05:56 PM - February 5, 2015 by Steve_OS
The MLB 15 The Show gameplay stream is starting in a few minutes. You can click the "Spoiler Show" button below to watch it here at OS, or open a new browser and watch it. For those of you that miss out, we'll update this post with the archive when it is available on Twitch.
Some bullet points (Thanks jyoung!)
Graphics
- Dynamic shadows in each stadium that will change over the course of the season
- Colors will also change based on the amount of sun exposure
- Grass and dirt colors are more accurate for each stadium
- There are way more skin tones (they used to only have 13), which means you'll get much more realistic skin on dark-toned players
- Directional hitting lets you influence where the ball will go, even in "timing only" mode
- Dynamic pitch breaks make each pitch type easier to recognize and closer to how the ball acts in real life
- Quick counts will start you in the middle of an at-bat more frequently. Pitchers will always start on a 1-1 count
- Manual cutoffs are triggered by the L1 button and will help keep singles with a runner in scoring position from turning into cheap doubles
- Outfielders have more curved, indirect routes, and will no longer just take straight paths to the ball. This should help reduce the number of undeserved doubles and triples
- Infielders will follow the ball better and cover bases more realistically
- There were no changes to umpires
- The new MLB challenge system is in place for close plays at bases
- Lots of new catching, tagging, and throwing animations were captured; they are unique to each base
- Baserunners will slow up now and dynamically change their run speed based on where the ball is hit
- There is more of a separation this year between fast and and slow runners
- Expect less warping and no more sudden, unrealistic speed boosts in all fielding animations
- You can use analog swings with timing hitting now
- Meter pitching is more sensitive and has more risk/reward. Missing your mark has more of a penalty, hitting your mark has more of a benefit
- Fielding and throwing sliders are now separated into different slider categories for infield/outfield
In the future: More twitch broadcasts are coming. A "presentation" stream will be next.
UPDATE: If you missed the stream, you can watch the archive here or click the "Spoiler Show" button below.
Spoiler
As gameplay is being shown, let us know what you think!