Re: What Does MLB 13 The Show Need to do Next Year to Satisfy Your Baseball Gaming Ne
I actually paid 200 for my PS3, brand new, at Best Buy, and this was over a year ago. Learn to shop around.
While I certainly appreciate any improvements, when it comes to my purchase decision, I honestly could care less about menus and interfaces, commentary, added features, soundtracks, trade logic, bla bla bla... At the end of the day, when I buy a sports game, my main expectation is for the physicality of the sport itself to be accurately and realistically represented. I'll sign for listening to Eric Karros for the rest of my entire life if it means the on-field baseball is the best it can be. So, in the order of importance:
First and foremost, I'd like to see the new ball physics improve. I think it's a great step but there's still a lot of holes. I don't like that only the sweet spot of the bat is represented properly. Where's the weak line drive off the end of the bat? The jammed ground ball out? I'd also like to see more line drives in general, and fewer "home run-trajectory" hits. I know home runs aren't explicitly defined by the hitting system, but the ball has too much vertical pop, too much hangtime.
2. Pitchers need to be wayyyyyyy less accurate. Pitches need to miss outside of the zone, in the dirt, etc... not every mis-executed pitch goes down the middle of the strike zone in real life. Outside of the Classic Pitching mechanic, it's impossible to produce realistic strike/ball/walk rates, unless you go out of your way to force it, which is silly.
3. I want an option where I can just press the base-steal button at the exact moment I want my runner(s) to break... The Early Steal feature we have currently is pretty bad, and unreliable. Just give us RTTS-style control over the runner's break.
4. Some of the random, small inaccuracies need to be fixed. CPU has amazing plate vision and defensive reaction time; pickoffs/base stealing need to be improved, Batters running right into the 1st basemen's tag on a drag bunt...
5. Speaking of bunts... uhh, yeah... bunts. The whole bunt system needs to be redone. Too many missed/pop-up bunts, the pull-back is too slow
6. I'd like to see a larger variety of errors. On nearly every play, you either get the out, or the ball goes flying into the next country. Some more middle ground would be nice. The fielder can just step off the bag (or jump) and catch an errant throw. An outfielder can have trouble transferring before a throw transfer can take longer, etc...
I'd also like to see fielders backing each other up more. In real life it's very rare the ball actually goes out of play or off-course somewhere. Most errors don't lead to extra bases, just missed outs.
Spectacular plays need to produce more errors. Behind-the-back double plays, I'm looking right at you!
7. The substitution interface needs re-done. I should be able to (easily) pinch-hit with Carlos Zambrano, even on an American League team. I should be able to switch defensive positions even during the offensive half of the inning (No, Matt Vasgersian, Derek Jeter is not staying in the game as the new center fielder, shut up.)
I should be able to pinch-hit for my DH, then lose the DH position. I should also be able to defensively switch the DH elsewhere, again, at the expense of having a DH.
I guess that's it, lol.
I actually paid 200 for my PS3, brand new, at Best Buy, and this was over a year ago. Learn to shop around.
While I certainly appreciate any improvements, when it comes to my purchase decision, I honestly could care less about menus and interfaces, commentary, added features, soundtracks, trade logic, bla bla bla... At the end of the day, when I buy a sports game, my main expectation is for the physicality of the sport itself to be accurately and realistically represented. I'll sign for listening to Eric Karros for the rest of my entire life if it means the on-field baseball is the best it can be. So, in the order of importance:
First and foremost, I'd like to see the new ball physics improve. I think it's a great step but there's still a lot of holes. I don't like that only the sweet spot of the bat is represented properly. Where's the weak line drive off the end of the bat? The jammed ground ball out? I'd also like to see more line drives in general, and fewer "home run-trajectory" hits. I know home runs aren't explicitly defined by the hitting system, but the ball has too much vertical pop, too much hangtime.
2. Pitchers need to be wayyyyyyy less accurate. Pitches need to miss outside of the zone, in the dirt, etc... not every mis-executed pitch goes down the middle of the strike zone in real life. Outside of the Classic Pitching mechanic, it's impossible to produce realistic strike/ball/walk rates, unless you go out of your way to force it, which is silly.
3. I want an option where I can just press the base-steal button at the exact moment I want my runner(s) to break... The Early Steal feature we have currently is pretty bad, and unreliable. Just give us RTTS-style control over the runner's break.
4. Some of the random, small inaccuracies need to be fixed. CPU has amazing plate vision and defensive reaction time; pickoffs/base stealing need to be improved, Batters running right into the 1st basemen's tag on a drag bunt...
5. Speaking of bunts... uhh, yeah... bunts. The whole bunt system needs to be redone. Too many missed/pop-up bunts, the pull-back is too slow
6. I'd like to see a larger variety of errors. On nearly every play, you either get the out, or the ball goes flying into the next country. Some more middle ground would be nice. The fielder can just step off the bag (or jump) and catch an errant throw. An outfielder can have trouble transferring before a throw transfer can take longer, etc...
I'd also like to see fielders backing each other up more. In real life it's very rare the ball actually goes out of play or off-course somewhere. Most errors don't lead to extra bases, just missed outs.
Spectacular plays need to produce more errors. Behind-the-back double plays, I'm looking right at you!
7. The substitution interface needs re-done. I should be able to (easily) pinch-hit with Carlos Zambrano, even on an American League team. I should be able to switch defensive positions even during the offensive half of the inning (No, Matt Vasgersian, Derek Jeter is not staying in the game as the new center fielder, shut up.)
I should be able to pinch-hit for my DH, then lose the DH position. I should also be able to defensively switch the DH elsewhere, again, at the expense of having a DH.
I guess that's it, lol.
Comment