[budsticky]

I'm very excited about this game, but at the same time I'm a little pessimistic. There is so much that goes into a baseball game like this. Just the on the field stuff is hard to accurately represent with all the different variables that come into play for the AI managers: proper bullpen usage, reasonable pinch-hitting and running, on the field strategy etc.. Even games like OOTP that have been around for years continue to enhance these aspects year after year without ever quite making the detail oriented baseball fans perfectly happy. Throw in the fact that you have 30 different managers with different tendencies and you've got quite a project on your hands.

Then you have the incredibly complex world of the general manager and all the rules governing players behind the scenes which is probably more daunting for a programmer than the on the field stuff.

Lets not forget that you need good career progression for a career based sim game as well. There has to be a variety of realistic career arcs, everything from the can't miss prospect that never gets out of the minors all the way up to the late round pick that ends up in the hall of fame and everything in between.

Again, I'm very excited for this game, but I'm definitely going to wait a little while to pick it up. It would be so easy for a game like this to ship with a couple game killers for a die hard baseball fan like me..and it's the die hard that this game seems to be aiming for. Since this is a first year effort I'm a little bit tentative. Hopefully it is a gem though.