MLB 11 The Show News Post

MLB 11 The Show Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here

06:03 PM - February 22, 2011 by Pared

The MLB 11 The Show demo is available now. It weighs in at roughly 3 GB and features the Texas Rangers vs. the San Francisco Giants, in a 4 inning World Series rematch.

Please post your impressions here.

DO NOT post that you are downloading the demo, what % the download is at, the fact that you are starting to install it, etc.

IMPRESSIONS ONLY please.

Game: MLB 11 The ShowReader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3Votes for game: 57 - View All

MLB 11 The Show Videos

Member Comments

# 701 billyo @ 03/01/11 08:48 AM

Is it me or do the outfielders arms seem stronger this year? I have nailed several base runners attempting to take the extra base very easily.

# 702 Yankees_CT @ 03/01/11 09:42 AM

Well I wanted to spend enough time with the game before I commented so after 25+ demo games here we go. I have always been a Show fan. It's the reason I bought a PS3 and the reason I joined this site so of course I am a little bias

.
I screamed out a loud NOOOOO!!! when I heard they were going analog. I love my button pressing Show and there was no way I was going to the new controls

. Well I was wrong, I absolutely love them. Every one of them, from fielding to batting to pitching they were implemented meticulously in my opinion and really just make the most realistic sports game that much more.
I'm just going to focus on hitting for now because it gave me the most difficulty at first. I was always a fan of hitting in the show because of that difficulty. It made every hit I did get a fist pump moment. Well the analog has seemed to make it even more difficult. Or at least I thought, I barely got 2 hits per game (sometime less) for the first 10 games I played (no HRs). Then What I decided to do was go through the line up with each guy only taking that initial first step and not swinging. I did this a few times, took mental notes of each stride and after a few games I started hitting. My last game I played I had 9 hits and 7 runs, blanking the cpu 7-0...whoohooo! Never thought I would get there after my initial 10 games but it feels awesome now. I probably won't have another game like that last one but every hit I had literally had me jumping out of my seat (especially the 2 dingers!).
I think as far as the hitting (analog anyway) this year you just have to really know your team. Once you know their strides, the timing and hitting for that matter will come. I love that this seems to be the case. I have been playing with the Rangers the entire time with the demo and I think if I switched right now I would be back to putting zero's on the board!
I will throw in a couple of criticisms, those being that commentary honestly does need to be revamped at this point. I like the edition of Karros and I even like the team they have. If they could just put these guys together more dynamically, add that back and forth of NBA 2k11 then it would be golden. The other thing is presentation. I love it of course, no other game brings you in more but it also needs to be a focus for next year. I would like to see a stationary fielding cam that zooms and rotates but does not pan (just as an option of course). But what I really want to see is the RTP expanded upon next year. I love it being real time but I would like to see other things during the RTP, bat boys, managers coming to the mound in real-time (watching them make their way up the steps and to the mound). Just want more of it

.
Anyway, even if they don't touch the commentary and the presentation next year it will still be awesome because no sports game matches the sport they represent more realistically then The Show, period....IMO the way they portray the hitter vs pitcher dual will never be touched. It's difficult, really difficult (especially moving up to HOF....jeez!) and I definitely would never want it any other way.....jumping into the time machine now and heading to March 8th

# 703 spitoon @ 03/01/11 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yankees_CT


	I think as far as the hitting (analog anyway) this year you just have to really know your team. Once you know their strides, the timing and hitting for that matter will come. I love that this seems to be the case. I have been playing with the Rangers the entire time with the demo and I think if I switched right now I would be back to putting zero's on the board!

I'm really struggling with analog hitting as well. Maybe this will help, thanks for the advice.

The biggest "problem" that I see with this, is that it would basically prevent us from just picking up and playing a random game in the schedule (which was a big added feature last year)...because you would have no chance to learn the stride of each player on the random team...

Other than that, I'm liking the demo so far...can't wait for a week.

# 704 magoo1967 @ 03/01/11 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spitoon


	I knew it wasn't just me Although, your name is Magoo...wasn't he the cartoon guy that couldn't see anything? LOL I'm trusting that this is just a remnant from '10 and that it was fixed 'post-demo'...seems like such an easy fix? I'm loving the game. As much as I didn't think I'd like the analog controls, I'm really liking the fielding and pitching. As it was I sucked at hitting with the button, and it turns out that I super-suck at analog hitting...maybe I should change my screen name to Magoo2?

Very funny. Yes, like Mr. Magoo I also have poor vision (this is not the reason for my screen name however). Fortunately, with my glasses I can see 20/20 though

, lol.

Pitch review colors aside, I too am absolutely loving the demo. I was in the "no analog for me" camp at first, but I'm already 100% sold on analog pitching. The hitting is still pretty tough for me, but I will stick with it in hopes that I'll get the hang of it soon enough. Fielding is another story though. I've played through the demo about a dozen times or so and my analog fielding performance thus far has been nothing short of a train wreck

. I haven't quite given up yet, but I'm fairly certain that I will go back to button fielding for the upcoming season. It's so awesome that we even have the ability to mix & match control schemes like that.

The good news is that Psycho Bulk confirmed (about a page back) that he asked the CD guys about the pitch colors & someone reported back to him that they were much improved, so this appears to indeed be just an "early build" issue (keeping my fingers crossed

)

# 705 B-Man1985 @ 03/01/11 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Drew127


	After extended time with the demo, I finally feel safe about stating my feelings on it, as I've had time to let things sink in. 1. The graphics are certainly improved. For reference, I popped in MLB 10 and started a night game at AT&T Park. First thing I noticed, the grass looks significantly better this year. Second thing, the lighting is vastly improved. From player shadows to how the stadium lights impact the stands. The stadium as a whole just looks lit correctly. Last year, during night games, parts of the stadium (and even parts of the field in the early evening, covered by shadows) were way too dark. An example of last year vs. this year, is last year during night games in lots of stadiums you couldn't even see the individual pads on the outfield fence, from the default hitting cam. The fence was just shrouded in darkness. This has been fixed and looks perfect this year. I think the lighting changes are huge. 2. The new player models look great, although I never really had a problem with the old ones to begin with. 3. The custom camera is great and really makes the game fresh, in my opinion. I originally was really disappointed at the lack of being able to adjust "focal point" on the custom cameras, but after playing with it more today I think I've found my perfect hitting cam. I love it, it adds a whole new element to the game. The new team broadcast cameras are superb, also. So far I'm favoring the straight-behind-the-mound angles, such as St. Louis, Boston and Minnesota. 4. Ball physics are improved, this is evidenced on foul balls and how they bounce off of the walls and other objects down the lines. It's not so much like a pinball anymore, where the ball will fire well back into fair territory. I think it looks spot on. The ball physics on hits is better also, already I've seen some choppers which were rare last year. And doubles down the line look picture perfect as they slice in the air and bounce around in the corner. Thing of beauty. 5. I'm loving the new analog pitching. For me, this might be the best pitching system I've experienced. Granted, I did not play MVP NCAA, nor have I played the 2k series so I don't have much basis for comparison to other analog schemes. But I'm actually walking people now and am seeing pitches that I just miss my location on, getting called for balls, etc. The pitch counts and ball/strike ratios seem perfect so far. An aside note, I struck out Nelson Cruz with a curveball that bounced in the dirt, and he chased. That was awesome. 6. Analog hitting will take some time. So far I'm on the fence with it. Same goes for fielding. Now the things that disappoint me. The presentation is just stale, and I don't really understand why it's been left untouched for so long. In my opinion, that is the most glaring flaw of the game. Sure, three years ago the presentation was nice, but it's been mostly untouched since MLB '08 and now it's just looking dated. Someone mentioned the overlays are way too busy...which I agree with. They could be cleaned up and simplified a lot. 2k really has this done well, I think. And 2k did it in one year, so I don't really get why the design team at SCEA can't step up. Replays still have those same awkward angles that you would never see on a TV broadcast (not all of the replays, some do have a nice broadcast angle). The top two priorities for '12 should be presentation and franchise overhaul (better stat tracking, a meaningful spring training, etc). And yes, I know they added things like pitch sequences and the ticker this year. Announcing obviously is stale also. I'm not so pressed about the announcing either way, I can take it or leave it. But this needs lots of work too. Overall I'm impressed with the game and for me, the changes do warrant a purchase. The analog pitching and custom cameras alone are enough to freshen the game up for me. I hated meter pitching and always used classic pitching, but had my qualms with it and admittedly it was very boring. Analog pitching is fun AND realistic. However, if you are talking about freshening up a game that lots will argue has become stale, presentation is the single biggest element that can be enhanced. The game play is stellar and doesn't need as much attention, next year. Let's get the other stale elements of the game brought up to date.

This is well written and spot on to my feelings on the game as well. I would like to add to that by syaing SCEA should look into making fielding fly balls more intuitive. One thing I like about 2k this year is how ratings really reflect tracking a fly ball. Lets be honest, tracking fly balls in The Show has been stale for a few years now.

I also really hope SCEA worked on something special for winning the World Series like champagne getting sprayed in the club house and the manager of the club recieving the World Series trophy, maybe even show cut-aways of a parade or something. When I won it in last years game and the team rushed the mound and then it was over I was like WTF? thats it? So hopefully Russ and the team worked on this

# 706 mlblover15 @ 03/01/11 12:15 PM

Finally had time to get the demo dl'd(almost 12 hrs). first game had to turn off analog throwing. pitching is good, and hitting is just like im playing tiger woods. i figured out early on you DON'T even start to load til the pitcher is about to release the ball.

you want you swing exactly like you do in tiger woods one smooth even fluid motion. i hit back to back home runs in the second inning with Ross and Derosa. in pretty much the same spot in left field.

losing 4-2 top 4th but at least im getting the hang of it...

# 707 bellz666 @ 03/01/11 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyboxer


	After seeing/hearing all the improvements: (RTTS, Analog controls (which were loudly asked for by the gamers) Lighting, player reactions time, player models, tweaks to trade/franchise logic etc..) you think it feels it's basically a roster update? To each their own I guess....

Yes, absolutely. I dont play RTTS at all, it holds no interest to me. The other tweaks are so minimal it doesn't outweigh the fact that the bulk of the animations are recycled for years and that the booth dialogue has actually taken a step back. Do you hear Karros, and automatically think it's a quality ugrade?

To each his own indeed.

# 708 phant030 @ 03/01/11 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bellz666


	Yes, absolutely. I dont play RTTS at all, it holds no interest to me. The other tweaks are so minimal it doesn't outweigh the fact that the bulk of the animations are recycled for years and that the booth dialogue has actually taken a step back. Do you hear Karros, and automatically think it's a quality ugrade? To each his own indeed.

I agree. I definitely don't think its a roster update, but when you change the way a game controls and the way things look...it's doesn't change the way it 'plays'....sure it feels better and looks better, but you are essentially looking at the same things. Improved trade logic doesnt show up in an exhibition game...lighting and player models make the game look a bit better, but ppl feel in love with the gameplay itslef w/ poor models...and they feel it didn't advance as much as it should....how they describe it may be wrong, but you have to understand where they are coming from.

# 709 HokieB @ 03/01/11 02:29 PM

I was enjoying the demo so much that I popped in 2010 to play with some other teams, play a full game, etc.

I cannot believe how much the visuals have improved this year. Do yourself a favor and pop in 2010 after playing the demo... you'll have a much better appreciation for the improvements.

Love the crowd sounds this year too.

# 710 CarrotJuice @ 03/01/11 02:47 PM

I posted this in the demo Q&A with no reponce.

I am new to The Show for PS3. I think the game is great so far, but the bat sounds in the demo are terrible. There is no satifaction in really making solid contact. A weak grounder sounds the same as a hard liner or homer.

Has this always been the case for this series? Ive only played the The Show on kiosks before and never paid attention. Hope this is just the demo as I want the crrrrackkk when I mash!

# 711 bxgoods @ 03/01/11 02:54 PM

This has always been a problem imo.
When you crush a ball, the bat sounds like little peck.
I don't hear huge clocking sounds like I would prefer.

# 712 bcruise @ 03/01/11 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarrotJuice


	I posted this in the demo Q&A with no reponce. I am new to The Show for PS3. I think the game is great so far, but the bat sounds in the demo are terrible. There is no satifaction in really making solid contact. A weak grounder sounds the same as a hard liner or homer. Has this always been the case for this series? Ive only played the The Show on kiosks before and never paid attention. Hope this is just the demo as I want the crrrrackkk when I mash!

Yeah, I want THIS homerun sound back. Make it happen SCEA!

*impressions start*

In all seriousness...I disagree that all the hits sound the same. Aside from the crack that you're probably describing for normal contact, there are also very distinctive weak contact and sweetspot sounds. The sweetspot sound is much lower, cleaner and more hollow than the normal contact, and it just sounds right for when you hit a ball right on the screws. Maybe you haven't heard it yet, since you're new to the series?

On my contact swing HR with Posey I got that sound, and knew instantly that it was gone (well, that and the tell screen helped

)

# 713 mlblover15 @ 03/01/11 04:59 PM

well there were a few things i saw that i was quite impressed with.

1. batter taking his time in between pitches, stepping out etc etc.

2. i had made several wrong first steps on balls hit in the outfield and every time i saw the player skid and have to redirect himself.

there were also some balls i felt i should have caught or were in the proper area in the catching zone which i didn't catch. which tells me that the "auto lock" once your in the big baseball like circle is gone.

to me this is a catch-22. i guess i got lazy with the auto catch thing that happened in previous versions.

for an early build i liked it. analog hitting A+, analog pitching A++ well i felt at least on default settings that it was almost if not more easy than using meter pitching.

it seemed that once i had the flow on it that it was easy to do it. I only played a couple of games striking out players was pretty easy. Again it was on all default settings.

i did like the new and improved "fade" on the pitching side. i wasn't able to just absolutely lock on to my spot for the entire time i was pitching. it was pretty nice to know that even though i was using it that it only lasted for a split second.

there was also a moment i had gotten into some trouble and the batter i was facing came up and it showed what his stats were with RISP. that was pretty cool.

i personally had to go to button fielding after only a couple of plays in the field and being brain frozen with it.

I probably will be using hitting and pitching on analog when the game does come out. loved using both in the demo. hitting isnt as hard as i first read about time wise.

as i said before i had back to back homers in my first game using analog. i did lose both games i played. once i get back to my old hitting ways (not swinging until i get two strikes) i will struggle with hitting on either system.

My overall outlook on this game is brilliant. we have less than a week until it is in all of our hot little hands. sure there of those of us that have and will have their copies much earlier than the rest of us, but it is ok cause once the release date is here we will all be able to bask in the glow of the greatest baseball game ever.

This years version of the show!!!!

# 714 DJ @ 03/01/11 06:13 PM

The more I play the Demo, the more I like the Analog batting controls. I hit my first home run today with Buster Posey; after working the count to 3-1, I chose Power Swing and let rip on a changeup over the CF fence. Felt very nice

Using Catcher Cam 4 (like it just a little bit more than 5) has allowed me to see pitches better and now that I understand the step-and-swing, I've cut my strikeouts way down. I only had 3 this last game (3-2 win over the Rangers), a lot better than the 8-12 I was getting in previous games.

I still think there's an issue with the PCI indicator when you go into Swing Analysis, but as long as I'm making contact, I'm not too worried about it.

Russell, thanks for the heads-up with the game's difficulty. I bumped up the pitching difficulty to Hall of Fame and definitely noticed a big difference from All-Star. I wasn't able to pinpoint location, even with Lincecum, as I was on All-Star. I like that.

The Analog Fielding is responsive, although I'm still not quite sure I understand how the meter works.

# 715 bellz666 @ 03/01/11 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HokieB


	Do yourself a favor and pop in 2010 after playing the demo... you'll have a much better appreciation for the improvements.

Thats a fair test, unfortunately I traded my copy of 10 in this winter.

# 716 Alistair @ 03/01/11 07:38 PM

Played another game of the demo last night to get a better feel for the analog controls.

I know it's obviously user preference, but I much prefer them. Was 0-0 after 4 innings before driving a walk-off two run shot with Sanchez in the top of the fifth. It's even more satisfying to drill a ball with the sweet spot of your bat using the new control system.

Also made a HUGE play in the field in the bottom of the 4th. Texas had a runner on 3rd with one out. The batter (forget who it was) hit a high fly ball to right. Cody Ross caught it, took a couple of steps and threw a LASER to Posey who still had a good few seconds to set himself over the plate to make the tag and gun down the runner.

I don't know how often that happens in real life, but it looked like one of those super human efforts. Wasn't complaining at the time, but it will be frustrating if outfielders can hit the catcher with a bullet arm more often than not.

# 717 SFGposey @ 03/01/11 08:17 PM

Does any1 have tips for the analog hitting i swear ive played like 13 games and all i can get is a couple of singles lol.

# 718 Heroesandvillains @ 03/01/11 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFGposey


	Does any1 have tips for the analog hitting i swear ive played like 13 games and all i can get is a couple of singles lol.

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...iled-read.html

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...show-sigh.html

If you have any more questions, you can either post them in those threads or use the general demo q and a thread.

You'll get the hang of buddy! Hang in there.

# 719 slthree @ 03/01/11 08:50 PM

Is it too late to change my mind?

I tried the other demo and was underwhelmed, which made me try The Show again.

I went all analog after initially hating it.

I loved every second of the two games I played.

The contact swing is a huge addition and I needed it more times than I could remember against Lincecum.

Where is Michael Young darnit? He's not traded YET

# 720 Skyboxer @ 03/01/11 09:02 PM

I'm getting better and better with analog. Still love the Zone hitting though. Really hope to get my copy before weekend. I can't wait to dissect the gameplay and get settings that fit me. Checking stats and just "being at the ballpark"

Really hope SCEA knows the joy they bring to baseball fans

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