MLB 09 The Show

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I am a little late to the "show" but I am sure glad I finally arrived here! I just picked up the PS3 system 2 weeks ago. I am from the school that felt MVP baseball 2005 was hands down the best baseball game ever made for console gaming. I read numerous reviews on this game at various sites and was really shocked at the clear line of love it or hate it type of write ups. A little background on my gaming expereince for you youngens out there. I have been playing video games since the Atari 2600 (I still have that thing in fine working condition in a box with over 100 carts). Back then Intellevision was the bomb for baseball.Nintendo had Baseball Stars, and Bases Loaded the Second Season (both classics). On Sega Genesis we had RBI Baseball, and the sweet World Series Baseball. Then the Playstation had EA's Triple Play baseball,All Star Baseball and of course the legendary MVP 2005 for PS2. For this review I can tell you this game is being played on a 32' Sony XBR Bravia 1080P LCD with Digital Surround and HDMI video.

I will list my custom settings which I have found to be very challenging and at the same time very rewarding. These settings thus far have made for a very realistic gaming experience without the extreme amount of frustration that some have shared. Over time I am sure I will turn down and turn up these various settings as my skill in the game gets better with repeated play. I recommend these particular settings if you have had a good amount of baseball video gaming experience with either The Show or the MVP series, have a good working knowledge of the game and also if you are/were a ball player.

All Star difficulty

No hot/cold zones

No Strike Zone marker

No hitter zone marker

Yes to ball marker to line up the pitches even though the controller shakes if your out of the strike zone it does make things a tad easier and more enjoyable.

Yes to 1/6 guess pitch and location I believe part of baseball is to anticipate certain pitches and location at crucial times and to be rewarded like you would in real life with a solid hit or a majestic blast out of the park! This allows you to sit on a pitch that you guessed right. Or if you don't want to guess the pitch but know he will pitch you down and away that helps and you should be rewarded. Knowing location has it's rewards too! I played a game last night and just knew this pitcher was going to come at me inside....I promptly crushed one over the right field wall BOOYA!!!!!!

New Running control set up very easy to use as I will explain below.

Yes to API (Adaptive pitching intelligence) where the cather calls the game for you and you can either shake him off or follow his lead. I like this a lot! And don't be afraid to shake off your catcher. They do call for more fastballs then they should....shake him off and throw that change up or breaking ball!

All throwing, fielding, running, and sliding set to manuel

Yes to the Fielding ball marker and steal the HR marker.

Yes to umpire strike zone variabilty

No CPU comebacks.

As far as my sliders go without being long winded the only adjustments I made were:

Turning up 2 clicks each:

Hitting Power

Solid Contact

Starting Pitcher Stamina

Relief Pitcher Stamina

Foul balls

Turning down 3 clicks:

Throwing errors.

Turned down 1 click

AI Pitch speed if your a novice turn it dowm some more to get a feel for what different pitches do. Once you get the hang of it...turn it up!

On to the game.

Presentation Never have I been so blown away by a sports games presentation than MLB 2009 The Show. From the moment you load in the game and hearing all the great radio calls to the opening lineup introductions, the umpire crew calling the game, the panning in the stadiums, the lighting and shading....I mean this is top notch stuff. The play by play is great. Without question you feel like your watching a baseball game. The menus are very in depth and easy to navigate. I love seeing in spring training games the beach balls being hit around. The crowd is very active and looks so real! The player models are nothing short of beautiful. The fielding animations are so life like...back hand stabs, flips to turn 2, scoops, fist pumping after a great play, dives and slides....all the most realisitc I have ever seen. Guys getting thrown out of arguing calls, Replays are awesome!!!! Custom walk up music, and recording your own cheers and jeers.....friggin sweet!

Gameplay this is where the biggest debate has been on the reviews. I will say this. MLB 2009 is not for pick up and play gamers, gamers who do not have much baseball knowledge, and gamers who do not have patience. This is a game that was designed for true baseball fans, players, and sports gamers who want the ultimate in true realisim. If you don't fit into that description....buy MLB The Bigs.

The degree of difficulty in hitting is just that. It is not easy. This is not dependent on button mashing and pure timing. You must understand the sweet science of hitting, taking pitches, going with the pitch, fighting off pitches, having some sense of what pitch is coming depending on the count, the baserunners etc. The hitting aspect of this game is just flat out amazing. If you are patient and willing to practice you will be able to be successful. One of the biggest keys to hitting on this game is the left stick. You need to understand that if a pitcher is throwing it down and away and you swing at it....you better have the left stick pressed down and away as you time your button push and then maybe you either fight off the pitch, get a dribbler down the line you can leg out, hit an opposite field single...pop up, line out, my point is there is no guarantee you will get on base...but if you don't press that left stick down and away chances are you will whiff. If you have a man on third....tap the right stick up to induce a fly ball to tag up that runner!! Drag bunts are awesome on this game and they work well (tap your right stick either left or right before the pitch). I wish you could move the hitter around the box though...amazing a game with this much detail left that out. The hitters eye is a nice touch to see how the defense is playing you. Back to the hitting aspect. What I love is that even if you get the timing right sometimes your going to hit it hard....but it is going to find a glove. That is baseball. No one hits .375 year round....most hitters hit .275 to .280. Sometimes you time it right but you don't swing your bat high enough or low enough with the left stick. Again...ultimate realism. I still have not hit a HR using the power swing. I have hit a dozen (in 14 spring games) though using the normal swing button, with perfect timing and placing the sweet spot of the bat in the right area. I also do not like to use the power swing button because you can't check your swing at all. Check swinging is a major aspect of this game. The batter/pitcher duals are flat out sick!

Pitching Wow...I love this. Even when you line up the ball right....sometimes your pitcher just does not have his best stuff. Know this and start thinking about getting your long reliever up earlier than you would like! I love the fact that you must work the zone....throw pitches high and away, low and outside, or give them a sweet splitter down the middle...whoops and then it drops like a rock! Also....make sure you get ahead in the count...because the great hitters will make you pay for mistakes all the time. Study your hitters with the pitcher/batter menu....amazing the amount of info you can gather from those screens. Also check the streak arrow direction next to their name and stats as they approach the batters box....is A-Rod on a cold steak? Then challenge him!! If he's hot and first base is open....pitch him carefully. Watch your pitchers confidence closley. If he is getting into trouble...get out there and talk to him. If he can't seem to get out trouble....send him to an early shower!

The plethora of pitches in the game is sweet. Screwballs, slurves, 2 seamers, 4 seamers, 12-6 curves, spliters, sliders, sinkers, knuckleballs, knuckle curves, changeups....awesome. The variability on the umpires is also a very nice touch. Sometimes you get calls...sometimes you don't. Adjust and adapt just like in real life!!!!

Fielding Ok here is where there are a couple of quirks. Sometimes the AI chooses the wrong fielder for you intially and you need to hit that L2 quick...also sometimes you hit dive and meant it let's say for your 3rd baseman but the AI chose your LF instead and he is flat on his face and it turns into a double. It does not happen that often. In fact it is becoming less of an occurence as you get used to the speed of the game. The fielding though for the most part is very solid. I love the smoothness of the animations and man it feels so real. Throwing is a breeze as is diving and jumping. Throwing errors were happening too often on the "out of the box settings" so take my advice on the slider adjustments mentioned above. The fielding guide marker is very helpful and a must for novices and even vet's like me...it makes for a more enjoyable experience. Last night I perefectly timed a R2 dive for Hanley Ramirez to lay out up the middle on a grounder... he then flipped the ball up from his stomach to Uggla who was getting taken out on the throw to turn the 6-4-3 DP. AMAZING FIELDING ANIMATIONS!!!!!

Baserunning Ok MVP 2005 has the best baserunning controls hands down with the use of the game pad....why MLB 2009 does not use that same scheme is anyone's guess....but the new running control scheme that uses the left stick is a breeze.I have never played any previous version of MLB The Show and read the classic controls and was getting dizzy. Just point to the base runner you want with your left stick and hit the button of the base you want him to go to. L1 for all advance...R1 for all retreat. After a dozen spring games for practice I have had no issues with base running. Stealing is also very easy. Point the stick to the runner you want and touch the button of the base you want him to steal. I have not tried a double steal as of yet....so no comment on that as of now.

Franshise mode I am dizzy at the amount of options you have here. I actually let the CPU handle the training options, budget and stadium stuff....I am too busy with rosters, signing players, drafts, and scouting!!! In other words I like being the GM and Manager and I let the CPU handle other stuff.....for now (:

The 40 man rosters are great. I will miss the MVP minor league systems though. I look forward to my first draft as well as free agent signing peroid. I play the Marlins BTW.

RTTS I have not yet ventured into this mode as of the writing of this review. I first want to complete a couple of seasons (which will take me probably a few years since I only can play maybe 8 hours a week) with my Marlins and then I will delve into that whole other world this game has.

Overall the game is a 10 out of 10 for me. I don't think I have ever been this excited about a sports game since Madden and MVP 2005 for the PS2. This is a true innovative gaming experience. I played ball through college and still play softball on Sundays, It also helps I am a huge basbeball fan. This game is for baseball lovers...I do not reccommend this game for any casual gamers, casual baseball fans or a gamer who has little to no patience. However if you want a true baseball simulation that has more features than you know what to do with, and that also has replayability for the next 10 years look no further than MLB 2009 The Show. A game that truly rewards you with every game you play. The more you play the better you will get and the more fun you will ultimatly have! Quite possibly the best sports video game ever made. Now pass me some mustard for my red hots!

Have fun at the ball park everyone!

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Here we are, another long winter over and another amazing spring to begin, and what better way to ring in the best time of year than with MLB 09 The Show.

Sony has done it, they have taken an amazing franchise and made it perfect. I could tell you about the perfect graphics and amazing sounds, but this game has literally everything. They have batters that react like their real-life counterparts and pitchers that are accurate down to the grip of the ball. Each player is rendered with extreme precision, and with the ability to manually add their actual walk up music and HR celebration music, nothing is more life-like.

They team at Sony has added well over 400 animations to an already extraordinary library of ones that existed previously. I could probably play 100 games and still see something new. From speaking to one of the developers, there are now over 100 animation simply for the first baseman catching a throw to first. That's just unreal. Also, as you play the game the infield wears down, if you dive for a ball on the back of the infield in the third inning, that large swipe of dirt will still be there the rest of the game, this is amazing. Score a runner from second base, and you'll see the footprints in the dirt until they get covered by even more footprints.

The crowd is intenase this year, it's dynamic. If there's a blow out, they might leave early. Also, you'll see Yankee fans in Fenway and vice-versa, as that's how it really is. Sony has made this as close to reality as possible. Also, the fans dress for the weather. I was playing an early April game in Chicago, and the announcers stated it was 43 degrees. Everyone in the crowd had hats, sweaters and jackets on. For a game in late May, it was t-shirts and shorts.

The lighting is another VAST improvement this season. The game actually has lighting that transitions throughout the game. It doesn't just go from light to dark, it follows a real nights subtle changes. Also, the lighting will hit players at certain angles that mimic a real sun, so the shadows will make a difference this year.

Add to all this, online leagues and Road to the Show 3.0, and yes you have a perfect baseball game.

Thank you Sony.

Buy MLB 09 The Show Now

First of all, my review is not gonna tell you why this game is perfect because of how great the stadiums look, or how lifelike Manny Ramirez's dreads look. I love graphics as much as the next guy, but that is not what I am looking for in a baseball game. I am an obsessive Baseball fan and the only thing I am looking for is realism...and this game has done baseball perfectly.

You hear that a lot in reviews of this game don't you? Perfect. How many times have most of the reviewers of anything said something like that?

The only baseball game I have continued to play since like 1999 has been High Heat Baseball for PC. I have seriously continued to update the rosters year after year for the 2003 edition, keeping it current. Well, this game not only made me finally put that game away, but single-handedly made me buy a PS3.

That is saying a lot! Console Baseball games have continued to get it wrong, time after time, after sad disc throwing time for me. I can not say enough for how amazing this game is. The batter/pitcher battle, the most important part of baseball, is excellent. High pitch counts, countless foul balls, CPU actually throwing balls, strike outs looking, amazing.

The trajectory of batted balls is great too, lots of balls up the middle, and looping fly balls, like real baseball. Lots of little things too with feeling, balls are bobbled but plays are still made... adding more of a human feeling to the game. One of the other cool features on the game, is that on the higher up difficulty modes.. you are to use actual catcher signs to call pitches, 1 for fastball, 2 usually for curve etc.. and your catcher even calls what side of the plate its going too.

This game is perfect, 10 out of 10, 5 out of 5, whatever the ratings are. This game looks equally good when compared to how atrocious that Major league Baseball game is. Go BUY NOW.

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I think many of the people who wrote previous reviews have given this game a fair assessment. I got back into playing console games recently and picked this game up b/c it was last years game and I didn't want to break the bank on video games. As a baseball fanatic, I really enjoyed this game. I really think they hit the mark on a great baseball game more than others that I have played. Granted there are concerns that other reviews have already written, but I just want to add that two things I hate about this game is 1. online play has been canceled. I can't play against other MLB 09 players since MLB 10 is out. 2. I also can't update my rosters. I guess that's their nice hint to go buy MLB 10 which I won't. I am not going to pay $50+ each year for updated rosters and maybe better gameplay. Here's a suggestion, perhaps charge a small fee for roster updates since I know the reason you canceled online play is about making money. And why cancel online play against other players after one year? I can understand maybe after a few years, but after one year? If this is the trend, I won't be buying future MLB games unless I buy it used for dirt cheap or get it for free.

Want MLB 09 The Show Discount?

Last year, MLB 08 was the best baseball game I ever played. It was so good, I had reservations spending another $60 for the new version. Honestly, I'm not sure it was really worth the money, but MLB 09 is another incredible baseball game that makes minor improvements to last year's, and adds a few new features. You can record your own chants and music for individual players. The graphics and animations have been tweaked. The gameplay has been slightly enhanced. Pitching seems the most improved. The Franchise Mode has been enhanced with transactions such as salary arbitration, waiver transactions, and September call-ups. I feel the game will have a lot of replay value. The game is well worth the price if you don't own last years. $60 might be a lot for those upgrading though.