Operation Sports News Post

Press Row Podcast - Hands-on with MLB 14 The Show and More

12:58 PM - March 7, 2014 by Steve_OS

In the 75th episode of the Press Row Podcast, we have some fun discussing what we’ve been playing and some reaction to hands-on time with the eagerly-anticipated MLB 14 The Show on the PS4. After that, though, the heart of the show deals with a fun conversation about each panelist’s all-time “desert island” single player, couch co-op, and online multiplayer sports games. It’s topped off by the all-time “desert island” sports gaming system. What would your choice be?[/list]Joining us this week:

Kat Bailey, US Gamer (@The_Katbot)
Owen Good, Polygon (@owengood)
Samit Sarkar, Polygon (@samitsarkar)
TJ Lauerman, ThatSportsGamer (@ThatSportsGamer)
And your host, Richard Grisham, GamesRadar/OXM/@GAMER (@richgrisham)

Send us your feedback! We love to hear from you and can’t wait to read your stuff on the air in a future episode. Do it one of these ways:

1) Follow the show on Twitter at @PressRowPodcast and send us some Tweets while you’re there
2) Email the show at [email protected]
3) Respond to this post

Also, the Press Row Podcast is now available on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/...ow/id563624090) and Stitcher Radio (http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/oper...ss-row-podcast), so subscribe to it and rate it too!

Enjoy the show!

Run Time: 1 Hour, 41 Minutes

If you can't view or listen to the embedded player below, please click here.

Game: Operation SportsReader Score: 9/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 20 - View All

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Member Comments

# 1 godylla @ 03/07/14 01:12 PM

First mention of The Show is at the 29 minute mark.

# 2 tessl @ 03/07/14 02:06 PM

From the interview, frame rate for ps4 isn't where they want it and part of the lighting for the ballpark wasn't complete but graphics are much better than ps3. Three minutes of discussion about that, then rtts, it's boring to play 162 games, etc.

I get the impression these folks aren't into baseball.

# 3 nemesis04 @ 03/07/14 02:22 PM

The guy who had the hands on did not seem prepared to me. He was kind of all over the place.

# 4 CubFan23 @ 03/07/14 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemesis04


	The guy who had the hands on did not seem prepared to me. He was kind of all over the place.

Man, he was hard to listen to.

edit: If indeed he was a big baseball fan he would have jumped at the chance to try the game out, who here would just sit and watch when all you had to do was ask to try it.

# 5 Curahee @ 03/07/14 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessl


	I get the impression these folks aren't into baseball.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Duke


	That pretty much sums it up. I got the same impression.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nemesis04


	The guy who had the hands on did not seem prepared to me. He was kind of all over the place.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CubFan23


	Man, he was hard to listen to.

Thanks! I didnt wanna be the first to say it!

He seemed unprepared, nervous and unsure of himself.
I guess that why hes on a podcast and not the Evening News.

There were more Ums, Uhs, I thinks and I guesses than there was solid info.

If I had been there for any reason at all, even to only use the bathroom and I saw The Show, the first thing I would do is ask if I can play it.

# 6 burjeffton @ 03/07/14 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessl


	I get the impression these folks aren't into baseball.

I wouldn't call this a wasted opportunity to properly report on the game and share with fans some of the cool and unique things the game is doing...

...on second thought, I would. Too bad.

# 7 ThatSportsGamer @ 03/07/14 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessl


	From the interview, frame rate for ps4 isn't where they want it and part of the lighting for the ballpark wasn't complete but graphics are much better than ps3. Three minutes of discussion about that, then rtts, it's boring to play 162 games, etc. I get the impression these folks aren't into baseball.

I would be more worried about the frame rate and lighting if Samit was seeing the retail build. Sony still has 4 to 6 weeks before this game will have to go gold for the PS4.

RTTS is the best part of MLB.

I am into baseball, which is why I want to play 162 games. If I wasn't, why would I want to play that much?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

# 8 jyoung @ 03/07/14 04:05 PM

To TJ, who said he was looking for a Sega Dreamcast video cable, I recommend buying a VGA cable:

http://www.amazon.com/Tomee-Sega-VGA...=operasport-20

Most of the games on the Dreamcast will run in 480p if you output in VGA mode. And most HD TVs these days still have a VGA port.

# 9 TGov @ 03/07/14 04:28 PM

Wow these guys (and gal) were hard to listen too, I nearly fell asleep. The only thing that kept me awake was info about The Show...

Love what RTTS is gonna be now, I really didnt like the goals or filling up that little blue bar thing... Now it will be more realistic in the way that you are basically in competition with your own organization mates. You have to beat out the guy infront of you on the depth chart to get his spot and vise versa.
Also, now there's a tryout at the beginning THEN the draft, I was unaware of this and am now more EXCITED! (if its possible)

# 10 nemesis04 @ 03/07/14 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThatSportsGamer


	I would be more worried about the frame rate and lighting if Samit was seeing the retail build. Sony still has 4 to 6 weeks before this game will have to go gold for the PS4.

All that stuff comes together, he probably experienced one particular build. When we are at CD we can experience several different builds and some are better then others depending what was done. I am sure this game will go through many, many revisions before it is close to final.

# 11 Heroesandvillains @ 03/07/14 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tessl


	From the interview, frame rate for ps4 isn't where they want it and part of the lighting for the ballpark wasn't complete but graphics are much better than ps3. Three minutes of discussion about that, then rtts, it's boring to play 162 games, etc. I get the impression these folks aren't into baseball.

Not true. Owen Good (now of Polygon) has written some of my favorite The Show related articles.

However, the discussion on RTTS was shocking considering there were journalists/bloggers from some pretty big-weight publications taking part.

Very disappointed with the panel discussion if you ask me.

I know we don't know the details yet, but how they spent so much time speculating on what emulating a big league player in RTTS means and no one clearly suggesting, "maybe it means using their animations and if you're a pitcher, their repertoire...but we'll see what else or if we're on the right track" was pretty odd.

They just seemed so confused by the idea that I had to cringe a few times (again, not that we know exactly what it entails, but even the speculation was on the panel was strange).

I usually love these podcasts but this one was pretty unusual compared to the ones I've listened to.

# 12 Will I Am @ 03/07/14 05:23 PM

What i'm wondering is, why would scea even let the guy who saw the ps4 version running sneak a look if the frame rate was bad, unless of course that's as good as it's going to be.

# 13 tessl @ 03/07/14 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThatSportsGamer


	I would be more worried about the frame rate and lighting if Samit was seeing the retail build. Sony still has 4 to 6 weeks before this game will have to go gold for the PS4. RTTS is the best part of MLB. I am into baseball, which is why I want to play 162 games. If I wasn't, why would I want to play that much? Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

I don' play rtts, strictly franchise but rtts is a popular feature. Not my thing but if it gets people to buy the game that's all good.

The one notable thing about the interview was the magnificent graphics and accompanying slow frame rate for the ps4 which I suspect are related. When I heard a developer talk about 40,000 individual hairs on a player and other related graphic improvements like individual blades of grass I wondered if the machine had the horsepower to pull that off and still have solid animation.

It sounds like that is still a work in progress. IF - pure speculation but - if I had to choose between hair and gameplay frame rate and animations, I'd opt for less hair.

# 14 Russell_SCEA @ 03/07/14 05:31 PM

The PS4 version is not optimized nothing in the game is those things happen at the very end. The game is coming along just fine.

# 15 tessl @ 03/07/14 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will I Am


	What i'm wondering is, why would scea even let the guy who saw the ps4 version running sneak a look if the frame rate was bad, unless of course that's as good as it's going to be.

Evidently Russell told him they were working to improve frame rate.

# 16 Teigh Cubs Teigh @ 03/07/14 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will I Am


	What i'm wondering is, why would scea even let the guy who saw the ps4 version running sneak a look if the frame rate was bad, unless of course that's as good as it's going to be.

Companies show off incomplete games to journalists all the time. Nothing that he said really worries me. There's still a lot of time to work on it and he specifically said that Ramone said that they were on target for 60 fps unless there is any kind of major setback. He also mentioned that it was playable but it just wasn't quite great yet. It'll be fine.

# 17 richgrisham @ 03/07/14 05:44 PM

Hi guys - Rich here.

I am really bummed that so many of you are disappointed in the episode. Any and all issues with the show's content are my fault and responsibility.

No one other than Samit has seen the game, and he had just seen it. I actually had no intention of discussing it until the last minute, so I put Samit on the spot right before we started recording. It's extremely difficult for those of us who haven't seen it to speak to it, and in hindsight it was not the right forum for discussion.

What I should have done is not mention it until the next episode, when most of us will have had hands-on time with it. I thought it would be fun to kick around for a bit, even though what Samit had seen was a preliminary build. I also cut off the discussion quickly, so that's also me.

Looking back and considering the community's desire for any and all details, it was a poor decision by me to have this chat. It put all of us in a less-than-optimal place.

Lesson learned!

I put a lot of effort into making Press Row unique for people who love sports games, and it really bums me out when people are disappointed. I'll keep working to make it a better show.

# 18 tessl @ 03/07/14 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heroesandvillains


	Not true. Owen Good (now of Polygon) has written some of my favorite The Show related articles. However, the discussion on RTTS was shocking considering there were journalists/bloggers from some pretty big-weight publications taking part. Very disappointed with the panel discussion if you ask me. I know we don't know the details yet, but how they spent so much time speculating on what emulating a big league player in RTTS means and no one clearly suggesting, "maybe it means using their animations and if you're a pitcher, their repertoire...but we'll see what else or if we're on the right track" was pretty odd. They just seemed so confused by the idea that I had to cringe a few times (again, not that we know exactly what it entails, but even the speculation was on the panel was strange). I usually love these podcasts but this one was pretty unusual compared to the ones I've listened to.

I don't know any of the people on the podcast but the reason I said they didn't seem like baseball fans was the comment about 162 games being boring and a need to speed play the games with features like player lock. Millions of people spend significant money to sit for hours and watch baseball. Those folks on the podcast seem more interested in getting it over with than enjoying the experience. Baseball is not a game for people with short attention spans. One of them was talking about how many cool arcade features were available for his created player in NBA.

For me the best part of mlbts is the realism of the game in franchise mode. It is like playing a sim with realistic results while watching at the same time.

If Owen Good is the exception then I stand corrected but there was little on that podcast to indicate a significant interest in baseball.

# 19 Heroesandvillains @ 03/07/14 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by richgrisham


	Hi guys - Rich here. I am really bummed that so many of you are disappointed in the episode. Any and all issues with the show's content are my fault and responsibility. No one other than Samit has seen the game, and he had just seen it. I actually had no intention of discussing it until the last minute, so I put Samit on the spot right before we started recording. It's extremely difficult for those of us who haven't seen it to speak to it, and in hindsight it was not the right forum for discussion. What I should have done is not mention it until the next episode, when most of us will have had hands-on time with it. I thought it would be fun to kick around for a bit, even though what Samit had seen was a preliminary build. I also cut off the discussion quickly, so that's also me. Looking back and considering the community's desire for any and all details, it was a poor decision by me to have this chat. It put all of us in a less-than-optimal place. Lesson learned! I put a lot of effort into making Press Row unique for people who love sports games, and it really bums me out when people are disappointed. I'll keep working to make it a better show.

We all appreciate the response.

I love the podcasts enormously which I why this specific one struck me as unusual. Your explain makes complete sense.

Thanks for putting these together and I'm looking forward to the next episode!

# 20 richgrisham @ 03/07/14 05:55 PM

And oh yeah - we will be having one or more of the Show's development team on an upcoming episode to deep dive into all the features of the game. So you'll definitely be getting tons of real info from the makers themselves.

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