MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

[Mike Smoove]

I havent owned the show since 09, I have to say this game is light years better than what I remember. What really got me saying OMG was Nelson Cruz hit a ball deep it went foul just outside the foul pole. The umps got together to discuss it, then they went inside to look at the replay then the replay showed. They came back onto the field and signaled it foul. Thats was some of the best presentation in a sports video game I have ever seen. Theres no way im gonna be able to play that other game now.

[PhillsPhan26]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knight165

Sorry this is not an impression.... But on the OF'er routes and plays off the wall. I know Nem is also saying he didn't see them at the event...but I'm fairly certain that I did......an OF'er looking to play a ball off the wall in one spot...and it went somewhere else forcing him to chase it down.(I don't think it was it was me doing it either....I was genuinely surprised.). I guess I'll know in two weeks...or Russ can tell me I'm not crazy.(I might be though! ) I hope I'M right. M.K. Knight165

I hit a shot off of the right field wall and thought for sure I get 2 out of it. The ball bounced off of the wall and I guess the fielder took the right angle cause the ball went right to him and he gunned me out at 2nd.

[Heroesandvillains]

Superb.

This is the word that keeps floating around in my head, and the feeling I went to bed with last night.

First, the animation crew deserves enormous kudos. The new pickoff camera views are remarkably similar to a real life broadcast. This along with catchers now removing their masks and safely throwing them aside on choppers in front of the mound are two small, but wonderful additions, that bring us closer to the real life game we all obsess over.

Pressing up on the analog stick prior to the pitch unlocks a little nugget of baseball gold. Batters now, are far as I have seen, all have new pre-pitch animations. From stepping out and gearing up between pitches (even leaning over to grab some dirt), to readying themselves in the box, the days of Hideki Matsui ridiculously moving his bat at a downward angle like a lumberjack when the X button was pressed is over! Again, to the animation team, thank you!...And I didn't even mention the pink skies or jumbotrons!

Now, comebackers. Last night with the demo, I saw 3 balls hit back to and cleanly fielded by the pitcher. That total would officially equal half of a franchise's worth in 10'. This was one of my biggest pet peeves last year. Now, your pitcher actually has a chance to field his position...with buttery smooth animations to boot.

Analog pitching is remarkably intuitive. It's realistically wild and rewarding when you hit your spots. Keep in mind, for a large portion of last year I was a Classic pitching guy. I can now safely say: I am Classic no longer! This is by far, to me, the single greatest improvement i have ever seen in the series (for what it's worth, 09' was my first).

For a brief moment in time, I thought I had Analog hitting down last night. And I mean DOWN! I was ripping doubles like a pro, and working walks. Check swings are incredibly natural to accomplish, and I never would have guessed how realistic a down and up(ish) stroke on the right stick could resemble an actual baseball bat!...

Then, I hit the wall. Pitches I was fouling off with ease became horrid looking misses, and I found myself dissecting replays to figure out what was happening to my stride. The learning curve here is HUGE, and can humble you in an instant.

For those of you on the fence, I couldn't reccommed a download of the demo enough. It's certainly not without its flaws: The crowd blurs behind homeplate, the sound pops without warning, and in one instance, I needed to restart it all together due to a constant ringing...

But the improvements over it's predecessor are noticable from the get go. I woke up this morning compelled to share my experiences from yesterday...which, for a 4 inning demo, speaks volumes in my opinion. Let's just say, March 8th cannot come fast enough.

[Perfect Zero]

A few things:

The analogue controls are a nice thought, but I think they don't work well at all. The pitching mechanic is very unresponsive to me when I'm trying to direct the horizontal placement of the ball. Hitting is either way too early or way too late, and fielding is ok at best. If I get the game, I'm not using the analogue controls at all.

Eric Karros is terrible, so at least that is realistic. I prefer Rex Hudler, and that's saying something. I think that if they go with the same mechanics next year, they need to stay with just Vasgersian and Campbell.

Pac Bell Park looks really good from the scoreboards to the water. They are really well mapped and the colors look really good. The crowd is really well done too; the graphics department deserves a pat on the back for what they've done for this year. Everything looks less pixulated and crisper.

Overall, it looks good, and I'll buy it for some of the other features (plus I like my team being referred to as the American League Champions), but some of the things they added are "meh." I know the full product will blow me away, but until then it's back to MLB 10.

[Knight165]

Quote: Originally Posted by PhillsPhan26

I hit a shot off of the right field wall and thought for sure I get 2 out of it. The ball bounced off of the wall and I guess the fielder took the right angle cause the ball went right to him and he gunned me out at 2nd.

Well...I did say occasional..
BUT....I just might be crazy.

M.K.
Knight165

[Visionsofmastery]

won 2 to nothing , once I figured out how to visualize and kinda move my finger around the analog before the pitch was thrown to jumpstart on movement into a smooth stride I was good.

I can say one thing if this is the default to play with online alot of more offensive type games will be made, gone are the days where an at-bat will have 3 pinpoint black strikes you are going to miss and when you do or get in a hitters count you will have to challenge ohhhhhh I am going to love hitting this year I expect my walks to go through the roof now

[Lewis160]

This game is really not the same as 10. the crowd is loud as if its a world series game. Makes the game more exciting to play. The commentators arent that bad. Its sounds like listenin to them on the radio that excitin feeling.

[TexasBorn1]

Whew, the analog throwing is killing me. Two errors in one inning...its gonna take me some time to get used to it and I will because I like the challenge. Analog pitching is a lot of fun as well

Hitting, I couldn't hit anything not even pitches down the middle so I will be using timing based hitting only. I am not much of a baseball guy(but I love The Show been buying it every year since 07) so I have a tendency to swing at everything just hoping something good happens. Maybe when I get better I will give analog hitting a shot