The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

[Steve_OS]

Sony San Diego Studio and the audio team behind MLB 12 The Show is looking to beef up the audio side of the game. Kotaku has the scoop.

When Sony San Diego Studio needs to build a new major league ballpark for MLB The Show, they go to that ballpark, take hundreds of measurements and images, and spend about four months constructing it in the game. When they need new sounds you hear at that ballpark, they go to a minor league field.

[LingeringRegime]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

Say what you will, but these guys do it right.

[BwanaKuu]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

Say what you will, but these guys do it right.

If they wanted to do it right, they'd go to the major league parks. Minor league parks are going to sound different.

[Segagendude]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

SMH at the comments following that article.......

[tnixen]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

If they wanted to do it right, they'd go to the major league parks. Minor league parks are going to sound different.

Not that much different at all if any.

A ball pounding a glove and the crack of the bat is going to be the same in any ball park.

Now I guess there may be a small difference if its a Dome vs outdoor stadium.

Thats what I think anyway.

[Bobhead]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

I think the only real difference will be in the crowd. I've been to a minor league game and an MLB game, and it is like night and day. The MLB crowd sounds surroundy and overpowering (because the seating is so much more spread out, and the structure is larger and more complex), even if the game isn't sold out. A minor league game generally sounds like a smaller number of people, regardless of the actual attendance numbers, because the bleachers don't contribute to that large stadium/hall effect, plus it's usually bleachers in random places, but its rare the entire park is surrounded evenly by seating.

Just about any other sound effect I'd think would be exactly the same in either park/league, as long as they adjusted for the difference in pitch speed and bat speed (eg a MLB fastball is going to be faster, and thus slightly louder, than a minor league one).

And say what you will about knowing they don't go to actual MLB parks for sound, but another reality is that human ears are just not that sensitive. Production teams do this sort of thing all the time in movies, that large explosion or thunder crack could very well be a parachute or tin foil being shaken, etc... So you may disagree with their decision, but please don't let your argument degrade to singling them out for a practice that is all but ubiquitous.

[Blzer]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

The thing that I like about this article, and the article which preceded it involving the same event, is that this is something which normally just happens "behind the scenes" for us, something which we normally choose to neglect because the information is not that important.

In my opinion, if there are articles being released about this kind of information, and a website actually uses an author to take quotes and write out said story, I think this improvement is significant for the game's presentation front with regard to changes being made. I do hope we're in for a treat from that "staleness" we've felt with the game the past few years (I don't mean "blandness," I simply mean "same ol' same ol'").

Although, I do wish they were able to do this in a major league park for the overall crowd ambiance.

[Azamien]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

Does that minor league stadium have chain link fence behind the plate? Because that chain link sound on what should be nylon net has been bugging me every year.

I haven't seen chain link used since Little League, and even then the chain link had been replaced with nylon when they redid the fields a few years later.

The sounds in the game otherwise are stellar (although footstep sounds are a bit too loud) but they have gotta change the backstop sound.

[BwanaKuu]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

The thing that I like about this article, and the article which preceded it involving the same event, is that this is something which normally just happens "behind the scenes" for us, something which we normally choose to neglect because the information is not that important.

In my opinion, if there are articles being released about this kind of information, and a website actually uses an author to take quotes and write out said story, I think this improvement is significant for the game's presentation front with regard to changes being made. I do hope we're in for a treat from that "staleness" we've felt with the game the past few years (I don't mean "blandness," I simply mean "same ol' same ol'").

Although, I do wish they were able to do this in a major league park for the overall crowd ambiance.

Yea, the crowd noises are completely different. CBP during a tight game in the late innings? hard to talk to the person next to you.

They got the timing and rise and fall of the crowd down. Each pitch in a big at-bat making the crowd fall silent for a second before revving up again. But it just doesn't seem "loud" enough to me. Also, while they may be recording real baseball sounds, they sure don't sound as good as they do in real life. There is a very distinct and loud crack of the bat when a big guy crushes one. It's there in the Show but it needs some extra oomph added to it. That might be artificial, but somewhere in the conversion process the sounds lose a bit of their power.

I know this is frowned upon, but mlb2k11 got this stuff right. They also have slightly more varied crowd noises (although their crowd graphics are horrible). My dream game would be to take 2k11's presentation and sounds into MLB 11 and keep everything else the same. I might never player another game again. Also include the post-season mode from 2k11, I love being able to just jump in to the post-season without having to sim, hope your team makes it, sim again if they don't etc. and you get to setup who/where you play.

[tnixen]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

Does that minor league stadium have chain link fence behind the plate? Because that chain link sound on what should be nylon net has been bugging me every year.

I haven't seen chain link used since Little League, and even then the chain link had been replaced with nylon when they redid the fields a few years later.

The sounds in the game otherwise are stellar (although footstep sounds are a bit too loud) but they have gotta change the backstop sound.

I forgot about that I hope its been removed form MLB 12 The Show!

[Ghoste]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

Does that minor league stadium have chain link fence behind the plate? Because that chain link sound on what should be nylon net has been bugging me every year.

I haven't seen chain link used since Little League, and even then the chain link had been replaced with nylon when they redid the fields a few years later.

The sounds in the game otherwise are stellar (although footstep sounds are a bit too loud) but they have gotta change the backstop sound.

I can't stand the chain link fence sound either and hope it is addressed. I'd like them to have that loud 'boom' sound caused by the mic.

-ghoste

[BaylorBearBryant]

I love The Show. I really do. The commentating is vast and grand, but unfortunately I've gotten tired of that crew. The one thing I really want from The Show is another commentating team to choose from.

[tril]

they shouid go to Japan and add their stadium sounds. Their crowds are so much more lively.
just a commet but MLB crowds are just too conservative in general

[Blzer]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

they shouid go to Japan and add their stadium sounds. Their crowds are so much more lively.
just a commet but MLB crowds are just too conservative in general

Then it wouldn't be authentic.

There's a difference between wanting liveliness as an MLB stadium has it, and wanting liveliness for the sake of having liveliness. I couldn't imagine popping my game in and for some reason hearing crowd audio as if it was from a soccer game.

[nomo17k]

Re: The Sounds of The Show Come from the Minor Leagues

Then it wouldn't be authentic.

There's a difference between wanting liveliness as an MLB stadium has it, and wanting liveliness for the sake of having liveliness. I couldn't imagine popping my game in and for some reason hearing crowd audio as if it was from a soccer game.

This is so true. In fact, "snooty" baseball connoisseurs in Japan actually admire the MLB style of fans reacting to what actually happen in the field (they say that "Americans know how to truly appreciate the game" ...LOL). In Japan they take a baseball game more like a festivity than anything else, which is fine for its own sake... it's good baseball is so loved somewhere.

Still what's funny is that some American players who had played in Japan have said that they actually miss all the noises. I guess it pumps them up like a can of Red Bull...