Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

[Garrett67]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

After setting things up (practice, adjust to Veteran)

Playing my Tigers at Yankees


Team broadcast pitching cam, a thing of beauty

Rain, a thing of beauty. It almost gives the impression that you're playing at night under the lights and the smoke hasn't cleared yet from fireworks or something.

Catcher Cam 5 (batting), a thing of beauty.


Those are my impressions, at the end of 1 inning.

[metal134]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

So we STILL can't view teams stats by league. No looking at AL/NL breakdown, Eastern League/Southern/Texas league breakdowns, etc. Just 1-30. Really wish this would get changed.

[B Easy]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

One thing I really liked what they did this year was change the back drop to white on the main screens and stat overlays. It gives the game a "spring/summer" feel to me with the bright colors.

I'm still torn on whether to use the analog pitching and hitting or stick with the meter and timing. To me, why fix what's not broken? By now I'm used to those controls. I do like the analog pitching, but it also seems kind of silly to me. I felt like I had more control using the meter.

The analog hitting is a nice touch and while I haven't gotten it down completely yet, I can see myself testing it out on a few more games.

The overall attention to detail in this game amazes me. I was using Strasburg last night and Dave Campbell says something alone the lines of "Maybe I'm missing something but this guy is back really early from elbow surgery." After I heard that, I was like this game really goes above and beyond.

[Skyboxer]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Ok I hate to do this but I want to get a lot of games in and frankly OS is addicting to read all impressions etc.. I'm shutting down laptop for a while lol

Finally got all souns done and am close to accepting some settings..... want to wrap that up and start RTTS.

Have fun guys! AWESOME GAME!!

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

I'm going to play devils advocate here and say while yes it is a fantastic game, it isn't the step up it should be. To me it's '09 with a facelift and some minor improvements.

-I'm a stats whore and The Show's overlays are starting to become very stale and not in depth enough

-What a waste of time getting in a new commentator, then giving him the exact same lines as the guys he's replacing! Seriously?!? Commentary needs a complete overhaul

-I created a CP for RTTS, but i seem to be waiting for the game to load/save more than i do playing the game. Terrible load and save times

But in saying that, i haven't stopped playing since i got it!

Cheers!

Those were my impressions on 2010. But after demoing this game......a new ballgame IMO.


Will post impressions tomorrow after playing some exibition games.

1 hour till the eagle lands.

[DJ]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

These are very early impressions, as I've only played 1 game so far:

-Graphics are a thing of beauty. The retail looks a lot better than the Demo. The player models are really solid (good works, guys!) and the stadiums "pop" even more thanks to the new dynamic lighting.

-Analog controls are fun! It is SO rewarding when you connect on a long fly in this game now, as opposed to just using the buttons. I hit a 2-run HR to LF with David Wright and literally jumped out of my chair afterwards. I really like how the controls are implemented; the pitching is smooth (rock-and-fire, baby) and the fielding is nice, although you really need to pay attention to where you aim the R-stick. I made 3 errors in 1 inning and it cost me 5 runs. I cleaned things up after that, thankfully.

-The new batting cameras are NICE! I am loving Catcher #4. I was able to draw 3 walks against C.C. and that was on All-Star with no changes at all to the sliders. I don't know if I ever had a 3-walk game in MLB 10.

-The Broadcast cameras for pitching are also a thing of beauty.

The only negatives I've seen so far:

-For some reason, at various times, you will see the batting options for Power, Contact, Normal swing when you are pitching. It usually goes away after 2-3 pitches, but it shouldn't be popping up at all when I'm on the mound.

-Someone at SCEA must have it in for the Mets. Mike Pelfrey went down with an arm injury in the first inning of my game against the Yankees. Knight, is this the developers' way of paying you back for all of your harping about MOM mode? (just kiddin' guys).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I lost my first game 8-5 to the Yankees (I was the Mets), and like I said above, that was largely due to the 3 errors I made early in the game. Otherwise, I couldn't be more pleased with this game.

SCEA San Diego, you guys have done it again. Thanks so much for producing an outstanding product.

[aga11ah]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

wow.. this game is difficult but I like it. gotta get better..

lost 7-6 to the Marlins.. made a good comeback after being down 6-2 and tied it up at 6 (Jurrjens got shelled for 6 runs early)

Mike Stanton owns my soul apparently. He was 4-4 with 2 bombs.

I did hit two bombs with Heyward so that was awesome...

next game I lost a 1-0 pitching duel to Garza with Carpenter. 3 warning track fly balls in the 9th. so close but oh well...

[Kearnzo]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Strasburg is unbelievable in this game. Struck out the side in the first, and through 3, had 7 K's. Wound up going 7 innings, 12 K's, 1 ER.

Too bad Bud Norris shut me down.

[swaldo]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Physics of pitched balls in flight seem off. In MLB 09 & 10 a breaking ball thrown with maximum power would result in a pitch with slower speed but more movement. This year it's the opposite: more power = faster speed AND more movement.

To me this doesn't make sense. For example the average major league curveball speed is around 75 mph. If you add more velocity the result will be a flatter curve with less vertical drop but more horizontal movement. If you reduce velocity you'll get more drop with less horizontal movement.

The reason the average curveball speed is 75 mph is most likely because that is the speed at which a pitcher can place the maximum amount of spin while maintaining control. If you add velocity you're basically changing a curveball to a slurve. Throw it even faster and a slurve turns into a slider. Again more speed = less curve, more horizontal movement.

Last year the game had it right. Throw a 72 mph curve and it would have more vertical movement; while an 80 mph curve would kinda be a hanger. In my mind it doesn't feel right watching a slower curveball flatten out because I'm expecting it to drop down. MVP baseball also had it right. In that game you'd have a rated speed which was optimal. Let's say a pitcher had a 76 mph curve, if you missed your spot on the release the velocity would increase and you'd hang one.

Also, if you edit a pitchers ratings you'll see that you can set their fastball speed in the range of 80-99 mph. However, if you want to edit a changeup your choices are between 88-70 mph. Notice the higher you go the less speed you get. That's because the game understands a slower changeup is basically more effective than a fast one. But use a changeup in the game and the faster speed is most effective. The slower changeup will have less vertical drop which defies physics.

Another example: A forkball is basically a knuckleball thrown hard like a fastball (it's not supposed to have spin.) A 90 mph fork should have less break than an 85, but in this game it has more. There's no spin applied so how is this possible? You can argue the faster one is a better pitch to induce groundball outs because it will look more like a fastball and have a later break, but the slower pitch will drop more! This is why Phil Niekro threw a 30 mph knuckleball - because it danced like crazy.

Speaking of which, I went into practice with Dickey and his knuckleball just looks like a slow curveball. There is no "dance" or unpredictable movement. I was able to throw strikes every time with it by aiming in the center. In reality I think most knuckleball pitchers always aim center but have no clue where it's going to end up. Having the ball end up close to where I was aiming is also not right.

One more thing: why is the speed of pitches thrown high in the zone faster than balls thrown low in the zone?

[br329]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

This game is amazing!!! To bad I suck (Can't hit to save my life) but I expected that lol. Anyway I'm sure I'll get the hang of it! Awesome job guys!

[Segagendude]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Physics of pitched balls in flight seem off. In MLB 09 & 10 a breaking ball thrown with maximum power would result in a pitch with slower speed but more movement. This year it's the opposite: more power = faster speed AND more movement.

To me this doesn't make sense. For example the average major league curveball speed is around 75 mph. If you add more velocity the result will be a flatter curve with less vertical drop but more horizontal movement. If you reduce velocity you'll get more drop with less horizontal movement.

The reason the average curveball speed is 75 mph is most likely because that is the speed at which a pitcher can place the maximum amount of spin while maintaining control. If you add velocity you're basically changing a curveball to a slurve. Throw it even faster and a slurve turns into a slider. Again more speed = less curve, more horizontal movement.

Last year the game had it right. Throw a 72 mph curve and it would have more vertical movement; while an 80 mph curve would kinda be a hanger. In my mind it doesn't feel right watching a slower curveball flatten out because I'm expecting it to drop down. MVP baseball also had it right. In that game you'd have a rated speed which was optimal. Let's say a pitcher had a 76 mph curve, if you missed your spot on the release the velocity would increase and you'd hang one.

Also, if you edit a pitchers ratings you'll see that you can set their fastball speed in the range of 80-99 mph. However, if you want to edit a changeup your choices are between 88-70 mph. Notice the higher you go the less speed you get. That's because the game understands a slower changeup is basically more effective than a fast one. But use a changeup in the game and the faster speed is most effective. The slower changeup will have less vertical drop which defies physics.

Another example: A forkball is basically a knuckleball thrown hard like a fastball (it's not supposed to have spin.) A 90 mph fork should have less break than an 85, but in this game it has more. There's no spin applied so how is this possible? You can argue the faster one is a better pitch to induce groundball outs because it will look more like a fastball and have a later break, but the slower pitch will drop more! This is why Phil Niekro threw a 30 mph knuckleball - because it danced like crazy.

Speaking of which, I went into practice with Dickey and his knuckleball just looks like a slow curveball. There is no "dance" or unpredictable movement. I was able to throw strikes every time with it by aiming in the center. In reality I think most knuckleball pitchers always aim center but have no clue where it's going to end up. Having the ball end up close to where I was aiming is also not right.

One more thing: why is the speed of pitches thrown high in the zone faster than balls thrown low in the zone?

You just saved me $60, Professor.

[DGuinta1]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Would be cool if the CF would call off the other fielders to make the play.

[N51_rob]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Just did the challenge of the week. Its a fun mode. I enjoyed it. It is button only and I didn't see an option to go to analog. First one is Joe Mauer vs CC Sabathia at Target Field. The first time I fell behind 0-2 because I was tyring to swing the the stick. You start off on the "Rookie" difficulty as you continue your streak you progress to "Vetran" and "All-Star". I assume it keeps going but I never got higher that AS. As the level increases so do your points I beleive. Funny thing it took me a while to get going on rookie. Your strikes carry over so, just know that no matter how man balls you take the strikes carry over.

At first glace it's kinda like HR Derby or practice mode. CC is pitching and you are trying to rake. The scoring system favors the hot streak. My second time through (I bout 5 tries for $1 not a bad value if I was good or thought the prize was something I really wanted.) I got going a bit and managed to get around 160,000 points before I got an out or took a strike. Yes taking a strike will cause you to have to start your streak over again. But that little rally did pay some dividends. (I'll show those later:wink

At the end of the round there is a nice little spray chart that shows what you did that round. It's a nice visual to see. I liked it. All in all I think the mode is pretty cool.



I did manage to get a nice streak going and even got into the Top 10 of the leader board!



That said unless the prize is a week staying at Adam Jones' house I will probably never spend a lot of money on the mode. But it is good fun and you can really get going. The #4 guy had 30 attempts! (Must be a Mauer fan) So this mode may not be for me to try to win a prize but it's good just to see where you stack up in "The Show Nation".com.

[Shauk25]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

Wow being able to choose how you want to hit online and pitch.

Choosing which camera

Being able to use analog pitching online with broadcast cam is well

Worth the price of admission.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Re: Official MLB 11 The Show - Impressions Thread

After playing another game at lunch today, my Job is 5 minutes from my Job and my Wife, looked at me funny yesterday today, "LIKE AGAIN" LOL....

This game is just a masterpiece. I love Analog hitting, I have hit more Home runs with analog then ever with the buttons.


The game is just Eye Candy!!!!!