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Interview With MLB 09: The Show Online Producer Jason Villa

11:33 AM - January 23, 2009 by RaychelSnr

Operation Sports had a chance to talk with MLB 09: The Show online producer Jason Villa while out in San Diego this week. We asked him about some of the nagging online issues, and what gamers should expect from The Show online this year.

Operation Sports: So what has been done this year to deal with some of the nagging online issues: online lag, frame-rate drops and so forth.

Jason Villa: On the gameplay side, what we tried to focus on was just tuning up the experience. So any frame-rate issues you would have seen last year, any hitches with the batter, any release points with the pitcher, we tried to shore those up and tried to make it as close to the offline experience as possible. Obviously there is inherent lag, so there is plenty of trouble doing that, but you're going to get a pretty true experience on the online gameplay side.

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Member Comments

# 1 WatchdogXC @ 01/23/09 11:40 AM

Sounds good. I only played online a few times against one of my friends and most of the time, it was very poor so we'd just play on the same console whenever he was in the area or I was over there.

I'd love to have a smooth experience online and maybe try out a league. It would be great to have 30 OSers here in a live draft.

# 2 RaychelSnr @ 01/23/09 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boucher


	first!!

You want a cookie for that incredible accomplishment?

Good interview Chase...

# 3 Shakedowncapo @ 01/23/09 11:42 AM

We'll see...

# 4 carlivar @ 01/23/09 01:59 PM

Can my friends and I form a Franchise and each run our teams with the rest computer controlled? Via online?

This is the Holy Grail feature I'm looking for.

# 5 SoxFan01605 @ 01/23/09 02:06 PM

I don't play online much at all (a few games with long-distance buddies), but this sounds like very good news!

If it's just basic "internet lag" I can deal with that

# 6 magoo1967 @ 01/23/09 02:23 PM

I haven't been one to play much MLB online because it usually ended up being more frustrating than it was worth. If it wasn't the awful lag or the "busy server" message than inevitably the person I was playing would turn out to be a bone head (quit if they are losing or exploit game flaws like constantly stealing whenever they had a baserunner). Hopefully this year will be better.

# 7 JohnDoh @ 01/23/09 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boucher


	first!!

Douche!

Great interview, OS team. I might just need to buy a PS3.

# 8 Marino @ 01/23/09 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boucher


	first!!

Most people get infractions for that.

# 9 dave724 @ 01/23/09 03:02 PM

yea, ... that was an ok interview... I wish you would have asked about other online options, like if Rivarly, Franchise and the such were going to be available.

# 10 NAFBUC @ 01/23/09 03:12 PM

Good questions on the framerate. That would be number one in my book.

# 11 nemesis04 @ 01/23/09 03:18 PM

To be honest, I am really more concerned about lag than frame rate. The game is still playable at a slower frame rate, not the case when lag is concerned!

# 12 ChaseB @ 01/23/09 04:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dave724


	yea, ... that was an ok interview... I wish you would have asked about other online options, like if Rivarly, Franchise and the such were going to be available.

I am pretty sure there is not a franchise mode option.

# 13 rundastreetz @ 01/23/09 04:53 PM

theres ALWAYS gonna be lag when it comes to sports games unfortunately..The only sports game I have played online that was identical to the offline game was NBA 2K6 for xbox 360. What I want to know about MLB 09 The Show's online play is if the user has the ability to choose his own pitching and batting cameras. I like to pitch from the pitcher camera, but 08 doesnt let me pick my own camera view..

# 14 JoeCoolMan24 @ 01/23/09 04:55 PM

I don't really ever play online, sooo this really does not appeal to me....

# 15 nemesis04 @ 01/23/09 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rundastreetz


	theres ALWAYS gonna be lag when it comes to sports games unfortunately..The only sports game I have played online that was identical to the offline game was NBA 2K6 for xbox 360. What I want to know about MLB 09 The Show's online play is if the user has the ability to choose his own pitching and batting cameras. I like to pitch from the pitcher camera, but 08 doesnt let me pick my own camera view..

That does not seem like an acceptable answer to me. Plus, I do not think that is necessarily true.

# 16 mlblover15 @ 01/23/09 05:21 PM

hmmm no mention of all out customizabilty, meaning each person choosing aids, camera angles etc etc. if they can ever make t his completey customizable for each player il be on board but until then i cant play online with the big boys!! lol

# 17 nathan118 @ 01/23/09 05:26 PM

Internet lag? That's their excuse for why games played by people not even 10 miles apart are laggy...it's because of "internet lag"? That's not acceptable. Why didn't he just say they don't know why it's laggy and at least be honest? Why not get into a peer2peer hosted game versus a server hosted game?

The "quit in the first inning" rule is funny. First, it's never mentioned anywhere, and 2nd, doing so almost guarantees you a crappy rating as people love to rate you a 1 star for quitting in the first. And why can you bring in starters now? What is that fixing? maybe if they game goes into extra innings, but why should anyone be able to bring in starter after starter?

It's all just a little too vague for me. I'm not going to hold my breath that this year's experience will be much better.

# 18 BrownsFan72 @ 01/23/09 05:49 PM

I sit and hope...and wonder if it is really fixed.

# 19 teebee @ 01/23/09 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nathan118


	Internet lag? That's their excuse for why games played by people not even 10 miles apart are laggy...it's because of "internet lag"? That's not acceptable. Why didn't he just say they don't know why it's laggy and at least be honest? Why not get into a peer2peer hosted game versus a server hosted game? The "quit in the first inning" rule is funny. First, it's never mentioned anywhere, and 2nd, doing so almost guarantees you a crappy rating as people love to rate you a 1 star for quitting in the first. And why can you bring in starters now? What is that fixing? maybe if they game goes into extra innings, but why should anyone be able to bring in starter after starter? It's all just a little too vague for me. I'm not going to hold my breath that this year's experience will be much better.

He said bringing in starters from the pen has been removed Mr over reaction

I'd give you a 1 of 10 on your latest comment if i could

# 20 Rob_NYY @ 01/23/09 06:49 PM

I'll believe it when I see it.

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