MLB 11 The Show News Post

MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

07:03 PM - February 22, 2011 by Pared

The MLB 11 The Show demo is available now. It weighs in at roughly 3 GB and features the Texas Rangers vs. the San Francisco Giants, in a 4 inning World Series rematch.

Please post your impressions here.

DO NOT post that you are downloading the demo, what % the download is at, the fact that you are starting to install it, etc.

IMPRESSIONS ONLY please.

Game: MLB 11 The ShowReader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3Votes for game: 57 - View All

MLB 11 The Show Videos

Member Comments

# 121 Blitzburgh @ 02/22/11 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sportdan30


	The demo did nothing to excite me, which is disappointing. I'll start with the positives: + The crowd is a lot more varied + The new controls are a nice addition + The fields do seem larger + There are some cool new animations and cut scenes + Player models look better and the graphics are a bit sharper - The game feels very much like '10 with new controls. Felt very similar and frankly I was rather bored after a couple innings. - The commentary which at one time was a strength is the number one weakness - Nothing screams excitement anymore about the game There's really not a whole lot that jumped out at me. For the last few months, I've been anticipating this game. Right now, I'm strongly considering renting it through Gamefly and seeing if it catches my long term enjoyment.

Yeah, unfortunately I kind of agree. I may need a change but it does look dam good!

# 122 RunN1st @ 02/22/11 11:47 PM

Not really diggin' the demo.

-It feels and sounds too much like last year's game. (Nothing wrong with that but the $65 bucks you have to drop for the subtle upgrades.)
-Karros is absolutely brutal IMO.
-I like the analog pitching but not the hitting and fielding.
-Swing and miss animations are pretty much the same as last year.
-The fans behind the plate look like over-animated cardboard cut-outs!
-The new player models look to be improved from last year but not a major upgrade.

I love MLB '10 and I really can't say I'm going to pass on '11 but it all depends on how the online performance pans out. The online possibilities alone will keep me excited!

As every year, I bet folks playing the MLB Show series for the first time this year will be blown away.

# 123 ARoid1313 @ 02/22/11 11:51 PM

feels like the game took a step backwards visually..
crowd during gameplay behind the plate is an eyesore! they are upresed during replay / NIS.
rendering feels dirty, overall just not as polished. Feels like they cut some visuals to real hit a solid 60 frames.

also hope the sound was compressed for the demo cause it sounds like an AM radio!

demo was a let down

and i absolutely loved this game for the past 3 years

# 124 Agathos @ 02/22/11 11:57 PM

I really wish the pitching tutorial video was available in the demo. I had no clue at first, and even by the end I'm not 100% sure I was doing it right. Sometimes I thought I was releasing early, but the L3 feedback would say it was very late. And I may not be holding the controller straight in my hand because the meter often said I was way off to one side. I think 11 outs were on Lincecum's fastball, 1 on a hanging slider that didn't quite get out. Everything else either missed wildly or got clobbered.

My timing stinks in the batter's box but that's no change from last year's game. Given batting practice and about 100 pitches I might start to get it down. It's hard to learn 3 outs at a time. I think my plate discipline might improve over last year, just because the analog control gives my twitchy right thumb something to do when I see an obvious ball.

Rangers won, 15-0.

# 125 myghty @ 02/22/11 11:58 PM

Just played the demo & man its scary real at times. Everything is so fluid, you can really see its 60fps. The analog pitching was kinda hard to pin point which I liked. There was times it would sail too much & i was WTF? Then I looked down & yeah, I messed up. I really liked the new analog hitting though I did miss the old style hitting. Good thing we have options & I can see myself going back & forth on it.

Dont care too much for the analog fielding.

All in all the game looks & plays a great game of baseball.

Forgot to mention, the new pitching & batting camera angles are a breath of fresh air!

# 126 Nexgenrulz @ 02/23/11 12:01 AM

Absolutely incredible! SCEA has managed to produce another stellar game. Love the new analog controls on both sides of the plate, and if you haven't played this in 3D you don't know what you're missing. Anybody else played this in 3D? Curious as to your impressions. I was simply blown away! Thank you Russell and the rest of the development team. I simply cannot find anything to complain about. The check swings were my biggest concern with analog hitting, but were quickly put to rest after playing the demo. Pre-ordered off amazon a week ago and cannot wait until March 8th.

# 127 Sportsforever @ 02/23/11 12:02 AM

I've got the demo downloading so I'll check it out later tonight, but for those of you saying "it's the same as '10", it's baseball. They aren't going to make it 10 guys on the field, under hand pitch, run to third instead of first, etc. They can't re-invent the game. I think it's one of those things that the longer you play it, the more you will see the subtle things that have changed.

More errors, defense being more important, better depth/management in franchise, etc. Those are ALL huge improvements that you aren't going to see in a short time with the demo. Just my opinion.

# 128 lenny819 @ 02/23/11 12:03 AM

This is the first ever mlb the show Id be getting on my new PS3 and I'm a little concerned. Watching youtube videos, the game looked amazing. Are the graphics not so good because of the demo or is an HD tv required?

# 129 Baseballking888 @ 02/23/11 12:03 AM

The game actually looks pretty good this year. I noticed how Matt started a little conversation with Karros on how the Giants pitching staff lead them to the WS last year. The pitching analog controls looked pretty good as well. Managed to win 1-0 on a Mitch Moreland sac fly to score Cruz.

# 130 Sportsforever @ 02/23/11 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lenny819


	This is the first ever mlb the show Id be getting on my new PS3 and I'm a little concerned. Watching youtube videos, the game looked amazing. Are the graphics not so good because of the demo or is an HD tv required?

If you aren't using an HD TV they aren't going to look like the vids you've been seeing...an HD TV is a must to really get the most out of these games visually.

# 131 Tyler4 @ 02/23/11 12:06 AM

First off I think the graphics look amazing! I thought the updated stances were also pretty sweet. Some little things I noticed while playing the demo was that was...
I really loved how when you press X for the pre-swing motion (or whatever you guys call it around here) it looks more like one fluid motion this year instead of being all laggy and video game with two separate motions from previous years. I noticed how when there's a ball hit to the edge of the field that they don't run right into the wall they put their hands out to catch themselves. Another interesting piece was when you throw a ball in the dirt with a runner on third the pitcher automatically runs to cover the plate. Another thing I like is the starting pitcher warming up before the game to see what some of his pitches look like, etc. This is just a few of the things that caught my attention. I'm going to play again later and I'll post more up after I play again. Can't wait to get the full game!

# 132 Sco291 @ 02/23/11 12:07 AM

Welp, I can honestly say - this game is horrible.

Just kidding

I thought the demo was really realy good. The new lighting engine is just draw dropping. I loved how the clouds actually move in the sky at a noticeable rate of speed. I had hit a homerun with Aubrey Huff in the bottom of the 3rd, and when he rounded 3rd base i could especially that 1.) I LOVE how the stadium lights were on in the 2nd inning, and 2.) LOVE how the light from the stadium was projected on Huff as he was rounding the bases. Just too cool.

The commentary surprised me - it's not that bad. I unlike a lot of people think Karros is Great. I was so thrilled to hear Vasgersian and Karros INTERACTING. Just makes me a happy camper. I can sort of tell they each have a different like, talking level, like they don't sound like they recorded in the same room wi the same conditions. But overall the commentary I found to be just fine, and once the final game is released I think it'll be even better.

Analog. Ohhh boy... Um...I LOVE analog pitching. It's awesome and just a more interesting way to get through a game. I had it from the very start and I love how accurate it is. The analog hitting was hard for me at first but I somewhat got the hang of it, so i'll most likely go back to timing hitting or maybe zone. Analog fielding, although it has been pissing me off lol, ios really fun. Knowing you're the one who makes the errors now, or at least can, is just cool to know. Plus the fielding in general IMO has been tweaked nicely.

Little Things i noticed: I was just ASTOUNDED and giddy as hell when I saw the grounds crew animation after the bottom of the 3rd inning. Nothing too long or intense, but I was really impressed by that just adds to the atmosphere of the game, or just realism i suppose. I remember asking about the grounds crew animation in the wish list thread last season after 10

The player faces are incredible, i did a replay just to look around and i could actually see the hair on the arms of the guys in the texas bullpen, along with their eyes actually moving following the ball trial and them chewing gum and showing teeth, pretty awesome. Stances have been tweaked I see, Sandoval is much better as is Andrus. Lincecum's delivery from the stretch is much better too.

Also noticeable was the grass looking somewhat better than last year, and also the crowd noise. On a few 2 pitch strikes I heard the crowd get louder so that's definitely a plus.

Last thing.... I like how when you pitch, the ball seems to just go right to the glove, not sure how to explain it, but the ball very nicely fires into the catchers glove and is a smooth animation. Also caught eye of the catcher throwing the ball back, it looks like when he throws its much tweaked, like he snaps his wrist more when throwing the ball back top the pitcher.

That's it for now until release, I can't wait to incorporate my sounds of the show and start up my Yankees franchise in a few weeks!

# 133 bcruise @ 02/23/11 12:11 AM

So....yeah, I think I need to hit the batting cages for analog batting.

I liked all of the analog options more than I thought I would, even while flailing away while batting (but, honestly, most of the K's were the looking variety, I didn't miss THAT many times). Due in part to all that looking, I did manage to draw 2 walks which, while it's never been a problem for me in previous versions, was nice to see once again. Fielding felt great - I mentioned how I got different results from what seemed like the same motion and I think that was the player ratings kicking in. I thought the pitching worked well too, but despite getting the yellow indicator on the meter I had some pitches that were way off the mark. Might have been ratings or trying to throw too hard, or something like that. It got better later on though, as I got yellow, the pitches were a lot more spot-on.

CPU seemed to be a little easier to fool at the plate than in previous years, perhaps to compensate for the increased difficulty in analog pitching. Mind you, this was on the default all-star so your mileage may vary.

Commentary...well, I pointed out the Karros additions earlier, but it is still relatively the same structure, despite the lines flowing a bit better between Vasgersian and Karros.

Couple of issues I hope are patched or don't exist in the retail:

When first starting up the demo I think the ambient crowd noise (the "dull murmur") got stuck in some kind of loop, making it stutter non-stop even after the game started. I reset the demo and it was fine the second time. Might have had something to do with the fact that I was in the XMB while it was starting up - I was trying to get my controller switched around since my fightstick was still plugged in, and it was low on battery power to boot. Just a weird situation.

In the last inning, with Josh Hamilton on 3rd and 1 out, I worm-burned a fastball for ball 4, and it bounced off the catcher and rolled up the 3rd base line. Hamilton takes off for home and is easily tagged out when the catcher picks up the ball - he didn't even have to move. This wasn't one of those "maybe he should" type of situations - the catcher had the ball and was standing in the 3rd base line waiting for him.

Gonna play a few more games, but this will just make the wait to March 8 that much tougher.

# 134 thaSLAB @ 02/23/11 12:11 AM

Words cannot explain how disappointed I am!!!

Spoiler

# 135 Blzer @ 02/23/11 12:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vinny_b


	I like it too. Although, i take it the audio quality is compressed in this demo. Either that, or i need to re-wire my speakers.. _

Nope, I hear the exact same thing. Hopefully this was just for optimization purposes to make the demo size smaller.

# 136 tekulve66 @ 02/23/11 12:14 AM

Enjoyed the demo. A good sign is that I'm in bed reading impressions and I'm debating whether to play some more and forget I have to wake up at 5.

What I liked:
Player models
Lighting (as has been mentioned numerous times)
Unis look really detailed and vibrant. Noticed an overall crispness and detail in everything compared to '10.
Analog is the way for me. Jumped right in, probably helped from 2K days, but hitting, pitching, fielding is all very fun to me.

Dislikes:
Familiar cutscenes, replays seem to need a tweak- maybe some new camera angles. Perhaps more play on released version will reveal more variety.

Crowd seemed somewhat muted, and I'd have to echo some other comments that say the atmosphere is kind of dull. Perhaps it's due to it being a 4 inning exhibition game.

I did encounter a bug which may be demo related. Hit a home run with Torres, driving in Tejada. Unfortunately, on the next play, there sat Tejada at first and SF was only awarded 1 run. I'd hate to see that pop up every now and then ( it happened, I swear).

Can't wait for March 8 and check out the other stadiums, unis, and in season stats (enjoyed seeing OPS having more of a presence in some stats, such as player of game, hopefully it's shown more for in season purposes rather than 1 game, where OPS can quite inflated with the limited plate appearances. Anyways, quite satisfied.

# 137 edm18 @ 02/23/11 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ARoid1313


	feels like the game took a step backwards visually.. crowd during gameplay behind the plate is an eyesore! they are upresed during replay / NIS. rendering feels dirty, overall just not as polished. Feels like they cut some visuals to real hit a solid 60 frames. also hope the sound was compressed for the demo cause it sounds like an AM radio! demo was a let down and i absolutely loved this game for the past 3 years

just my opinion. but Id take smoother game play over a pretty crowd any day.

# 138 DickDalewood @ 02/23/11 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lenny819


	This is the first ever mlb the show Id be getting on my new PS3 and I'm a little concerned. Watching youtube videos, the game looked amazing. Are the graphics not so good because of the demo or is an HD tv required?

...... You're not playing on an HD TV and you're wondering why the graphics don't look as good???

# 139 spencedee @ 02/23/11 12:21 AM

I love this game but I won't be using the analog hitting system...why would I subject myself to being frustrated when all I wanna do is have fun? Classic hitting it is for me.

Analog pitching is cool, love painting the corners.

Karros is hideous...can't wait to see if franchise mode is different or not...that is definitely the determining factor if I buy the game or not.

# 140 Spaced Ace @ 02/23/11 12:23 AM

Have played two games of the demo. HOF settings for everything. Zone hitting, Meter pitching, analog fielding, analog bunting. First off, I love how they fixed zone hitting. So far, the zone hitting seems to work like it's supposed to (No more completely missing the pitch but still making contact). I gotta say I really like that. PCI different for different hitters... that is awesome too. I did hear some interaction between Karros and Vasgersian which was pretty cool. Analog fielding really puts pressure on you to make an accurate throw.

Somehow, the graphics just keep getting better. It looks crisper and the sky looks phenomenal. I tried analog hitting and pitching. It would be awesome if I was good at it, but it's very hard for me. Works well though, so no complaints. Also, I saw the grounds crew come out and rake the field at the end of an inning. That was a nice touch. SCEA made little improvements in all the areas that count. Don't know what more you could ask for. C'mon, March 8th!

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