MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

[emath]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Well, after 7 hours of downloading (stupid slow DSL), I finally have some game time in:

First impressions... Well, balls down the 3rd base line no longer magically go through the 3rd baseman's glove (or forearm, or even foot/ankle) as I saw countless times on last years game. It's kinda nice that when a ball goes to your glove, it actually goes in it

I saw my first instant replay of a home run call. Last year I never saw one (even though I had a handful that were clearly foul balls get ruled as home runs.... Never for me though, always for the CPU). First home run I see this year was for (once again) the CPU, and it was ruled foul, though clearly fair, and they went to review and changed it.

Game looks amazing. Not sure what some people are looking at when they say it looks like '10. Apparently they are looking for a complete re-build or something.

I do in fact not like the analog controls. I tried, but they just feel horrible to me. It's understandable though since I have never liked analog controls to begin with (you could get rid of the sticks all together, and I would be happy). I am more than happy with timing based hitting, and classic pitching.

I have, as a few others have mentioned, bounced some curve balls in the grass, and had the CPU swing and foul them off. Looks goofy, but hey.... if Vlad can do it, so can others I guess. lol

Another thing that cost me a ground rule double (for the CPU) on what should have been an out... Not really as bad thing, I just wasn't ready for it... I get a routine (but fairly deep) fly ball, and get myself into the catch area. Last year the CPU would take over at that point and catch the ball for you. This year, not so much. lol I know a lot of people didn't like that, so they should be happy.

[Blzer]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

They were smoothing this out still even at CD. The lighting progresses with every at bat. So if you have an unusually long at bat it can look a little awkward because the lighting could transition too abruptly when the next batter comes up.

Right, I understand. That sounds good though, hopefully because this was a December build it's something that was still being looked at afterward. I just feel the jump, similarly to the past two years, is far too instant when it really wants to get dark at night. Hopefully the retail version won't show the same thing.

[Stroehms]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Right, I understand. That sounds good though, hopefully because this was a December build it's something that was still being looked at afterward. I just feel the jump, similarly to the past two years, is far too instant when it really wants to get dark at night. Hopefully the retail version won't show the same thing.

I hope more people realize this plus it's a demo and a good chance to try out the Analog controls.

[WAZ]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

PROS:

+ I balked because I tried to hurry up my pitch and didn't let the pitcher get set. Cost me a run. Awesome.

+ Warm up pitches. One of those "Why didn't anyone think of that before?" additions. Get 8 pitches to get a feel for your pitches, which I assume also applies to relievers, even if they're "warm" when you bring them in? If so, perfect! It always takes me a few pitches to get used to a new pitcher's timing, release, etc, especially when going from a righty to a lefty.

+ Analog hitting. Will take some getting used to, but I like the feel.

+ Camera angles. Can't wait to put together highlights.

+ Batter timeouts.

+ Independent difficulty levels for hitting and pitching.

+ Some very cool new replay presentations, like a super slow-mo showing Lincecum's release on a strikeout.

+ Eric Karros sounds WAY better than Rex. I may just be turning off Dave Campbell this year.

+ Noticed some nice options for presentation/customization... keeping the effect of the throw meter on while turning it off visually... in-game ticker with several options (I assume it's just disabled in the demo even though the option is there?)... a few other new options I can't think of offhand.

+ Flow of the game seems dead-on. Player models and faces are much improved and everything for the most part looks great.


CONS:

- No "Manual" fielding, at least in the demo. On "Assisted", the fielders are very automated and in some cases require no user input at all in order to move several yards towards the ball and field it. Hopefully the full version has the full-manual fielding we heard about in previews.

- I'm not a big fan of the analog throwing. I'm just not precise and consistent enough on the right stick and the feel of it just isn't clicking with me. Probably be using good old button throwing this year, which is fine.

- Saw a few wonky animations and ball bounces, but nothing outrageous. I noticed with analog hitting, if you step too early you get a weird, fast toe-tap with some hitters (DeRosa was one, I think). I'm sure it's part of their step animation, but the way it animates sometimes when you pull back is off. Not a huge deal, but could be cleaned up.


Overall very good; the pros outweigh the cons and my guess is this demo was made using an older build while the retail version was still being tweaked and improved. My biggest issue is the lack of manual fielding we heard about, but hopefully that's in the full version.

[Lintyfresh85]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Analog pitching is a ton of fun.

Analog hitting is eh, in my mind... definitely going back to zone/timing... but I can't hit in any mode... so my opinion doesn't really matter.

I think for people that are a bit let down by the demo, while I understand where they're coming from... I've realized that there's not a ton left they can really do on this generation of consoles that can really 'shake things up' without tearing the game apart and starting over.

After all, it's the same thing every game. A guy standing 60 feet, 6 inches away throwing a ball to a guy with a bat. There's not a lot you can improve on in a yearly cycle.

Analog pitching is a real treat though, and I can't wait to see how it is with pitchers that have lower control ratings than others. (I hope that's a part of the game btw)

PROS:
- Saw a few wonky animations and ball bounces, but nothing outrageous. I noticed with analog hitting, if you step too early you get a weird, fast toe-tap with some hitters (DeRosa was one, I think). I'm sure it's part of their step animation, but the way it animates sometimes when you pull back is off. Not a huge deal, but could be cleaned up.

I think that's just DeRosa's swing. No matter when I did analog hitting with him, he did the crazy twitch toe tap.

[Smitty730]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

I'm not going to whine like so many others who are too lazy to accept change.
Yes, there's a learning curve, but it's appreciated. At its core, though, this is still the same MLB The Show... but better.

I smoke a liner to center field with Posey. CF made a diving catch, but it sure looked like the ball hit the grass.

Out came Bruce Bochy, who promptly argued the call with the second base umpire.

The graphics run a lot smoother on my HD. There's still a bit of a "darkness" to the game, but on the right settings, the game's lighting/graphics stand out.

Neat stuff.

[DJ]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Cons:
-Wife is sick, so I have to wait until she goes to bed or takes a nap to play the Demo.

Pros:
-Analog pitching is fun!

-Analog throwing is fun!

-Analog hitting is HARD ... but I like the challenge.

-Catcher View No. 5 is real nice. I will be using that as a base to create my Custom Batting Camera.

-Player models look good.

-I like the new graphics.

Not sure why people are expecting MLB 11 to be vastly different from MLB 10. Why re-invent what is already a solid base? SCEA has this thing going in a nice direction and the analog controls only make things better.

Now I just have to get the wife better so I can get some more time in with this demo

[nemesis04]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Now I just have to get the wife better so I can get some more time in with this demo

Extra Tyenol PM! You will have loads of extra demo time!

[WAZ]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

-Catcher View No. 5 is real nice. I will be using that as a base to create my Custom Batting Camera.

Same here, that's the one I settled on as well. I think if I pull it back a little it will be perfect. Great angle for reading the pitch.

[sink4ever]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Just some quick thoughts:

Hitting - Love that there's Timing Only for all difficulty levels. Analog is fun as well, but playing from broadcast makes it more challenging. Also, I LOVE the new Contact swing. Watch out, here comes Brett Gardner!

Pitching - Used Classic in the past, I've done only Analog in the demo. Incredibly rewarding, although I'm still struggling to hit my left/right spots. Could be my imagination, but it seems that the CPU hitters are more aggressive, especially on chasing pitches out of the strike zone.

Fielding - Wow, way tighter and more fluid. Huge upgrade with catcher blocking pitches in the dirt. The fielding animations have taken a big step forward, the ball physics and ball/glove interaction seem much smoother and more natural. I've thrown to homeplate several times from the outfield, and I don't think one bounced up to the catcher's right shoulder. The throws were online and low, right where they should be. Park seems "bigger", think there could be more extra base hits with balls hit in the gap.

[Golds]

Guys,

you have to remember this is a demo and should not be evaluated on how it plays, what's missing, or commentary etc. Russell even said in this thread a few pages ago (with a little frustration in his tone I sensed) that this demo was cut back in DECEMBER and has none of the endless details he discussed in the video interviews. The only reason they did this demo was to introduce the analog controls to the curious fan base. That's it. And even those are being criticized for the difficulty or even simply the fact that, ohhh nooo, you have to learn how to do something new. I welcome the new controls, especially the batting, because it represents what a swing's true mechanics of stepping in and timing. Of course it will be different and difficult in the beginning, as they say hitting a major league pitched baseball is the hardest thing to do of ANY sport.

[ImBaconBeckham]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

I really love the fact that he has his little kick every time he swings.

I bat like Hamilton when I play softball, so it was really cool to have that in the game. It was like hitting in real life since the timing was similar.

[cheechoo98]

Analog Hitting: Hard. - as per most of the impressions here.. will take some time to get used to...
But I've hit 3 HR's in 3 demo games so far.. not bad i guess!

That being said.. so.. when using the Analog Swinging, you don't have to worry about L-Stick bat on ball. Click L3 after every pitch, and you will see that your batter's PCI will go for the pitch automatically.

I'm not sure about the effect of loading my swing too early or too late just yet. I know in real-life, you want to time it perfectly.. i.e. get your front foot down and then start your swing all in one motion to the ball. What does it mean in this game if you load your swing waaaay early, plant foot, early, and then wait and swing.. or vice-versa, if you're late in the pre-loading swing.

I think this is important becasue each batter has a different 'length' of animation for their 'stride'. Some take longer than others i.e. Hamilton.. so you can't always get started at the same time - with each batter.

Batter Influence: if you hold R2 down and flick R-Stick Up or Down, you can select your Batter Influence as per previous games. except this time you can only select 'R2+Up', or 'R2+down' NOT flick 'R-Stick/Left' or 'R-Stick/R' now.

Analog Fielding/Throwing: I prefer button throwing over analog throwing.

Analog Pitching: I like it.. although I don't like looking at a meter when pitching. never have. That being said, I've noticed that the sweet spot in pitching is when the pitcher has the ball at the lowest point of his windup. I l like to just watch Lincecum's windup and use the 'animation' of where his hand is as my 'push up' point. I'll do that during the actual game as well.. I just like that kind of immersion better

Fielding Cameras: The same as last year, although, It says the 'Broadcast Camera' is pulled wider this year, but it's still not fantastic. It has a 'long lense', 'squished perspective' on some hits. Take a look at the latest 2K11 baseball video on this site: http://www.operationsports.com/news/...orado-rockies/

The fielding/ball-off-the-bat cam is fantastic. Sort of like the Japanese game: Pro-Baseball Spirits that everyone loves on this site: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEjVE...eature=related

I guess I like how in the 2K11 vid, that the ball is always in sight as well as the fielders. On all 3 HR's I've hit in the MLB11 Demo, they were long gone, but the cam was stuck on the 'Medium' cam just looking down at the shadow of the ball. It would be awesome, if the Broadcast cam would look at the ball and the field at the same time as per the 2K11 vid.

cheers.

[Dog]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

Still getting used to the new analog controls, but I love it.

[HeyYoCraig]

Re: MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

i've seen that the analog fielding hasn't been getting a lot of love from people on this forum. I, however, love the analog throwing. I have made no errors so far, but I'm just waiting for it to happen.

I don't like how you can't see a baserunner on second base's speed and br ability attributes anywhere