It's The Official MLB '11: The Show Impressions Thread
 

The game was released today, and while MLB '10 may have been a let down thanks to a game breaking bug that destroyed any Franchise/RTTS in 2013, SCEA has confirmed that bug has been fixed for this years iteration. Let the impressions begin!

As a side note, we should all keep in mind that the most important thing isn't what we think, but rather, it's what Bill Abner thinks. Thank you.

I don't always agree with the two Bills (Harris and Abner), but I always enjoy reading their takes. When it comes to gameplay, they are very rarely "wrong", it's just what they consider game killing and what I consider game killing are different.

Abner has favorable impressions of the game so far.

I'm really hoping they added a little life to the game this year. It felt a little stale to me last year. I think the analog controls will help in that regard. Will be picking it up later today.

Looking forward to this as well. Hopefully picking it up this afternoon.

Do you have a link to his impressions? I only saw one thing on his blog, and that had nothing to do with impressions.

At his No High Scores blog.

He only mentions the pitching, but he seems to be in love with how it works. He's a big fan of the rest of the standard gameplay, so if he's that impressed about a single feature, it's a good sign.

Oh all right. I read that too...didn't consider it an impression, but I see why one would.

So they didn't bother fixing bug in the previous version? I don't have the game, but, I am interested in it. However, if they don't fix bugs like that with patches, I'll keep my money.

What?

I loved that blog before it became "No High Scores" and started flooding info. I can't keep up anymore, so I've turned it off my RSS feed.

I believe he's referencing the statement made above that the game killer bug from last year was fixed for this year's version of the game, but wasn't addressed in a patch during the lifespan of the game it affected directly.

Correct. Thank you. :)

Ditto.

Game is available for $50 at Newegg.

Slickdeals Newegg Deals, Coupons and Promos: MLB 11: The Show (PS3) (03/08/11 12:22pm)

I've played a little bit of RTTS. I love the fact you get credit for working the count this year. In practice mode, fouls are retries instead of outs. It seems they've gone away from a lot of the goals by at bat thing and are just rewarding you for good results/effort and punishing you for stupid crap.

One more change: You now get to pick the type of player you are at the start. All hit, little glove? Power or Speed or a combination? You get more options at the start of RTTS.

For .99 you can buy a stat pack that has more advanced stats for any stat head out there.

Also have the 1,000 points available if you want to ramp up your RTTS player early on.

You're not helping me here, Troy. I'm trying to hold off buying for a while, damnit.

What is the bug that is mentioned from last year? I had last year's version and don't remember hitting anything that made the game unplayable.

Tigers don't win the World Series every season.

Can you actually play as a closer in RTTS? That has always bugged me about this game. Was too hard to meet goals.

Also, is RTTS the same where performance doesn't matter as much as meeting goals? How I can replace Albert Pujols if I just meet my goals?

Something to do with Franchise mode that Sun Tzu mentioned in his OP and that the Tigers never win the World Series. However, Tigers players can now go on drunken binges.

Sounds nice. I'm having issues resisting purchase.

Just picked it up, hope to get to give it a whirl a bit later.

Thanks for posting this. Just completed my order, $49.99, no driving to pick it up, and off next week. Sweet!

The bug I'm talking about from last year had to do with the inability for CPU controlled teams to manage a budget, and young pitchers both A.) developing into A+ players regularly, combined with B.) the CPU over valuing their salaries because of this. By 2013, about 90-95% of the big name hitters would be stuck in Free Agency indefinitely because all of the CPU teams had their budgets wrapped up in young stud pitching. The only workarounds were to either control every move of all 30 teams in a franchise, or completely disable player training.

If you played in an RTTS, there is no way you can control anything other than your player, which in turn resulted in you either A.) not being able to sign with ANYONE half way through your career because nobody had any money, or B.) you were stuck with one or two teams that had a few bucks left over to sign you.

It has been confirmed that this bug isn't present in this years version. As a side note, I picked the game up on the way home today. I'm very excited :)

This right here gave me a flashback to Jbmagic. :D

Still getting used to the analog controls but had a really memorable one. I'm playing RTTS, got drafted by Houston (ohhh, yay [sarcasm]). First 97 at bats, no homers. In a 6 at bat game against San Antonio, I launch 4. I've never had a four homer game and, honestly, I'm not sure I've had a three homer game in any of the previous versions. Pretty pumped. As the fourth one went out, I had to jump up and raise my arms in victory.

Dola

Followed it with a walk-off the next game!!! Man, I'm much more into this year's than last year's although I don't notice a huge difference except for the analog controls and I do like the advancement model better (assuming it works).

And double dola...

Come out of the walk-off game to find that I've been traded...to the Padres and their farm team, the San Antonio Missions...which just so happens to be the team I torched for 5 homers. So I got to walk across the field to the other dugout and take on my former team, good times.

Last year's game had a few franchise issues that really bummed me out, so I'm waiting for impressions from you all. Also, time is limited for me right now.

but how is the AI?

I had the opposite experience. I walked up for my first at bat in my serious career as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning of a game we were losing 2-1. There was a man on second and I caught a 2-0 fastball and took it over the right field wall. (I'm a switch hitter and was facing a rightie)

Struck out my next four at bats and I'm still smiling. Go figure. ;)

From PastaPadre:

I like how I didn't notice a couple of the words I left out, until I read it in your post. That's horrible.

So in a nut shell, they never fixed that franchise bug. My concerns are, if there's a different franchise bug (I usually only play franchise modes in games) in the new version of the game, they won't fix that either. Therefore, I don't want to spend money on it. :)

EDIT: According to DeToxRox, I guess they did patch it? But, did it work? Anyone know?

WHICH IS IT?!?

If that is the case, pointless to buy at this point. I passed on the 10 version so, looks like I might be doing the same.

I bought a PS3 a few years ago just to play The Show - so this "bug" is very discouraging because I passed on last years too. Oh well....

When will these big name gaming companies get their shit straight and release product without game breaking bugs?? I still feel sport games should be released every other year and just release "roster packs" in their off season.

Modells.com has MLB 2011 The Show (PS3) for $60 - $23 with code MOD4TEN39 = $36

Place called Modells has it for $36 including shipping with the above discount code. I was holding out for the summer, but I figured I'd grab it with the code.

Anyone try MLB2K11 yet?

yup

Heh, how about that. Russell from SCEA says the bug isn't there when the game is released. Not even 24 hours later it turns out it really is there.

Fail two years in a row. Now my decision is to either A.) sell this now on Ebay like I did last years, or B.) see if they fix the bug in a patch.

No, but I'm getting it for the PC. Waiting to see if it drops on Steam.

Same here, I was going to hold off for a bit before I came across this.

Thanks bro! I decided to grab it at that price! :D

They ship the game with a showstopping RTS bug two years in a row? How does that happen? How is that bug not the first thing they work on after '10?

Glad I waited on this. Getting to a point that the only series I trust now is NBA 2K. Now I just need to decide if selling my PS3 would be worth it. I really don't play anything on it and got it for The Show which has flamed out the last 2 years.

Minor issue, but it has always bothered me... are the player cards more in depth? For instance, the stat lines would show the year, the BA HR RBI and thats about it. I want team played for, and a full line of stats. Any change this year?

I know this is a dangerous thing and I could be labeled a fan boy, but I rarely get more than a few years into even rtts let alone a dynasty, so this doesn't really impact me a great deal. I think they've made a lot of improvements I like. You can actually hit doubles down the line now. I love the new RTTS where they've taken away a vast majority of what I hated about it. (the goal is get on base safely, I crush a 3-2 pitch and a guy robs me of a HR, Fail -25 points. That garbage is gone. Now I'd get 15-20 points for a good at bat.)

I hope they fix the bug in a patch, but the impact on me this year is going to be minimal to none.

Hope it gets fixed for you guys. Guess I'm lucky in that I only play The Show in season mode. Playing all 162 games takes my summer and quells my need for a baseball game with current players.

I have no desire for a RTTS game and OOTP fills my need for an ongoing dynasty.

The game-play\physics have improved every year along with the eye-candy. Going through a Cubs season, playing a realistic baseball game, and seeing all of the stadiums in their eye popping glory is worth the price of the game to me.

Some post at OS that the game has become stale. Maybe it doesn't change much but IMHO that is a great thing. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

Except that it is broken.

It happens because people keep buying it...

This is where the dangerous part I spoke of above comes in. If this bug were in OOTP, it'd be a deal breaker. I regularly have 30+ year careers in that game.

Even with just batting and only doing some of the fielding, I think the furthest I've ever got in RTTS mode is 5 years. I don't play franchise mode on it. So for my needs, The Show provides everything I need to have fun from March to the middle of July. (then the football games come out and I get preoccupied with those)

For others, this bug is soul crushing. I get that and understand their frustrations. I called RTTS unplayable a few years ago and took a lot of grief for it. For me it had too many ridiculous bugs and I wasn't willing to deal with them. The Show was traded in early that year. Others laughed at me and said I was being too hard on it.

I really hope they fix this bug for all of the people who care about it. It's just one that will likely not impact me in any way.

If you are talking about the issue being posted here breaking long term games or RTTS, yes it is. The first thing I said is "Hope it gets fixed for you guys.", meaning said issue.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it." has to do with game-play staying much the same from year to year and becoming, according to some, stale. Some seem to want change for change sake.

Here is a longwinded review of MLB2k11 from someone on Reddit.

I played MLB2K11 for 12 straight hours yesterday, from 2pm to 2am. I was so excited at first, but by the end had tweeted to 2Ksports and 2Kgames to ask for my money back. Here is my experience. : baseball

I have it for the PC and haven't had a lot of the problems he describes. Yes, there are issues. The HR bug is horrible. I also don't like OF fielding at all.

But in terms of hitting and difficulty? Zero issues. I'm actually hitting for a better average after 2 weeks on 2K11 than I am in The Show. (.234 vs. .220. . . yes, I suck)

Do you like it for the PC?

I can only speak for myself, but I'm 0 for 14 with 1 walk in 4 games. And I think I've committed 3 errors in RF.

Good eye at least.

Actually no, I think 10 of those were Ks at least I got +25 for the walk.

Dang, modells.com cancelled my order due to 'inventory issue' That sucks! :(

Yeah, me too. If I have to pay fuil price I'll wait to hear if that franchise mode problem with player salaries and free agency is patched.

I got a chance to play a bit of it at Best Buy. Used pure analog for hitting and pitching; it was pretty tough (the hitting). I was wild with Roy Halladay, but managed to give up only a run in four innings. I struck out five or six in those four innings.

Hitting, I struck out maybe seven times in the first three innings, but I started to get the hang of it. In the fourth, Jimmy Rollins hit a leadoff double into the right-field corner, off of Tim Hudson; Polanco struck out, and Chase Utley followed with a liner into right that ended up being a sac fly.

Ryan Howard followed that with a two-run bomb to right. I felt pretty good about that.

Overall, it was fun. I'm going to hold off on getting it, but I enjoyed what I did play.

cancelled

Ditto

Modell's sent me an e-mail saying they now have more copies of the game in stock and will honor that discount. There was a new discount code in the e-mail, it still comes out to $36 with free shipping.

Interesting. I wonder if the rest of us will receive a similar e-mail?

What is the discount code?

From reading some posts on the Cheap Ass Gamers forums it seems that unlike the previous discount codes these new ones are different for each person e-mailed and it wouldn't do you any good for me to post mine. And that some people who chose to pay via Paypal did not get e-mails and had to call to get the discount. Or maybe your e-mail just didn't get sent out yet? I dunno.

Hopefully everyone gets their order sorted out.

Thanks for the info. May be worth a call to Modell's since I used Paypal.

Definitely do.....I used paypal, and had to call and get mine to reorder. They honored the original 40% off price, and free shipping. They do require your original order number. That would have been in your confirmation email on the order, and in the cancellation order on your email.

Thanks.

I also called and they honored the deal. I ordered with the rep. over the phone and used my credit card, so I'm good to go.

i just got the email and just placed the order again. I was surprised. Can't wait to play it :) The only ones i have played have been on the PS2.

My copy arrived from newegg yesterday afternoon. Played 4 exhibition games with my Cubs. Game looks stunning with more improvement in lighting and player models.

No more "hand on helmet" only home run trot :) It was funny though I was down 10-2 in the 8th when Ramirez hit a solo home run and did a fist pump while rounding the bases. Ok there big guy not really the time;)

Adjustable cameras are a nice addition.

Haven't tried analog controls but if I use any it will probably only be hitting. The problem with meter or the new analog pitching IMHO is that the more you use it the better your timing gets, the better your player performs, and then you need to go in and adjust sliders again to compensate. That's why I'm a big fan of using classic pitching as IMHO it is more "sim" relying on the P's ratings rather than my timing on a meter or stick.

I suppose one could make the same argument about hitting but my skill at that never seems to really improve:) Once I find the right slider for my skill I'm usually set for the year.

Not really a lot more to say without playing a lot more games. Initial impression is it is more of the same with fine tuning. I see where some will say "stale" but too me that is a good thing. I'm always afraid they'll come up with the next "great idea" that ruins what already works.

IMHO they are at a stage where they can tweak the on-field game\ graphics and spend a lot of time on what games like OOTP and FM do so well. Player development, aging, transactions, financials etc.

Popped MLB '08 in my PSP yesterday night and fooled around with 'manager mode.'

I wouldn't mind seeing a career mode that way at some point in the future. Just call all the action from the dugout and not worry about how crappy I am at hitting.

Any chance MLB '11 has this? Please say no. ;)

You can manage only from Franchise mode. That's the only way I've played in the past.

Can anyone explain the analog hitting controls to me? I could not find the instructions in the demo.

Just got done trying analog hitting, playing out two game, and really liked it.

Pretty simple.

1.Pull the right stick down to cock your front foot when pitch is on the way

2. push stick up to hit ball coming down middle, up and right for outside pitch to RHB, up and left for inside pitch to RHB. Of course the opposite for LHB.

3. you don't try to swing high or low it seems that is taken care of by the timing of your swing. you only have to decide middle, right, or left.

Sounds simple but if you don't time things right you look bad. Cock front foot too soon and you'll stride too soon and lose bat speed. Too late and you won't get around on the pitch.

I like it a lot better than zone hitting. I never get the left stick moved to the right zone before I actually swing. With analog the plate coverage balloon moves with your swing instead of independent of it.

Finally made the plunge. Heard the fix for RTTS is coming soon, so I'm ready to dive in.

Overall impressions from Pasta Padre. Nothing surprising here. Online play lags. Single player still very good.

MLB 11: The Show Hits and Misses | pastapadre.com

has anybody's order from modell's shipped yet?? Mine still says 'items located in stock' and i ordered it on the 12th. Just can't wait to play it heh

Gosh almighty I'm bad at this game. Just played an exhibition as the Giants vs AA Jackson. Won 1-0, with Jackson's SP getting 11 K's :lol:

I just can't spot bad pitches and tend to swing at everything. Discipline is my biggest problem.

I just received the email that mine is shipping today (also placed my order on the 12th). A few folks over at SlickDeals have already received theirs, so it looks like Modell's is finally getting these things out.

I have the same problem with plate discipline. Then it gets magnified as the AI knows you swing at junk and keeps throwing it:eek:

Go through it every year, takes 20 or so games for me to get some control over myself. The tough part is when you finally get some discipline and take a pitch out of the zone and the damn ump calls it a strike, then you start to press, and fall back into bad habits :banghead:

I'm getting far too frustrated with this game, so figured I better stop before I Frisbee it out the window. :banghead:

I've been to a few forums now, and read what people suggest to stop swinging at everything and none of it helps.

I used to enjoy the Guess Pitch in Rookie mode but now that's been changed to guess location I just can't seem to enjoy the game any more.

I'm looking for a baseball game where I can just chill out after work and play a few games, and not have to have a masters degree in guessing which pitch the pitcher is throwing.

have you tried just slowing the pitch speed way way way down?

Go up to experienced and change guess pitch to classic 1/4th. Should be far easier.

Yeah i read the thread over there. The only email i've got has been about a 10% off deal on their website. I called them up and it still just says processing. Guess i'll play MLB2K11 until it gets here.

Tried that. I put the camera on to wide as I felt I was too close before on the Catcher views and that has helped a little bit, but not much. I'm still swinging at balls that are well wide, although I did managed to draw a walk with Aubrey Huff before!


I'm on classic 1/4th now on Rookie.

I just played a 13 inning game against the Royals as the Giants and still only came away winning 1-0. I struck out 9 and only had 7 against me, including the walk. I just never seem to get much going on offense. I'll get one onto first and then that's about it.

I've yet to hit a homer too.

I found the analog hitting difficult too, so I actually just went back to last-year's style hitting to be honest.

Still have issues swinging at balls instead of taking pitches, but at least when I make contact I have a legit potential to get a solid base hit or a HR.

Personally, I'm loving analog hitting and pitching. What I don't like is analog throwing. There must be something about it that I'm not getting. I have committed a good half dozen throwing errors already. Some, granted, were from a short stop backhanding a worm burner and going across his body, but a few were simple underhand tosses that went flying into the seats. I got so frustrated I switched back to button presses... and had two more throwing errors. GRRRRR

My game arrived from Modell's today.

I hadn't played last year's game in months so I was not surprised that even a mediocre pitcher like Chris Young (Mets) was able to strike my Braves out 10 times in six innings while not allowing any walks. I think I only got to a three ball count once or twice.

i finally got a shipping notification woohoo!! Can't wait to play it. Hope the announcing is better than last years on the PS2. Every play it seemed they would the exact opposite of what you'd expect them to say. On any double play they would says ' heh you dont see that combination often' Even on a 6-4-3!

My copy went back in the case until the bug is patched. Re: the announcers, while I think they are better than any other video game options out there, I still play all of my games with them turned completely off. It just adds much more of a "at the ballpark" feel to the games.

I'm getting prompted for a 1.10 patch right now. No word on OS what is in it.

No info found using a google search.

They're talking about it in this thread. Looks like they're testing it out.

1.10 patch? - Operation Sports Forums

No fix for the franchise bug, it appears. Too bad, as I was hoping to buy this one after skipping last year.

MLB 11 The Show Title Update 1.10 Fix List - Operation Sports Forums

Incredible that a bug that's been hanging around for multiple iterations of a video game series, isn't fixed in the opening patch. I'm just completely dumbfounded at this decision.

finally got my copy today. Such a great game, but i cant stand the new analog controls. Tried the hitting for a while, but it just didnt feel right. I like it a lot in 2k, but for some reason i can't seem to get a hang of it here. Going back to zone and its so much better. What a jump from the PS2 version heh. Just played a 13 inning ST game but lost 2-1 :(

One thing that I wish this game had that 2K11 had is the batting interface. I felt much more comfortable with the 2K11 controls. I liked that you only had to cock the stick back for hitting with power, that alone seemed to make it naturally harder when trying to swing for power.

I struck out far too often in last year's version and it hasn;t gotten any better in this year's. In 2K11 my strikeouts were minimal and I was able to work a comfortable amount of walks and that was without the guess location and pitch type feature assisting me like I get with The Show.

Any recommendations on which batting view to use? I have tried almost all of the catcher angles but still can't find one that makes locating the close pitches early enough easier.

I use Catcher 9, but lots of people say they use Wide and then custom change the angle as low to the ground as possible.

Also, if, like me, you are struggling to hit this year have a read of this thread it has really helped me, and I have now won a couple of games.

I think the big thing for me was to stop relying on Guess Pitch, which stopped me from focusing on the ball.

Thanks. I'll give that a read tonight.

I was struggling with the low ball too. The answer for me was the custom camera.

I used catcher view, lowered the camera with the left stick 'til the view seemed almost straight on, then zoomed in until the very front edge of home plate was still visible. Hell of an improvement. I drew 3 walks, was able to see low pitches for the first time since I got the game, and even turned pitch speed back up to 4 from 3. I also think I'll be lowering my contact slider one click as I'm seeing the ball so well.

The unfortunate thing is one can't share their camera settings with anyone else. Unlike NHL11, The Show doesn't give a digital output setting for the custom camera. So, all one can do is try to describe how they have the camera setup.

Dola

Holy crap, what a difference a batting view makes. I was striking-out 15+ times a game and the batting analysis tool would be blanketed with "Orange K-balls" out of the zone low.

2 games with the new view and K's are down. 7 one game and 11 the next (RP was really in a groove getting calls and throwing BB's, nice to be dominated when it doesn't feel cheap). However the batter analysis showed a only one K on a ball below the zone :)

Finally able to play the game that's been unopened for a few weeks. I can't download the roster update (says it's corrupt). Anyone else have that problem?