MLB 09: The Show Impressions
February 11,2009 - Just as the snow appears to be subsiding for the first time as spring training nears, it’s time for developers of baseball games to be releasing their demos for players to see what’s new for that year’s game. Sony San Diego has stepped up first with their demo for MLB 09: The Show and while the demo doesn’t really show off much of what is new, it does give us a lot of confidence that the rest of the game will definitely enhance the on-field experience.
To get it out of the way, not much in the way of controls has really changed for this year’s game. At least nothing but the usual baserunning controls change, which leaves us with a more active set-up this year that is based just on the left analog stick. This new change only affects the Road to the Show mode, but the basic gist is that you actively make your player advance and retreat with the analog stick, even during pick off attempts and during routine plays. The option to revert back to the standard controls from year’s past is not there, so we’re hopeful that this works as well as it sounds. Batting and pitching is still based on button presses, so those that were hoping for a new analog control system will be disappointed once again.
The first thing that is apparent when the demo begins is how much the graphics have really improved in MLB 09. Last year’s game looked great, but compared to the demo, the players in MLB 08 look a little lifeless and not as realistic as they appear in MLB 09. The stadiums look quite a bit better and even have day-to-night transitions this year, which is shown in the demo as the game begins in late afternoon and ends in fourth inning with the lights being turned on as the night arrives. Fielding animations have also improved so that they react to ground balls more quickly and can pull off routine and double plays more easily through branching animations so those types of plays are more exciting than scary and frustrating. Even the crowds have been given some visual upgrades that include the ability for fans to leave and return to their seat and for vendors to roam the sections with stuff to sell.
The franchise mode has a few tweaks that will appeal to mainly the hardcore baseball fans that care delving further into the complex financial part of the baseball off-season. This includes salary arbitration, the Rule 5 draft, and waivers. Your 25-man roster will expand into a 40-man roster in September in preparation for the playoffs along with the roster changes you’re allowed to make between rounds, as well. Even the June Amateur Draft will make its way to the franchise mode with supplemental picks resulting from losing free agents in the off-season. These kinds of additions also make their way to the Road to the Show mode, though you’re only concerned about your own player’s contract status there.
Road to the Show mode has a few tweaks this year in MLB 09. Besides the added financial options that you can partake in now, you can now enter an actually training mode that lets you build your batting and base stealing attributes. The batting portion of that mode is more freeform to let you focus on what parts of your game need work and be able to build up those attributes if you do well enough and base stealing works pretty much the same way though there’s only two outcomes in that part of the game. Elsewhere in Road to the Show, you now will have the ability to choose your fast-forwarding options for situations like fielding, baserunning, and the at-bats of your CPU teammates. You will also finally have the option to edit your player after the initial creation so you don’t look the same at 18 as you do at 32 or be able to change hair styles when you’re bored of the baby face look. In addition to those changes, new presentational tweaks better focus on your player to give you more relevant stats, intros, and make the in-game experience revolve around your player just a little bit more.
The biggest of the new features in MLB 09 seems to be the new audio features that you will have to mess with to be able to customize your own game really well. The coolest new feature is jokingly called Trash Talk 2.0, which allows you to record your own chants, cheers, and jeers that can be done by a single person or as a group. Expanding on the idea of customizable audio is the new music editor that lets you pick custom music for batter walk ups, home run celebrations, and other situations that the default music isn’t suitable for. The My MLB playlist now allows for AAC files for those that aren’t fans of mp3s or wav files, though those that only care about hearing their own music can turn on music mode to turn off announcers and just play the music over everything instead of just in menus. Adding to that, the announcers do a great job in just the demo, so they are likely to continue with their status as the best announcers in the genre.
Even though really none of these are major additions or tweaks, last year’s game was a great overall game so that big changes weren’t needed for MLB 09: The Show. The changes that are being made bring some excitement for a better experience in many aspects though the one big change, analog controls for at least batting, has yet to happen. Online improvements are the last major portion of the game that we haven’t heard details on just yet, but things like flex scheduling and player drafts give us hope of more user-friendly leagues and lag-free online play. Those of you with a PS3, PS2, or PSP that are ready for some early baseball fun can look forward to picking up the game when it comes out on March 3.
Written By: Chris Selogy | Tags: MLB 09: The Show, Playstation Portable, SCEA
To get it out of the way, not much in the way of controls has really changed for this year’s game. At least nothing but the usual baserunning controls change, which leaves us with a more active set-up this year that is based just on the left analog stick. This new change only affects the Road to the Show mode, but the basic gist is that you actively make your player advance and retreat with the analog stick, even during pick off attempts and during routine plays. The option to revert back to the standard controls from year’s past is not there, so we’re hopeful that this works as well as it sounds. Batting and pitching is still based on button presses, so those that were hoping for a new analog control system will be disappointed once again.
The first thing that is apparent when the demo begins is how much the graphics have really improved in MLB 09. Last year’s game looked great, but compared to the demo, the players in MLB 08 look a little lifeless and not as realistic as they appear in MLB 09. The stadiums look quite a bit better and even have day-to-night transitions this year, which is shown in the demo as the game begins in late afternoon and ends in fourth inning with the lights being turned on as the night arrives. Fielding animations have also improved so that they react to ground balls more quickly and can pull off routine and double plays more easily through branching animations so those types of plays are more exciting than scary and frustrating. Even the crowds have been given some visual upgrades that include the ability for fans to leave and return to their seat and for vendors to roam the sections with stuff to sell.
The franchise mode has a few tweaks that will appeal to mainly the hardcore baseball fans that care delving further into the complex financial part of the baseball off-season. This includes salary arbitration, the Rule 5 draft, and waivers. Your 25-man roster will expand into a 40-man roster in September in preparation for the playoffs along with the roster changes you’re allowed to make between rounds, as well. Even the June Amateur Draft will make its way to the franchise mode with supplemental picks resulting from losing free agents in the off-season. These kinds of additions also make their way to the Road to the Show mode, though you’re only concerned about your own player’s contract status there.
Road to the Show mode has a few tweaks this year in MLB 09. Besides the added financial options that you can partake in now, you can now enter an actually training mode that lets you build your batting and base stealing attributes. The batting portion of that mode is more freeform to let you focus on what parts of your game need work and be able to build up those attributes if you do well enough and base stealing works pretty much the same way though there’s only two outcomes in that part of the game. Elsewhere in Road to the Show, you now will have the ability to choose your fast-forwarding options for situations like fielding, baserunning, and the at-bats of your CPU teammates. You will also finally have the option to edit your player after the initial creation so you don’t look the same at 18 as you do at 32 or be able to change hair styles when you’re bored of the baby face look. In addition to those changes, new presentational tweaks better focus on your player to give you more relevant stats, intros, and make the in-game experience revolve around your player just a little bit more.
The biggest of the new features in MLB 09 seems to be the new audio features that you will have to mess with to be able to customize your own game really well. The coolest new feature is jokingly called Trash Talk 2.0, which allows you to record your own chants, cheers, and jeers that can be done by a single person or as a group. Expanding on the idea of customizable audio is the new music editor that lets you pick custom music for batter walk ups, home run celebrations, and other situations that the default music isn’t suitable for. The My MLB playlist now allows for AAC files for those that aren’t fans of mp3s or wav files, though those that only care about hearing their own music can turn on music mode to turn off announcers and just play the music over everything instead of just in menus. Adding to that, the announcers do a great job in just the demo, so they are likely to continue with their status as the best announcers in the genre.
Even though really none of these are major additions or tweaks, last year’s game was a great overall game so that big changes weren’t needed for MLB 09: The Show. The changes that are being made bring some excitement for a better experience in many aspects though the one big change, analog controls for at least batting, has yet to happen. Online improvements are the last major portion of the game that we haven’t heard details on just yet, but things like flex scheduling and player drafts give us hope of more user-friendly leagues and lag-free online play. Those of you with a PS3, PS2, or PSP that are ready for some early baseball fun can look forward to picking up the game when it comes out on March 3.
 |
|
 Games, News, Reviews, Media and More |
|
|
Gamer 2.0 Rating: N/A | User Rating: N/A
Gamer 2.0 Rating: 7.7 | User Rating: N/A
Gamer 2.0 Rating: N/A | User Rating: N/A
|
