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

[travis72]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

I feel very much like Christian does. I thought I would be more impressed. The Show's biggest competition is themselves. How do you outdo the previous year and still keep it fresh? The Show has been considered by many the pinnacle of all sports gaming without many problems. NCAA Football has a lot of issues so when they improve the game I'm excited despite the fact there may still be significant things I don't like. The Show doesn't really do anything wrong and like Chase said, if nobody had ever played the Show before they would be blown away. So how do you improve a game significantly when everyone already seems happy? I think our enjoyment of a game is often influenced heavily by our expectations and these expectations may be influencing these opinions more than anything.

Excellent post! Other companies whether its the other baseball game made, basketball or football thatsmade each year they all have a lot to improve on. Where as The Show has very little to improve on to represent there sport to the fullest.

What you said about the Show being there biggest competition is right on. It seems more people compare it to what was done last year than comparing it to the competition which is a testament to just how good the Show is. I only buy the Show but i have yet to hear anyone say they have both and prefer the competions game. Oh I am sure there is some fool out there that would say that to get a rise out of someone on here but i highly doubt its a honest opinion of a overall sim.

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by winonastate03

Do we need new members attending the community day? I guarantee the guys that attend every year will not talk bad about the game, thus not helping improve it.

I think you are out of line here. You have no idea the type of effort we put into this game at CD. Just because we do not score keep in public the influences we have had on the game does not correlate into us not helping the game grow.

If you really knew you would feel pretty foolish about that statement.

[ripwalk]

Quote: Originally Posted by winonastate03

Analog controls do nothing for this game. I am not sure why the need to waste development time on this. So what really changed? And was the whole year of development time used wisely, or is this game on a tight budget?

Analog controls do nothing for this game is a positively asinine comment, especially considering the vast numbers of people on this very board raving about all aspecfts of analog (pitching specifically).

Then you go into what really change and making random inferences about the budget of this game. Are you in any position to make assessments about the company's budget or how wisely they spent their development time?

[Knight165]

Quote: Originally Posted by winonastate03

I was let down with the demo. Mainly with the fact that I have been seeing the same fielding animations for several years now. Outfield throws look weak and awkward at times. Way too many "girly" throws. Infielding animations are very outdated as well. I hit a chopper to short and the cpu charged it but stopped, planted and took a couple of hops before throwing. Clearly safe, and clearly not the right animation. Analog controls do nothing for this game. I am not sure why the need to waste development time on this. Improved scoreboards: ? didn't notice ANYTHING different. Player Models: Look better, but do nothing as far as improving animations. So what really changed? And was the whole year of development time used wisely, or is this game on a tight budget? Do we need new members attending the community day? I guarantee the guys that attend every year will not talk bad about the game, thus not helping improve it. And why is one guy's opinion attacked if it is not the acceptable opinion around here? JJT has some valid points with keeping the game fresh and should not be ridiculed for that. I will play the demo more, but for now I am very underwelmed.

It's not his ideas I ridiculed...but his ridiculous notion that because one element of the game didn't receive a major overhaul......it's "basically the same game as '10". So on your latter statement.....eeeeehhhhh....wrong.
There are thousands of animations in the game. More were added this year again.....Because all the old animations weren't tossed or redone there was no change? Inane.

The new controls do nothing for you..I hate to say it...but SO WHAT?
You can't see the scoreboards are vastly improved? Whhhhaaa? I think you just broke my B.S. meter.(actually....this entire post toasted my meter...thanks)

CD day guys...nothing "bad" to say?
Maybe not in the sense that some guys try and trash the game(methinks they don't really play this game...but I digress)....but I certainly have/do and will continue to say what is wrong with this game. I may choose to do it in a civil and constructive manner...but I do, do it.
Let's see....3 consecutive years of starting a "tips and WORK AROUNDS" thread(hint...a work around is to try and work around SOMETHING THAT IS WRONG IN THE GAME) might just qualify me as someone who doesn't shy away from calling attention to the fact that something may indeed be wrong with the game in a certain area.

Yeah...you're right on point with this post...

NEXT!

M.K.
Knight165

[DJ]

After my first few playthroughs with the Demo and yeah, I was underwhelemed at first. I think all the talk of adding Analog Controls ramped up my expectations and when first playing the game, the visuals/presentation didn't blow me away, I was bummed a bit.

But, after giving the Demo more time, I've come back around on the game. Analog hitting (once you find the rightdifficulty level) is fun and rewarding. I roped a double off the CF wall with Hamilton and I've seen better hit variety using the Analog controls. Analog pitching is nice (even though I do prefer 2K's gesture system) and I appreciate the fact that SCEA added these options (in addition to fielding/throwing) to the game.

When you think about it, why would we expect SCEA to scrap what has been perhaps the BEST sports game franchise on this generation of consoles? Minor tweaks are all that's needed and we've gotten that and more this year with the player models, lighting, stadiums and of course, Analog Controls. Add that to RTTS and some Franchise improvements and we've got a game worthy of a $60 purchase.

I think the graphics will be fine. I chalk that up to things being compressed for the Demo. I popped in MLB 10 today and you definitely see the difference in player models and lighting.

[etched Chaos]

The problem with a game being the best of its kind is compacency. When there's nothing elose to compete you get complacent and it makes for poor year to year transistions unless the development team consciousy makes an effort to go out and blow our minds every single year. SCEA San Diego so far has gone the 'blow our minds' route.

However, one thing has been niggling at me, giving Karros alot of Rex's lines from previous games appears very lazy to me. For me, they could've given him a whole slew of new lines to differentiate his role from Rex's, whilst they're both colour guys, no two colour guys are alike and it does irk me. Maybe I'm too demanding but damnit if another game can have dynamic commentary then I expect the Show to do better than that, after all thats the level of expectations they've earned for the quality product they put out.

[TallyBoi7]

With this being my first time really playing the show, it all feels new and fluid to me. I mean seeing how smooth the infielders are, seeing the first baseman catch the ball differently, seeing the sliding and cleat marks on the dirt infeld, and watching how the outfielders catch balls is new to me...I mean, I just made the switch over the PS3, so my only other recent MLB experience was the 2K series. MLB 11 The Show just feels and looks like how baseball is supposed to be played.

HOWEVER, I can see where guys who are used to series can be slightly disappointed. The game does look the same and there doesn't look to have been many changes(going off of gameplay videos on previous versions). But it plays the most solid brand of baseball on the market...which is a good thing.

"If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it"

[JJT]

I gotta chime back in here. I thank that guy for supporting what I was saying.

But, even though my opinions are different from knights in this thread, I have seen him say what needs to be changed or reworked with the game (such as franchise stuff). So Im sure others do as well to the devs.