Shohei Ohtani introduces game in video
Nintendo revealed during its Nintendo Direct presentation on Thursday that Konami’s Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū (Powerful Pro Baseball) baseball game series’ latest iteration titled Powerful Pro Yakyū 2026-2027 will launch this summer for Nintendo Switch in both physical and digital versions. The below video features baseball star Shohei Ohtani introducing the new game. Ohtani will appear in the game.
The game’s classic “Success” mode is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and the game will include a new “Parallel All-Stars” scenario that will bring together characters from past entries in the series.
Konami’s Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū game series launched in Japan in 1994, and has since then appeared on many game platforms and consoles including Sega Saturn, PlayStation, PlayStation 2/3/4, PlayStation Portable and Vita, Wii, and Nintendo Switch, among others.
Konami’s Jikkyō Powerful Pro Yakyū smartphone game debuted in 2014, and has been downloaded 44 million times as of 2021. The smartphone game inspired a web anime that debuted in 2021. The web anime had four 10-minute episodes.
The game franchise inspired a live-action series adaptation titled Power Pro Drama 2025 -Heibon na Shin Shakaijin no Ore ga Success Shita Hanashi- (Power Pro Drama 2025 -The Story of How I, an Ordinary New Working Adult, Found Success-), which debuted on Japan’s ABC TV channel on September 26.
Sources: Nintendo’s website and YouTube channel
