MLB '08 The Show PS3

[Highlifeman21]

After taking a closer look at the 6/2 file, I'm astonished (ok, maybe that's a strong word...), ok, I'm really really surprised that Bruce is considered worse than Norris Hopper.

Keppinger, however, is an absolute stud.

[AmarilloRed]

Originally Posted by Highlifeman21

Bruce was on the 6/2 roster update.

Try again today.

My roommate DL'd the file @ 9:30 PM last night.

What I did notice, however, that there are two absolutely stud OFs that are under 20 and would be the next best OF after Dunn on the Reds.

I tried last night, and he still wasn't on the 6/2 update. I will try again today, although I expect I will have to wait until 6/9. It does seem MLB can be slow updating rosters. Patterson, Hopper, Hatteberg, and I think even Castro are still on the Reds 25 man roster, even though some of them have been gone awhile, and Janish is not currently on. I hope Sony addresses some of the roster issues next year.

[aerontg]

There are some things that need work in this game (I'm on PS2, but the game engine is the same across the ports). The first one of the top of my head is the one that any statistics freak would be concerned about: WALKS.

Without changing the sliders to the point of negatively other aspects of gameplay, walks are just not realistic in MLB08. You can throw them intentionally, sure, but if you're anywhere near the strikezone the cpu will swing every time. I did a study, only one game (VERY SMALL sample size), in which I used similarly rated starting pitchers. I tracked every single pitch, on whether the pitch was taken for a ball or a strike, whether it was hit for a foul, single, double, triple or homerun, or whether the hitter was hit by a pitch. I no longer have the numbers (got the results I expected, and threw away the paper out of frustration with the game), but I can tell you that the cpu is WAY more aggressive at the plate than human players, that the cpu hits WAY more foul balls.

Another thing that I feels need some serious attention is the frequency (and type) of errors. Unless you move the errors slider almost all the way to the right (to increase error frequency), you will RARELY see a botched play.

There are some other quirky things. Last night I played against my wife (she's the Red Sox, I played as the Blue Jays and won 8-2). There was one play where I popped up between first and home. For whatever reason the game wouldn't switch her to the player closest to the ball on time, and when it finally did, she had to dive for the ball in fair ground. The batter wound up on second base because of that. AND.......it wasn't counted as an error OR hit. Strange. There is a lot of clipping, where players seem to run through each other. When warming up pitchers in the bullpen you shouldn't have to look at the player's baseball card to see what his stats are. Just show the W/L ERA WHIP numbers to us under the player ratings.

[aerontg]

Originally Posted by RedsManRick

Just finished the '09 season of Road to the Show. I'm a SP (sinker, hard cutter, sweeping curve) and establishing myself in the majors. Jeff Keppinger just won the batting title.

I think perhaps one of the greatest pleasures is watching how the PS3 handles lineups. Phillips batting 7th, Votto playing over Hatteberg, Keppinger leading off and playing over AGone, Burton, McBeth, Coutlagnus all in the pen. Of course, I just started the 2010 season -- which is where I saw Dunn batting 3rd... for the Pirates. Though the Reds signed Chris B. Young and I love having a glove out there in CF. Bailey just got released...

Homer, are you reading?

Dusty, are you?

[Degenerate39]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

I tried last night, and he still wasn't on the 6/2 update. I will try again today, although I expect I will have to wait until 6/9. It does seem MLB can be slow updating rosters. Patterson, Hopper, Hatteberg, and I think even Castro are still on the Reds 25 man roster, even though some of them have been gone awhile, and Janish is not currently on. I hope Sony addresses some of the roster issues next year.

He's on there for me. After you save it try going to franchise mode afterwards and looking on the roster.

[AmarilloRed]

I just did try again today, around 3 P.M., and he was on the update. I suspect there might be a time differential involved, in which players in the Eastern Time Zone get Bruce earlier than those of us who live further west. There were also some other changes: Janish and Andy Philips were on the Reds roster, Keppinger and Patterson were in AAA, and Hatteberg was a free agent. AAA and AA also seems to have some new players.

[AmarilloRed]

One interesting I noticed while I was monitoring the player progression system in franchise mode last night. Velocity never increases or decreases, and that seems a little unrealistic as in real life players will add or lose velocity over their career(as it now seems to have happened with Bailey). You can increase or decrease the velocity artificially by editing a player's pitches, but it is just not the same thing. I would hope Sony can work on a patch for this, or put it in next year's game.

[Highlifeman21]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

One interesting I noticed while I was monitoring the player progression system in franchise mode last night. Velocity never increases or decreases, and that seems a little unrealistic as in real life players will add or lose velocity over their career(as it now seems to have happened with Bailey). You can increase or decrease the velocity artificially by editing a player's pitches, but it is just not the same thing. I would hope Sony can work on a patch for this, or put it in next year's game.

Velocity depends on the pitching coach you have, and the amount of coin you put into velocity in the training.

The more focused your coach is with velocity, and the more coin you pump into velocity in training, you'll see velocity increase for the youngsters, and you'll see the old farts maintain.

[AmarilloRed]

Originally Posted by Highlifeman21

Velocity depends on the pitching coach you have, and the amount of coin you put into velocity in the training.

The more focused your coach is with velocity, and the more coin you pump into velocity in training, you'll see velocity increase for the youngsters, and you'll see the old farts maintain.

I am at the max allowed for training(80,000,000), and my pitching coach has velocity at near the max. I will monitor the 2nd year of my franchise, and see if anything changes.

[Highlifeman21]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

I am at the max allowed for training(80,000,000), and my pitching coach has velocity at near the max. I will monitor the 2nd year of my franchise, and see if anything changes.

I've only noticed subtle velocity change during the 1st year. I've observed noticeable velocity changes by multiple pitchers during year 2.

Give it time, you'll see it. The most I've seen is a 4-5 mph velocity increase on certain pitches.

For example, after year 2, Jared Burton was throwing consistently 97-99 with his cutter. IIRC, he was topping out at 95-96 with that same cutter.

[Degenerate39]

I guess Thompson will be on next weeks roster updates.

[AmarilloRed]

Originally Posted by Degenerate39

I guess Thompson will be on next weeks roster updates.

It just means I will have to start my franchise over again, or simply start a new one. I started this franchise because I finally had the Big 4 on my roster, I didn't think a fifth would be coming this soon.

[RedsFan75]

Same here, I'll have to restart with Thompson.

[Degenerate39]

Originally Posted by AmarilloRed

It just means I will have to start my franchise over again, or simply start a new one. I started this franchise because I finally had the Big 4 on my roster, I didn't think a fifth would be coming this soon.

Me too. Then I'll have to restart when Roenicke gets called up. And I wish they would put Herera on the game already.

[Highlifeman21]

Anyone found Clayton Kershaw in any of the roster updates?