OS Staff Roundtable - MLB '11: The Show Demo Impressions

[ripwalk]

Quote: Originally Posted by gigadkc

so true. I also understand people that don't like cursor hitting because they it's too hard, "unreal" or because they just prefer another style of hitting. I love cursor batting, tvman loves it, other people love it, why not add it to the game? It won't make the game worse to have another hitting option and some people that hate it might actually like it. I don't know how many guys here have played or still play PYS but hitting in that game is just awesome. Give it a try and you know what I mean.

Can you explain what cursor hitting is exactly and how it differs from the options in the Show?

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by tvman

Play PYS and you'll soon see that their cursor hitting system is far and away the best hitting system out there. Sticks are different and new but that doesn't make them better.

There is nothing to see; I don't think it deserves the praise it gets. Other models have done similar things.

People are actually in love with other things that don't have to do with batting interface IMHO, such as the ball physics if you really analyzed the entire system.

Quote: Originally Posted by metallidevils

I don't know for a fact, but I do not believe that this message board represents the fan base as a whole for this game. This might be the most 'loyal' fan base, but there aren't enough people who regularly post here to make it the biggest. Catering to the people here, if that is what they are doing, is probably a bad business model. Sooner or later sites like IGN that presumably have more of an influence on which games become popular, are going to catch on that not much is happening from year to year, and the reviews are going to get poorer. At some point just being the best baseball game cannot be enough.

The thing that you don't seem to grasp is they are catering to EVERY group. I've given concrete examples of this. Those that simply are not happy that they don't have "X" feature or gameplay mechanic included are the only one making this false claim. MVP fans did the same thing about analog controls for years. Is it the cursor hitting fans' turn?

You don't have to make such drastic examples to get your point across on this forum. I've said it time and time again - these are games emulating a REAL LIFE SPORT. The reference material has not changed for years. At some point, these games will "seemingly" follow suit. And that's not a slight; You can't reinvent a sport in video game form. At that point, you're no longer making a professional sport video game, you are making a video game influenced take on a sport. There's a very concrete difference.

[tvman]

Yes it's the ball physics people love in PYS but those are due in large part to the cursor hitting system that is used.

[Pared]

It all ties in but you can get those same physics in any game. I'm downplaying the difficulty of it, but simply saying "the cursor hitting" doesn't really matter. If PYS were to include a form of cursor-less hitting, you'd have the same ball physics as well.

So again, the hitting mechanic/interface isn't the real bread and butter and I really think people fail to see this. The results of "contact" is what "feels" so great and even if The Show were to copy the mechanic 100%, it wouldn't be the same. So asking for it doesn't make sense.

If you want different physics, that's an entirely different story. I will say that I spent a good deal of time with them about ball physics and if you're really a true fan of the game, you'd see things in this and last year's game that were never possible before, such as the high choppers and balls spraying and curving in the corners on shots down the line.

[tvman]

Pys does have a timing only option but using that just ruins all the hit variety in the game.

[nomo17k]

I don't know the sports video gaming industry well enough to even guess, but if SCEA's business here is heavily dependent on the repeat customers you see in a place like this forum, I must say they have a really tough audience to satisfy!

The comment by Chase: "If someone picked this game up today having not played a baseball game in a couple years, he or she would absolutely freak out."

It describes exactly how I was when I went out and got MLB 10 after casually playing its demo really just to kill time a couple months ago. I was sure impressed by the visual aspect in the demo, but not so much by how the game played even then; I never have been by any other video baseball games anyway. But once I got a real copy and tried different play options (like RTTS), I couldn't believe how immersive the game really could be. To me this was really the first video game that feels as if you are actually out in the field, and not playing a video baseball game.

Now, was I impressed by the MLB 11 demo? No. Disappointed? No. Looking at the new things SCEA has added, it was obvious things won't be *that* much different from MLB 10. As a repeat customer who has already preordered MLB 11, it was good enough that I could try new analog controls, see some new animations, a little improvements here and there. I'm sure the demo is still great enough to entice new customers though, like myself a couple months ago. It's actually unfortunate the demo doesn't let people experience the other parts of the Show like franchise and RTTS that as a whole makes the actual game play so much more immersive.

If SCEA is releasing these demos in hope of enticing repeat customers, it must be a tough fight already since they've raised their own bar too high, like many in this forum are saying. Visual is already too good as is, there are only so many buttons, pad, and sticks, though with Move you might expect some drastic change...

Personally I hope SCEA keeps solidifying the foundations which are already good but have rooms to grow. I think the pitcher vs batter AI is fantastic as is, but in the franchise/manager mode CPU makes many very questionable moves. Stats don't seem to be as important part of the game, something like rosters/players/stats could be more flexibly edited, etc. The Show may be hitting the ceiling in game play, but in those directions there still *are* a lot of rooms to grow (at least for someone like me who also likes text-based baseball sims).

However it really depends on who actually keeps buying the game in the end. After all SCEA needs to make money to keep the game as good as it is and to improve further. Hope they can cash in on the niche I'm in as well.

[etched Chaos]

Y'know what I find a bit annoying is the idea that introducing big features year by year is a bad thing. Its a problem if the game in question has issues that need fixing but when you have such a good foundation like the Show, having a new marquee feature in a follow-up game would be a very good thing. We already know the game plays well, we already know its a realistic rendition of baseball but we also have something else on top to increase our enjoyment.

After all its a game for everybody not just players who purely want it to simulate a game of baseball incredibly well and find other features as gimmicks. Its also for guys like me who spend months playing RTTS, and never step foot in Franchise or single season. Or for the guys who want some short fun in HR Derby before playing a few games before trying out everything else.

Why should we feel bad because we're not bowled over by a few extra lines in commentary or lighting changes, or the small refinements. I'm not overawed by the demo because it doesn't represent why I play the Show. It has no RTTS elements, it doesn't let me play the mode I'll be playing for months when the retail is released. If the Show had no RTTS, then I'd not be playing it, I'm a career mode junkie and its features like that which are also important.

[Giants4Natic]

The game is still very good but the fielding is still a sore spot at least with me.

The canned animations are to heavy involed in this game. I hate animations taking over way to early which takes my enjoyment from the experience.

Once again I saw a ball hit to the gap where my fielder was going after it by me controlling him and then all of a sudden going into this quick sand animation where I lose control and he goes into slow motion brace against the way and then does a the hop step before throwing back in. This leads to baserunners getting more then the base they should.

Frustrating as hell. Still has not been fixed and I do not think giving us analog fielding is a way to cover up the bad fielding gameplay.

That is my only gripe with the game and I feel is a big enough gripe because is a very key element in baseball.

Also real time presentation from what I see is not been touched at all.

I like to use it because I hate scripted cuts and I am loving the batter walking up to the plate in real time only to get a cutscene right after that of him walking to the plate.

Huh? How is that real time