MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

[Dazraz]

Great read. We often look at pre release details that hint at areas that have been improved to a questionable degree. SCEA have been very forthcoming in this area giving realistic indications as to where this game may or may not have been improved.

[Herschie]

So here it was, late February of 2012, and I'm dying to pick up MLB 2K12 for my 360. I was a little upset that they weren't showing us much, but The Show was getting some exposure. Not that I really cared, I didn't have any Sony systems at the time. And then I saw this video clip of The Show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dIjsunHb54

Whoa. Was I ever impressed! So impressed that I went out and bought a PS3, a Vita, and The Show for both systems. Got two systems. For one game. And it was the best investment I ever made. Not only that, but since I was now hooked on The Show, it was the main reason why I got a PS4 over an Xbox One. I never did pick up 2K12.

The moral of the story? At least in my case, revealing the game early made me RUN out to buy it. If you have a good product, you're going to want as many people to see it as possible. I'm sure there are a ton of people out there right now who are just waiting for that good reason to get this gen's system. Will The Show be that reason? Will it be the deciding factor in selling a PS4 over an Xbox one?

It was for me.

[bcruise]

Along with everything else that's been mentioned as far as transparency goes, The Show is the only sports game series I can think of that explains IN DETAIL what its sliders do. We also get plenty of under-the-hood info about the game's mechanics and how it applies to real life thanks to an extensive guide built into the game. No one else does that - no one. Other games are making strides toward being more transparent (and it's just as welcomed for those games), but the Show has been this way for years.

[Ghost Of The Year]

The greedy side of me wants the Show to go one step further with the transparency & share the secret of how they arrive at attribute ratings lol

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ghost Of The Year

The greedy side of me wants the Show to go one step further with the transparency & share the secret of how they arrive at attribute ratings lol

Good luck with that!

[markus48]

Quote: Originally Posted by Armor & Sword

Well said. The Show's team is really a bunch of pros. They listen to their fans, implement new features without taking out old ones. They constantly stack the deck and keep building a game full of options and features without taking away the core gameplay that some Show veterans (like myself) still utilize (Classic pitching, timed batting) in fact a perfect example of adding is directional hitting to the timed mechanic. They are not forcing on us. If you want to play timed the default way...you can. If you want to add in the directional user input you have that option. And the communication with the community is second to none.

Well said, everything you just mentioned is what EA DIDN'T do with NHL 15. They completely ruined the game for this year and heard about it from the fans. On the other hand, I think this form of feedback for MLB is what makes the game so successful and great every year.

[markus48]

Quote: Originally Posted by markus48

Well said, everything you just mentioned is what EA DIDN'T do with NHL 15. They completely ruined the game for this year and heard about it from the fans. On the other hand, I think this form of feedback for MLB is what makes the game so successful and great every year.

Whoops, put in "Well said" by accident

[SVCbearcat10]

I do think SCEA does it right with this game. I'm beginning to grow tired of the growing cries that this franchise has turned into Madden. The main difference is that this game has nearly perfectly the gameplay of baseball. Madden still had fundamental flaws, especially in the WR/DB area. It would be great to have something be eye-poppingly different to refresh the series, however, it's hard to improve on near perfection.