Category Archives: baseball

Random Thoughts: 3-29-12

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Excuse me for my absence from JK Gaming and Sports this week.  Wife is out of town, I’m shuttling kids to school and my Little League team began practicing this week.

-  In the minimal free time I’ve had recently, I sat down to try out the Tiger Woods ’13 demo.  In short, I mostly enjoyed it.  The difficulty has been improved tremendously and it feels like you actually earn every shot you succeed at, something that wasn’t true of any previous iteration.

-  I’ll no longer be PS3-less next week.

-  I can’t possibly be the only one who didn’t know that MLB played regular season games in Tokyo right?  I’m super thrilled for all the great opening games next week, but it seems like no one told me that Seattle and Oakland were playing a pair.  Then again, it is Seattle and Oakland….so….

-  The NHL playoffs are less than 2 weeks away and I cannot wait to break down all of the match ups, stay tuned.

-  The NFL made minor rule changes but the most significant is that regular season overtimes will now use the 2 year old playoff overtime rule.  No longer can you kick a field goal on the first possession of OT and win.  Now if we can just eliminate ties in the NFL.  It’s funny that the NHL, a league that was notorious for having ties, eliminated them but the NFL still has them on occasion.

-  Finally, it is Final Four weekend.  Enough said.

MLB 12: The Show 2nd Impressions

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As I fall more and more into routine with this game, it has become extremely familiar to it’s predecessors.  I’m also loving it more and more.

I’ll start with ball physics that are making things happen that I didn’t see in previous iterations.  Balls in the dirt bounce much more unpredictably when the catcher attempts to block them.  No longer are we forced to endure the ball going completely to the backstop or bounce right in front of the catcher.  I’ve seen the ball go to several different spots from in front of the catcher, to the side, straight up, and half way back.  It’s a great variety with runners on base as it makes you decide whether to advance or not…a decision that was obvious last season.

Off the bat, the ball continues to amaze me as well.  The back spin on the ball is incredible when it hits the ground.  It’s also good on come-backers to the pitcher.  I had the bases loaded with 1 out and hit a one hopper back to the mound.  It hit the pitcher and bounced to his left where the first baseman picked it up and tossed it to the plate for the force out.  Very cool if you ask me.

I’ve continued to play Diamond Dynasty and am disliking it more and more.  It’s an overwhelming mess when it comes to the setup.  There seems to be no organization to the mode.  It is such a hassle to put players into your lineup, move them to and from reserves, and manage your Major Leaguers.   It’s also ridiculous that your starting pitchers lose a game played when they aren’t starting, thus making rotations meaningless.

I tried an online DD game for the first time and it was horrid.  While the lag honestly wasn’t bad at all, there is a massive delay in the timing when it comes to swinging.  This is completely unacceptable.  Anything shy of offline timing isn’t good enough.  How can you play baseball like this?  If you aren’t swinging before you know where the pitch is, you’ll be late and miss.  This leads to the pitcher throwing nothing but pitches way out of the zone because they know you’ll have to swing if you want to make contact.  By the 3rd inning, it’s simply a random guessing game with no skill involved.  The Show’s weakest spot has always been online play and this year appears to be no different.  What a shame.

I think it’s great that the classic stadium pack continues to be unlocked for those who paid for it in previous games.  I bought it in MLB 10 and they were unlocked last year and this year as well.  Why can’t other companies follow suit….I’m looking at you EA Sports’ Tiger Woods PGA.

I jumped into a play now game (I won’t start a franchise until Operationsports.com’s full minors rosters are released in a few weeks).  I played Oakland at Chicago Cubs with me controlling the Cubbies.  I used analog pitching, analog + zone hitting, and everything on All-Star.  I also lowered a few sliders one click, mostly everything that has to do with speed.

I got destroyed 5-0 but I left a lot of runners on base.  I was also trying out a few things that I wouldn’t have done in a franchise game.  Unlike a lot of gamers, I want the game to be as difficult as possible and present the biggest challenge without feeling like I was cheated.  Winning 120 franchise games means the difficulty is not hard enough.

As before, you can save the game highlight reel to your PS3 dashboard and upload to youtube.  Check it out:

I still have yet to play a co-op game, but the remainder of time before I start my franchise will be dedicated to finding the perfect sliders and trying to endure Road to the Show games.  I’ll also try to improve my Challenge of the Week status.

So far so good when it comes to MLB 12.  This game continues to get better and better and is showing why it is the premiere baseball game every single year.

Initial MLB 12: The Show Impressions

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Well the day is officially upon us and MLB 12: The Show is available on Playstation 3 and PS Vita.  I’ll be talking solely about the PS3 version of course.

Upon inserting the Blu-Ray, I was asked if I would like to install 10 GB of the game to the PS3 hard drive.  It would significantly reduce loading times I was told.  Thankfully I had other chores and activities to tend to because it took roughly 20 minutes to install.  If you played MLB 11, you know that the loading times were abysmal and possibly worse than any game I’ve ever seen.  While I didn’t play prior to installing, a few menus and a quick RTTS game showed exactly how much better it was in comparison to last year’s game.

The Show has always had great audio clips and opening videos featuring key moments from the previous season of Major League Baseball.  I was treated to a 2-3 minute video of the sequence of events that led up to what many consider the greatest night in regular season history.  I’m of course speaking of the wild card races in the AL and NL.  Watch it, it is spectacular and a pleasant reminder of how great this sport can be.

Any time I pick up a new game, I go into the options menu.  I like to see everything that is available so I know what I can and cannot tweak.  I immediately notice how familiar everything is and I adjusted a majority of settings to what I had last year.

MLB 12 features a new way to pitch and hit (to a lesser extent).  I tried the new pulse pitching in practice mode.  I feel like I gave it a good chance and I’ve come to the conclusion that I would get a massive headache if I had to endure pulse pitching over the course of an entire game.  I’m sure someone will enjoy it, however I am not one of them.   I’ll stick to last year’s analog pitching that I liked.

As for the change in hitting, it’s a combination of pure analog controls (introduced last year) and zone hitting, which utilizes the left thumb stick.  This was asked about a lot from the community and SCEA delivered.  If you enjoy analog hitting, this gives you full control of where the bat goes.  Turn the PCI on and you can see exactly where the bat enters the zone.  This is a lot to try and do and with a little practice, I hope to be able to use this mode.

Next, I jumped into Road to the Show.  RTTS is what all other sports games now have a version of.  You control one player, start him in the minors, and try to reach the big leagues.    I’ll admit, I become less and less interested in this mode every year.  There simply isn’t enough to keep me coming back.

The one RTTS feature I’ve been clamoring for is the ability to see every pitch in the field.  SCORE!  You can now see and attempt ONLY your at-bats, and play every pitch in the field.  After playing this way a couple of times, I felt the games took too long.

I then tried a game with “Result pitch only.”  This showed every single at bat in the game, but only the final pitch of each at bat.  Unfortunately, it meant I had to sit in the dugout and watch my teammates make out after out.  The fielding was great because it went by faster than seeing every pitch, but still kept you on your toes not knowing if you were getting the ball.

My ideal RTTS setup would be seeing the “result pitch” in the field and just my at bats on offense.  SCEA, make it happen next year.

As a former Challenge of the Week winner, I had to jump into this mode and give it a go.  This year it is now completely free so everyone has the same chance to win.  This week features Adrian Gonzales at Fenway, versus C.C. Sabathia.  I immediately noticed the very low scores on the leader board and groaned.  The bonuses are extremely difficult to obtain and the pitcher is filthy.  This is a lethal combination.

Last year’s game had noticeable lag spikes and times while playing CotW.  It has been smooth sailing this year (a great sign for online play).  I already have a huge complaint and it is a complete lack of feedback after each pitch.  I have tried every button combination and am unable to pull up the feedback window.  This is essential to me as it shows me the pitch thrown, my exact timing, and it shows me precisely how I can adjust.  Because of this, I felt like I had no patience at the plate.  I struggled mightily and never felt like I had a chance to compete.  Everything else looked and felt the same, but the fact that I was terrible leads me to believe that I’m extremely rusty, or the lack of feedback is killing my confidence.

So it was on to attempt Diamond Dynasty.  You are told to create the home town of your team, its nickname, abbreviation, and colors.  I went with what I typically go with it games like this, the Fort Wayne Vipers.  However, after clicking ok, I was told this name was already taken.  WHAT?  Someone actually used Fort Wayne Vipers?  So I went with Indiana Vipers and sure enough that was taken as well.  First off, I’m curious as to why you aren’t allowed to use the same name as someone else.

Turns out the nickname must be unique.  That is the most ridiculous thing ever.  Essentially what that means is after the first hour or two, all the common names like Bears, Lions, and Vipers are gone.  At the very least they could have not allowed common city plus nickname.  After about 10 minutes of self debate, I went with Fort Wayne Green Vipers.  I used a lot of green in the colors.

After finally getting to the team lineups page, I realized how complicated the setup appears.  You are given a handful of majors players, none of who are actually in your lineup, and a bunch of scrubs who you can train with earned money.  It took another 15-20 minutes just to get a lineup set with a mix of these players.  I never actually started a game for fear of not being able to finish and not knowing if I can actually quit the game and return later in this mode (something you can do in franchise or exhibition).

My wife is a graphic designer and wanted to design my logo, jersey, and that jazz.  Even she was amazed by the amount of detail you are afforded.  Seriously, for someone with no design experience, even basic setup is entirely overwhelming.

As for the game play itself, this is MLB: The Show.  Not a lot has changed honestly.  That’s not a bad thing either.  The game is solid and there is little to complain about.  Many of the fielding woes from the past are fixed.  The ball physics are a minor improvement but it is very noticeable.

I won’t get started on a franchise until the Full Minors roster from Operationsports.com is released.  The guys over there do an amazing job with every single minor league player as well as tweaking every Major League player.

MLB 2k12 Demo Thoughts

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Having not played a baseball game in several months, I was ready to fire up the MLB 2k12 demo.  Going in, I knew it wouldn’t be nearly as good as MLB: The Show, but I really wanted to have a baseball game to play.  Unfortunately, I have to wait a week for The Show.

Please keep in mind that everything you read comes from the point of view of someone who plays The Show.

After pressing start, you are given the choice of playing as Texas or St. Louis.  The first thing you are shown is a look at Busch Stadium.  This is extremely disappointing.  It looks bad.  The detail simply isn’t there.  The only thing that really stood out (and I didn’t skip any cutscenes) was that the base coaches were wearing helmets.  Good touch, but shouldn’t be a focus.

I came to bat with Texas and the camera angle (the only one available mind you) is like I’m looking through binoculars backwards.  The pitcher seems so far away.  The control scheme is less than ideal as I have a choice between pressing A to swing, or using the right thumb stick.  Having enjoyed using the stick to swing in The Show, I opted for that and was given a brief tutorial on it.  It is indeed different as you press up to contact swing, back and up to power, and left or right (what?) to just slap at the ball to foul it off.

Easily the biggest issue is the complete lack of check swings.  In The Show, you always pull back before pressing up as this represents your stride at the plate.  If you pull back and don’t press up, you won’t swing.  Worst case scenario is you check swing.   In MLB 2k12 if you don’t want to swing at the pitch at the last instant, too bad.  This is a huge missing element to a baseball game and it is amazing how many games 2K has put out and this has still been omitted.  (EDIT:  It appears check swings ARE in the game.  You need to press back on the right thumb stick.  This is not easy to do still.  If you are going for a power swing, you are already pressing back and going forward, but now you need to pull back?  An improvement from not having check swings, but still badly implemented)

I was also perplexed as to why I was being told what every single pitch was when it was coming in.  Unlike the batter’s eye of MVP 05 back in the day, still the single best game ever for attempting to read a pitch, you are simply told in words what is coming.  As the pitcher was releasing the ball, the words “Four Seam” came up.  Are you freaking kidding me?  Even more perplexing was that this game actually shows breaking balls better than The Show.  Yet you need to tell me it is coming?  Weak 2k…absolutely weak.

It’s been noted in the past that the commentary was one of 2K’s strong points…something that certainly shouldn’t be at the top of the list, but it is.  After my first at bat I noticed it was missing from the demo completely.  Another big miss here as far as I’m concerned.

I also noticed that for some reason the catcher rifles the ball back to the pitcher.  I mean, faster than the pitcher throws to the catcher.  Is this to speed the game up?  What is the point of this?  If you want to speed the game up, eliminate the throw altogether.

The defensive players throw the ball much more naturally than in the past.  It looks more fluid and not as clunky.

After my 3 outs at bat, I went to the pitchers mound.

Here is where 2K does a better job than The Show.  You have a variety of pitches, 5 in this case.  You have to throw every pitch with the right thumb stick.  The trick is that every pitch is thrown very differently…as in real life.  A regular fast ball is thrown by pulling down on the stick and then up.  You’re given a very small timing window and if you fail, the pitch will go awry.  A curve ball is thrown by starting the thumb stick at 5 o clock, and rotating up to 11 o clock.  It’s really enjoyable to pitch in this game.

One of the very few things MLB 2k12 excels at, pitching.

The risk/reward is massive when pitching.  Even missing by a little with timing will hurt you and could cause a wild pitch.  Unfortunately, that leads to another huge gripe…

With a runner on first, I threw a wild pitch that rolled all the way to the back stop.  The runner didn’t even flinch and stayed at first base.  I intentionally threw 3 more wild pitches to see if it was just a fluke and the runner NEVER advanced.  Unbelievable.

In the field, throwing the ball seems like a bigger chore than it should be.  Like pitching, you have a tiny window of timing where you throw the ball for optimum strength and accuracy.  Throw too hard and you risk throwing it away.  Throw too weak and you risk the runner beating out the throw.  It seems out of place and completely unnecessary.

The fielding camera itself also feels way too low to see what you are doing.  This is really just personal preference.  I’m sure some people play with the camera at about 8 feet off the ground, but I prefer the game camera available in The Show.

I played two full games and stopped enjoying it after that.  It’s simply not fun to play and offers very little over what The Show does.

Positives:
+ Pitching is amazing.  I really wish The Show would utilize a form of pitching from this game.

Neutral:
+/-  It’s the only baseball game on Xbox and it is more fluid than in the past.  If it is your only choice, it could be worse.

Negative:
-  The first thing you notice is the terrible visuals.  How can The Show look SO much better than this?
-  Being told what ever pitch is?  Why?
-  Bad camera angles
-  Unnatural throwing from fielders and a completely unnecessary throwing meter.
-/-  No check swings….deal breaker.  Badly implemented check swings.
-/-   Bad AI when it comes to base running.  You MUST advance a wild pitch, let alone 4 consecutive pitches.

All in all, I’m sorry if you are a baseball fan and only own an Xbox.  You are clearly missing out on The Show.  I also think 2K is wasting their time by putting this game on the PS3.

I clearly won’t be touching this game, but those who appreciate good online play and great league implementation might.

MLB 2k12 Demo Tomorrow; The Show Still Unknown

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MLB 2K12 demo will hit the Xbox 360 and PS3 tomorrow.  Xbox gamers can look forward to another underwhelming game while PS3 gamers will laugh at 2K for actually taking the time to put their game on the system at all.

The demo will feature the previous World Series matchup of the Texas Rangers and the St. Louis Cardinals.  This will be your first opportunity to control the Cardinals without Albert Pujols on the roster.

Meanwhile, MLB 12: The Show has made no announcement about releasing their game’s demo on the PSN SEN.  However, if you make a trek to select Best Buy stores, you have access to MLB 12: The Show at kiosks.  Not every Best Buy store has this available so your milage will vary.  While there, you may even be able to compare the Vita version with the PS3 version of the game.

Both games are available on Tuesday, March 6.

Spring Training 2012 Is Here

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It’s those famous words you hear every year around this time….”Pitchers and catchers report.”  As more and more teams make their way to Florida or Arizona for Spring Training, it is impossible to ignore the fact that baseball is right around the corner.  To many, baseball begins in June or July after the NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, Masters, and NCAA Tournament are over.  These are all great events, but there is always something special about Major League Baseball kick starting their season.

30 teams all have the same hopes and dreams for the next 6 weeks.  They workout, they go over fundamentals, they strategize, and they form the 25 players who will take the field on a cool late March day.

Yeah, that doesn't look weird at all.

This is the part of the year where more questions are formed than answers.  Most of them will revolve around the Angels and Tigers and whether they will be successful with Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder respectively.

Some of the same questions come up every year…Will this be the Cubs year?  Can Toronto or Baltimore compete in the AL East?  Will someone win the triple crown or bat .400?

As a huge baseball fan, I can tell you this is an exciting time for me.  Even though I don’t closely follow Spring Training, it means that opening day is 6 weeks away.  Having been to 3 opening days in Minnesota and 1 in Cincinnati, I assure you the excitement in the air is never lacking.

So get out there and do some research on your team.  Memorize your 40 man roster.  Know your pitching rotation.  Join a fantasy baseball league and prepare for the summer.  I know I will.

Diamond Dynasty Trailer Tonight

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MLB 12: The Show’s brand new Diamond Dynasty trailer will be shown debuting tonight on Spike TV. Gametrailers TV (GT TV) will have the world premiere of the latest game mode to grace the best baseball game on the market.

You can watch the show on Spike TV late tonight at 1:00 AM Eastern time.  I’ll have my full thoughts on the mode tomorrow.

MLB 12: The Show…Full Features List

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Less than a month from release of the premiere baseball game every year, SCEA has released the full list of features and improvements for MLB 12: The Show. There were many complaints about last year’s game with the majority of them being how little the game had changed from ’10 to ’11. To an extent, those who complained were correct.

However, the game is already one of, if not, the best sports simulation available anywhere. It laughably crushes the game play of 2k Baseball and rivals what many consider the greatest baseball game ever made, EA’s MVP 2005.

Thanks to two of my favorite sites, Operationsports, and Pastapadre for breaking this news. As of this writing, I have yet to find it anywhere else.

You can full the complete list of features from those sites, but I’ve broken down what I believe are the most significant. I’ll skip the PS3/Vita combination functionality because everyone knows about that. I’m also specifically talking about the PS3 version of the game.

TRUE BALL PHYSICS: Essentially the ball itself will bounce realistically. We’ve seen how “true physics” works in other games and I have not been impressed. Let’s see if SCEA does this right.

TruBroadcast Presentations: It’s already one of the best around, and they claim to be making the biggest stride forward in the history of the series. I can’t wait.

Diamond Dynasty: It’s not a direct copy of Fifa, Madden, and NHL’s ultimate team…but it’s very similar.

Full Move Support: Now you can play the game in a different and MUCH LESS accurate way. Hooray!

Zone Analog Batting: A very welcome addition and something that I know the community was clamoring for last year.

Pulse Pitching: The video was released last week. Just another way to pitch…I believe this makes 3.

Franchise Improvements: These improvements are all pretty minimal. I expect to be disappointed when it comes to the final result.

Road to the Show Improvements: Last year was quite the RTTS makeover. This year, like franchise improvements, I expect to be disappointed.

Situational Collision Awareness: Hopefully this isn’t over done. These are exactly the kind of features that sports games add, only to see them exaggerated or used way more frequently than would happen in real life.

My persistence prize, courtesy of MLB 11: The Show.

Challenge of the Week is now free: I was fortunate to have won a COTW in last year’s game. I won a Buster Posey autographed World Series jersey. I also had to pay a pretty penny to get it. It really didn’t allow for everyone to have a true chance at a prize. For me, it took several tries to get the hang of each week’s challenge and you were only given one free chance. This levels the playing field, but don’t expect the prizes to be as nice.

New Tag Animation System: This feature is LONG overdue. I cringed nearly every time I saw a play at the plate and the catcher doing that exact same tagging animation. I expect to see much more realistic tag action this year.

SimulView™ Functionality with PlayStation®3D Display: Now THIS is interesting. I don’t have a 3D TV, nor will it ever be a reason I buy a certain television. However, for those who do play 2 players on the same screen, you can understand the frustration of seeing where the other will be pitching the ball. This eliminates that problem completely. In fact, each player sees something completely different on screen.

New Pick off logic: This needs overhauled as well…I hope it is done properly. In fact, I’d like to see base running as a whole be changed as I believe that is the weakest part of The Show.

14 New umpires: More tendencies is always a good thing. There are over 100 MLB umpires and they are all somewhat different. The Show is trying to replicate that.

Co-op available in Season and Franchise modes: This 1000%. You have no idea how easy this should have been to implement last year. It’s such as welcome addition. Now make it so you can have an online franchise with a friend. How is this not a standard option in all sports games?

I am disappointed to not hear of the bunting system being fixed. Perhaps it is, but I wouldn’t count on it.

I’d also like assurances that online play will be lag free. This is the down side to only being available on the slow and choppy Playstation Network Sony Entertainment Network.

Overall, I like the new features and hope they make for an even better product than MLB 11 offered us.

Miami Marlins Ball Park in MLB 12: The Show

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Check out MLB 12: The Show’s trailer for the brand new Miami Marlins Ball Park. It shows a very detailed stadium, complete with the large monstrosity just beyond the curved left-center field wall.

It seems that just about everything is consistent with the real life stadium. My favorite feature is the giant aquarium that is part of the backstop.

The Show has always been good about being accurate with stadiums that have yet to host a game. Target Field is a great example of this from the past two years.