What are your impressions of the MLB '11: The Show Demo?

Christian McLeod: To be perfectly honest, I didn't come away as blown away by the MLB 11 demo as I thought I would. Upon initially hearing about the new analog hitting, pitching and fielding scheme I was overjoyed. If any franchise needed to adopt analog controls, it was The Show. The implementation of both the new analog hitting mechanics and pitching mechanics work well enough (throwing in the field is another story), but the rest of the game feels like a carbon copy of MLB 10, which felt darn near like a carbon copy of MLB 09.

In the two-plus hours I spent with the demo, I was hard pressed to notice any new animations, something I was sure that I would see because of the new control schemes, and I was especially bummed to find out that Eric Karros' commentary was actually a downgrade from The Show's oft-criticized color man Rex Hudler. Graphically the game looks like a slight downgrade from MLB10 -- something that may have to do with the constraints of the demo. Player models look fantastic though, and the absence of T-Rex arms is very noticeable.

At this point in its lifespan, I think we have really seen all that the MLB franchise has to offer, and I can see it becoming a victim of its own success this season. It's almost not fair to knock a game that is as technically superb as The Show has become, it's just that I'm growing increasingly bored with the on-field product, much like I am with EA's NHL series. There isn't really anything wrong with the way the MLB 11 demo plays, it just is not all that exciting after three solid years -- mainly because of predictable batted-ball trajectories, foul ball cut scenes and player animations. I was sure analog controls would inject some much=needed life into one of my favorite sports gaming franchises of all time, yet based on the demo, they didn't quite make the impact on the game that I had expected.

Some think The Show could be washed up, not unlike Manny Ramirez.

Dustin Toms: I'm with Christian. This is arguably one of the most disappointing demos to date.

Thanks to the nice long download time of two hours, the anticipation only grew, but it was nothing but letdown in the end. Firstly, it feels just like MLB 10, and that is both good and bad. Last year when '10 came out people were upset with how unchanged it was compared to '09. Well, most people won't be happy because it feels like there is even less change in the game.

The game does look beautiful, as usual. You can notice the improvements on that front, and it helps to show why The Show has the best graphical presentation of any sports game. As for the new controls, I have never been big on analog controls -- they just bother me. I like my buttons. It's the same here. Regardless, the controls work well, especially for pitching. One problem I saw, though, was the delayed reaction when fielding and throwing a simple grounder to a base.

Hopefully, the retail version will be better and this is simply a stripped-down demo.

Caley Roark: I was also a little underwhelmed, but not as disappointed as my colleagues. I say underwhelmed because, outside of analog controls, the game plays much like MLB '10, which really is a good thing. There was nothing earth-shaking in the demo; even the analog controls did not seem that revolutionary -- probably because I have played NCAA Baseball and MLB 2K10.

I suppose, however, that is the course that we should expect from Sony and MLB. It's kind of the anti-Madden approach. Instead of throwing in flashy gimmicks on the back of the box that may or may not stick, MLB has been carefully groomed over time. So, when playing from year to year, nothing tends to really blow me away -- but I know it will play well.

So, back to the demo, it does play very well. I like the analog controls, even though I thought the pitching seemed a little finicky; I could not always get the "upswing" to go where I wanted it to go. And, you have to be really focused the entire pitch -- no more mindless and rhythmic button presses.

The same can be said of hitting. Analog swinging, I think, will help me take more pitches, since it forces you to be focused the entire pitch.

I was disappointed with the repetitive commentary and some funky animations. I am hopeful, though, that the biggest improvements to this game -- weather, custom cameras, revamped Road to the Show -- will surface when the full game drops in a couple of weeks. 

Of course, many still see the Show as being in it's prime a-la Joe Mauer.

Chase Becotte: Who pooped in your guys' cereal? Really, I want to know.

I mean come on, the game doesn't feel different? The graphics in the game are a downgrade from last year's? Go back to MLB '10, and tell me the lighting and player models in MLB 11 aren't improvements. Go back to MLB 10, and talk to me about the feel of the analog controls in that game. Oh wait...

Look, I get that some people get fatigued by a series or grow tired of one, but that should not take away from what's here. If someone picked this game up today having not played a baseball game in a couple years, he or she would absolutely freak out.

As for the demo itself, I think it's a testament to the series that I could have an eight pitch at-bat with Aubrey Huff using the analog controls, then switch back to the old-school zone hitting and have a 10 pitch at-bat with Pablo Sandoval. It not only shows that you can have a similar experience with both control schemes, it once again shows how amazing the battles can still be in this game on a bat-to-bat basis.

The AI should never be overlooked here either. During one game I played, C.J. Wilson was under the gun in the fourth inning and going up against Huff. With a runner on second, Wilson clearly decided he was going to try and make Huff fish. He proceeded to throw virtual Huff five straight sliders (only one of which was a borderline strike), and I just could not lay off. That's awesome, and it will always be awesome.

As for the controls, it's hard for me to figure out what I'll end up doing with the control schemes. I enjoyed each one of the analog control schemes, but if the PCI is improved enough (hard to tell without playing more games with more teams), then I'll still stick with zone hitting because I have always struggled to check swing and work the count with analog controls in baseball games. I love meter-based pitching, but both systems seems so solid, I will, again, have to play more games with more teams. However, I definitely will be sticking with analog fielding. It was weird (and even seemed broken) at first, but then I realized that you just have to be super gentle with the sticks. Once that revelation came together with my thumbs, everything went smoothly.

In short, The Show still does pitcher vs. batter duels better than any other series ever, and that is what's always going to matter the most when battling through a 162 game marathon.