The First Round-Up is Out

[CheckMate]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
GTheorenHobbes said:
There's no way that ASB deserves a 7.2 and MVP a 9+. Unless the guy had his mind made up before he even played ASB. I own this year's MVP, and I think last year's ASB plays a much better game. I really kind've hope that MLB turns out to be the best of them all, though. The one thing still holding ASB back IMO is the bat/ball collision detection. (And it could use a little bit better replays).

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

The key words in your post were "I think". You think MVP doesn't deserve the 9, but the reviewer does. It doesn't make the reviewer wrong and you right. It doesn't make you wrong and the reviewer right. It means that there are different opinions. Why would he "have to have his mind made up before playing ASB"?

[HairyBeanbag]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
bkrich83 said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Better yet, maybe you guys at Acclaim are going about this game thing all wrong. I think maybe instead of listening to fans, and pouring your time and love into making the best game you can you should just fly the OS crew out to the Acclaim Ranch for a big BBQ with open bar and lots of schwag. Let them play around with the ASB 2006 prebuild for a few and who knows - next year maybe you guys will get the 93.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

So what is your point here?

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I don't think you can deny that press junkets and free trips go a long ways towards a review. Think about it. Joe Blow from some unknown website or magazine is sitting in his home-office one day when the phone rings... it's a representative from EA, saying that they are going to pay his way out to Vancouver, put him up in a nice hotel, wine him and dine him, show him the game before anyone else, and then fly him home so he can write up his game preview. They shower him with free t-shirts, nights out on the town, tours of their facility, and lots of attention. When Joe Blow gets home, he has one thought in his mind... that was the greatest trip I've ever gone on! Then, as he's thinking about his review, thoughts of next year start creeping into his head... I sure would like to go back and get all that free stuff and the jealous reactions from all my friends when I tell them about my trip... I mean, EA really made me feel like a big-shot. Whether they really liked the game or not, they are going to put themselves first and make sure that they are considered next spring when EA is opening up its pocketbooks and giving out the free trips. The reviewer may try to be sincere, but trips like that have a way of seeping into the subconcious. Next thing you know you've got reviews that proclaim a second-year game as the best baseball franchise of all time. They don't focus on a single bug or call out a single mistake. They call out the competition before ever playing a single game and say "I wish you could be more like MVP" when in reality they are saying "I wish you had treated me the way EA did".

[HairyBeanbag]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
bkrich83 said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Better yet, maybe you guys at Acclaim are going about this game thing all wrong. I think maybe instead of listening to fans, and pouring your time and love into making the best game you can you should just fly the OS crew out to the Acclaim Ranch for a big BBQ with open bar and lots of schwag. Let them play around with the ASB 2006 prebuild for a few and who knows - next year maybe you guys will get the 93.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

So what is your point here?

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I don't think you can deny that press junkets and free trips go a long ways towards a review. Think about it. Joe Blow from some unknown website or magazine is sitting in his home-office one day when the phone rings... it's a representative from EA, saying that they are going to pay his way out to Vancouver, put him up in a nice hotel, wine him and dine him, show him the game before anyone else, and then fly him home so he can write up his game preview. They shower him with free t-shirts, nights out on the town, tours of their facility, and lots of attention. When Joe Blow gets home, he has one thought in his mind... that was the greatest trip I've ever gone on! Then, as he's thinking about his review, thoughts of next year start creeping into his head... I sure would like to go back and get all that free stuff and the jealous reactions from all my friends when I tell them about my trip... I mean, EA really made me feel like a big-shot. Whether they really liked the game or not, they are going to put themselves first and make sure that they are considered next spring when EA is opening up its pocketbooks and giving out the free trips. The reviewer may try to be sincere, but trips like that have a way of seeping into the subconcious. Next thing you know you've got reviews that proclaim a second-year game as the best baseball franchise of all time. They don't focus on a single bug or call out a single mistake. They call out the competition before ever playing a single game and say "I wish you could be more like MVP" when in reality they are saying "I wish you had treated me the way EA did".

[HairyBeanbag]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
bkrich83 said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Better yet, maybe you guys at Acclaim are going about this game thing all wrong. I think maybe instead of listening to fans, and pouring your time and love into making the best game you can you should just fly the OS crew out to the Acclaim Ranch for a big BBQ with open bar and lots of schwag. Let them play around with the ASB 2006 prebuild for a few and who knows - next year maybe you guys will get the 93.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

So what is your point here?

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I don't think you can deny that press junkets and free trips go a long ways towards a review. Think about it. Joe Blow from some unknown website or magazine is sitting in his home-office one day when the phone rings... it's a representative from EA, saying that they are going to pay his way out to Vancouver, put him up in a nice hotel, wine him and dine him, show him the game before anyone else, and then fly him home so he can write up his game preview. They shower him with free t-shirts, nights out on the town, tours of their facility, and lots of attention. When Joe Blow gets home, he has one thought in his mind... that was the greatest trip I've ever gone on! Then, as he's thinking about his review, thoughts of next year start creeping into his head... I sure would like to go back and get all that free stuff and the jealous reactions from all my friends when I tell them about my trip... I mean, EA really made me feel like a big-shot. Whether they really liked the game or not, they are going to put themselves first and make sure that they are considered next spring when EA is opening up its pocketbooks and giving out the free trips. The reviewer may try to be sincere, but trips like that have a way of seeping into the subconcious. Next thing you know you've got reviews that proclaim a second-year game as the best baseball franchise of all time. They don't focus on a single bug or call out a single mistake. They call out the competition before ever playing a single game and say "I wish you could be more like MVP" when in reality they are saying "I wish you had treated me the way EA did".

[lnin0]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

My point is not about 'bribing'. My point is press junkets have a subconcious effect on reviewers and writers if they think that or not. Major sites like Gamespot won't allow any staff writersto attentd these type of events events, instead the senior people go and enjoy the free schwag.

Have you ever got into a fight with your girlfriend on the way to seeing some hit new comedy and when you come out of the movie you didn't think it was that funny. But if you had gone to the same movie laughing it up before hand over dinner then the movie seems that much better? That is the subconcious effect that occures when writers are 'wined and dined' by publishers.

I was merly implying that OS may have been a little overly happy when reviewing MVP. As a 'sports gaming authority' I find it a little ironic that the 93 they gave MVP currently outranks all other scores at gamerankings - including IGN and other sites that are notorious for handing out overly high scores. I mean, if the guys at IGN don't see the graphics, animation and all the other stuff as making this game a 93 then what else did OS see in it? From everything I read, if MVP made some mistakes it is with the fundamentals and the AI...the two exact things I would think a 'sports gaming authority' would critique the hardest.

Maybe not, maybe the OS guys just saw a ton of minut spot on baseball details that the other sites didn't pick up on. Who knows and who cares? I guess I just would like to see all the games get a fair shake - that is the reason I started coming to this site. To avoid overhyped sports games and reviewed dished out only on how fun a sports game is without ever taking accuracy into account.

[lnin0]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

My point is not about 'bribing'. My point is press junkets have a subconcious effect on reviewers and writers if they think that or not. Major sites like Gamespot won't allow any staff writersto attentd these type of events events, instead the senior people go and enjoy the free schwag.

Have you ever got into a fight with your girlfriend on the way to seeing some hit new comedy and when you come out of the movie you didn't think it was that funny. But if you had gone to the same movie laughing it up before hand over dinner then the movie seems that much better? That is the subconcious effect that occures when writers are 'wined and dined' by publishers.

I was merly implying that OS may have been a little overly happy when reviewing MVP. As a 'sports gaming authority' I find it a little ironic that the 93 they gave MVP currently outranks all other scores at gamerankings - including IGN and other sites that are notorious for handing out overly high scores. I mean, if the guys at IGN don't see the graphics, animation and all the other stuff as making this game a 93 then what else did OS see in it? From everything I read, if MVP made some mistakes it is with the fundamentals and the AI...the two exact things I would think a 'sports gaming authority' would critique the hardest.

Maybe not, maybe the OS guys just saw a ton of minut spot on baseball details that the other sites didn't pick up on. Who knows and who cares? I guess I just would like to see all the games get a fair shake - that is the reason I started coming to this site. To avoid overhyped sports games and reviewed dished out only on how fun a sports game is without ever taking accuracy into account.

[lnin0]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

My point is not about 'bribing'. My point is press junkets have a subconcious effect on reviewers and writers if they think that or not. Major sites like Gamespot won't allow any staff writersto attentd these type of events events, instead the senior people go and enjoy the free schwag.

Have you ever got into a fight with your girlfriend on the way to seeing some hit new comedy and when you come out of the movie you didn't think it was that funny. But if you had gone to the same movie laughing it up before hand over dinner then the movie seems that much better? That is the subconcious effect that occures when writers are 'wined and dined' by publishers.

I was merly implying that OS may have been a little overly happy when reviewing MVP. As a 'sports gaming authority' I find it a little ironic that the 93 they gave MVP currently outranks all other scores at gamerankings - including IGN and other sites that are notorious for handing out overly high scores. I mean, if the guys at IGN don't see the graphics, animation and all the other stuff as making this game a 93 then what else did OS see in it? From everything I read, if MVP made some mistakes it is with the fundamentals and the AI...the two exact things I would think a 'sports gaming authority' would critique the hardest.

Maybe not, maybe the OS guys just saw a ton of minut spot on baseball details that the other sites didn't pick up on. Who knows and who cares? I guess I just would like to see all the games get a fair shake - that is the reason I started coming to this site. To avoid overhyped sports games and reviewed dished out only on how fun a sports game is without ever taking accuracy into account.

[Bacardi151]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

The other games aren't out yet. A review done by someone does the make the game any better or worse for you. If i scored MVP or any other title a 30, because i just couldn't stand it, would that make everyone else feel that the game is just not good? As objective as a review tries to be, it is the opinion of how the person feels playing the game.
If the game makes you feel good about playing it, giving you that "gotta play one more time" feeling, why would it matter what a group of people say or think?

OS tries to be as non-bias as possible. But like everything else in life, what might affect you might not affect someone else. Sports gaming i beleive is somewhat like that. I mean you got people arguing over who's team is better in a sport all the time. It's like we all have the intelligence but lack the wisdom

quick example

a smoker: they know smoking is bad for them (+intelligence)
Smoker then continues to smoke (-wisdom)

Gamer: knows what an opinion is (+intelligence)
Gamer then continues to think that his opinion superceeds everyone else's(-wisdom)

Somewhere along the line we lost the ability to just have fun with games. Instead we are offended at the fact that someone rated the game we have gotten attached to feels that the game isn't that great. We nitpick everything, EVERYTHING ( the shoes a player wears for crying out loud)! To make our egos feel better we decide to attack the very next game that is trying to take the spotlight away from our game. Rinse, repeat.

Will this ever stop? Probably not. And it's a shame too, because that type of mentality creeps it's way into your daily lives.

I'll stop now, cause i am really going off on a tangent here. Bottom line, don't read reviews to see the final score, read reviews to see if what that person likes and dislikes matches what you want out of your game.

[Bacardi151]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

The other games aren't out yet. A review done by someone does the make the game any better or worse for you. If i scored MVP or any other title a 30, because i just couldn't stand it, would that make everyone else feel that the game is just not good? As objective as a review tries to be, it is the opinion of how the person feels playing the game.
If the game makes you feel good about playing it, giving you that "gotta play one more time" feeling, why would it matter what a group of people say or think?

OS tries to be as non-bias as possible. But like everything else in life, what might affect you might not affect someone else. Sports gaming i beleive is somewhat like that. I mean you got people arguing over who's team is better in a sport all the time. It's like we all have the intelligence but lack the wisdom

quick example

a smoker: they know smoking is bad for them (+intelligence)
Smoker then continues to smoke (-wisdom)

Gamer: knows what an opinion is (+intelligence)
Gamer then continues to think that his opinion superceeds everyone else's(-wisdom)

Somewhere along the line we lost the ability to just have fun with games. Instead we are offended at the fact that someone rated the game we have gotten attached to feels that the game isn't that great. We nitpick everything, EVERYTHING ( the shoes a player wears for crying out loud)! To make our egos feel better we decide to attack the very next game that is trying to take the spotlight away from our game. Rinse, repeat.

Will this ever stop? Probably not. And it's a shame too, because that type of mentality creeps it's way into your daily lives.

I'll stop now, cause i am really going off on a tangent here. Bottom line, don't read reviews to see the final score, read reviews to see if what that person likes and dislikes matches what you want out of your game.

[Bacardi151]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

The other games aren't out yet. A review done by someone does the make the game any better or worse for you. If i scored MVP or any other title a 30, because i just couldn't stand it, would that make everyone else feel that the game is just not good? As objective as a review tries to be, it is the opinion of how the person feels playing the game.
If the game makes you feel good about playing it, giving you that "gotta play one more time" feeling, why would it matter what a group of people say or think?

OS tries to be as non-bias as possible. But like everything else in life, what might affect you might not affect someone else. Sports gaming i beleive is somewhat like that. I mean you got people arguing over who's team is better in a sport all the time. It's like we all have the intelligence but lack the wisdom

quick example

a smoker: they know smoking is bad for them (+intelligence)
Smoker then continues to smoke (-wisdom)

Gamer: knows what an opinion is (+intelligence)
Gamer then continues to think that his opinion superceeds everyone else's(-wisdom)

Somewhere along the line we lost the ability to just have fun with games. Instead we are offended at the fact that someone rated the game we have gotten attached to feels that the game isn't that great. We nitpick everything, EVERYTHING ( the shoes a player wears for crying out loud)! To make our egos feel better we decide to attack the very next game that is trying to take the spotlight away from our game. Rinse, repeat.

Will this ever stop? Probably not. And it's a shame too, because that type of mentality creeps it's way into your daily lives.

I'll stop now, cause i am really going off on a tangent here. Bottom line, don't read reviews to see the final score, read reviews to see if what that person likes and dislikes matches what you want out of your game.

[bkrich83]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
HairyBeanbag said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
bkrich83 said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Better yet, maybe you guys at Acclaim are going about this game thing all wrong. I think maybe instead of listening to fans, and pouring your time and love into making the best game you can you should just fly the OS crew out to the Acclaim Ranch for a big BBQ with open bar and lots of schwag. Let them play around with the ASB 2006 prebuild for a few and who knows - next year maybe you guys will get the 93.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

So what is your point here?

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I don't think you can deny that press junkets and free trips go a long ways towards a review. Think about it. Joe Blow from some unknown website or magazine is sitting in his home-office one day when the phone rings... it's a representative from EA, saying that they are going to pay his way out to Vancouver, put him up in a nice hotel, wine him and dine him, show him the game before anyone else, and then fly him home so he can write up his game preview. They shower him with free t-shirts, nights out on the town, tours of their facility, and lots of attention. When Joe Blow gets home, he has one thought in his mind... that was the greatest trip I've ever gone on! Then, as he's thinking about his review, thoughts of next year start creeping into his head... I sure would like to go back and get all that free stuff and the jealous reactions from all my friends when I tell them about my trip... I mean, EA really made me feel like a big-shot. Whether they really liked the game or not, they are going to put themselves first and make sure that they are considered next spring when EA is opening up its pocketbooks and giving out the free trips. The reviewer may try to be sincere, but trips like that have a way of seeping into the subconcious. Next thing you know you've got reviews that proclaim a second-year game as the best baseball franchise of all time. They don't focus on a single bug or call out a single mistake. They call out the competition before ever playing a single game and say "I wish you could be more like MVP" when in reality they are saying "I wish you had treated me the way EA did".

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Funny thing is, we consistantly gave the HH scores in the low 90's also, even with all it's warts. Bottomline, at least for the reviewer, was the core gameplay was very very good, and the niggling issues there were didn't bring the gameplay down. Even back then, the one who really complained most about the review was an ASB fan, (who actually happened to be an Acclaim employee on the ASB dev. team, incognito.)

I also don't remember in the review where Shawn called out the competition. But unlike what you have stated, he has played all of the of the other games, with the exception of ASB I believe.

[bkrich83]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
HairyBeanbag said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
bkrich83 said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Better yet, maybe you guys at Acclaim are going about this game thing all wrong. I think maybe instead of listening to fans, and pouring your time and love into making the best game you can you should just fly the OS crew out to the Acclaim Ranch for a big BBQ with open bar and lots of schwag. Let them play around with the ASB 2006 prebuild for a few and who knows - next year maybe you guys will get the 93.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

So what is your point here?

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I don't think you can deny that press junkets and free trips go a long ways towards a review. Think about it. Joe Blow from some unknown website or magazine is sitting in his home-office one day when the phone rings... it's a representative from EA, saying that they are going to pay his way out to Vancouver, put him up in a nice hotel, wine him and dine him, show him the game before anyone else, and then fly him home so he can write up his game preview. They shower him with free t-shirts, nights out on the town, tours of their facility, and lots of attention. When Joe Blow gets home, he has one thought in his mind... that was the greatest trip I've ever gone on! Then, as he's thinking about his review, thoughts of next year start creeping into his head... I sure would like to go back and get all that free stuff and the jealous reactions from all my friends when I tell them about my trip... I mean, EA really made me feel like a big-shot. Whether they really liked the game or not, they are going to put themselves first and make sure that they are considered next spring when EA is opening up its pocketbooks and giving out the free trips. The reviewer may try to be sincere, but trips like that have a way of seeping into the subconcious. Next thing you know you've got reviews that proclaim a second-year game as the best baseball franchise of all time. They don't focus on a single bug or call out a single mistake. They call out the competition before ever playing a single game and say "I wish you could be more like MVP" when in reality they are saying "I wish you had treated me the way EA did".

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Funny thing is, we consistantly gave the HH scores in the low 90's also, even with all it's warts. Bottomline, at least for the reviewer, was the core gameplay was very very good, and the niggling issues there were didn't bring the gameplay down. Even back then, the one who really complained most about the review was an ASB fan, (who actually happened to be an Acclaim employee on the ASB dev. team, incognito.)

I also don't remember in the review where Shawn called out the competition. But unlike what you have stated, he has played all of the of the other games, with the exception of ASB I believe.

[bkrich83]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
HairyBeanbag said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
bkrich83 said:
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
Better yet, maybe you guys at Acclaim are going about this game thing all wrong. I think maybe instead of listening to fans, and pouring your time and love into making the best game you can you should just fly the OS crew out to the Acclaim Ranch for a big BBQ with open bar and lots of schwag. Let them play around with the ASB 2006 prebuild for a few and who knows - next year maybe you guys will get the 93.



<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

So what is your point here?

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I don't think you can deny that press junkets and free trips go a long ways towards a review. Think about it. Joe Blow from some unknown website or magazine is sitting in his home-office one day when the phone rings... it's a representative from EA, saying that they are going to pay his way out to Vancouver, put him up in a nice hotel, wine him and dine him, show him the game before anyone else, and then fly him home so he can write up his game preview. They shower him with free t-shirts, nights out on the town, tours of their facility, and lots of attention. When Joe Blow gets home, he has one thought in his mind... that was the greatest trip I've ever gone on! Then, as he's thinking about his review, thoughts of next year start creeping into his head... I sure would like to go back and get all that free stuff and the jealous reactions from all my friends when I tell them about my trip... I mean, EA really made me feel like a big-shot. Whether they really liked the game or not, they are going to put themselves first and make sure that they are considered next spring when EA is opening up its pocketbooks and giving out the free trips. The reviewer may try to be sincere, but trips like that have a way of seeping into the subconcious. Next thing you know you've got reviews that proclaim a second-year game as the best baseball franchise of all time. They don't focus on a single bug or call out a single mistake. They call out the competition before ever playing a single game and say "I wish you could be more like MVP" when in reality they are saying "I wish you had treated me the way EA did".

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Funny thing is, we consistantly gave the HH scores in the low 90's also, even with all it's warts. Bottomline, at least for the reviewer, was the core gameplay was very very good, and the niggling issues there were didn't bring the gameplay down. Even back then, the one who really complained most about the review was an ASB fan, (who actually happened to be an Acclaim employee on the ASB dev. team, incognito.)

I also don't remember in the review where Shawn called out the competition. But unlike what you have stated, he has played all of the of the other games, with the exception of ASB I believe.

[GTheorenHobbes]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
lnin0 said:
My point is not about 'bribing'. My point is press junkets have a subconcious effect on reviewers and writers if they think that or not. Major sites like Gamespot won't allow any staff writersto attentd these type of events events, instead the senior people go and enjoy the free schwag.

Have you ever got into a fight with your girlfriend on the way to seeing some hit new comedy and when you come out of the movie you didn't think it was that funny. But if you had gone to the same movie laughing it up before hand over dinner then the movie seems that much better? That is the subconcious effect that occures when writers are 'wined and dined' by publishers.

I was merly implying that OS may have been a little overly happy when reviewing MVP. As a 'sports gaming authority' I find it a little ironic that the 93 they gave MVP currently outranks all other scores at gamerankings - including IGN and other sites that are notorious for handing out overly high scores. I mean, if the guys at IGN don't see the graphics, animation and all the other stuff as making this game a 93 then what else did OS see in it? From everything I read, if MVP made some mistakes it is with the fundamentals and the AI...the two exact things I would think a 'sports gaming authority' would critique the hardest.

Maybe not, maybe the OS guys just saw a ton of minut spot on baseball details that the other sites didn't pick up on. Who knows and who cares? I guess I just would like to see all the games get a fair shake - that is the reason I started coming to this site. To avoid overhyped sports games and reviewed dished out only on how fun a sports game is without ever taking accuracy into account.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">



I hate to bash EA, and I certainly would never bash OS. I can remember the days of having to get info on the new baseball/football/hockey games once a month from the new magazines. But I agree with IninO, in that I would just like to see all the games get a fair shake...especially here at OS. A lot of the same guys who find MVP's batting to be "challenging" were on ASB's boards last year saying it was "too hard to hit."

The reviews I've seen of MVP have not necessarily ignored some of MVP's flaws and bugs, just severely downplayed them. "Yeah, guys warm up in the 4th inning for no apparent reason, but it's not a big deal to me." "Yeah, the game has a cartoony look to it, but the animations and replays are fantastic." "So half of the players in MVP have generic batting stances and player faces that look nothing like the real players. So what. I can always go in and edit their stances if I don't like them." Everyone's entitled to their opinion, of course. It just can be a little frustrating seeing some of the same guys give EA/MVP some breaks that they don't also give to other games. Twenty years of playing videogames has taught me that this leads to good game companies going out of business. And the last time that happened, EA decided to take a few years off. (See Triple Play 96-2002). I don't want to see that happen again.

[GTheorenHobbes]

Re: The First Round-Up is Out

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
lnin0 said:
My point is not about 'bribing'. My point is press junkets have a subconcious effect on reviewers and writers if they think that or not. Major sites like Gamespot won't allow any staff writersto attentd these type of events events, instead the senior people go and enjoy the free schwag.

Have you ever got into a fight with your girlfriend on the way to seeing some hit new comedy and when you come out of the movie you didn't think it was that funny. But if you had gone to the same movie laughing it up before hand over dinner then the movie seems that much better? That is the subconcious effect that occures when writers are 'wined and dined' by publishers.

I was merly implying that OS may have been a little overly happy when reviewing MVP. As a 'sports gaming authority' I find it a little ironic that the 93 they gave MVP currently outranks all other scores at gamerankings - including IGN and other sites that are notorious for handing out overly high scores. I mean, if the guys at IGN don't see the graphics, animation and all the other stuff as making this game a 93 then what else did OS see in it? From everything I read, if MVP made some mistakes it is with the fundamentals and the AI...the two exact things I would think a 'sports gaming authority' would critique the hardest.

Maybe not, maybe the OS guys just saw a ton of minut spot on baseball details that the other sites didn't pick up on. Who knows and who cares? I guess I just would like to see all the games get a fair shake - that is the reason I started coming to this site. To avoid overhyped sports games and reviewed dished out only on how fun a sports game is without ever taking accuracy into account.

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I hate to bash EA, and I certainly would never bash OS. I can remember the days of having to get info on the new baseball/football/hockey games once a month from the new magazines. But I agree with IninO, in that I would just like to see all the games get a fair shake...especially here at OS. A lot of the same guys who find MVP's batting to be "challenging" were on ASB's boards last year saying it was "too hard to hit."

The reviews I've seen of MVP have not necessarily ignored some of MVP's flaws and bugs, just severely downplayed them. "Yeah, guys warm up in the 4th inning for no apparent reason, but it's not a big deal to me." "Yeah, the game has a cartoony look to it, but the animations and replays are fantastic." "So half of the players in MVP have generic batting stances and player faces that look nothing like the real players. So what. I can always go in and edit their stances if I don't like them." Everyone's entitled to their opinion, of course. It just can be a little frustrating seeing some of the same guys give EA/MVP some breaks that they don't also give to other games. Twenty years of playing videogames has taught me that this leads to good game companies going out of business. And the last time that happened, EA decided to take a few years off. (See Triple Play 96-2002). I don't want to see that happen again.