MLB 07 The Show (PS3)

[Icy]

So excited too, i ended buying a PS3 2 weeks ago because the region free games. Already got NBA2k7 and NHL2k7, waiting for MLB07 and College Hoops 2k7 that will be shipped to me from Canada tomorrow, can't wait!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Icy

So excited too, i ended buying a PS3 2 weeks ago because the region free games. Already got NBA2k7 and NHL2k7, waiting for MLB07 and College Hoops 2k7 that will be shipped to me from Canada tomorrow, can't wait!

I have the NBA game as well. It's a lot of fun. How do you like the NHL game? I noticed that it's now only $30, so it may be a good value game at this point.

[MizzouRah]

I've been playing RTTS on the psp as a starting pitcher and I'm finally past my issues with the game. Stats are right on and such in this mode and all I have to do is pitch every 5th day. It was great being able to pitch in the spring and assist Pujols on a play. As it should be, I got shelled early and often and getting an out was a victory. I pitch one more game in the grapefruit league and then I'm sure it's AA for me.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

I've been playing RTTS on the psp as a starting pitcher and I'm finally past my issues with the game. Stats are right on and such in this mode and all I have to do is pitch every 5th day. It was great being able to pitch in the spring and assist Pujols on a play. As it should be, I got shelled early and often and getting an out was a victory. I pitch one more game in the grapefruit league and then I'm sure it's AA for me.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this mode. Hopefully it's done well. I like the idea of being involved in the game without having to play every single pitch of every single game.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Yeah, I'm looking forward to this mode. Hopefully it's done well. I like the idea of being involved in the game without having to play every single pitch of every single game.

Exactly. It allows you to progress many seasons as well.

The rosters have Carp and Mulder in AAA, but not on the DL, so hopefully once the season starts, it moves them into the majors as I've read there are issues on the ps2 version where major leaguers stay in AAA after injuries. This would kill the game for me.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

The rosters have Carp and Mulder in AAA, but not on the DL, so hopefully once the season starts, it moves them into the majors as I've read there are issues on the ps2 version where major leaguers stay in AAA after injuries. This would kill the game for me.

I just hope the sims are accurate enough so that the Cards are just as bad as the Royals, just like in real life.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I have the NBA game as well. It's a lot of fun. How do you like the NHL game? I noticed that it's now only $30, so it may be a good value game at this point.

I have not played NHL2k7 a lot as i'm playing mainly NBA2k7 while i wait for the game i have been dying to play, College Hoops 07 that i couldn'y before in the 360. I enjoyed a lot NBA2k7 in the xbox360 and wanted to keep playing it in the ps3. I'm also playing F1:CE when i want to race

I bought NBA2k7 and NHL2k7 in a pack of both for $60 shipping included from play.com

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I just hope the sims are accurate enough so that the Cards are just as bad as the Royals, just like in real life.

Pujols has 11 homers in the Spring if that tells you anything.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Pujols has 11 homers in the Spring if that tells you anything.

I hope they make the PS3 simulated stats more accurate.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

I hope they make the PS3 simulated stats more accurate.

You know it's funny. Before the season started, you would be saying, "Damn this game isn't realistic at all."

That's the one thing games can't do or people would be questioning the sim engine. Well, I take that back - I think some text sims do have variable stats from even the best of rated players.

[TroyF]

This game just has to be good. My PS3 has only been used to play Planet Earth Blu Ray episodes over the last few weeks. Looking at the release schedule, I don't see any "must have" title coming out for quite a while on it. Please, oh, please be good.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

BTW, if anyone finds some reviews, if you wouldn't mind posting the text I'd appreciate it. Probably going to drop by the store after work, but would like to see what the reviews are for the game. I'm blocked from most gaming sites, hence the reason for the request of text or scores. Thanks.

[TroyF]

I read an IGN review before I left for work this morning. It wasn't really good. Basicly said it was just a port of the PS2 version and some of the things didn't work as well on the PS3. (including RTTS) The final score was 7.7

In IGN terms, that's about a 5.

Now, a lot of sports reviewrs miss how good a great sports game can be because they don't understand the nuances of the game like a die hard sports fan. I'm at work and blocked from gaming websites, so I can't post the text.

I didn't see Gamespot with a review when I left this morning. I'm still getting it today and am going to pray I have a game on this system that means something. (besides Resistence)

[Kodos]

I tried the PS2 version at Walmart. Since I'm not a big baseball fan, my main goal was to start a fight, so I kept nailing hitters with pitches. The batters would get mad, but there was never a fight. How disappointing.

Here's IGN's review:

hxxp://ps3.ign.com/articles/788/788261p1.html

MLB '07: The Show Review

Does the PS3 edition hit one out of the park?

by Jeff Haynes

May 14, 2007 - Expected results have a funny way of continually surprising everyone. Take the start of this year's baseball season, for instance. In February, Yankees fans were still prepared to boo A-Rod anywhere he went, the Daisuke Matsuzaka mania gripping Boston had reached religious heights, and gamers were eagerly awaiting Sony's follow up to last year's excellent baseball title, MLB 07: The Show. However, instead of trying to sweep the market with the versions of the game for all three systems, Sony sent the PS3 version of the game back down to the minors for some extra development time. Well, as the season has shown, A-Rod turned boos to cheers with his home run streak and Dice-K became a mortal pitcher after all. But did the release of MLB 07: The Show for the PS3 45 days after Opening Day equal or surpass the hype that the series as generated over the past two years?

Not really.

Don't get me wrong -- MLB 07 for the PS3 tries to carry over everything from the PS2 version of the game, such as the Pitch Command System, Road to the Show and umpire personalities. It also tries to add to the mix with some brand new animations, better textures for stadium and some new Sixaxis controls. However, there's a few significant problems that wind up arising with the title that keep it from being great: some gameplay mechanics that were better in the PS2 version of the game didn't make it over to the PS3, while others don't work as well as you'd expect them to. Plus, for a first party baseball title that's coming out as late as MLB 07 is this year, you'd expect, perhaps even demand something that stretched the capabilities of the system. As it currently stands, The Show feels like a ported PS2 game - a good PS2 game, but one nonetheless.

Pitching and batting are still central to MLB 07.MLB 07 still places a large emphasis on the pitcher this year, thanks to the inclusion of the Pitch Command System and the Adaptive Pitching Intelligence. Players will still be able to use the catcher's calls as well as the confidence their hurler feels in a particular pitch to improve their success on the mound. However, they'll need to take into account the Umpire Personalities, which will call the strike zone tighter, looser or right down the middle. For the most part, this hasn't really changed in the PS3 version, with only a few exceptions: thanks to the lack of vibration in Sixaxis controllers, pitchers will have to fight through a much faster pitching meter whenever they're rattled or feeling the pressure in a game situation. While you'll still have to discern what kind of ump you happen to have in front of you, it seems a bit easier to find out, especially if you paint the black a few times. It feels like these umps are a bit more willing to give up their personality tells earlier in the PS3 version.

Batting is still solid, thanks to the included Swing Analysis tool that gives you an indication as to the timing and location of your swing as well as the location of the ball. On the other hand, queuing up bases with the new baserunning targeting system can still be a bit sticky. Fortunately, the new meter that was implemented for fielding to determine the strength of a throw has been tightened up significantly. Now you have a better sense of how much mustard you're putting on a throw if you hold down the button to the baseman or cutoff man you're targeting.

Get ready to dive thanks to the Sixaxis controls.This isn't the only fielding change made in the PS3 version; thanks to the Sixaxis controller, players have a new way of performing plays that could be Web Gems. By snapping the controller up, you can make a fielder jump, while snapping downwards or moving the controller horizontally left or right can make them dive in those directions. For the most part, the motion sensitivity for fielding works really well - better than it does in some other PS3 sports titles. The only danger that you may run into is that trying to get an infielder to dive for a ball that squirts through the gap can sometimes cause your outfielders to unintentionally dive as well, putting them out of position to make a play on the ball.

Players can also use the Sixaxis controller while they're on offense to influence your slides. By tilting the controller to the left or the right, you can determine just how much of a slide to the inside or outside of the bag your runner will make. Unfortunately, this mechanic doesn't work as well as fielding, as it can be extremely hard to tell just how much you need to tilt to successfully pull off these moves. Since the game won't actually give you a hint on how to best pull this off (as opposed to fielding, which it will tell you about), you're better off sticking to the analog sticks.

Although most of the gameplay of MLB 07 managed to survive the transition from PS2 to PS3, one facet of play isn't as solid as it was on the older system: computerized infield logic suffers from a number of AI flaws that just weren't in the PS2 version. In a number of games we played, we noticed instead of tagging a base during a force play, (especially if the runner hasn't gotten past the baseman) the infielder will more often than not opt to throw to the first baseman, which doesn't make sense. For instance, with one out and runners on first and second, a grounder is sent to the third baseman that's half a foot away from the bag. Instead of trying to turn the 5-4-3 double play or even stepping on third before throwing to another base, the fielder tosses the ball to first, making the inning drag on longer than usual. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever, but for some reason, the AI will pull bush league plays like this, which will make you scream.

Sure, that's infuriating, but what about the other big draw to this year's game on the PS2, the Road to the Show mode? One thing that is nice is that players will now have a large number of nicknames or actual last names that you can assign to your created player. With 273 pages of voiced names, you should be able to find something to call your rookie player. However, what you'll find once you've entered the mode is a somewhat different system than on the PS2. For one thing, you will rarely ever receive a "not attempted" classification for a goal, even if the circumstances are out of your player's control. If, for instance, you're supposed to perform a sacrifice bunt and the runner gets picked off a base, it shouldn't count as a failed goal. For some reason, now it does. This harder edged "pass/fail" criteria makes playing this mode much stricter than ever before. When you couple this with the fact that it will constantly demand hard to almost impossible goals over and over again, the mode has a large amount of fun sucked out of it. Could be just me, but having my skipper tell me I have to go yard five times in a row or get a triple ten times in a row is just insane. When you couple this with the fact that the camera angles haven't improved from PS2 to PS3, and you still can't make defensive adjustments, Road to the Show starts to lose a bit of its strength as a selling point for the game.

Online is still good, but the Road to the Show isn't as solid as the PS2 version.At least the online component of the game has carried over faithfully. MLB 07 will allow players to chat, IM, send mail and even create posts that PS2 and PSP owners can interact with. In effect, this gives a much larger sense of a baseball community with the online features present in the PS3 version of the game, as it unifies all three systems on the Sportscast network that Sony has created for the title. Along with the standard features of continually having a sports ticker with game information streamed to your system in real time, players can get hourly news updates on teams. Similarly, the leagues and online player card info is still as solid as the other versions of the title.

Technically, however, MLB 07 is one of those games that teases you with what should be an excellent experience, but falls short overall. The framerate of the game is extremely solid, and runs without any slowdown during in-game cutscenes or transitions between innings. Similarly, the title has received more than 3500 new animations, so crow hops, slides, tumbling catches and other plays feel a lot more natural. Watching players kick up dirt particles and dust as they stepped up to the plate or tried to gain extra bases was quite nice. What's more, many of the in-game cutscenes are pretty impressive to check out. I was stunned to see an umpire take a player's bat and check it before returning it to him, just as I was pleased to see players talking to each other on base, as well as one of the best crowds in sports games. I was also pleased to see that during exhibition, franchise or season games, the camera tracked the ball a lot faster when it was put into play.

While cutscenes are impressive, some of the visual issues and textures don't do the game justice.On the other hand, this isn't what you'd expect a next-gen sports title to look like. Many of the faces look extremely generic, and while the camera will sometimes zoom in on them to show off the excitement or anger that washes over a player during a particular moment, you're probably not going think that athlete looks like their real life counterpart much. The same can be said about the character models, which are restricted to three body types and somewhat limited cloth physics. Considering that MLB's competition made their athlete's look much more realistic, you realize that the Show has a lot of catching up to do for next year's PS3 title. What's more, visual issues extend to your created players as well. For some reason, your created player's profile image with his stats won't ever match the athlete you put together, which is simply lazy. Outside of this, you'll find a number of glitches as hats and bats flicker into place, collision detection issues, like players trying to celebrate and missing each other's hands, and other random visual hiccups. However, some of the worst items are some of the background textures. While stadiums have received new textures, the background environments haven't, so generic areas like Baseball City in Florida during Spring Training games or minor league parks in particular look horrendous. Water textures outside of parks look really poor. Combined with load times that can last up to 30 seconds or more for any single game or Road to the Show situation, and you'll wonder if this game is really utilizing the PS3.

At least the sound is still top notch. The three man crew of Vasgersian, Hudler and Campbell are still solid, and the timing of what they're saying appears to be a bit sharper in the PS3 version than the other editions of The Show. The soundtrack is still the same, but the true standout within the sound department is the ambient experience. The large amount of crowd commentary and razzing from fans is an excellent touch for the game, and really gives you a sense of being at the park. Even cooler are the radio play by play calls from various games from around the league last year, with various announcers literally screaming about game winning home runs or incredible double plays. Those pieces of audio literally get your adrenaline pumping as your navigating menus or waiting for a game to load.

Closing Comments

The Show manages to bring up the overall shell of Sony’s baseball game from the PS2 minors, but as a next gen title, it doesn’t have all of the fundamentals to compete with other sports games out there. Funky infielder logic, lackluster visuals and other odd changes to the gameplay formula literally turns a great baseball title on older systems into a good title on the PS3. That isn’t to say that baseball fans shouldn’t take a look at The Show; just don’t expect it to be leaps and bounds that the other sports titles around.

IGN Ratings for MLB '07: The Show (PS3)
Rating Description
out of 10 click here for ratings guide

8.5 Presentation
The radio calls add a huge amount of presentation to the overall MLB 07 atmosphere. The visuals from The Show compliment this nicely as well.

7.5 Graphics
While the improvement in animations and cutscenes are nice, the generic textures and glitches make you wonder just how next-gen this really is.

8.0 Sound
The three man team is still just as solid as before, and the crowd comments are pretty sweet.

7.5 Gameplay
Infielding AI issues and Road to the Show changes pull a large amount of fun out of this year’s debut on the PS3.

8.0 Lasting Appeal
If you can get around the AI issues and career mode issues, or dive solely into online, you’ll find an enjoyable experience here.

7.7
Good OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

[Icy]

I would take that IGN review with a grain of salt, look what has been posted at operationsports from the xbox360 / Ps3 IGN review of the game MLB2k7. A copy paste from one to the other but the Ps3 version got a lower note... try to find the differences that justify the lower note...

PS3
7.5 Presentation
The television styled presentation is hampered by slowdown, constant rendering passes and overused blur filters.
8.0 Graphics
Some faces look very close to their real life counterparts. Others are simply horrendous, and the visual tricks aren't doing them any favors.
7.5 Sound
Fresh pre-game dialogue from Zelasko and Physioc can't overwhelm stale lines from Miller and Morgan.
7.0 Gameplay
Some of the issues from last year have been fixed, only to be replaced by new ones. Bugs, ineffective Sixaxis control and other issues help hamper an enjoyable experience.
7.5 Lasting Appeal
The redesigned Franchise/GM Career will give you lots to do, but the slowdown and glitches will decrease your enjoyment of the game.

7.4 Decent OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

XBOX360
8.0 Presentation
The television styled presentation is hampered by odd slowdown issues, constant rendering passes and overused blur filters.
8.0 Graphics
Some faces look very close to their real life counterparts. Others are simply horrendous, and the visual tricks aren't doing them any favors.
7.5 Sound
Fresh pre-game dialogue from Zelasko and Physioc can't overwhelm stale lines from Miller and Morgan.
7.5 Gameplay
Some of the issues from last year have been fixed, only to be replaced by new ones. Bugs, glitches and other issues help hamper an enjoyable experience.
8.0 Lasting Appeal


The redesigned Franchise/GM Career will give you lots to do, but the numerous slowdown and glitches will decrease your enjoyment of the game.

7.9 Good OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

[Icy]

Dola, i'll post a review as soon as i got it, but it will be shipped today to me from Canada so it will take a few days to come to Spain. If it plays like the PSP version and has no any added bug, i'll be so hapy with it as i just want to play the same game but in a big screen.

[TroyF]

Icy,

Those MLB2K7 reviews are WHY we should all be concerned about the MLB: The Show review.

7.9 and 7.4 are what they give out to buggy pieces of crap. Again, a 7.7 score essentially means the game is crap by the standard IGN scale.

Now, could they have missed a lot of the subtelties that The Show will most certainly contain? Sure. They could also just hate baseball and rip all baseball games.

I hope they are wrong. I'll be buying the game today regardless, but that review is not a good sign.

[MizzouRah]

Wow, how disappointing. Hello Madden 2006 on the 360.

Oh well, just means my jonesing for a ps3 will finally subside.

I'm really impressed with the psp version so far (RTTS), but ST isn't over yet and I want to see how the AI handles pitchers like Carpenter and Mulder who are both in AAA per the roster update.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Icy,

Those MLB2K7 reviews are WHY we should all be concerned about the MLB: The Show review.

7.9 and 7.4 are what they give out to buggy pieces of crap. Again, a 7.7 score essentially means the game is crap by the standard IGN scale.

Now, could they have missed a lot of the subtelties that The Show will most certainly contain? Sure. They could also just hate baseball and rip all baseball games.

I hope they are wrong. I'll be buying the game today regardless, but that review is not a good sign.

Yeah let's see, please post your impressions once you got it, to have to wait at least a week more for it to come here is killing me.

[BrianD]

So they are saying that the PS2 version is better than the PS3 version? I might have to pick the game up this year since I missed it last year.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by BrianD

So they are saying that the PS2 version is better than the PS3 version? I might have to pick the game up this year since I missed it last year.

- The Ps2 version would be perfect without the two franchise bugs it has:
1- No CPU initiated trades
2- Coaches dissapear from teams as soon as you play a game, you can sign them again, and as soon as you play a game they disapear again from your team. It doesn't happen when you sim games.

- The PSP version is perfect, the bugs in the PS2 are not here.

My hope is that the PS3 version plays like the PSP/PS2 one and has no bugs.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Kind of a mixed bag in that review. Only glaring problem would be the infielder AI. I'm interested to see if Sony addresses that in a patch. My main concern with that would be that they already took time to clean up some of the details in the game by moving back the release date. It's a bit disappointing to see that they still have an AI problem even though they had extra time to get it right. I'm less concerned about the graphic issues outside the ballpark as it doesn't affect gameplay too much.

I will say that if it's a fancy port of the PS2 as he says, I'm totally good with that. There was no mention of the major PS2 bugs, so it could be a very good game.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Kind of a mixed bag in that review. Only glaring problem would be the infielder AI. I'm interested to see if Sony addresses that in a patch. My main concern with that would be that they already took time to clean up some of the details in the game by moving back the release date. It's a bit disappointing to see that they still have an AI problem even though they had extra time to get it right. I'm less concerned about the graphic issues outside the ballpark as it doesn't affect gameplay too much.

I will say that if it's a fancy port of the PS2 as he says, I'm totally good with that. There was no mention of the major PS2 bugs, so it could be a very good game.

Mark my words, the MLB 2k franchise is going to finally surpass The Show next year as far as next gen is concerned.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Icy

- The Ps2 version would be perfect without the two franchise bugs it has:
1- No CPU initiated trades
2- Coaches dissapear from teams as soon as you play a game, you can sign them again, and as soon as you play a game they disapear again from your team. It doesn't happen when you sim games.

Are you talking about last year's PS2 version, or this year's?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

Mark my words, the MLB 2k franchise is going to finally surpass The Show next year as far as next gen is concerned.

Hopefully so. This market needs good competition. The 2K developers really set themselves back quite a bit by basically stating that this year's release was little more than a test run.

[Icy]

Originally Posted by BrianD

Are you talking about last year's PS2 version, or this year's?

This year's.

[RPI-Fan]

Is the college baseball game going to be released for 360 this year (or ever)?

[MJ4H]

I hope Konami makes an american version of Pro Baseball Spirits, myself. I don't even have the console to play it on (unless it's a Wii version), but I still would love to see it. From all accounts, it is an amazing game.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Is the college baseball game going to be released for 360 this year (or ever)?

I had a ton of fun with that on PS2...probably because it was just a different version of MVP.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by Icy

This year's.

That is disappointing.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by MattJones4Heisman

I hope Konami makes an american version of Pro Baseball Spirits, myself. I don't even have the console to play it on (unless it's a Wii version), but I still would love to see it. From all accounts, it is an amazing game.

I've been considering trying to get an import. Any recommendations for sites to buy from?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

Is the college baseball game going to be released for 360 this year (or ever)?

Disclaimer: I have NO information on this. I'm just guessing.

Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if EA stops making the college baseball game altogether. They did a great job with the MVP 06 college game, but then they decided to make the MVP 07 game PS2-only. To me, that was a bad sign. On top of that, from what I read, they didn't even bother updating the rosters for this year's game. I'm pretty sure I read it here on FOFC. What they apparently did was, for instance, take the top-ranked team's roster from MVP 06 and move it to the top-ranked team on MVP 07, and they did this for every team.

It just seemed to me that EA put absolutely no effort into the college baseball game this year. Yeah, I know people say that about Madden, but at least they change or add something in Madden each year, even if it doesn't turn out well.

I hope I'm wrong about the college baseball game. Hopefully, EA will continue to develop the game and improve upon it. I would also want to see a 360 version, as I loathe the PS2 controller. Given what EA did with MVP NCAA Baseball and Arena Football this year, though, I wouldn't be shocked to see both of those games disappear.

[Icy]

First impressions from a guy that has it in OPS: (Toper)

http://forums.operationsports.com/vB...=206409&page=9

Btw, i just got the email from the online shop that both College Hoops 07 and MLB The Show 07 have been sent to me today!! come one postman, fly fast to Spain!!!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Icy

First impressions from a guy that has it in OPS: (Toper)

http://forums.operationsports.com/vB...=206409&page=9

Sounds pretty promising there. He hasn't seen the AI blunders that the IGN guy said happened quite a bit. Said the game feels more like High Heat, so players who don't like a sim may be a bit put off. That's part of the reason I didn't like the 2K7 game (bit too 'arcade-like'), so that's something I like to hear.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Sounds pretty promising there. He hasn't seen the AI blunders that the IGN guy said happened quite a bit. Said the game feels more like High Heat, so players who don't like a sim may be a bit put off. That's part of the reason I didn't like the 2K7 game (bit too 'arcade-like'), so that's something I like to hear.

It's funny how people always claim, "X baseball game reminds me of High Heat".

Who cares? The last High Heat was like 4 years ago.

High Heat was great in its time, but I NEVER played the game with a joystick, it was all manage mode for me.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

It's funny how people always claim, "X baseball game reminds me of High Heat".

Who cares? The last High Heat was like 4 years ago.

High Heat was great in its time, but I NEVER played the game with a joystick, it was all manage mode for me.

I find it funny for a different reason. High Heat was always an incredibly flawed game out of the box. The thing that seperated it wasn't a slider base, but a tune file that could tweak the game to incredible levels. I loved HH. I played it with a joystick and in manage only modes and it's one of my favorite games of all time. If MLB captures "out of the box" what HH did with people spending hours and hours honing a perfect tune file, I'm beyond thrilled.

I don't think that's gonna happen though. There are going to be things I don't like about the game and I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. My hope is that it's just a quality, fun game. They give me that, I'm happy.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by MizzouRah

High Heat was great in its time, but I NEVER played the game with a joystick, it was all manage mode for me.

High Heat was a good game from more than a management mode. It played really well with a joystick. I certainly understand that you played in the manager mode. Given that this is a FOF forum, it's likely that the majority of gamers here generally prefer playing in manager mode on most games.

I did notice in the Operation Sports thread that the IGN reviewer for the game had previously given NBA 07 for the PS3 a 7.0 rating. That hurts the reviewer's credibility a bit as that game was absolutely TERRIBLE.

[BrianD]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I find it funny for a different reason. High Heat was always an incredibly flawed game out of the box. The thing that seperated it wasn't a slider base, but a tune file that could tweak the game to incredible levels. I loved HH. I played it with a joystick and in manage only modes and it's one of my favorite games of all time. If MLB captures "out of the box" what HH did with people spending hours and hours honing a perfect tune file, I'm beyond thrilled.

I don't think that's gonna happen though. There are going to be things I don't like about the game and I'm not going to be able to do anything about it. My hope is that it's just a quality, fun game. They give me that, I'm happy.

The AI and the graphics were very tight at the time and the game could be tweaked to play very realistically no matter what your skill level was. Not like most games today where even the sliders can't be used to make a realistic game. High Heat was the only series where I actually played out every game of multiple 162-game seasons.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

High Heat was a good game from more than a management mode. It played really well with a joystick. I certainly understand that you played in the manager mode. Given that this is a FOF forum, it's likely that the majority of gamers here generally prefer playing in manager mode on most games.

I did notice in the Operation Sports thread that the IGN reviewer for the game had previously given NBA 07 for the PS3 a 7.0 rating. That hurts the reviewer's credibility a bit as that game was absolutely TERRIBLE.

And yet again, this is where you miss the point. IGN reviews terrible games and gives them scores of 7.8 all the time. The IGN scale is usually something like this:

10 - 8.5 = Great game. Everyone will enjoy. Some flaws, but great.
8.4 - 8.0 = Decent niche game, some flaws. Worth a rental.
7.9 - Below = The game sucks ass. Don't waste your time, it's an abomination against everything good in the world.

They will occasionally review a great game in that bad category. But it happens rarely. In almost all cases, a game under 8 gets that score because it sucks. Their ratings system is horrible.

Which means the guy who gave the MLB review thinks the game is garbage. That doesn't mean it is garbage. It means that's what he thought of it. If the game is really a quality title, it'll be one of the rare games they review as crap that makes something of itself.

The only saving grace, is the games they usually do this to are games they don't understand. That's our only hope boys. If they do understand baseball, I can almost promise you we'll all be shredding this game in a few days. I'm hoping against hope I'm wrong on this, but that review is a horrible sign for the game. Simply horrible.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

The only saving grace, is the games they usually do this to are games they don't understand. That's our only hope boys. If they do understand baseball, I can almost promise you we'll all be shredding this game in a few days. I'm hoping against hope I'm wrong on this, but that review is a horrible sign for the game. Simply horrible.

LOL. Well, I'll certainly allow you to do your Chicken Little dance. They haven't had any issues with giving sub-par Madden games very good scores over the last few years, so I won't hold my breath. I'm assuming you haven't played NBA 07. If you had, you would have known that it would have been lucky to get a 4.0 from anyone capable of telling the difference between their head and their a$$.

Obviously, this doesn't make the game any better or worse. Just stating that most people would say that IGN is the last place they would go for a review of a game. As Bill Harris has said in the past, IGN is craptacular with a capital C-R-A-P when it comes to accurate reviews.

[Icy]

Tomorrow we will have tons of threads in OPS with the good stuff and the bugs, i trust more a bunch of guys in a forum than a single man review.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Icy

Tomorrow we will have tons of threads in OPS with the good stuff and the bugs, i trust more a bunch of guys in a forum than a single man review.

Even the single man review at OS is pretty good, though it often comes out a couple of days after the release due to the fact that they often play through the game a bit more than most reviewers. It results in a much more comprehensive review, albeit a bit later than most.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

LOL. Well, I'll certainly allow you to do your Chicken Little dance. They haven't had any issues with giving sub-par Madden games very good scores over the last few years, so I won't hold my breath. I'm assuming you haven't played NBA 07. If you had, you would have known that it would have been lucky to get a 4.0 from anyone capable of telling the difference between their head and their a$$.

Obviously, this doesn't make the game any better or worse. Just stating that most people would say that IGN is the last place they would go for a review of a game. As Bill Harris has said in the past, IGN is craptacular with a capital C-R-A-P when it comes to accurate reviews.

And you keep MISSING THE DAMN POINT. They are craptacular not because they shred great games, but because they continually give 7's and aboves to crappy games. If you read him, you'll see what he's talking about. Of course they reviewed garbage Madden games with great scores and of course they reviewed garbage games like NBA 07 with good scores. That's what they do. Repeatedly. Find me a game they review lower than 6 and I'll show you a game developed by people who had the intelligence level of a handball.

The great games? They give them 8.5 and above almost every time. There are very few exceptions to this rule.

I'm not being chicken little, I'm being realistic. It's a horrific sign when a game reviewer who gives a 7 to NBA 07 only gives a 7.7 to MLB: The Show. I'll say it one more time, just to make sure you get it. . . they suck because a vast majority of their reviews are SKEWED UPWARD.

If this is the one game this quarter that's actually better than the score reviewed, yippeeee. We are all freakin happy today or tomorrow. If this is their "typical" skewed upwards score, we are all pissed off badly tomorrow unless we drink large quantities of alcohol or pop some Sony fanboy pills.

Don't think for a second I'm going to rip this game if I love it so I can slam Sony.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

And you keep MISSING THE DAMN POINT. They are craptacular not because they shred great games, but because they continually give 7's and aboves to crappy games. If you read him, you'll see what he's talking about. Of course they reviewed garbage Madden games with great scores and of course they reviewed garbage games like NBA 07 with good scores. That's what they do. Repeatedly. Find me a game they review lower than 6 and I'll show you a game developed by people who had the intelligence level of a handball.

The great games? They give them 8.5 and above almost every time. There are very few exceptions to this rule.

I'm not being chicken little, I'm being realistic. It's a horrific sign when a game reviewer who gives a 7 to NBA 07 only gives a 7.7 to MLB: The Show. I'll say it one more time, just to make sure you get it. . . they suck because a vast majority of their reviews are SKEWED UPWARD.

If this is the one game this quarter that's actually better than the score reviewed, yippeeee. We are all freakin happy today or tomorrow. If this is their "typical" skewed upwards score, we are all pissed off badly tomorrow unless we drink large quantities of alcohol or pop some Sony fanboy pills.

Don't think for a second I'm going to rip this game if I love it so I can slam Sony.

Simmer down. There were multiple iterations of Madden that had better than 8.5 from IGN that had no business getting anything close to that. It's neither here nor there. Most don't think much of IGN's reviews, so we'll just leave it at that. As Icy said, OS should give some pretty good impressions of how good/bad the game is. My general thought is that it's likely to not be a barn-burner of a game, but will still be a solid game.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Simmer down. There were multiple iterations of Madden that had better than 8.5 from IGN that had no business getting anything close to that. It's neither here nor there. Most don't think much of IGN's reviews, so we'll just leave it at that. As Icy said, OS should give some pretty good impressions of how good/bad the game is. My general thought is that it's likely to not be a barn-burner of a game, but will still be a solid game.

I'll simmer down whenever I choose to simmer down. (if you really think any of this has got me upset, you have some serious ego issues)

Everytime you write something, you continue to prove my point. They gave Madden above an 8.5. Is that a downwardly skewed score or an upwardly skewed score? Don't worry, I'm patient. I'll wait.

They just gave MLB a score lower than MLB2K7 for the 360, which was a horrific game. If they skewed this score upwards, we are screwed.

As for it not being a barn burner, but a solid game. . . that'd be pretty damned dissapointing to me, though if it were solid I'd continue playing it. The problem is this is one of Sony's in exclusive titles. It's not all that good if their exclusive turns out ot be an OK game. It should be a sensational game. I'm hoping it will be a sensational game.

This morning I was thinking it'd be somewhere in between solid and sensational. After the review? I'm thinking between average and solid and am hoping IGN finally skewed a review downward. It happens once a quarter, I'm sure the game I want to be great is the one they did it to. It always works out like that, right?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I'll simmer down whenever I choose to simmer down. (if you really think any of this has got me upset, you have some serious ego issues)

Sorry you are upset. Appreciate the discussion. Hope you enjoy the game.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Looks like the cache install at the start of the game is a good idea. Appears the early reviewers failed to do the cache install as recommended. The occasional lag that is reported in the reviews are not a problem if you do the cache install.

[MizzouRah]

Ouch:

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3159546&sec=REVIEWS

Quote:

In the end, The Show is a solid game, but where the PS2 (and PSP) versions are inspired, the PS3 offering doesn't give the same feeling of "real" baseball. It's a no-contest this season: For the best new-gen baseball, stick with the most beautiful choice: MLB 2K7.

Now, it's clear this guy is all about graphics, but for $60 and a $600 system, why not expect visuals like MLB 2k7?

[Terps]

All the web reviews have been bad, but all the user impressions have been great.

The 1UP review is clearly someone focused on graphics and not gameplay. One of his complaints was because the game doesn't have a swing stick like MLB2K, and that button pressing doesn't feel next-gen enough. He also says that he can't influence where he wants to hit the ball, but obviously he doesn't know that you can use the right analog for that.

I'll ignore these web reviews and continue reading the 4 pages of user impressions over at OS until I can play the game tomorrow night after work.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Terps

The 1UP review is clearly someone focused on graphics and not gameplay. One of his complaints was because the game doesn't have a swing stick like MLB2K, and that button pressing doesn't feel next-gen enough. He also says that he can't influence where he wants to hit the ball, but obviously he doesn't know that you can use the right analog for that.

Yeah, the other negative review that I noticed mentioned that there were too many hits up the middle (as you said, the right stick is used to control that). Also, another reviewer complained that there were no HR celebrations (if he would have looked, you can alter that in the settings menu).

You would think that they'd actually let these guys know that they're supposed to have some level of knowledge about how the game works before they dismiss a feature as not working. It's disappointing that many of these reviews are coming from players who aren't familiar with the game OR the manual. This just in........it may not be the game that is the problem.