MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

[RaychelSnr]

In our MLB 15: The Show preview podcast last week, I expressed my surprise at the lack of available information. At that time, we were nearly two months away from release, and most of what we knew came from online product pages.

Since then, we've been given a detailed fact sheet and a lengthy Twitch feed to digest. It was while watching the video feed that it occurred to me how unique the marketing of MLB 15 seems to be.

Read More - MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

[A_Quiet_Pro]

Re: MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

Good read.

[Knight165]

Well....I've always said it....and have taken flak for it...but this is why SCEA is the best dev team out there in many ways.....
Don't forget...before their first Community Day....nothing like that was ever done before. They put themselves out there the 7(8?) years ago when they contacted a handful of members of this website and invited us into the studios to both see the process and to relay info/suggestions in both directions between the studio and the gaming public. Unheard of at the time(and I remember how freaked out Ramone was in relation to how it was going to go off!)
SCEA has always gone the extra steps it takes to use the community in shaping their game to some extent and to be open about what they can/will do in changing the game to suit the gaming public.

Nice read.

M.K.
Knight165

[Armor and Sword]

Well said. The Show's team is really a bunch of pros. They listen to their fans, implement new features without taking out old ones. They constantly stack the deck and keep building a game full of options and features without taking away the core gameplay that some Show veterans (like myself) still utilize (Classic pitching, timed batting) in fact a perfect example of adding is directional hitting to the timed mechanic. They are not forcing on us. If you want to play timed the default way...you can. If you want to add in the directional user input you have that option.

And the communication with the community is second to none.

[LastActionHero]

Re: MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

Amen! .

[rjackson]

Re: MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

Feel free to ignore as I'm just thinking out loud but I've always wondered how much of your expenses SCEA covers for CD...very cool that they do that and listen/respond to us here.

[burjeffton]

Great read! I've been consistently impressed by SCEA San Diego. They don't have huge budgets or multi-year development cycles, but they prove to truly care about what their fans think.

The unscripted moments in the Twitch feed humanizes these guys in a whole new way. It's why I really loved Nick Livingston's Twitch stream last Spring as well. He was honest, open and very casual about how they go about making the game. And when he didn't have an answer, he was up front about it. Super refreshing.

[Cowboy008]

Re: MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

I think this dev team is great. You can see that they are passionate about the game.

[Dazraz]

Great read. We often look at pre release details that hint at areas that have been improved to a questionable degree. SCEA have been very forthcoming in this area giving realistic indications as to where this game may or may not have been improved.

[Herschie]

So here it was, late February of 2012, and I'm dying to pick up MLB 2K12 for my 360. I was a little upset that they weren't showing us much, but The Show was getting some exposure. Not that I really cared, I didn't have any Sony systems at the time. And then I saw this video clip of The Show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dIjsunHb54

Whoa. Was I ever impressed! So impressed that I went out and bought a PS3, a Vita, and The Show for both systems. Got two systems. For one game. And it was the best investment I ever made. Not only that, but since I was now hooked on The Show, it was the main reason why I got a PS4 over an Xbox One. I never did pick up 2K12.

The moral of the story? At least in my case, revealing the game early made me RUN out to buy it. If you have a good product, you're going to want as many people to see it as possible. I'm sure there are a ton of people out there right now who are just waiting for that good reason to get this gen's system. Will The Show be that reason? Will it be the deciding factor in selling a PS4 over an Xbox one?

It was for me.

[bcruise]

Re: MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

Along with everything else that's been mentioned as far as transparency goes, The Show is the only sports game series I can think of that explains IN DETAIL what its sliders do. We also get plenty of under-the-hood info about the game's mechanics and how it applies to real life thanks to an extensive guide built into the game. No one else does that - no one. Other games are making strides toward being more transparent (and it's just as welcomed for those games), but the Show has been this way for years.

[Ghost Of The Year]

Re: MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

The greedy side of me wants the Show to go one step further with the transparency & share the secret of how they arrive at attribute ratings lol

[nemesis04]

Re: MLB 15 The Show: An Era of Transparency

The greedy side of me wants the Show to go one step further with the transparency & share the secret of how they arrive at attribute ratings lol

Good luck with that!

[markus48]

Well said. The Show's team is really a bunch of pros. They listen to their fans, implement new features without taking out old ones. They constantly stack the deck and keep building a game full of options and features without taking away the core gameplay that some Show veterans (like myself) still utilize (Classic pitching, timed batting) in fact a perfect example of adding is directional hitting to the timed mechanic. They are not forcing on us. If you want to play timed the default way...you can. If you want to add in the directional user input you have that option.

And the communication with the community is second to none.

Well said, everything you just mentioned is what EA DIDN'T do with NHL 15. They completely ruined the game for this year and heard about it from the fans. On the other hand, I think this form of feedback for MLB is what makes the game so successful and great every year.

[markus48]

Well said, everything you just mentioned is what EA DIDN'T do with NHL 15. They completely ruined the game for this year and heard about it from the fans. On the other hand, I think this form of feedback for MLB is what makes the game so successful and great every year.

Whoops, put in "Well said" by accident