Steve Lyons Replacing Dave Campbell in MLB 13 The Show

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Perfect Zero

The number one complaint that I am reading here is that the commentary is too structured and doesn't flow. The problem with fixing that is that you have a game where there is a limited amount of lines available and many different ways a game can play out. Think about it: is a home run by a player (like Cespedes in an example above) in the first inning of game 14 of the season as important as a homer by the same player in the closing games of the Divisional Series? How do you take emotion from the recording booth and translate that into the game knowing that you have such a limited space to work with? That's the problem with games today, and it's going to continue to be a problem as long as you a) have real life announcers in games who have limited time to do commentary, and b) have so many variables in varied types of games. The current guys are great considering that there are limitations as to what can be done with the commentary. Unless SCEA is holding something back from us (and I wouldn't count on it considering that the last change yielded the same type of commentary), we are going to have the same issues as before.

You bring up a valid point, but you basically have to do the following:

1) Prioritize which lines are the most important.
2) Repeat them in three or four different (yet consistent) ways: canny, tame, excited, intense.

Anyone remember this MLB 2K7 CES video?

Major League Baseball 2K7

The bottom left shows a meter called "intensity," which probably just measures what should happen "in the moment." How the crowd should cheer, how much the pitching cursor should move around, and probably even what lines the announcers should say.

Assuming The Show has something similar in play, maybe it determines which "tier of intensity" they make their calls.

The question is how they fit all of these lines in, though. I like what the 2K series was doing with the zero-stitch commentary, basically by taking general lines and inserting names/numbers where need be with great flow. I think it made things sound natural and diverse enough.

Hudler, Campbell, and Karros hardly ever make their commentary player-specific. They are normally regarding the previous pitch or play, and that's it... which means those have to be beyond specific, probably taking up a lot of room. If they went back to a two-man booth and the color commentary felt as "zero-stitch" as the play-by-play commentary, then there's a lot that can be done to create that excitement that people are referring to.

[Galvatron]

I always thought that adding a 3rd man to the booth was a little too much considering alot of the things Hudler/Karros/Campbell say are not really that different from each other, their lines are just delivered differently. Karros seems a little more analytical and Campbell more anecdotal, but their points/comments sound pretty much the same. I think their roles in the booth should be more defined by letting them freestyle a bit with their scripts, some ad-libbing, or re-wording the lines a little. It's just to rigid and bland the way it sounds now, and is why they should be, at least Lyons and Karros, recorded TOGETHER.

Something else I thought that hasn't really been brought up much is the mention of important events/happenings throughout a franchise. During a typical season, trades, send-downs/call-ups, injuries, free-agent signings, etc, are events that really should have commentary recorded for them. I can't think of any reasons why THIS can't be added, as it doesn't really have to be player specific. Just insert so-and-so's name(s) in the dialog(Matt V. could handle this part since most of the names are in his vocabulary) and the color guys could supply their take on it.

The same could be applied to the postseason. How teams/players performance during the season and how they made the playoffs (winning their division, wild card, post-Allstar break performance) don't have to be player specific either, just pre-recorded dialog with team/player names inserted. If its done cleverly enough it wouldn't really take that long I think.

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by Perfect Zero

The number one complaint that I am reading here is that the commentary is too structured and doesn't flow. The problem with fixing that is that you have a game where there is a limited amount of lines available and many different ways a game can play out. Think about it: is a home run by a player (like Cespedes in an example above) in the first inning of game 14 of the season as important as a homer by the same player in the closing games of the Divisional Series? How do you take emotion from the recording booth and translate that into the game knowing that you have such a limited space to work with? That's the problem with games today, and it's going to continue to be a problem as long as you a) have real life announcers in games who have limited time to do commentary, and b) have so many variables in varied types of games. The current guys are great considering that there are limitations as to what can be done with the commentary. Unless SCEA is holding something back from us (and I wouldn't count on it considering that the last change yielded the same type of commentary), we are going to have the same issues as before.

It's been done with real announcers in other series. Hell, there are already lines in reserve in this game for many of the scenario differences you describe. The difference is in how they are delivered. Repetition is going to happen regardless, I agree. The issue is the overall quality. Right now we get the same repetition, just with limited emotion. The lines/space aren't the issue, it's the delivery. SCEA has been trying to maximize what has become, frankly, an outdated commentary system.

I understand the rationale as there are likely a variety of resource constraints they have to manage (as you alluded). There will likely be growing pains. However, I'd personally be more forgiving of a weaker (in terms of depth of content) variety in favor of better quality delivery with the guys actually recorded together. IMO, if it can't be done with Matt for whatever reason, then you find guys who can do that.

I also agree that the current guys are great considering their limitations (and certainly nowhere near as bad IMO as some seem to believe), but the point is that some of those limitations are self-imposed. I don't know that it will happen this year (or, to be honest, this generation of consoles) but SCEA is eventually going to have to evolve their process.

Who knows, these guys are typically GREAT at planning and working in long-term ideas, so there's a good chance that's already happening. To me though, the bar has been set already by 2K in how to approach commentary. EA is finally getting on board. SCEA will have have to keep up.

The point is that atmosphere matters. SCEA has nailed the fundamental baseball atmosphere but mostly plays like an afternoon game (though Sounds of The Show and now the camera angles and overlays added for 12 help this). 2K's vibe, for a comparison, is more Sunday Night Baseball. That's what, IMO, SCEA needs to tap into. Commentary is a very big part of that for a lot of people.

[Spaced Ace]

Awesome! He was great in ASB.

[Scribe1980]

Now that the audio engineers from MLB 2K series are out of work, hire those dudes for better clip meshing, flow, whatever you want to call it.

Thorne and Co. were tremendous in that series because the commentary was deep, nuanced and made situational sense.

[CubFan23]

Now they have to get rid of Karros.

[tnixen]

Quote: Originally Posted by CubFan23

Now they have to get rid of Karros.

Karros was added in MLB 11 The Show so I would not expect Sony to drop him so soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqbomVg1n-c

[tnixen]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scribe1980

Now that the audio engineers from MLB 2K series are out of work, hire those dudes for better clip meshing, flow, whatever you want to call it. Thorne and Co. were tremendous in that series because the commentary was deep, nuanced and made situational sense.

That would be great however I am going to guess that the audio engineers from MLB 2K series will be heading to NBA2K Series.