MLB '09: The Show.........

[Icy]

I called Sony this morning and they are going to replace my Ps3 with a totally new one. The only problem as i said is that i'll get a new 80gb model instead of my 60gb one as it's discontinued.

I think i'm even happy as my warranty expires in two months, so better now than then. Also i like the extra 20gb, the 65nm chip and the new bluray drive that is supposed to not to have the problem old models had. In exchange i lose the compatibility with PS2 games that my old model had, but i must admit i have not ever played a PS2 game in my PS3. The only extra value mine had was in ebay as people is looking for those old models with ps2 compatibillity.

The hard time will be to have here both MLB 09 and killzone 2 unpacked for 2 or 3 weeks until the new one arrives.

[CraigSca]

How long did they say it would take? I would seriously consider buying a new one in the interim as your timing is absolutely horrific.

I bought a PS3 last year and have two games for it: MLB 08: The Show and LittleBigPlanet for the kids. As far as I'm concerned the Show is the only must-have game there is.

Good luck!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some heavy-duty franchise impressions from Bill Abner after simming several seasons. Overall, they're pretty positive with the retirement model being his only complaint.

The Nut and the Feisty Weasel: The Show: Free Agents and a Test Sim

The Nut and the Feisty Weasel: The Show Franchise Notes

The Nut and the Feisty Weasel: More Quick Notes

The Nut and the Feisty Weasel: The Show 2013; Cool Rooks, Retirement Annoyance

PastaPadre has put up several HD videos and screenshots of the game. Looks REALLY nice. Only caviat is that a couple of the videos are from online play, so you might see the occasional lags in video that have been mentioned.

MLB 09 The Show Is Here | pastapadre.com

Also, a patch is reportedly in the works to improve lag in online play (doesn't this feel like week-old deja-vu, 2K-style?) and will be available a couple of days after the game is released.

[Big Fo]

Yeah that's not too bad. Team ERA's are maybe half a run too high and star players sometimes retire in their mid-30's but solid sim stats otherwise. Could be worse could be better it sounds like...

[Eaglesfan27]

The retirement model seems like a big issue to me. That would drive me crazy if my star retired at 33 for no good reason. Sounds like career trajectories are messed up as a whole. Here is the text of Bill Abner's post on the subject:

2013 is done, and we are now 5 years into this so we should start to see some new faces popping up on the leader boards. And we are.

Batting Avg: There were 4 players in the top 25 in BA in the NL and 5 in the AL -- these are players 25 years old or less (and one straight up 18 year old rook). However, these were all 1st round picks. I haven't seen many picks of the later rounds do much yet. Again, this reminds me of OOTP a few years ago.

Pitchers: 2 pitchers made the top 20 in ERA in the NL; 3 in the AL. One kid won 17 games in his 2nd MLB season.

The Age model is now officially my #1 gripe with The Show this year. I don't have very many complaints but this is one of them. If you have read my notes below you know what I mean -- this is a pattern at this point.

Pujols just retired after 2013 -- not due to injury. He's *33*. He quits after a 41 HR season where he hit .291. Why? I have absolutely no idea. A-Rod retires at 37 after hitting .296 with 47 homers. Jeter hits .317 and calls it a career.

These players are not getting worse fast enough -- not even close in my view. A-Rod at 37 hitting 47 homers and quitting? The players are retiring not because they can't play anymore (which is what the game should do) but because the player hits some age gap and just quits. It's somewhat frustrating if you're a franchise player and want to see these old vets lose some luster and then quit. 47 homers is a shitload of luster, folks.

This is not a game breaker by any stretch, but I don't think I'm going to be the only person who doesn't like how this works.



Edit to add an excerpt of some other franchise gripes from Bill as well as further illustrations of the career trajectory being wrong:

A lot of retired players are calling it quits with a lot left in the tank. Thome retires at 40 but in 2011 hit .271 with 35 HRs. Lidge retires at 34 (?) after saving 37 games. Hoffman finally quits at 43 after another 40 save season. Reds MR Mike Lincoln retires at 35 after another sub 3 ERA year appearing in 65 games. Ordonez retires after hitting .301 at the age of 37. Too early to tell, but these dudes are aging -- slowly.

A few too many "solid" players (not stars) wallow in the FA pool. No one can use Matt Lindstorm? 35 saves and a 2.98 ERA in 2010 and no one wants him?

If a player is not signed during the FA period the odds of them being signed during the year are...not good. Teams (CPU AI) rarely do that in this game.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Rumor is that the retirement issue is already ready to be patched. I haven't seen anything official at this point, so we'll have to wait and see. I do know that Abner talks with the developers, so my guess is that he's already alerted them to the situation.

The retirement piece of a sports game is usually a randomized attribute. As they age, the chance of retirement increases. My guess is that the percentages on this randomizer are weighted too far towards retirement at this point. Not sure how this was altered as last version didn't have this issue.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Rumor is that the retirement issue is already ready to be patched. I haven't seen anything official at this point, so we'll have to wait and see. I do know that Abner talks with the developers, so my guess is that he's already alerted them to the situation.

The retirement piece of a sports game is usually a randomized attribute. As they age, the chance of retirement increases. My guess is that the percentages on this randomizer are weighted too far towards retirement at this point. Not sure how this was altered as last version didn't have this issue.

Where did you read it was going to be patched?

The problem with the retirement model is it's completely based on age and not declining performance. Most players retire because they simply can't produce at a high level anymore. I don't have a problem with A-Rod retiring at 37 if it's coming off a season where he hits .260 with 15 homers.

[Ryan S]

I have just received an email telling me the game has shipped. Hopefully it will arrive in the UK by the weekend.

[Sweed]

Good thing about this game is I only play season mode. RTTS doesn't interest me and playing a dynasty isn't going to happen. Anything retirement wise or franchise wise will make no difference to me

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Where did you read it was going to be patched?

The developers are actively reading any problem reports on the OS boards. They are aware of the retirement issue and are working on a solution.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The developers are actively reading any problem reports on the OS boards. They are aware of the retirement issue and are working on a solution.

As I only play RTTS, this is irrelevant to me. That said, I love the irony here.

If this were EA or a 2K sports game for the 360, you would be in full fledged shred mode by now. Instead it's shrugged off by, "A patch will be out, no worries."

[rowech]

Originally Posted by TroyF

As I only play RTTS, this is irrelevant to me. That said, I love the irony here.

If this were EA or a 2K sports game for the 360, you would be in full fledged shred mode by now. Instead it's shrugged off by, "A patch will be out, no worries."

Almost exactly what I said in the MLB2k9 thread.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by rowech

Almost exactly what I said in the MLB2k9 thread.

Missed that post. But it's dead on.

[CraigSca]

While I can see the issue with the retirement issue and I hope it gets fixed, I'll join the "This Isn't an Issue With Me" Crew as I can't imagine getting to the point where it would rear its ugly head. The game itself is so awesome, you're going to play the full season schedule. How many seasons can you put together before MLB 10 is out?

Mind you, I can see if that's not the way you play - certainly everyone is different. But I have to tell you, you're doing yourself a tremendous disservice if you're not actually playing out the games.

[Philliesfan980]

Any Manage Only impressions?

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by TroyF

As I only play RTTS, this is irrelevant to me. That said, I love the irony here.

If this were EA or a 2K sports game for the 360, you would be in full fledged shred mode by now. Instead it's shrugged off by, "A patch will be out, no worries."

In a way I agree, but I have to give MBBF the benefit of the doubt. The Show is, by far, the best sports series out there.

[RainMaker]

I'm not horribly worried about the retirement issue. Just a part of these games (seen stuff like that in OOTP for years). The online stuff has been worrisome as I had hoped to play some friends across the country. Besides the lag, some have said you can't even check swing this year. Wonder what else was pulled out or isn't working.

[WSR]

My PSP copy of the game arrived today. I'm looking forward it, but (obviously) not nearly as much as the PS3 version. I should have ordered both versions off Amazon, maybe I would have ended up with both of them tonight.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

In a way I agree, but I have to give MBBF the benefit of the doubt. The Show is, by far, the best sports series out there.

For the record, I agree with you 100%. That said, there are things that have been wrong with the Show for years and they still are not fixed. One example being doubles down the line, where Abner says there are still problems.

And while I think the team will fix the retirement and age curve issue, I think it is funny how MBBF will shred other games and companies and then gloss over The Show's issues like they aren't even there.

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by TroyF

For the record, I agree with you 100%. That said, there are things that have been wrong with the Show for years and they still are not fixed. One example being doubles down the line, where Abner says there are still problems.

And while I think the team will fix the retirement and age curve issue, I think it is funny how MBBF will shred other games and companies and then gloss over The Show's issues like they aren't even there.

I've been playing the demo and they've improved this immensely. While doubles were troublesome last year, they're not this year at all. Okay, perhaps more of the hits down the line should be doubles (like Abner says) but overall the frequency is correct.

It's actually rather fortunate, because if EA and the Madden/NCAA crew could make a football game as good as the Show, I'd probably never leave the house.

[BigPapi]

Originally Posted by TroyF

For the record, I agree with you 100%. That said, there are things that have been wrong with the Show for years and they still are not fixed. One example being doubles down the line, where Abner says there are still problems.

And while I think the team will fix the retirement and age curve issue, I think it is funny how MBBF will shred other games and companies and then gloss over The Show's issues like they aren't even there.

Just thought I'd poke my head in here and mention that Abner is one of the few guys who is still complaining about the doubles down the line issues. A number of posters over at OS have gone out of their way to mention this is much improved...Maybe they aren't looking hard enough. We can all decide for ourselves tomorrow

[TroyF]

I hope it's fixed, but again, I'm not worried. I'll put in hours into it regardless.

I'll only be able to play the PSP version for the next couple of weeks. (long plane flight to Hawaii, perfect for getting some time in with that version) I'll get a hold of the PS3 version when I get back in the middle of March.

[BigPapi]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

The developers are actively reading any problem reports on the OS boards. They are aware of the retirement issue and are working on a solution.

Can you provide a link to any of this? Not trying to be snarky- but I can't find a thread anywhere where Kolbe or Russell or anyone has commented on this officialy. Just curious if they have actually SAID they are looking at it....

[Icy]

Originally Posted by TroyF

I hope it's fixed, but again, I'm not worried. I'll put in hours into it regardless.

I'll only be able to play the PSP version for the next couple of weeks. (long plane flight to Hawaii, perfect for getting some time in with that version) I'll get a hold of the PS3 version when I get back in the middle of March.

Exactly like me, i won't get a PS3 back from Sony until 2 or 3 weeks from now, but at least should get the PSP in a couple of days so i can play it. Anyway past year i played more MLB hours in the PSP than PS3 because it's portability.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

And while I think the team will fix the retirement and age curve issue, I think it is funny how MBBF will shred other games and companies and then gloss over The Show's issues like they aren't even there.

If you don't see the difference between the abilities of the EA and MLB 2K development staff and the MLB: The Show staff, then there's little need to continue in this discussion. The quality of product is vastly different. Any competent gaming journalist who says otherwise is being intellectually dishonest with themselves.

[Logan]

So are you going to answer the people who asked for links to what you claim or...?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Another post from Abner about the Franchise mode.......

The Nut and the Feisty Weasel: The Show VS. MLB 2K9: Franchise Battle -- FIGHT!

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Logan

So are you going to answer the people who asked for links to what you claim or...?

No, because his claim came out of his ass.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

No, because his claim came out of his ass.

No, it didn't, but nothing I would say would convince you otherwise.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

No, it didn't, but nothing I would say would convince you otherwise.

A link right now would. Of course, OS or Bill Abner would be reporting if the developers confirmed they were working on a patch, and neither has reported that, so I stand by my statement.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

A link right now would. Of course, OS or Bill Abner would be reporting if the developers confirmed they were working on a patch, and neither has reported that, so I stand by my statement.

You are correct that neither has specifically reported that.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

If you don't see the difference between the abilities of the EA and MLB 2K development staff and the MLB: The Show staff, then there's little need to continue in this discussion. The quality of product is vastly different. Any competent gaming journalist who says otherwise is being intellectually dishonest with themselves.

Well, you know what? You might be right. Outside of the fact 2K has already patched the FA problem Todd talked about and I haven't seen one damned comment from the makers of The Show to tell me this is getting fixed. (despite your comments that had no basis in reality)

If you read my posts, you'll see that I'm a Show fan. I've purchased the PSP and PS3 versions three years running. (and the PS2 versions before that) I think it's the best sports franchise around. I think RTTS is one of the more amazing features I've ever seen in a video game. I think The Show is the single best baseball gaming experience I've ever had.

That said, I'm not going to give them a pass on crap like this. Albert retiring at 33 after an MVP season? Are you freaking kidding me? So 2K has Albert sitting as a FA after an MVP season and SCEA has him bleeping retiring. Good job testers. Incredible work there. Either both get a pass or neither gets a pass. Your comment about 2K was "I wonder what else they missed if they missed something as obvious as this" Your comment about The Show is "the team knows about this and they are working on resolving it"

So the past history of the games qualifies you to;

1) mke judgements about everything a 2K game you'll never play does.

and

2) Use information that doesn't exist (in other words, not tell the truth) to support how SCEA is working on a fix for the issue?

It's funny you throw a quote about journalism in your post. What you've done is neither ethical or a good story. You haven't used facts, you've used bias to lie for one company while shredding another for doing a similar thing. Not good form MMBF, not good form at all.

FWIW, I think SCEA will fix the issue. But that's me THINKING they'll fix the issue based off of history. That isn't me stating it's a factual occurance, because I've neither heard nor seen anything to the contrary by The Show team.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by TroyF

Well, you know what? You might be right.

There you go. I can't argue with your post.

As far as telling the truth, I have done that. I'm not going to argue over this anymore because it's distracting from the thread. My mistake was putting information in this thread that I couldn't directly substantiate with a link, even if it is true. I apologize to everyone for doing that and I won't do that in the future.

[RainMaker]

I will have this game in a few hours. Going to be taking off work early too.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I will have this game in a few hours. Going to be taking off work early too.

Was shipping day yesterday?

[Logan]

So out of curiosity, what made you post that claim in the first place? Do you have a developer on speed dial or did you just assume it? Seriously.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Was shipping day yesterday?

For Amazon it was. I preordered with them and they said I'd have it today. I don't follow the release date stuff much, just know I got an e-mail yesterday that they had shipped it.

[CraigSca]

Picked my copy up at Walmart earlier today but haven't thrown it in yet.

Btw, I do remember seeing tucked away in a thread somewhere at the OS forums one of the developers speaking about the first patch. He couldn't divulge what was in it, but that they were working on it. I think it was Russell_SCEA if you want to do a search for it.

[Philliesfan980]

Any chance you guys think I can walk in a store and purchase it today? I didn't pre-order.

[CraigSca]

Originally Posted by Philliesfan980

Any chance you guys think I can walk in a store and purchase it today? I didn't pre-order.

Absolutely - the Walmart in my area had many copies. I got mine at Best Buy last year - just walked in and left.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Absolutely - the Walmart in my area had many copies. I got mine at Best Buy last year - just walked in and left.

THIEF!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

Btw, I do remember seeing tucked away in a thread somewhere at the OS forums one of the developers speaking about the first patch. He couldn't divulge what was in it, but that they were working on it. I think it was Russell_SCEA if you want to do a search for it.

PastePadre already divulged that information. It's a patch for online play. Pretty sure the retirement issue will not be addressed by that patch since that online patch has been in the works for at least a week and they need to make sure it gets out before the end of the week.

[Philliesfan980]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

PastePadre already divulged that information. It's a patch for online play. Pretty sure the retirement issue will not be addressed by that patch since that online patch has been in the works for at least a week and they need to make sure it gets out before the end of the week.

Have they addressed a timeline for the retirement patch? I would imagine you wouldn't want to start a career until they've done so.

[RPI-Fan]

So, how much does PSP run nowadays? If I got PSP + The Show, I assume it would be ~$250?

Is it crazy to consider making that purchase?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RPI-Fan

So, how much does PSP run nowadays? If I got PSP + The Show, I assume it would be ~$250?

Is it crazy to consider making that purchase?

The PSP version is very good. Much like Icy, I usually purchase both versions just because the portability is a nice option.

If your going to get a PSP, the used market isn't a bad option. It's a very reliable system. Just make sure you get a good look at the screen to check for scratches before you buy it if you do so.

Slim PSP + The Show at retail is only $200 + tax.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

Really liked to see this impression over at OS. Helps the immersion in the game universe:

Got the game and tried this out! Started a franchise and played the Yanks/O's game at 2 PM EST, game was 5-4 NYY in the 6th, I then fastforwarded. Final 6-4 NYY. So I then started the Tex/Clev game 3 PM EST (1 hour behind NYY/BAL game). Fastforwarded to the 3rd and sure enough out on the leftfield wall it showed the Yanks up 5-4 in the 6th!!!! Then I fastforwarded to the 6th to be certain, and BINGO 6-4 Yanks FINAL.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Philliesfan980

Any chance you guys think I can walk in a store and purchase it today? I didn't pre-order.

Target had the game in stock this morning.

[DeToxRox]

6-7 minute download to the HDD. Lame.

[RainMaker]

Got it, looks good so far. Couple small things.

- Took like 10 minutes to initially load the game. I'm assuming this is only for the first load.

- Load times are pretty long throughout the game. I don't know if stuff gets cached later, but I played a little RTTS and it gets a bit annoying as a reliever.

- Wrigley looked real nice. Only gripe is that the scoreboard doesn't seem to post scores on it from the looks of it. Maybe in franchise mode it does.

- Handful of new minor league stadiums I believe. None looked real unique though. They also kept the old Shea and Yankee stadium to play in if you want.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

- Wrigley looked real nice. Only gripe is that the scoreboard doesn't seem to post scores on it from the looks of it. Maybe in franchise mode it does.

I'm assuming your talking about the out of town scores. If so, you are correct that they will only display in season or franchise mode. They won't have anything on them in exhibition mode.