As good as Sony San Diego’s MLB franchise has been for the last decade, the one consistent struggle has been the online portion, specifically connecting to another player and trying to play a simple head-to-head game. While results will vary greatly depending on who you talk to, the one description that rarely changes when describing MLB The Show online is inconsistency. When asked about the struggles, the developers have offered up multiple reasons why different people have varying degrees of moderate success to simply complete failure when attempting to play online, but I have yet to hear one that credibly explains why one can connect to a person eight states away and have a decent experience, but when that same person attempts to connect to a friend eight blocks away, they get the dreaded “connection failed” message.

Enter 2015 and the newest iteration of MLB The Show has dropped, and for the first time on the PS4, the development team has had a full development cycle to work on the net code, but does that mean positive change? That’s what we are going to find out. 

For the purpose of this article, we will be testing three different opponents, all from different areas of the country, with different teams and ballparks, and at different times throughout the day.

Test 1
Mets @ Cubs (late morning) - user locations Atlanta/Louisville
Connection Speeds – 60 meg cable internet for both parties.

In our first test we played a night game at Wrigley, and although my expectations were low based off of previous experiences, we found ourselves still anxious. They say first impressions are the most important, and it felt like I was setting down for a first date. We fired up the game and initially I saw the smallest hiccups during the initial few pitches, a delay if you will, but that subsided and the game became almost as stable as playing offline. There was an in-game sequence in which myself and the other user saw slightly different actions taking place on the field, but that was truly the only issue we had. The game played incredibly smooth, and we both commented on how this bodes very well for league play if this type of experience permeates the heavy usage time. 
Test 1 Grade A- 

Test 2 
San Diego @ Miami (late afternoon) – user locations Atlanta/Baltimore
Connection speeds 60 meg cable, 100 fiber

With game one in the books, my hopes were high that game two would at least come close to the experience of my first game. Not only did it match game one, it exceeded it. We both literally experienced zero hiccups throughout the whole matchup and felt as smooth as offline. No out of sequence animations that was experienced in the first game(albeit only once)no lag in the swing and pitching timing, and no connectivity issues at all. 
Test 2 grade A

Test 3
Pittsburgh @ Houston (night)– user locations Atlanta/ Denver
Connection speeds 60 meg cable for both

After the first two games, anything less than a great experience would be a total disappointment, thankfully that was not the case. The third game was every bit as good as the first two, as neither of us had any issues with any of the past problems that has plagued MLB online. We both were able to locate pitches, recognize pitches, and swing and pitch with normal pace and timing.
Test 3 grade A

Obviously we are excited with the results that we have experienced for the three test games that we ran, but it is early and it the true test will come over time. Being an experienced online Show player, I can tell you first hand the level of frustration Show veterans have dealt with over the years, so my excitement for what seems to be a much improved experience, is still somewhat tempered. It’s not an exaggeration to say that many fans have felt like they have purchased only half a game with previous Show purchases, and rightfully so. Let’s hope that 2015 is finally the year that having a connection issue while playing MLB The Show online is a surprise, rather the expectation. 

What about you, how has your experience been so far with MLB '15: The Show online?