MLB The Show 16 News Post

MLB The Show 16 Review (PS4)

03:12 PM - March 31, 2016 by RaychelSnr

For years, MLB The Show has been a series known for its incremental upgrades -- small changes that generally increase the overall quality of an already quality title. Whether improving the lighting engine or analog controls, these year-to-year improvements were well received, but not typically earth-shattering features. This "slow but steady" philosophy makes sense for a relatively small development team, but often left some users unimpressed. "Stale" was a common complaint, though one unattached from the general consensus that The Show was still one of the best sports games on the market.

After playing MLB The Show 16 for the last week, I�ll start with the obvious; it's still The Show. As usual, there is not one giant game-changing, "back of the box" upgrade that makes this year�s game feel like something brand new. Instead, the "small but meaningful" description I have used in the past to talk about The Show is still apt.

Before you check out and cast The Show 16 off as another collection of small tweaks, here�s the catch: The sheer amount of changes, whether under the hood, visual, or mode-related, collectively make this the most improved, and best, Show of this generation.

Read More - MLB The Show 16 Review (PS4)

Game: MLB The Show 16Reader Score: 8/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4Votes for game: 23 - View All

MLB The Show 16 Videos

Member Comments

# 41 strawberryshortcake @ 04/02/16 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smallville102001


	I cant believe that people are even talking about the way the hands look when the pitcher is throwing a pitch lol. Like who even notices something so darn small?

Authenticity; the Little things. Plus, I actually noticed even before it was brought up. I was like what is wrong with the pitcher's release grip of the ball. I was like why is his fingers flared opened. But what's even more important is all the pitcher's throwing motion, arm follow through needs to be reworked. They need to be much, much faster.

# 42 jawgee @ 04/02/16 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strawberryshortcake


	With regards to a pitcher's hand and finger positioning on a pitch, I'll just say I agree with P.A.D. and Steven78. ================================================== =========== Off thread topic, I guess. I'll create a thread in the future (probably months down the line that deals with the following [pitching motion]). I was actually going to wait to address the below points but since an SCEA developer is responding to other individuals about "pitching," I figured I'll throw in my two cents, all to hopefully get the game to greater heights. Two concerns: (A) Hand/finger grip position That was actually the second thing I noticed during gameplay that took away from an immersive experience unfortunately. A static image doesn't always tell the whole story, but google image gives a good indication that all pitches still has the pitcher's hand/finger in a gripped position (as opposed to fully opened palms) once the ball is released. (B) Arm whip for all pitchers should be much faster. The first and primary thing that unfortunately still readily takes away from an immersive experience comes down to the pitcher's follow through/arm motion/body english. Pitching a baseball is a magnificent beautiful violent forceful behavior. The Show's pitcher is still missing the true characteristic of a pitch. Hone in on the body english and especially the arm motion follow through. The whip of the arm realistically should be a blur. It should be fairly blurry to the eye because it's a very violent incredibly fast action. MLB the Show's arm whip has a very calculated clean comparatively slow(er) motion. The above second point brings us full circle to the first point. If I could actually see the pitcher's hand in a fully opened position during regular gameplay speed, that is a good indication that the arm whip isn't fast enough. If my recollection and understanding is correct, I shouldn't be able to see the "release point grip" of the pitcher while watching a major league pitch. SIDE NOTE I decided to buy MLB16 digitally this year for one important purpose. When time permits, I want to capture all pitchers (or as much pitchers as possible) in the game (in gif format) and do a visual comparison to the pitchers' real life counterpart to showcase the "missing element" that still escape MLB the Show pitchers. And ultimately submit it to the developers of MLB the Show. This will be a time consuming project ... meaning I'll have to find the time to do it.

Using Classic Pitching mode and those screen grabs would make The Show look better than the real life vids.

# 43 p00p1 @ 04/03/16 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smallville102001


	I cant believe that people are even talking about the way the hands look when the pitcher is throwing a pitch lol. Like who even notices something so darn small?

I didn't notice it at all until I saw this thread, now it stands out. It's too bad Woodweaver said it was by design, that seems like a pretty bad decision. Because it's an animation, I don't have high hopes for it being addressed in a patch.

# 44 ggazoo @ 04/03/16 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AncientDiety


	Geez Ridiculous...there is this thing called gameplay, what you listed are minor nitpicks and certainly not deserving of a 7.5. People are spoiled. Framerate has been great for me, shrugs.

I couldn't agree more.. No game perfect, but this is the best version of the Show yet... or any sports game for that matter, and that's saying a lot. It's amazing... 9.5 easy.

# 45 ShaiLeGran @ 04/04/16 04:13 PM

When using quick counts, the count overlaps the pitch choices. They should put it higher up on the screen, so it does not overlap. Also, hopefully the tearing and stuttering that is noticable on the cut-away screens when going to an automatic replay can be smoothend out.

# 46 p00p1 @ 04/04/16 04:32 PM

The hand/throw animation is also there for fielders.

# 47 p00p1 @ 04/04/16 04:33 PM

Sometimes with Quick Count on, I go to replay right after a play and when I get back to the next AB, the count shows up in the middle of the screen, right over the pitcher and does not go away until the pitcher is mid delivery.

# 48 ShaiLeGran @ 04/05/16 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by p00p1


	Sometimes with Quick Count on, I go to replay right after a play and when I get back to the next AB, the count shows up in the middle of the screen, right over the pitcher and does not go away until the pitcher is mid delivery.

Definitely something that needs to be fixed!

# 49 ShaiLeGran @ 04/06/16 05:30 PM

I have yet to see what the hype with PBR is. Dont see much difference apart from higher res dugouts. On my tv, the graphics like grass and dirt took a step backward compared to MLB 15. Also still see a lot of jaggie images around the stadium. Still waiting for a major graphical leap for The Show.

# 50 harithcoyg @ 04/07/16 12:47 AM

First time buying the show since 2012 since Nba 2k and Fifa take most of my gaming time, and im not dissapointed at all. The level of polish and strategy that can be used in this game is incredible. Yes its still the show, but the core gameplay was great in 2012, and the jump since then has been incredible. I definitely see this overtaking Fifa in my rotation for the next year. I also love the fact that its released just as the season starts.

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