MLB 15 The Show: Presentation Impressions

[RaychelSnr]

What once was a strong point of the MLB The Show franchise, the presentation has been a middling aspect of the game which has gone dormant in recent years.

Surprisingly, the lack of innovation charge many will throw at SCEA — no matter how false that really is — could easily be countered with huge advancements in the presentation aspect of the game.

This season, the presentation is getting a couple of new tricks with added lines of commentary as well as a new radio show in the franchise mode.

Read More - MLB 15 The Show: Presentation Recap

[jcar0725]

Played a September game in Cleveland last night, and for about a one inning stretch the sky was party cloudy, dark, with a very noticeable shade of RED. It was eye popping and gorgeous. I found myself staring at it. Very cool.

[Buddywalker]

I'm missing the automatic highlight videos (replay package with different camera angles) after the game.

All developers should take a look at Fifa 15. When you pause a game in Fifa 15 and do nothing in the menu, they show us after a few seconds the highlights of the game from different camera angles.

In my opinion Fifa 15 has the best replay system in sports game history.

[RoyceDa59]

Quote: Originally Posted by Buddywalker

I'm missing the automatic highlight videos (replay package with different camera angles) after the game. All developers should take a look at Fifa 15. When you pause a game in Fifa 15 and do nothing in the menu, they show us after a few seconds the highlights of the game from different camera angles. In my opinion Fifa 15 has the best replay system in sports game history.

I can agree with this FIFA and their camera angles and replays are really brilliant and immerse you into the game.

[RangersCruz]

i miss the old newspaper after every game but radio show is nice

the commentary is the only thing that i dislike in the show series and since they haven't touched on it in like 6 yrs and it takes money & time ..and they're the only baseball game we have i doubt we will see any new team for the commentators they might just add another 5 lines for mlb 16

but apart from the commentary issue the game is the best one yet

[My993C2]

I did kind of a marathon session yesterday playing a whole slew of Opening Day CPU vs CPU games on full presentation Broadcast mode. Now I did not watch every inning of every game, but I had all these games going this because I wanted to see as many Big League stadiums as I could on Opening Day where the presentation was one of the main focuses. Ignoring three things where I believe the current build of MLB 15 comes up short this year (the fact that they removed pick off attempts at 1^st base, they removed the “Runner” HUD windows in CPU vs CPU games as well as in MoM games and they removed most foul ball animations into the crowd). Ignoring this issues, I was thoroughly impressed with the overall presentations in MLB 15 The Show. The Big League stadiums in the game are great, the new lightning graphics enhancements, the new player animations, the new player API and ball physics really bring this game to life. I still have not seen any extra ordinary player emotions in the games but I have seen a couple of walk off game winning home runs and for sure they have been tweaked for the better this year. Now if only SCEA would fix the lack of pitcher pick off issues to 1^st base that plaque the game this year, bring back the “Runners” HUD window (I thought there was a reason why this HUD window could be turned on and off in a config screen) and perhaps show some of the foul balls when in full Broadcast presentation mode I could give the game three thumbs up.

PS: for most of this year I see myself skipping the new Radio Show feature. But I am looking forward to listening to it either late this evening when all my Opening Day games are completed or before I begin the Tuesday games tomorrow, because I execute the Braves and Padres blockbuster trade last night when word got out of the trade. Then during my Dodgers/Padres CPU vs CPU game, Kimbrel was called into a tight 2-1 game and got the save. Curious to hear what the Radio Show has to say about all of this. I’ll be impressed if they mention not only the trade (I am expecting the Radio Show will mention it), but also the fact that Kimbrel got the save for his new team. Now that would be impressive if that is mentioned in the show.

[Zinger]

The crowd reactions are quite good but don't vary enough with regard to the state of the game. I was 11-1 up as the away team in the 9th and the home crowd still roared their disapproval when my pitcher got a close call. A large measure of apathy should have set in by that point.

[badmrfrosty7]

We're nit-picky with all elements of this game, I don't understand why presentation always gets a pass.

I think that since the commentary overhaul is such a low/out-of-reach priority, to get it to a point where it's fluid in the sense that the 3-man team sounds like it's in the same booth, I think they could at least provide some different elements that may not be as difficult to implement.

I always felt this could be done through "recaps" or "storylines"-style packages that could cover certain plays, players, etc whether specific to that game or better yet, apply to the ongoing season. But just doing it for games would be a big jump to make each of those experiences feel unique for the player.

I'm a ho for Broadcast presentation so I might be in the minority here, but adding these elements and more analytical breakdowns of at-bats or batting/pitching strategies or replays of certain pitch successes or anything else don't require everyone in the booth, or a complete re-tooling of the play-by-play system but at the same time glorify all the detail put in to the animations and lighting and graphics in general as well as familiarize casual players to the great game of baseball. People already really seem to enjoy the split-screen replays, throw the kitchen sink at that stuff. Give us split-screen of the fielder and the ball coming out of the pitchers hand or split-screen the batter and the fielder as he runs out a great throw.

I keep holding out hope that these things will get further explored in the series, especially as they lay out the groundwork for a new console, but sometimes I worry it's just permanently last on the list when it comes to the yearly improvements.