MLB 10: The Show

[Sterling Archer]

I got Longoria from the Rays for Aramis, "Alexis Villacia", and I think Jeff Gray.

Nice trade, Weebs.  I did steal Cashner for Zack Duke and Colvin for Lastings Milledge.  Also, Kerry Wood for Octavio Dotel.

Fair trades were turned on.  This came after three months' worth of trying to acquire Ben Zobrist to play second base.  (Theriot was unloaded a long time ago.)  Apparently Zobrist is the greatest player in the history of baseball because the Rays wouldn't give him up for anything.  Longoria, hitting .240?  Take him.  He ended up hitting 40 bombs and he just hit a grand slam to beat the Dodgers in game one of the NLDS, 4-3.

[Slaky]

I got Longoria from the Rays for Aramis, "Alexis Villacia", and I think Jeff Gray.

Nice trade, Weebs.  I did steal Cashner for Zack Duke and Colvin for Lastings Milledge.  Also, Kerry Wood for Octavio Dotel.

Fair trades were turned on.  This came after three months' worth of trying to acquire Ben Zobrist to play second base.  (Theriot was unloaded a long time ago.)  Apparently Zobrist is the greatest player in the history of baseball because the Rays wouldn't give him up for anything.  Longoria, hitting .240?  Take him.  He ended up hitting 40 bombs and he just hit a grand slam to beat the Dodgers in game one of the NLDS, 4-3.

You're in the playoffs with the Cubs? FAKE.

[Sterling Archer]

I got Longoria from the Rays for Aramis, "Alexis Villacia", and I think Jeff Gray.

Nice trade, Weebs.  I did steal Cashner for Zack Duke and Colvin for Lastings Milledge.  Also, Kerry Wood for Octavio Dotel.

Fair trades were turned on.  This came after three months' worth of trying to acquire Ben Zobrist to play second base.  (Theriot was unloaded a long time ago.)  Apparently Zobrist is the greatest player in the history of baseball because the Rays wouldn't give him up for anything.  Longoria, hitting .240?  Take him.  He ended up hitting 40 bombs and he just hit a grand slam to beat the Dodgers in game one of the NLDS, 4-3.

You're in the playoffs with the Cubs? FAKE.

Honestly they don't even look like the Cubs anymore.  As it should be.

[Powdered Toast Man]

This game is really fun.  Duh.  I finished the game I talked about yesterday.  I lost 14-5, but 13 of those runs came in the first and second innings.  Chris Jakabauskus of all people pitched six innings of one run ball in relief.  At least I had the opportunity to come back.

PS, Garrett Jones is a beast.

[Kermit IV]

No one is hyped about this game yet?  My biggest complaint about The Show was that they were using the same control system as MVP 2005.  It was just...boring.  This year, they're adding analog controls.  They're wisely only including them as an option, though, so button-pushers will still be happy.  Plus, the overhaul to RTTS sounds awesome.

Also, Karros is replacing Hudler in the booth.  Awesome.

[Kermit IV]

DPD.  Here's a pretty good preview and summary of the new features, including a look at the new pitching meter.

[Sterling Archer]

No one is hyped about this game yet?

No, because I already have this game.

[Slaky]

So we'll just bump this one for 2011.

Kerm got it today per his Twitter. My pre-order is sitting at GameStop right now and there's not much I can do about it.

Kerm, if you feel like posting any impressions that'd be swell. The demo definitely had a different feel to it than The Show 10 so I'm interested to see how it plays.

[Kermit IV]

So we'll just bump this one for 2011.

Kerm got it today per his Twitter. My pre-order is sitting at GameStop right now and there's not much I can do about it.

Kerm, if you feel like posting any impressions that'd be swell. The demo definitely had a different feel to it than The Show 10 so I'm interested to see how it plays.

I could never get into The Show as much as everyone else seemed to, because the controls felt boring and outdated to me.  Not any more.  This game is ridiculously awesome.  I liveblogged my first game here.  Read it again, TDubbs, you chode.

[Slaky]

So we'll just bump this one for 2011.

Kerm got it today per his Twitter. My pre-order is sitting at GameStop right now and there's not much I can do about it.

Kerm, if you feel like posting any impressions that'd be swell. The demo definitely had a different feel to it than The Show 10 so I'm interested to see how it plays.

I could never get into The Show as much as everyone else seemed to, because the controls felt boring and outdated to me.  Not any more.  This game is ridiculously awesome.  I liveblogged my first game here.  Read it again, TDubbs, you chode.

I wish you had tweeted it but this will do. Awesome.

That weirdo Pasta Padre was tweeting his first game of 2K11 and the CPU left Broxton in for six innings in relief. Yikes.

[Sterling Archer]

Lost 4-3 to the Tards in my first game.  Speaking of Tards, Garza made Theriot look ridiculous all four at-bats, including one awesome three-pitch strikeout where the poor little guy was completely overmatched.  He also made an error.  He sucks.

Pujols hit two dongs.  I hate him.  Soto hit a two-run homer and Byrd a solo for the Cubs.  Garza struck out 10 and lasted 8 innings.  I, like Kermit, am a horrible hacker of a hitter.  I think Carpenter threw three balls and 57 strikes.  Castro struck out three times.  Guh.  (But Pena was 2-for-4 with two singles!)

[Kermit IV]

Lost 4-3 to the Tards in my first game.  Speaking of Tards, Garza made Theriot look ridiculous all four at-bats, including one awesome three-pitch strikeout where the poor little guy was completely overmatched.  He also made an error.  He sucks.

Pujols hit two dongs.  I hate him.  Soto hit a two-run homer and Byrd a solo for the Cubs.  Garza struck out 10 and lasted 8 innings.  I, like Kermit, am a horrible hacker of a hitter.  I think Carpenter threw three balls and 57 strikes.  Castro struck out three times.  Guh.  (But Pena was 2-for-4 with two singles!)

I was reading some tips on how to NOT be such a hacker, because even with the pitch speed slider turned all the way down and the pitcher strike frequency slider down a click or two, I'm still flailing away up there.  If the object of the game was to take strikes and swing at balls, I would probably be king.  Anyhow, do you use Guess Pitch?  I always used to until someone suggested not to use it at all, and just rely solely on your eyes instead of guess hitting.  Since I did that, I've gotten a LITTLE better (granted, it's only been one game).  I faced Greinke in my second game, and I think I whiffed 7 times during the game.  Still pretty horrible, but I think that's half of what I had against Carpenter, and Greinke's curve ball is sick.

Also, what level is everyone playing?  I'm on Veteran for everything, because I can't bear the shame of playing on Rookie, and I'm losing, but not getting blown out.  That suggests to me that I'm at the right level, but I just need to learn how to draw a goddamn walk.  Also, what batting cameras are you guys using?  I'm using Catcher 5 now.  It's really low and a lot like 2K's camera, which is one of the few things it did really well.  I'm using the broadcast cameras for both fielding and pitching, because it looks fucking awesome.

This game plays REALLY well out of the box.  The only two sliders I've touched were the ones above.  And you guys know I'm a 2K apologist, but The Show's pitching is now WAY more fun.

Oh, and has anyone started RTTS?  I got drafted as a first baseman to the Red Sox.  Because that's a position they desperately need to fill.  On the plus side, I'm hitting the ball really well in limited playing time.  I couldn't hit for shit in last year's version.  The new points system is awesome.  Instead of giving you those arbitrary goals, you earn points based on things like the quality of at-bats.  Also, playing as a 1B, it's a lot more challenging to try to figure out whether I should be making an attempt to field a batted ball, or whether I should be covering the bag.  Good.  Times.

[Slaky]

Lost 4-3 to the Tards in my first game.  Speaking of Tards, Garza made Theriot look ridiculous all four at-bats, including one awesome three-pitch strikeout where the poor little guy was completely overmatched.  He also made an error.  He sucks.

Pujols hit two dongs.  I hate him.  Soto hit a two-run homer and Byrd a solo for the Cubs.  Garza struck out 10 and lasted 8 innings.  I, like Kermit, am a horrible hacker of a hitter.  I think Carpenter threw three balls and 57 strikes.  Castro struck out three times.  Guh.  (But Pena was 2-for-4 with two singles!)

I was reading some tips on how to NOT be such a hacker, because even with the pitch speed slider turned all the way down and the pitcher strike frequency slider down a click or two, I'm still flailing away up there.  If the object of the game was to take strikes and swing at balls, I would probably be king.  Anyhow, do you use Guess Pitch?  I always used to until someone suggested not to use it at all, and just rely solely on your eyes instead of guess hitting.  Since I did that, I've gotten a LITTLE better (granted, it's only been one game).  I faced Greinke in my second game, and I think I whiffed 7 times during the game.  Still pretty horrible, but I think that's half of what I had against Carpenter, and Greinke's curve ball is sick.

Also, what level is everyone playing?  I'm on Veteran for everything, because I can't bear the shame of playing on Rookie, and I'm losing, but not getting blown out.  That suggests to me that I'm at the right level, but I just need to learn how to draw a goddamn walk.  Also, what batting cameras are you guys using?  I'm using Catcher 5 now.  It's really low and a lot like 2K's camera, which is one of the few things it did really well.  I'm using the broadcast cameras for both fielding and pitching, because it looks fucking awesome.

This game plays REALLY well out of the box.  The only two sliders I've touched were the ones above.  And you guys know I'm a 2K apologist, but The Show's pitching is now WAY more fun.

Oh, and has anyone started RTTS?  I got drafted as a first baseman to the Red Sox.  Because that's a position they desperately need to fill.  On the plus side, I'm hitting the ball really well in limited playing time.  I couldn't hit for shit in last year's version.  The new points system is awesome.  Instead of giving you those arbitrary goals, you earn points based on things like the quality of at-bats.  Also, playing as a 1B, it's a lot more challenging to try to figure out whether I should be making an attempt to field a batted ball, or whether I should be covering the bag.  Good.  Times.

I won't be able to pick this up until next week but I am loving what I'm hearing.

[Kermit IV]

Apparently on Jackie Robinson Day (April 15) in Franchise, all the players wear #42.  Wow.

[Kermit IV]

Reading the "little things" thread on OS.  If you have the Orioles visiting Wrigley Field, Derrek Lee gets a standing ovation in his first at-bat.  God damn I hope some rosters come out soon so I can start my franchise.