[BA2929]

I'm very picky when it comes to baseball games as I played in college, so very little things usually annoy me more than others. Especially when it comes to "real" visual things and the little baseball nuances. Here are a few quick Pros and Cons from what I've seen from a few games of the demo:

Pros

1) Love the defensive swing. Really feels like I'm battling with the pitcher to get a pitch I want to swing at.
2) Batters eye. Reminds me of MVP 05's color system. Real baseball players (especially those at the MLB level) can see either the grip or the seams on the ball when it leaves the pitchers hand and is coming towards the plate. Video games can't achieve this so the Batters Eye system is probably as good as it can get.
3) Bunts. I've only done 2, but each time it felt like the Catcher had to actually make a play. In past games it has felt like a bunt is a waste of time as the catcher would be on the ball before the batter even got out of the box. Not so this year.... at least in the few attempts I've made.
4) I like the way the catcher sets up AFTER you select your location and begin your movement. I hated having to move him to the spot I wanted to throw to if I decided to go with a different pitch than the one he selected.
5) It's much easier to take pitches when batting than in previous years. I actually can tell if the ball is going to be out of the zone and it isn't a guess. Makes it much more fun to work the pitch count and really hack at something.
6) Love the new camera angle for steals at the base.
7) Swing analyzer is sweet.
8) Like the catcher view when trying to throw out a runner.

Cons
1) Why does the 95mph fastball from Joba look to have arc to it? It shouldn't. This really, really annoys me. I'm sure there will be an option to turn up pitch speed which might will help some.
2) Couldn't figure out how to change my defensive players on my own when the ball was hit into shallow OF and I was controlling an INF. Probably just a problem with me being an idiot.
3) A few times when an OF was picking up the ball on the run to fire to a base the animation had him facing the wrong direction and the ball flying opposite. Not a big deal really. As long as the ball goes to the right base I can deal with him acting like Mega Man.
4) Fielding animations seem a little jerky, but I can get over that if they respond to what I want them to do.
5) Sometimes the ball seems to fly really fast out of INFs hands no matter how fast their arm goes.


That's all for now and I'm enjoying the game so far. I'm really hoping the Franchise and My Player modes are solid. If they are, I'll ignore most of the minor things above. I'm just hoping it's playable this year. I was seriously considering buying a PS3 so I could play The Show, but I'll give this one a shot after the demo.