MLB 14 The Show Gets Assist From Players - New "Showtime" Button Coming Next Year?

[A_Quiet_Pro]

Something to think about... in the article it was said that hitters have tendencies and certain batters do things that is unique to themselves. (As Buster mentioned, catchers pick up on these kind of things).. My thought?...... What if fielders have unique tendencies towards batters or situations? Not like the managers saying put on the shift, but like say a fielder does something unique to counter what a hitter trends to or something they do in a certain situation... I know this sounds ambiguous, and weird, but it would be interesting to get well, I guess player specific A.I. in the future. (Like I said earlier in the thread.....DNA.i.) lol

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by MrOldboy

Showtime button would be nice, but only in that it would add more flamboyant animations to the fielding. I think I'd rather that these animations only express themselves when a player has high fielding ratings, but have them trigger automatically when the situation calls for it. If its another button I feel like many players may not get to use/see those animations.

To a certain extent the Show does this now. Each player has a specific portfolio of animations so to speak available to them based on their ratings. It is not perfect as we still see certain players doing certain fielding animations that are beyond their scope of ability. It has come a long way from where it started though. Personally I like that they happen automatically now but I would be open to seeing what they could do tying those specific highlight type actions to a button.

[JoshC1977]

I like the concept if it applies to CPU players as well with a "spectacular play likelihood rating" in which the higher the rating, the more likely a player is to try a "spectacular play" (humans have the button which they could use anytime). If one of these are triggered, it would automatically cause a percentage reduction in a player's fielding and/or throw rating (think like a 75% reduction in fielding ratings as a baseline). However, there would be a second rating that the higher it is, the less of a hit players take a when trying one (up to say only a 25% reduction). So, if a player has a 100 in the second rating, and a 100 fielding, trying for a spectacular play would give them an effective fielding rating on that play of 75.

Thinking of Shortstops as an example, there are numerous types (some examples below):

• The ones that don't belong there; know they don't and don't do anything stupid.
• The ones that have limited raw ability but can generally make the routine play IF they get to the ball (someone like Jeter). They don't try to go overboard on making a big play.
• The ones that have high natural ability, but tend to try too often for the "big play" but fail more often (most commonly seen in younger players)...Rey Ordonez comes to mind. Shawon Dunston used to get himself in trouble back in the day by showing off his elite arm.
• The elite guys that have the ability and successfully execute Sportscenter type plays routinely (the Ozzie Smith types).

As long as they don't incorporate unrealistic antics and incorporate it properly; this could really add some variety to the game.

[coolguyf10]

I like the idea of flashier plays from infielders. This game does lack a lot of animations, especially in the fielding dept. As for that Posey head scan, I would think the PS4 is capable of more than that. He looks pretty "fake."

[coolguyf10]

Quote: Originally Posted by coolguyf10

I like the idea of flashier plays from infielders. This game does lack a lot of animations, especially in the fielding dept. As for that Posey head scan, I would think the PS4 is capable of more than that. He looks pretty "fake."

The more I look at it, it just seems to lack depth, and real-life structure. Zero blemishes, like a 5 year old. Hopefully they fixed the eyes for the PS4 version. They have always looked like paper. The eyes need to reflect more and look glassier. ( I think that's a word)

[DGuinta1]

Just hope they don't implement this poorly, normally an EA move.

[coolguyf10]

Quote: Originally Posted by DGuinta1

Just hope they don't implement this poorly, normally an EA move.

Have to agree with you there. I just hope the developers stick to their baseball roots and don't go for anything too far over the top. The game does need more animations though. We'll have to wait and see what's done with this.

[DJ]

Good article. I hope Robinson gets to write more on SI.com, I really enjoyed his work when he was with ESPN.

I think the Showtime button idea is a great idea. Like Russell said, add in a high risk/reward element to using it based on a player's ratings and you have something.

Like with Pulse Pitching and Pure Analog controls, I'm sure if this does get implemented into the game, it will be at the gamer's discretion whether to use it or not when playing the game. I'm all for adding more options and something that could make fielding more fun.