Category Archives: Video Games

January 22, 2011

The State of MLB Video Games

By Joe

The Show franchise stands as the best of the current crop of MLB games.

2010 was the first year since 2002 where I did not purchase a new video game baring the Major League Baseball license.  I’m not sure if there was one particular reason but I was surprised with myself that I just did not have the desire to get a new one.  Perhaps this ties in with my previous post about my feelings on video games in general and my lack of interest, but I always felt that my baseball obsession was enough to overcome that.  Maybe it was because the home town team, the Boston Red Sox, had just completed a rather drab off season and appeared to be stuck in neutral as the season approached.  Or maybe it was just the product itself hadn’t advanced enough in a year to warrant another purchase.

Whatever the reason, my apathy towards the idea of purchasing a new baseball title did not return completely this year.  In all likelihood, I will make a new purchase in 2011 and it will likely be for the latest title in the MLB The Show series put out each year by Sony.

The Show has been my franchise of choice over the past few years ever since Take Two Entertainment acquired the exclusive third party publishing rights to the MLB brand, thus putting a dagger into my preferred franchise of the time EA Sports’ MVP Baseball*.  This agreement did not apply to first party publishers so Sony was able to keep putting out a new game each year, which was a great thing because Take Two’s title has been consistently mediocre each and every year.

A great franchise that died too early.

*I always felt the consumer lost out big time with the exclusive rights deals brokered for sports games in the middle part of the last decade.  Take Two’s acquisition was largely a response to EA securing exclusive publishing rights to the NFL brand, thus killing off Take Two’s fantastic NFL 2k series and leaving gamers with Madden as their lone option.  In the span of a year, my two favorite sports titles were no more.

The Show has risen in quality over the years and has even surpassed the level of the final MVP game, though who knows where that franchise would have been now had it been allowed to exist.  The Show shamelessly ripped off MVP’s pitcher meter, a system where the player has to time his or her button presses with the release points of a pitcher’s delivery for optimal pitch execution.  This is a good thing as the pitch meter has been the single best addition to the baseball video game since the behind the plate hitting camera.  The Show has been able to add considerable depth to its franchise mode, clean up some annoying bugs, and give gamers the highly addicting Road to the Show game mode where players create a character and try to achieve Hall of Fame status over their career.

The first baseball game I ever bought and one of the best all-time.

The only problem with what I just stated is that most of those additions were either made or perfected for 2007’s game.  Since then, little has changed aside from incremental boosts to the game’s visuals and gameplay balance.  The last few years the game has felt like a $60 roster update.  If the same is true of this year’s title than Sony can safely assume that I won’t be purchasing the game in 2012, I’ll get my fix this year and let that title last me a couple of years.  So without further adieu, here is how I think this title can be restored to glory (bare in mind, I did not play last year’s game so if anything I propose was added for 2010 that’s why):

  • Better franchise mode – This is kind of a loaded suggestion but I’ll spell out exactly what I mean.  The current franchise mode is pretty solid, it lasts longer than most gamer’s attention spans and gives the player control over GM duties as well as Ownership duties.  There’s just one major issue that has bugged the Hell out of me over the years and that’s the ability to negotiate with players on your roster at any time.  Presently, the user signs a player to a given contract and the player plays out that contract to its end, barring early retirement.  I want to be able to approach said player in the final year of his deal about signing an extension, rather than waiting until the end of the season.  This better allows me, the gamer, to better manage how many expiring contracts I have to deal with at year’s end.  Since players cannot be predicted to re-sign no matter how much money is thrown at them, a year in which 3 or 4 core players are up for free agency can be devastating.  Also, let’s improve the feedback received when negotiating with players in free agency.  As I said before, their whims are impossible to predict since they won’t always just take the most money (no matter how crazy an offer you make them, it’s no guarantee of anything) which is fine, humans should be hard to predict.  I just want a sense of how interested the player is in my offer.  It’s a mechanism that has existed in virtually every game the last 8 years and even exists in The Show when working on trades.
  • Attrition and Improvement – For me, even though players come and go the franchise mode feels very static.  For the most part, the superstars of today will still be superstars 10 game years from now, which just isn’t realistic.  A 40 year old Tim Lincecum shouldn’t be firing 97 mph fastballs consistently nor should Albert Pujols find himself leading the league in home runs.  At the same time, those hot-shot rookies with A ratings for potential do not tend to get any better.  This pretty much destroys the minor league system and affects gameplay balance because while I, the user, know that minor leaguers do not improve no matter what the scouting report says, the AI still assumes they will and overvalues them in trades.  As a result, the game is interesting only so long as I can keep restocking my roster with real Major League players as opposed to the ones generated by the game for the annual draft.  This grossly affects gameplay balance in later years as most divisions seem to be won by 85 – 90 win ball clubs while mine win 110+.  And that’s with me simulating the outcomes of 99% of the games, so it’s not like I’m physically playing the game and just beating up on the computer controlled clubs on the field.
  • Waiver system – The Show has been good about adapting the various GM roles to the video game system but one has been omitted for too long and that’s the waiver wire beyond July 31st.  In the real world, players can be traded freely up until the non-waiver deadline of July 31st.  After that, any team wishing to move someone has to put that player on waivers at which point every team in baseball can put in a claim on him.  If a team claims the player the team that currently owns the player’s rights can either pull the player back off of waivers, allow the claiming team to take the player, or work out a trade with the team who claimed the player.  If multiple teams put in a claim then the team with the worst record is rewarded with the claim.  If no team claims the player then he has been cleared through waivers and the current team is now free to trade him to any club interested.  This system is not in the game, so after the July 31st trade deadline passes no trades can be made.  This should be an easy fix.
  • 40 – Man Rosters and Options – Right now, there is no way for me to view who is on my 40-man roster which determines who is eligible for the Major League team and who is protected from the Rule 5 Draft.  The only way to know who is on the 40 is to individually look at each player, which is tedious and time consuming.  There’s also no way to see how many options remain on a player.  Options allow the front office to freely shuttle the player back and forth between the big league club and the minor league affiliates.  And there’s no way to sign free agents to minor league contracts.  Again, easy fixes.
  • More Customization – When I create a player, particularly a pitcher, I want to be able to fully customize his pitches.  MVP did this so why can’t The Show?  Particularly, I want to determine pitch movement.  Using the normal clock format is easy.  I want my guy’s curveball to break 11 to 5, or 10-4.  Maybe my guy’s cutter breaks down more than horizontal, so let me do that too.
  • Manage Mode – Right now manage mode is way too detailed.  That’s better than being on the other end but how about some middle ground?  In MVP, manage mode was done on an at-bat basis, in The Show it’s on a pitch basis.  To me, manage mode should be an alternative to just simulating the game that allows me some input.  The Show seems to think of it as simply an alternative to swinging the bat and throwing the ball, that you just watch and put on plays on a per pitch basis.  The end result being games take just as long this way as they do playing, actually they’re probably even longer.
  • Playoffs – Another simply one would be to let me tell the CPU that I want to go with a 3 or 4 man pitching rotation in the Playoffs.  Also, have the AI do the same.  I shouldn’t be facing the opposing team’s 5th starter in the ALCS, that’s just stupid.  Of course, I can pick who starts each game so it’s not like right now I’m forced to throw a 4th or 5th starter, but it’s just annoying having to keep changing it.  The simple solution would be to allow the gamer to leave spots in the pitching rotation empty.  Right now, the game won’t let you play or sim a game without a valid 5-man rotation, which is stupid.  Even if it’s the regular season I should be allowed to have a 4 man rotation if I think it will work, the consequences be damned!  And let’s make game 7 of the World Series feel different from a game played in May.  If the CPU’s starter is a bit shaky early on the manager should have a quick hook.  I want to get a sense that the AI is going all-in to try and win the game as opposed to living to play another day.

I think that’s enough for one entry.  I’m almost certain I’ve forgotten about some other annoyance I have with the franchise but if most or all of the above were inserted for a new game I’d be pretty content.  At least give me the sense as a consumer that I’m not paying for the same game over and over.  Gimmicks don’t work and I don’t care if players sweat more realistically this time around.  I just want a great simulation of the game of baseball.  The developers have come close over the years to giving me just that, but so far no one has hit one out of the park and I’m beginning to think no one will.

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January 17, 2011

Video Games – A Fading Interest

By Joe

Who didn't have one of these?

My generation is the one that grew up with a Nintendo in every household.  It was rare to encounter someone as a kid who didn’t know who Mario was or what the “blood code” was.  Sure there was the occasional classmate who’s parents were opposed to video games, but they were the ones with the biggest obsession.  For them a Nintendo was some kind of forbidden fruit, you never knew if they were your friend or just using you to feed their addiction.

I received my first Nintendo Entertainment System when I was four.  It was a Christmas gift from my grandparents and quite a happy time for me.  It was the Super Mario Bros./Duck Hunt bundle edition with two controllers and a light gun.  I don’t know how much time I spent with it, but I know it was a lot.  I was never very good at Super Mario.  I knew where all the warp zones were but my methodical pace always doomed me on the longer stages in World 8.  As for Duck Hunt, I could hold my own for a few levels but once things got fast and furious I had that plastic gun barrel up against the glass to avoid hearing that incessant dog laugh at my poor shooting.

My NES collection never got very big.  I can still remember every game I owned.  Aside from the Mario bundle, I had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which was incredibly hard), Battle Toads (which was brutally hard), Super Mario Bros. 3, and Dr. Mario.  My sister had some terrible Barbie game, but that was it.  I’d rent games often and play other games at friend’s or cousin’s houses so I was readily familiar with Zelda, Mega Man, and the other usual suspects.  I also had a Game Genie, which was awesome because it made me feel like less of a failure.  Looking back, I’m not sure if I ever legitimately beat any NES games.  Usually just reaching certain levels was a huge accomplishment, like getting past the water level in TMNT or level 3 in Battle Toads (the one on the hover bikes, that was a game that was still impossible even with Game Genie).  Frustration ruined my persistence, so I would just get mad at a game and then go play with my action figures or something.

I had even less Super Nintendo games.  I had to wait a little while before my parents

would get me one, and it was one of my favorite Christmas gifts.  It was like a scene

My friends and I would spend hours after school watching this fatality over and over. It's kind of surprising none of us turned out to be a serial killer.

from A Christmas Story where I begged my parents for months and then didn’t notice it hidden behind a dining room chair until my dad pointed it out to me.  Aside form the pack-in Super Mario World, the only other SNES games I would ever get would be Mario Paint, Turtles in Time, and the horribly disappointing Spider-Man and the X-Men.  I remember thinking there was no way a game starring both Spidey and the X-Men could be anything less than unbelievable, but it was utter garbage.  I should add, by this time I was at least respectable at video games and managed to completely beat Super Mario World and destroy the very easy Turtles in Time, even on the hard difficulty!  And while I liked the SNES, I was at an age where I never had enough of my own money to buy games and the following Christmas I got a Sega Genesis.  From that point on, my parents and relatives would only ever buy me Sega games for some reason.  Oh well.

I only wanted the Genesis for Mortal Kombat, because the Super Nintendo version was censored while the Genesis version had a code that would enable blood and the gory fatalities.  My friends and I got quite a bit of milage out of that game!

One of my first Playstation games, and one I loved.

It was around that time where games became my favorite past time.  I moved on from Genesis to Playstation, camped out on launch night for a Playstation 2, and acquired just about every major console that has followed (with the notable exceptions being the two X-Box consoles).  I don’t know how many games I’ve owned over the years, but it’s a significant amount.  There’s been plenty who have owned more, but many hours of my life have been spent with a controller in hand.

I’ve now reached the point where they’re losing their luster.  This past year I only purchased three games on my own, Red Dead Redemption, Smackdown vs Raw, and Rock Band 3, the latter I only got because I wanted to see if I could learn anything by using the new keyboard (to be determined).  Outside of Red Dead Redemption, games just aren’t holding my attention any longer.  I can’t put my finger on it, but I think it’s a host of things that have lead to my indifference.

Great games can still hold my attention as I did spend many hours with Red Dead Redemption as I did just about everything there was to do in that game.  That used to be the norm for me though.  Over the last few years I’ve amassed a sizable collection of games that have gone neglected.  Off the top of my head, I can think of several games that I have played 3 or fewer times, among them would be Mad World, Battalion Wars, Dissidia, and Uncharted 2.  Most of these are actually pretty good games.  Uncharted 2 is celebrated as one of the best games to come out in the last few years.  I received it as a gift in 2009 and never even played it until this past fall.  Even when I play it, I know it’s pretty good and something that I should enjoy but I just haven’t gone back to it.  I’m actually going to force myself to resume playing it in the next few days along with Super Mario Galaxy 2, which I’ve probably completed about 50% of and I’ve had it since June.  Since getting Rock Band 3 at Christmas time, I’ve only played that once.  I probably played the first Rock Band only 3 or 4 times, I can’t remember.

I also have a DSi and a PSP, both of which I rarely play.  Recently I’ve made myself pick up the DS again as I have a train ride as part of my commute each morning that lasts about 45 minutes.  As a result, I’ve hit the 90 hour mark on Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and am pretty much sick of it.  If not for my commute I would have never put that much time into it as the game is too easy and the plot is atrocious.  I have a bunch of games I’ve spent little time with that I’ll have to pick up (maybe Final Fantasy III) in its place.

I've spent many hours with this game, only because it was there in front of me.

Things do not look any different going forward.  The 3DS will be the next big piece of hardware to launch and I won’t be partaking in that.  I can’t justify getting in line for one when I’ve barely touched the handhelds I do have.  Mass Effect 2, many outlets pick for best game of 2010, gets a PS3 release tomorrow and I am intrigued.  Since I don’t own an Xbox 360 I’ve never played a Mass Effect game but have heard good things.  I won’t let myself buy a copy though until I’ve at least beat Uncharted 2, I don’t want to see it “go to waste” by never beating it.  I have reasonably high hopes for ME2 as I enjoy the RPG genre and haven’t played a new one in some time.  Final Fantasy XIII did not sound appealing to me so I skipped it, first time I’ve done that ever (not including the online only Final Fantasy XI) with a Final Fantasy title.  My thirst for an RPG was some-what quenched last winter when I borrowed a copy of Final Fantasy XI for the Gameboy Advance, which I played mostly on the train.  I also fired up my PS2 and played through one of my favorite games of all-time, Xenogears, this past summer.  I know ME2 shares little in common with Japanese RPG’s but that’s okay, I also enjoy the American ones such as Fallout 3 and Elder Scrolls.

Beyond Mass Effect 2 though there is virtually nothing on the horizon I am looking forward to.  As someone who does enjoy Batman, I’ll probably end up with a copy of the Arkham Asylum sequel which is supposed to come out in the fall.  I’ll keep an eye on the Dragon Age sequal and the Oblivion follow-up but I’m not excited for either one.  It’s a time of transition for me where my free time seems more valuable now than it did when I was a teenager.  I can remember coming home from school and playing Playstation until dinner time, even doing the mundane such as level grinding in a Final Fantasy title or flying through a fighting game with every character just to unlock a new costume or something pointless.  Stuff like that just doesn’t interest me anymore.  Every game today comes with a list of unlockable trophies or achievements for people to spend time on and most of them are just stupid and require little skill, just a lot of free time.  It can get to the point where playing a game feels like a chore.

Perhaps this game will give me reason to get excited once again.

The thing that really irks me is the downloadable content some games provide.  Normally such a thing would be welcomed, but as I mentioned before, this year I purchased the latest Smackdown vs Raw game (a guilty pleasure) and was sickened to see what some of the downloadable content was.  Most of it is the kind of stuff that would be unlockable in a game by completing a certain task, or something that would be given from the start such as the ability to augment the wrestler’s abilities in-game.  Now that stuff is something the user has to pay for.  It’s a small fee but the fact that it exists disgusts me enough to consider forgoing purchasing any future games in the series.  I can remember getting WWF Attitude when it came out.  Every wrestler in the game had 4 attires, now most only have one and if you want more you have to pay more.  It’s just nickel and diming by the publisher.  Perhaps if the product was of exceptional quality I could forgive such a practice but it’s not.  Every year content is removed from the game to be re-added years later as something new and exciting.  It’s pathetic.

At least I'll always have Xenogears.

I suppose I should be happy my interest is waning as this opens up time, and money, for me to pursue other things.  It is what it is, I suppose.  Maybe something will come along that will re-ignite my interest again, but I don’t know.  I thought the long-await Starcraft 2 would be such a game, but Blizzard’s decision to release each campaign scenario separately just left a sour taste in my mouth.  That and the game is virtually unchanged from the first, which was released in 1998.  Diablo 3, which probably won’t be released until 2012 anyways, looks to be the same – an old game with a fresh coat of paint.  I guess that’s the root of my disinterest, every game just feels like something I’ve played before.  Video games are incredibly expensive to develop these days and publishers are afraid to take chances as a result – I get that.  It’s still disappointing though that with all of this technology we’re left playing games where the visuals are shiny and new but the game underneath it is 10 years old.  I still have most of the games I bought and played 10 years ago, so why spend $60 on something I’ve already played?  Forget Uncharted, where’s my copy of Chrono Trigger?!

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