MLB 13: The Show

I was trying to wait for someone else to start this thread, but active folks seem to be more with 360's Baseball MLB2K. But this trailer is just too cool and I have to post:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDNf...

Check: theshownation.com, for more information. Lot's of cool new feature's and tweaks.( Their 'Live' games seem to be a response to 2K's feature of the same nature.) '13 seem's to be trying to ease folks into playing it that had hard times hitting in the previous version with their new 'beginner mode'. But many fine upgrades to Road to the Show and Franchise mode. etc. etc.

Fun!

Got word from Gamefly that my copy is on the way so I should have it by Thursday. Looking forward to playing this one! Certainly played enough of MLB 12!

I saw Toxdon hopping on and off last night while I was clobbering the Mets in Diamond Dynasty.

My Diamond Dynasty team this year... the semi-pro Brooklyn Bushwicks that used to play in Dexter Park in Queens.

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That looks great Slumberland!

I've played several hours in various modes: 'The Show Live' (just one game available for me and it was Texas vs Houston).

Road to the Show (RttS): Like the new player view allot. Things seem crisper. Sound is very nice with now talking going on between players, coaches etc. that you can hear.

'Play Now': Played just one on-line Exhibition match and it went well. Hardly any lag (although this was played in the morning, so band width pretty clear I would think). It was fun (I lost 4-3, although with more hits and strike outs made:( Didn't use any 'chat' mode. Lasted about 40 minutes. But again, the big deal was lag being very minimal. Can't wait to try more on-line play to see if lag has really been much improved (crosses fingers, toes and anything I an manage to cross;)

That's all for now. Plan to start a 'Season'. Had played some Franchise last year, but I'm not sure I have enough commitment time for this.

Wouldn't mind trying a league. Tried one last year and it petered out. May try again this year.

Did not look at 'The Postseason, "Diamond Dynasty' (Slumberland will give us lots cool looks into that I'm sure).

And not the 'Mini Modes' yet.

After a few hours, I found the hitting easier this year (I'm playing veteran in both pitching and batting. No slider adjustments yet. I'm 'meter' pitching' and 'zone/timing' in hitting.). Scores, hits, and runs seem pretty realistic. But really too small a sample yet to make a real conclusion.

I am finding more errors in the outfield made by the AI, which I find more realistic. And this includes when you are in control of you player and it seems a easy grounder or such, for it to roll under the glove (neat!). So you always have to be aware of where your back-up is. (oh yes, I'm using the default meter tossing graphic. Pretty big, but I guess more easier to see. So good trade off imho.

Interface is more crisp with added chart displays (thank goodness they brought back depth charts). Fields and stadiums are richer in color then last year. Still the totally cool animations when hitting and etc.

There's not a whole lot new here that I can see (although Franchise and RttS got the most work). But the redoing of the batting model is a great success to me so far. Things in RttS seem richer and 'you are there' feel is much stronger then before. Refinement of an already great game is a good deal to me.

I have no clue what the XP's you get for accomplishing things are for. There's no 'Player Card' for all play. Just for on-line play. So that is a mystery to me thus far.

I'm enjoying it!

I've played 4 on-line games now. One very good. One terrible. And two o.k. So with many variables in the mix it's hit and miss.

In the Mini Mode section is the 'Beginner's' start; 'Weekly Challange' (lot's of fun, but the leaders have incrediable scores that seem unreal. But still fun to participate)

Playing lot's of RttS till the rosters get set for the season. Then will do a Season run (probably not Franchise this go around).

There's a new RTTS fielding camera? I started a pitcher, so I haven't seen it. What's the story with it?

You have probably already noticed in Diamond League games. I.e. you are in a 'first person' view when hitting the ball and watching it fly off the bat, instead of a quasi broadcast view. And their's a new orientation camera that zeroes in on you when you are about to defend.( actually if you are a pitcher with DH, then you haven't had a chance to see it until you play a National league team at home).

I like the new 'watch every play' option. Wether it's just the default quick one showing the diamond and watching the balls hit and the text telling you the same. Kinda of cool. Really cool of course (and if you have time) is to actually go in and watch the game as if you are in the dug-out.

More AI errors instead of always making the play. I notice the difference from veteran to all-star in hitting and fielding. All-Star has tighter strike zone. And fielding you have to be over the ball more directly to catch it. And it's good to see the AI pitchers actually throwing more balls, instead of constantly pounding the strike zone.

Did you notice the new XP page? I keep wondering what xp's are about (and really still do. But I guess it's about the 'future' for users), but if you haven't noticed go to Front in (i.e. the hot bar) and you notice at the very left edge a diamond with a number in it. The number represents what level xp's you are at (whatever?) and if you click that icon you bring up the, 'Universal User' interface that shows the XP's you have garnered in all the different mods of the game. There a short video on shownation.com that explains this is to track your play thru all the versions of 'The Show' and to garner some future bonus or whatever. Anyway I find it kind of neat to check out whatever it is ultimately for.

Ohh, I was watching out for this thread and somehow missed it until searching for it today. My PS3 hasn't made it to our new place yet, but I think I need to make that happen and pick this up. The camera changes look great to me ... I hated fielding before because it was far too easy for the camera to end up looking in the wrong place. Base running was always annoying as well, because you were often without a view of the coach, the ball, or even a good view of other baserunners, so the decision to stop or go was challenging.

Hopefully OSFM rosters are out by the time I get a chance to play. Player development / building a decent farm system in franchise mode is easily my favorite aspect of The Show.

This game is hard.

Demiurge wrote:

This game is hard.

If hitting is the problem, try dropping the pitch speed way down.

Demiurge wrote:

This game is hard.

They now have a 'beginners' mode. I.e. you pick that and they take it slow with you until AI feels you are ready to advance etc. Eg. hitting: The pitcher will just throw it straight till it see's you have improved your timing enough to start throwing curve balls etc.

Also, in game play you can switch fielding to automatic so you don't have to worry about that and just zero in on pitching and hitting (and there are several ways you can do both. I use 'timing' with a meter. Hitting the same. Plus running the bases for steals and such (the most complained about) can be put on automatic.

Of course you can fool around with slider's as Knightsabre suggests. But I would try the above first.

And if you go to the forums at theshownation.com, you can find out about popular sliders, rosters etcs you can download thru the 'vault'. But again, just try the first few things I suggest above to keep it simple in getting the game to play they way you find most comfortable.

Demiurge wrote:

This game is hard.

The game is actually a little easier than recent editions (with regards to hitting at least), so you still picked a good year to jump in!

If I were in the Bay area I'd be happy to stop by and simplify your settings to as close to old school NES baseball as possible, but know that it can be done. Timing hitting, no meters for pitching and throwing, etc.

Now that they patched out the hitch in the CPU pitcher delivery, 2013 is the year they really put it all together. Such a great game.

It really is an awesome game. The past few years, I have always made a 2B in Road to the Show mode, but this year I decided to go with a pitcher. It's really a blast seeing the game from the other side and getting better as the season rolls along. Right now I am 9-0 with an ERA of 1.95 in AA ball, so I should be getting the call to AAA pretty soon I would think.

I'm doing a pitcher too. Really good fun, even exciting having to depend on your CPU teammates when the ball is put in play. I started in the White Sox organization but got traded to the Brewers, and am now pitching relief for the big club in my second year. Hopefully I'll be a starter again in short order. Nice thing about getting traded to the NL is the opportunity to bat, but that also means throwing points into hitting attributes from time to time, at the expense of my pitching.

I'm playing 2nd Base myself. I have tried catcher, but calling every pitch is tedious for me. So I would imagine, although fun, having to throw every pitch takes some time. But I tasted it for a bit one time and after you folks talking about it, I may give it another go.

I started with the AA Jackson Generals in the Mariner organization. Got to AAA with good numbers (Tacoma Raniers). Then 'WHAM!' traded to the Dodgers. I am not a happy camper. But have to carry on. Have made it to The Show, but now my BA of 300+ in the minors is a distant dream. In 15 games I'm still below the Mendoza line:( and struggling with off-speed pitches like never before (realistic!? bah!!;)

Great game tho', as usual.

Say Slumberland, although I haven't really got into Diamond Dynasty, but may in the future, is it beneficial to me to take advantage of those two special 'packs' they are offering this week or so? Not around after this? Cost allot more in the future? What are they really about?

Thanks/dla

Donan wrote:

Say Slumberland, although I haven't really got into Diamond Dynasty, but may in the future, is it beneficial to me to take advantage of those two special 'packs' they are offering this week or so? Not around after this? Cost allot more in the future? What are they really about?

I haven't fired the mode up in a couple weeks while I've been playing Tomb Raider, so I'm not sure what packs you're talking about, but if it's anything that involves real money, ignore it. Not necessary to enjoy and/or succeed in this mode.

Slumberland wrote:
Donan wrote:

Say Slumberland, although I haven't really got into Diamond Dynasty, but may in the future, is it beneficial to me to take advantage of those two special 'packs' they are offering this week or so? Not around after this? Cost allot more in the future? What are they really about?

I haven't fired the mode up in a couple weeks while I've been playing Tomb Raider, so I'm not sure what packs you're talking about, but if it's anything that involves real money, ignore it. Not necessary to enjoy and/or succeed in this mode.

O.k. Thanks.

Picked this up on the Vita. Gotta say that it's definitely better than last year's version and beginner's mode is a tad too easy, but makes hitting much more manageable on the small screen. I've gotta take it off beginner and find a happy medium as winning 10-0 isn't terribly fun.

It's good enough I'm itching to pick up the PS3 version now. If only I had the time to play it...

Yeah, Vita version got better! I also really appreciate that they seem committed to parity between console and handheld with regards to ball physics and in-game mechanics. Coming around on OOTP over the past year has also alleviated my issues of feeling 'ownership' over simmed results, so I might make it a bit farther in my franchise this year.

Oh yeah and hitting is just fine on All-Star once again, thankfully.

Against my better judgment I picked this up today. Went to see 42 in the theater and it got me too baseball-minded to not try the series now that I have a PS3.

You picked a good year. Put it on beginner and never look back.

I dunno about beginner, I've played a LOT of video game baseball over the years.

Blind_Evil wrote:

I dunno about beginner, I've played a LOT of video game baseball over the years.

Eh, you'd be surprised. I mean, I haven't played a non-sim baseball game in years, but the last time I touched one, despite years of prior practice, I was immediately drowning in the deep end.

Prederick wrote:
Blind_Evil wrote:

I dunno about beginner, I've played a LOT of video game baseball over the years.

Eh, you'd be surprised. I mean, I haven't played a non-sim baseball game in years, but the last time I touched one, despite years of prior practice, I was immediately drowning in the deep end.

Hey Pred! Amazed to see you here...and happy. What's your PSN name?

Blind_Evil wrote:

I dunno about beginner, I've played a LOT of video game baseball over the years.

Yeah, I'd at least start with beginner for a couple of games, then click it up from there. There is plenty going on behind the scenes when you hit a ball (type/location of pitch, location of the bat, type of swing, pitch ability, etc) and you can get swamped pretty easily. And that's just the batting--I still haven't quite figured out the pitching, and I've been playing The Show since 07.

Thanks for the tips, everyone. Pitching and hitting seem okay on Beginner, though I'm ready to try different control schemes there. I feel cheesy having fielding set to automatic, though. Maybe that just takes practice?

Cool game, though.

Demiurge wrote:

I feel cheesy having fielding set to automatic, though. Maybe that just takes practice?

Cool game, though.

In my experience, I am finding that I do very little with fielding as it deals with positioning your player. Most of the time the game will select the best player in position to make a play on the ball and you move that player in front of the ball. In the case of a pop-up, there's a very large indicator of where the ball will end up to make it easier to get your fielder under the ball. Not sure if they show that when the fielding is set to automatic, but it definitely makes fielding not as difficult as you might think.

The problem you'll probably run into is getting the timing down for the throws. Just make sure that your fielder has his feet planted before throwing and it'll make the timing window a bit easier to manage.

Demiurge wrote:

Thanks for the tips, everyone. Pitching and hitting seem okay on Beginner, though I'm ready to try different control schemes there. I feel cheesy having fielding set to automatic, though. Maybe that just takes practice?

Cool game, though.

I leave it to automatic just because if I play, most of the MLB players would be extremely embarrased I play them so poorly:)
It's mostly my throwing to the right cut-off, or base on a multiple base play. But as CptDomano explains, it's really not that hard most of the time. But of course you have any inclination to play folks on-line, you do need to be some what experienced. But I have found in my small sampling, if it's just a pick-up game, they're mostly on the same level as you anyway. (that and connectivity does demand patience and fortitude;)

The game is great. Batting is easier in this version which many people are happy. Road to the Show (RttS) is a blast. But I just love all the on field action. From players doing there thing, to watching things going on in the dug out. Have you, as a pitcher, just not pitched. Just hold the ball for awhile and watch what happens? If not, do so. It's a fun and funny (it's been in almost all the versions) (AND weekly roster upgrades...amazing!)

81-81 in my first year of franchise with the Metsies. They make it real hard to clean up in free agency. Dudes kept jilting me for the Royals even though I'd offer more money. Jeesh. All I got was Carlos Beltran back on a one-year contract, some pitching depth and a hopefully improved bullpen. The big-ticket stars would apparently rather play in Beirut than Queens after all.

Hey Slumber, are you playing all of those games, or are you simming the whole season? I always want to play every game, and because of that I've never actually gotten through a season, let alone done anything with a franchise.