MLB 12 The Show - Gameplay Impressions

[EnigmaNemesis]

Quote: Originally Posted by NEXTTOSPEED

classic hitting and pitching r still in the game? i cant get into the analog hitting and pitching, classic's all i use... guess im old school...

Yes.

They do not remove old control features. Only add to them and evolve/tweak the old.

[statum71]

Hey Pared....

I know this isn't a Q&A but please tell me those user-outfield diving catches are more "do-able" now. In years past I hated that the timing had to be super-ultra accurate. Which caused me not to dive at balls in the outfield at all in fear that it would roll to the wall.

I wanna enjoy guys like Ellsbury on defense for a change.

[kenkraly2004]

Looking forward to getting MLB 12 The Show for PS3 in March. MLB The Show us the best baseball videogame series period. THE SHOW ROCKS!!!!

[Spaced Ace]

How about the balls-to-strikes ratio this year? Don't get me wrong, it's been possible to draw walks previously, but even with extreme patience, sometimes the CPU just pounded the zone like they all were Greg Maddux. The borderline calls didn't help my cause either. My question is, are you rewarded more for showing patience at the plate this year? Drawing more than three BB per game in previous versions of The Show was a rare occurrence. Thanks for any insight on this topic.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by Spaced Ace

How about the balls-to-strikes ratio this year? Don't get me wrong, it's been possible to draw walks previously, but even with extreme patience, sometimes the CPU just pounded the zone like they all were Greg Maddux. The borderline calls didn't help my cause either. My question is, are you rewarded more for showing patience at the plate this year? Drawing more than three BB per game in previous versions of The Show was a rare occurrence. Thanks for any insight on this topic.

In my experience, walks or the lack thereof often revolved around pitcher confidence. I consider myself a fairly patient hitter and I usually draw my share of walks. But I have my weaknesses -- CHANGEUPS GRRRRRR!!! -- and if I whiff a few times early, the CPU seems to rack up confidence quite quickly. Once their confidence is up, it seems like they're more accurate, which can quickly pile on if the user doesn't make something happen. However, it can go the other way as well if you start to knock the pitcher around early or draw multiple walks.

Anyways, we heard confidence was reworked. I saw a brief comment in the Q&A thread mentioning it was "more stable", but I'd love to hear more impressions from any of the community guys. I think it has enough of an impact on the the pitcher/battle interface to merit some discussion.

[jmik58]

Did you notice that outfielders aren't aligned so deep as in past installments? And to build on that, did you find that the new ball physics changes also allowed for balls to be hit OVER the heads of outfielders?

[Sportsforever]

This review does nothing without video

JK...thanks, Pared for the insightful write up. Sounds like good stuff.

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by jmik58

Did you notice that outfielders aren't aligned so deep as in past installments? And to build on that, did you find that the new ball physics changes also allowed for balls to be hit OVER the heads of outfielders?

Depth looked about the same, as mentioned the left and right fielder were adjusted to all more hits into the gap. There were a fair amount of shots over the fielders heads. Overall it felt pretty good but there were a few head scratchers on how the outfielder was able to track and get to the ball because off the bat it felt really good that you did damage. Its a tough balance placing the fielders because moving them around tends to knock another type of hit out of balance.