producers told us, if you feel like you've got the rhythm of the pitching meter down and are nailing perfect pitches in succession, it pays to be aggressive. This year, the developers have also added a chance for a small boost to a perfect pitch. After you throw a perfect pitch, you'll be able to get an additional boost of movement and speed by pressing the same pitch button at precisely the right time. The timing will be tough, but the additional speed and break on your pitch will make it worth it.

While the wheelhouse is probably the biggest change to batting in The Bigs 2, it's not the only one. This time around, you'll be able to use the left analog stick to direct your hits. That's not new in baseball games, but here, it will be more important than ever, thanks to the presence of legendary players in the field. Anyone with a legendary fielding rating will make your life in the batter's box miserable, as they'll be able to scoop up fly balls and grounders normal players won't be able to get to. As a result, aiming your hits to keep them away from legendary fielders will be an important tactic.

In the field, these legendary players will be defensive stalwarts for your club, and their outstanding fielding abilities will give you access to contextual fielding minigames that will help you make plays. For instance, if a ball is heading foul towards in the stands, a legendary fielder might be able to snag the ball from the clutches of the fans. The associated minigame that pops up will be a balance beam of sorts, where you'll try to keep the ball from falling off, emulating the way a fielder might lean over the fence, trying to keep his balance as he tries to catch the ball. Other minigame examples include a pitcher come-backer minigame, for hot shots up the middle; a home run robbing minigame; and multiple minigames for infield and outfield diving plays.

Become a Legend mode will put you back in the shoes of your created player, looking to rehab himself back to greatness.

Certain players in The Bigs 2 will also be rated as legendary for pitching and batting. But a "legendary" bat doesn't necessarily mean you'll be bombing every ball out of the yard. For example, cover athlete Prince Fielder is rated as a legendary batter in the game, but his ability gives the other batters on his team a larger wheelhouse. Another player might give only the batter behind him in the lineup a bigger wheelhouse. Pitchers too can be legendary, with certain pitches being that much more effective in the game--such as a legendary knuckleball or Daisuke Matsuzaka's gyroball. All of these different legendary abilities pose a challenge for the developers in terms of balance, but as producers told us, they're looking to strike a balance so that even underpowered teams in the real MLB have at least a chance at victory in the game.