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

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by ped3328

I'm very impressed with the demo. The animations, by and large, are better. The analog thing is most welcomed as it gives you a new way to play the game. Lighting, player models are way better. But I keep coming back to what Russell said on a different thread : the demo was built in December. Which means it was actually made BEFORE the community day event took place? I believe the CD was sometimes in January, right? It seems strange that the demo was built even before you guys had a chance to give SCEA devs your inputs. Wha's the point to invite you over if you ideas and suggestions will not reflect in the demo? Unless the final version is quite a bit different and does take into account whatever ideas and suggestions you brought over to improve the game. Just wanted to clarify.

They need time to create a solid demo, bug check it (again, just a freakin' demo), submit it to Sony for certification, and leave time for any possible error throughout the process.

Submitting a demo takes over a month to Xbox or Sony.

This is the same process it has always been.

If you would like to see a 100% true accurate representation of the demo, you'd see it after the game was released. And in this industry, that does not do anything for sales.

The demo released was to give you a glimpse on the major gameplay mechanics introduced this year. Look through the forum at all the discussion, people asking for tutorials, etc.

Can you honestly say it didn't do it's intention?

[gigadkc]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

The game has cursor hitting right now. I really don't know what guys are referring to. True PCI is cursor hitting, in a sense. The only difference is you would prefer to move an imaginary bat to a spot and have it stay there... which isn't real baseball.

but that feature isn't in the demo, right? At least I didn't see it, there was only analog, timing and zone hitting. And zone was the way it was in the previous versions. If it already was in the demo, it's poorly executed (at least compared to PYS) and needs to be improved a lot imo.

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

And for all the individuals asking for cursor hitting, it's actually a very antiquated hitting mechanic, given the controls we have now compared to in the past.

some guys like the old stuff and I still prefer it more than anything. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's bad. I actually know a lot of guys that still love cursor batting. We have so many options in the game right now, why not add cursor batting?

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by winonastate03

Hey guys, I got a good night's sleep and am not in such a bitter or pessimistic mood this morning. As I could expect, I was ripped on pretty good and didn't expect anything less. Haha. I will buy and play this game and enjoy it. It will obvioulsy have things that will bug me, ie, sometimes slow fielding animations, outfield catch and throw animations, but it will still be a solid game. I didn't mean to call out the Community Day guys as I am sure they give great insight to the game. I just am hoping that animations will be a top priority next year instead of new features. I am looking forward to the baseball season and this game. I am going to be more positive moving forward. Oh yeah, great impressions from the writers in this article. Good to see fresh views and opinions.

Everyone needs to keep in mind we give them a ton of information (individually and from the community). They listen to our suggestions but ultimately the SCEA development team determines how they will prioritize what goes into the game. We push though, in the most loving gentle way of course, we push!

[Tommyklaid]

I don't believe it.

...I think y'all just eat Doritos & sip on Pina Coladas during the time you're there.

[capa]

Quote: Originally Posted by Skyboxer

I hate these kind of posts. Just because you dont like it then noone should get it..... Options are always good and if they can continue to give us gamers options on how to play then fine. Maybe some people dont play fanchise and would rather SCEA concentrate on RTTS only and forget improving franchise.....

To be honest, there is a point of diminishing returns on continuous tweaks to antiquated or rarely used portions of the game. Time and effort better spent elsewhere. I see cursor hitting as one of those area. Hate it...always will. Others may love it and hope that it forever gets tweaked and becomes the default choice for hitting. That's their opinion. I am only expressing mine, as they did theirs.

By the way, I don't play extended franchise or RTTS....just single season.

[Two Seamer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Knight165

...and I'm again going to call out the nonsense of this time you saying that anyone who likes the game and is happy with it's improvements are "cheerleaders" and those that are only going to complain about the game are what?...the "level headed truthers"? Yeah, okay. What this thread can do without is B.S.(so can O.S. ....but it's starting to permeate again unfortunately)...but hey it's a message board, so I guess it's open season, so I can deal with that....(oh...not really, you don't want the cheerleaders commenting...I forgot)

This is pretty much exactly the kind of surreal one-sided totally out of place hostility I just commented on. What gives?

I didn't say anyone who likes the game is a cheerleader. And even if I had, what was it, 20 posts earlier that I myself said "I love and will buy this game"? So exactly how negatively could I be painting those people who like the game?

No, what I suggested was inappropriate was the set of people here who not respectful of the view that 2011 hasn't blown them away so far. A perfectly legitimate view (expressed by 3 of the 4 OS staffers in the OP, in fact), even if it's based on just a handful of things on their wishlist that didn't show up.

Do you see any of them quoting people who say they love the game and saying "what the heck are you talking about? how can you be happy with these game updates?!?! that change is meaningless!" I don't think you do.

You do see several people criticizing the expression of view that not enough has changed. They aren't just challenging factual claims about what has changed, they are deriding the opinion not enough has changed. And not very respectfully. I just don't see the point. At all. And I'm confident that if it were the other way around, the posts would probably be removed.

[greenieblue]

To be fair, I was disappointed with the NBA 2K11 demo. And, we all know how that turned out.

That said, it has long been the case that The Show series has taken the smallest steps forward from year to year out of all the major sports franchises available. The argument that a one year cycle is not enough time doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Look at Madden 09 to Madden 10, NCAA 10 to NCAA 11 and, of course, NBA 2K10 to NBA 2K11; all huge jumps in one year.

The reality is that The Show was built on half a foundation and they would need to tear down the whole house to implement things that should have been elementary. The other reality is that there are people who work for SCEA who visit these boards and people who all but (and usually want to) work for SCEA who visit these boards and a small percentage of dead behind the eyes zombie fans. All three will fight you to the death to protect the game (the first being understandable, since it's their job). I give credit to the three from the article who spoke their truth. It's refreshing to see that viewpoint on OS.

[ped3328]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

They need time to create a solid demo, bug check it (again, just a freakin' demo), submit it to Sony for certification, and leave time for any possible error throughout the process. Submitting a demo takes over a month to Xbox or Sony. This is the same process it has always been. If you would like to see a 100% true accurate representation of the demo, you'd see it after the game was released. And in this industry, that does not do anything for sales. The demo released was to give you a glimpse on the major gameplay mechanics introduced this year. Look through the forum at all the discussion, people asking for tutorials, etc. Can you honestly say it didn't do it's intention?

I never mentionned nor do I believe a demo does not serve a purpose. And Russell is right on when he stated that the main reason to put out a demo (at least for this particular version) was for us gamers to familiarize ourselves with the analog approach. Like I said (again that overused expression!), I'm just surprised they would put out a demo without you guys having a chance to submit your inputs that would reflect in the demo. Granted it takes time to develop a demo, certify it and then put it out. Perhaps the CD should take place earlier, so that when it does come out, some of your suggestions are included, which in turn would make it an even better demo. Hopefully, some of your precious suggestions and ideas will be implemented in the final version. After all, they didn't invite you over just to sit under palm trees and drink pina coladas