Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

[bellz666]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I know this may have been posted, but 52 pages is seriously tough to search.

The commentating in the game opening needs to be updated. Matt still introduces Yankee Stadium with the same lines as in 2009 when it actually was the brand new ballpark in the Bronx. After that "Soup" adds that it's going to take time for the players to learn the ins and outs of the new park. It's been three years, I'm sure people are fairly accustomed to the nuances of the new park.

[bellz666]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Challenge of the Week is like digital crack... it will take all of my willpower to avoid spending $20 a week just trying to get a top score.

Seriously, I'm purposely avoiding loading up my PS wallet.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Sigworthy.

BK look at the sig....LOL

[mva5580]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I like the game so far, they just do a great job of creating the feel of baseball with the entire package. There's just so much to like about the game as a whole.

I don't mind the analog hitting and pitching, although the hitting is just really kicking my butt. It's really going to take practice for me to get the hang of it, and that's time that I'm just not sure I have anymore. If anything I may slightly slow down the pitch speed, that in itself would probably help me a great deal. The analog pitching is nice, you are REALLY punished for mistakes. On All Star at least. I mean if you miss your spot.....the ball is going a long way.

As for analog fielding, I'm not a fan. At all. I've said it in another thread but I just find it to be far too exaggerated. Errors/bad throws should not happen that easily, I don't care what the rating is of the player making the throw. I'm pretty sure I'll stick with analog hitting/pitching, but fielding....forget about it.

[DJ]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

As this thread winds down its time for me to utter my two cents, which will probably be worth one-fourth of that.

I'm a 32-year old guy that took some time off from video gaming to get a second teaching endorsement. Finally this past December I threw my hat back in the ring when I bought a PS3 and MLB 10 The Show. I thought that was the best game ever...then comes MLB 11. Sorry MLB 10, IMO MLB 11 does enough for me plus introduces a few cool things to make this my favorite game.

I'm the first to admit, I am a hacker when it comes to the aspects of hitting. I do not have the greatest in reflexes nor the best hand-eye coordination. But I know when a challenge is presented, and the analog hitting I have had a tough time with. But, as I have read other threads here at OS...and it is true: hitting a baseball is the most difficult thing in sports. Consequently, you can't have cake and eat it too....so it breaks down what you want from the game: realistic or fantasy. That is what's awesome about video games, you ultimately can dictate how the game is played. I really like the analog hitting system...and know for me, practice will be vital for success.

What I really like is the analog pitching. I always thought pitching in video games in the past was easy for me - I could pinpoint where I wanted my pitches, and hit targets. This analog system throws away any accuracy I had. I do not recall having more 3-1, 2-2, 3-2 counts than in any other game. Usually I'd pitch to contact in hopes of a strikeout...but now, I just hope my pitches don't take up more plate, or let alone hit a portion of the plate....because IMO if you throw a mistake pitch, you should pay for it.

Those two things are the real selling points for me. I haven't divulged into other things like Franchise/Season yet, and probably won't until Knight and Co. complete the Minor rosters. In the meantime I'm killing time with the RTTS mode. I hardly scratched the surface of RTTS in the 2010 game, and don't understand why I didn't. I'm enjoying my 5-9, 210 1B named Mathias Krause tearing it up at Double A NW Arkansas. I finally earned a chance to start due to injury, and in my first start, I had 3 hits and 3 RBI...where on the bench, I was 4-for-22 with a run scored. If playing time actually increases attributes to hit and overall perform, that's dynamic and awesome.

I'm glad I used 3,000 Best Buy points to "buy" this for free - a super investment. Now I just have to find a way to get Tiger Woods 12....

You picked the right year to dive into RTTS with all the modifications they made to that mode. I'm getting ready to start my RTTS today, and I will be using Analog hitting for that. As for Franchise, I'm still on the fence as to what I will use, but I'm leaning towards Timing.

Glad you are enjoying the game.

[AnyKeyz]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

*English is not my primary language.

Couldn't resist to buy it once again. MLB 11 feels like 09 and 10, but I like the new additions. I am really better at bat with the pure analog swing that I was with buttons Love the fact that RTTS has been eased a bit (60 days before skills drop, more points, thanks to the new RTTS scoring system).

However, I had to switch back to buttons regarding fielding. As a SS, I have commited 8 errors in a row, trying to lob the ball to the 2nd base for a double play. I tried everything, barely pushed the stick, pushed it hard...Always led to an error.

Also, I have an hard time disabling the autosave feature. But when I started my RTTS from scratch, it was finally disabled (the first time around, even if it was disable in the options, the auto-save feature was still working at the end of games).

Finally, I know it has been pointed out, but Karros commentary sounds like a complete different soundtrack than his fellows, breaking a little bit the immersive experience.

I now think I have found the perfect settings for my RTTS and I will be hooked to this game for months now I am pretty sure Sony will address many issues with upcoming patches.

Conclusion, I am very happy with this new iteration, love the new HUD BTW

[countryboy]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I have a love hate relationship with the sports ticker.

I love it because of the immersion it brings to your franchise by seeing whats happening in other games.

I hate it because I find myself glancing down at it during at bats and not paying attention to the incoming pitch.

[Openroad_7]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I agree, I disabled mine while in games, when it would start to scroll it caught my eye and I didn't like that.

[Chairman7w]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

This is a great post, and should be stickied!! Great advice here!

The fact that you threatened to return the game in a public forum means you don't really want to return it. Thats the first step to recovery

You just need assurance you will eventually be able to hit.

I'm here to tell you that you will soon be giving advice to others who struggle to hit as your hitting gets better.

• Analog is simply a timing thing. It's much easier than Zone, so I'd start by sticking with analog hitting. Or, use timing.
• Drop the CPU Pitcher sliders for strike frequency and consistency to zero. Do the same with starters stamina. Good starters will still go deep in games but its a way to help tire them earlier
• Be very patient (Yes, I know its easier said than done) The more you swing at bad pitches the more you will get fed bad pitches
• Teach the CPU that you are willing to take the first pitch for a few batters. Then, shock and rock his a** by drilling that first pitch fast ball for a double to the gap
• Give the CPU a certain part of the plate and you decide what part is yours. Basically, decide where your comfort zone is and only swing at the pitches in that zone
• Study the pattern of the pitcher. Is he throwing the change up in the dirt every time he gets you to 2 strikes? Did you chase it? He'll throw it again until you prove you won't chase it. Just put the controller down and be willing to take strike three. Chances are he'll throw a ball and you'll see a better pitch later in the count. If he throws strike three, just tip your hat and remember.
• You really have to work the count by taking a lot of pitches and using the contact swing with 2 strikes and behind in the count. I've been stifled by really good starters for 5plus innings only to break through when they get tired
• Find the right batting camera for you, the one that lets you see the pitch best
• Try very hard to pick the ball up way earlier than you think you can. Don't watch the motion, watch the hand that holds the ball. I know that sounds strange but, trust me, it works. There will be times you will be able to tell your going to take the pitch as he releases it. This takes real concentration... but so does hitting in real baseball
• Drop the pitch speed a few clicks

I hope this helps. Stay with it brotha.

Never forget that, at the end of the day, hitting SHOULD be hard.

Hall of Famers fail 7 out of 10 times. The Show reproduces baseball so well.

[Amazin]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

MLB 11 The Show has re-captured many baseball gaming memories of the past that I never thought would return in just 1 brief day with the game.

I have owned every iteration of the game but what really sets this one apart from the others is the ability for custom cameras and so many different ways to control the different facets of the game such as pitching, hitting, defense, and base running.

I have set up the pitching camera to use an isometric view similar to the old Hardball! games and series to which the pitcher is in the lowest and right side of the screen pitching diagonally and upward towards the left and top of the screen to the batter and catcher.

For the fielding I use the highest cam to get a familiar feeling from World Series Baseball for the Sega Genesis and other older games from the past.

I have also replicated the hitting cam from the World Series Baseball series (an extremely zoomed in view) which combined with the "timing" hitting controls and "power, normal, and contact" swings really brings back memories.

I use the default base running controls.

With the use of "Pure Analog" controls for pitching and fielding with my preference of "timing" one button hitting controls, I have had the feeling of pure baseball gaming bliss for the first time since the days of the World Series Baseball series, Baseball Stars series, and RBI Baseball series before it.

First five games I played as the Mets vs the Athletics, Orioles, Cubs, White Sox, and Red Sox resulted in a 3-0 SHO win, a 10-2 blowout loss, a 3-1 loss, a 5-4 win, and a 12-9 11-inning loss respectively.

[ripwalk]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I feel the CPU throws more balls than last year but not enough for my taste. Plus, many of the potential balls are so close to looking like strikes that I end up making them strikes by swinging at them.

Here's what I did and I'm hoping you guys will test this out too:

Reduce the CPU Pitching Sliders - consistency, strike frequency, and I think one other - to zero (all the way to the left)

Select a team for you to use and select a team to oppose

Play 2 games (or a good portion of) against the same team but using that teams number 1 for one game and their 4/5 for the other game

Hopefully you'll still struggle against the 1 but not so much against the 4/5

You'll be surprised that the slider adjustment, although all the way down to zero does not hurt the cpu studs as much as you would expect. The biggest difference is that pitches that miss, miss by a greater margin so you can easier identify a "ball". Thats not to say the cpu pitchers don't throw close "balls" because they still do. But, every once in a while you get a break from straining your eyes with pitches that miss by a mile.

I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys find out from this because my test sample is only 4 games.

I would like to fully throw my support behind the idea of this slider adjustment. I have tested it for 7 or 8 games this morning and am really liking the early results.

Note I am on veteran hitting and it's definitely the weakest aspect of my game with analog controls (on Hall of Fame pitching and fielding) ....

Prior to this slider adjustment I was WAY too often seeing ALL starting pitchers against me rack up very very low pitch totals with a large number of strikeouts and not very many balls. This was in part due to my chasing balls off the strike zone and weaker stick skills but also due to the fact teh CPU pitchers (of all quality) were just around the plate too much and able to paint too much.

I had played a number of games with no slider adjustments facing off against weaker pitchers, hoping I would see the difference between aces and I'd be able to tee off, but for the most part I was being held to only a few runs and they would rack up a ton of strikeouts.

With this slider adjustment I would say the following:

+ I can now work the count and get into more favourable counts and more hitters counts (more so against weaker pitchers). Prior to the adjustment I was CONSTANTLY in 0-2, 1-2 counts and having to battle back.

+ I can now work walks. YES! So much more realistic!

+ Now that I know more balls are coming, I can be more patient and have become a better selective hitter for sure.

+ Can get pitch counts up to 90-100 in an inning earlier than the 8th or 9th. If you use a bit of patience, it's easy to get weaker pitchers working hard.

- Since there are more pitches being thrown, the games will take a bit longer, but that's not necessarily even a big negative if it makes more realism (won't take that much longer anyway, not a huge deal, and there's always fastplay).

Some people may look at this adjustment and think it's crazy and will make bad pitchers awful and good pitchers mediocre, not the case at all ... As I said I've played 7 or 8 test games now (just doing the batting) and here are some things I've found that should put people at ease.

+ This doesn't automatically make every bad pitcher terrible and doesn't mean you will always shell them. In one game I had the worst Pirates SP (can't remember his name, sorry) pitching against the Phillies (me). The SP held me down for five innings, scattering three hits and one walk and had a 4-0 lead. Then in the sixth he started to unravel a bit. He got two outs but walked two in a row to load the bases for Ryan Howard. He threw a 'get me over fastball' for the first pitch and I unloaded it for a grandslam to tie the game 4-4.

It seemed very realistic in that he was spinning a great game, but just couldn't get that last out to get out of what likely would have been his last inning (his pitch count was up over 90 I believe). At any rate, for a while I was being held down by him.

+ Sometimes you still have that FRUSTRATION of not being able to knock out a weak pitcher. I was playing a game that was Orioles (CPU) at Tampa Bay (me) and I sent the Orioles weakest SP to the mound( again can't remember name, sorry). From the word go it was obvious this pitcher wasn't fooling anyone. He was erratic with his control and anytime he grooved one it was getting hammered.

First inning I got runners to second and third and stranded them. Second inning I hit a two run homerun to make it 2-0. Third inning I pushed one run across to make it 3-0 and then had the bases loaded with one out and Manny Ramirez up to the dish. I sensed the 'knockout' even though it was only the third .... However, the SP made a good pitch and could Manny to chop one back to the Manny. 1-2-3 Doubleplay, and he gets out of the inning. DAMNNNNN.

He would settle down after that and pitch two more innings, giving up one more run, but exited at least keeping the game close. As it turned out my bullpen blew it and the Orioles came back to win... All because I couldn't get to this guy early and let him wriggle off!!

+ Elite guys will STILL be elite. - So I did a bunch of testing against BAD pitchers to see how this worked, it was time to try it against a GOOD pitcher. So I loaded up Phillies (CPU) against Texas (me) and sent Halladay to the mound for them. Well.... Halladay was Halladay. He went 7.1 innings, only allowed 2 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk (I was stoked to earn that one off him after a 7-pitch at bat) and ELEVEN K's!!

The difference between Halladay and the scrubs I had been facing was HUGE. I only had about two or three times where I even got the count to three balls against Halladay and the mix of his pitches kept me much more off balance.

I was able to square up a few balls but the Phillies played great D and I also just missed a couple I sent on deep flyballs.

Halladay was likely all set to go the distance, but he left a 1-2 curveball hanging (he had been killing me with curves all game and kept going back to it) and Mitch Moreland hit a 2-run shot to tie it 2-2 (and Halladay was replaced immediately afterwards, at about 105 pitches (65 or so for strikes).

Anyway, sorry for the long post but I am super stoked about how much more fun this slider adjustment makes the pitcher/hitter batter and how it helps seperate good pitchers from bad. I was sick of seeing bad CPU pitchers wrack up 9+ K's against me through like 7 innings, while only throwing 80 pitches, but I can say those days are likely gone!

I would recommend anyone try this adjustment IMMEDIATELY who:
- Has trouble working the count and drawing walks
- Isn't seeing realistic pitch count totals for starters throwing against them because there are too many strikes and/or close pitches.

Again I will say that this doesn't just turn bad pitchers into walk machines ... (I think the most walks I drew in one game was 4 or 5) ... But it does allow you to hit from ahead in the count more often and also for stuff to happen like a reliever coming into the game and walking two guys in a row, which is definitely possible in real life but didn't seem to ever happen on default sliders in this game (at least for me)

[RunN1st]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Amazin, you and I must be from the same era. I agree 100% with every point.

One more 'little thing' to add, when the ball hits a wall or the stands on a home run, you can feel a slight controller vibration which feels like a little reward for going deep! (I think this has been in prior versions/years but it's especially rewarding with analog hitting this year.)

[DGuinta1]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

The soundstrack sucks again this year. Only gripe! lol

[DGuinta1]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I can only imagine what this game must look like on a new TV. I use a 4 or 5 year old DLP TV. It's hot but wow on a LED must be amazing.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I have a love hate relationship with the sports ticker.

I love it because of the immersion it brings to your franchise by seeing whats happening in other games.

I hate it because I find myself glancing down at it during at bats and not paying attention to the incoming pitch.

I couldn't help but laugh when I read that.

I did the same thing last night, and Tommy Hanson's ERA is forcing me to sleep on the couch.