MLB – Page 2 – NoobTubeTV

2018 – The Year of the Sports Game Boycott

It seems that sports games have been lost to the same dark side that we have seen first person shooters and real-time strategy go to as well.

Madden, MLB: The Show, and NBA 2K8 have all resorted to becoming nothing more than digital card pandering pieces of binary garbage. They have polished the graphics and added content to their Ultimate Team/Diamond Dynasty/MyTeam card collections instead of real improvement to the core game itself. For a few years I could understand the change I was seeing. I could compartmentalize the fact that I simply wasn’t their target audience.

Thanks largely to Twitch and YouTube streamers/content uploaders that open packs for the voyeur fandom to gawk over we have lost what was once the potential pursuit for true sports gaming simulation. I must give some of these guys credit, as they do have a certain pizazz to the way they carry themselves online. I even watch some of their videos – they do make it look like a fun experience. That is all great and wonderful until I get inspired to try my hand at online PvP against some random guy with a name like XxHitThatLoud420-69xX. You realize quickly that they play the game by using money plays and exploits. Suddenly, this potentially fun experience has you wondering if you’ve stepped into some effed up version of The Matrix. Just as you get ready to play a different game you realize that you don’t care if you lose this game because you don’t plan on playing it again.

Say what you want, but All Pro Football 2K8 proved one thing when they released a game with legendary NFL players. The same can be said for current players depending on the year as well. Some gamers love creating their own version of Dream Teams and I am one of them. I remember doing this back in Triple Play 98 when I would put Griffey, Frank Thomas, ARod, and others all on the same team. It became a habitual thing to do each year, but in the end I still wanted to play a challenging baseball game.

I happen to come from the generation of sports gamers that can remember Dr. J vs. Larry Bird on Atari 7800. I also remember Tecmo Bowl and Bases Loaded through Bases Loaded 4. RBI Baseball 94 was the first game that introduced me to the concept of playing a full season – I never finished one, but damn, it was pretty cool to have that option and even see the potential grow into franchise modes in other games. When they finally started to present us with multiple seasons and stats it was a dream come true. In all honesty, the graphical improvements were secondary for me after a while. I loved what Madden had turned into by Madden 2005. Hell, even MVP Baseball 2005 was one of the better games I had ever played in terms of – that was a year to remember when it came to EA doing some truly amazing work. Now it’s as if they have sold their souls and there is no looking back.

It seems that Franchise Mode has gone the way of the dodo in recent years. It is still present in all of these games, but it is a shell of itself. Much like Kobe and Jordan at the end of their career – you can see flashes of what they used to be, but in the end they just aren’t performing like they once could… and it’s sad. Madden Ultimate Team and MLB The Show’s Diamond Dynasty have essentially powered their way into a position that is most likely permanent and will eventually completely destroy innovation when it comes to gameplay and franchise mode.

This isn’t something I say lightly and it isn’t something I want to be known as an acceptable issue.

I do want those of you reading this to look at 2018 sports games with a critical eye and take this opportunity to speak with your wallet. It is time to demand the product that we have been denied for years. I urge you to avoid pre-ordering any sports game this year. If you are going to buy the game, look for it second-hand in hard copy form. Do not pay the full retail price if you feel compelled to play them. It’s time for these companies to feel the only kind of pain they understand – financial.

PlayStation Plus or PlayStation Minus?

It has been a long while since NTTV has been updated in any way. So, with that and with the recent milestone of 200,000 views I am happy to be back and filled with excitement for what the next chapter will look like for NTTV. With that said, this first update is one of frustration and dare I say – hope – that something good will happen for PS4/PS+ owners.

As we get ready to enter the best part of the year in gaming (Fall/Autumn) there are a few things to look back on and applaud from the first 2/3 of the year. One of the big things that happened was the improvement of Battlefield 4’s servers and the quality releases of expansions/DLC. BF4 is starting to show far more staying power than Call of Duty these days, and that is a good thing.

However, there are some other aspects of 2014 that have been lacking up to this point. The biggest disappointment so far has been PlayStation Plus for PlayStation 4 owners. While the network is relatively what we expect it to be in terms of solid gaming and online connectivity. The aspect that they introduced a couple years ago of giving free games to PS+ subscribers made me step up to the plate with PS4 and become a subscriber as well. Although they have provided decent games to PS3 owners in the past, the same cannot be said for PS4 owners to this point. The free games with PS+ on PS4 have been rather insulting up to this point.

One of the most infuriating comparisons was in June when PS3 owners of the PS+ service) and got a chance to download NBA 2K14 and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time for ‘free’. These are major releases that at one point commanded a typical retail price point of $40-60. What did the PS4 owners get? Trine 2 and Shooter Ultimate.

Chances are good that you are asking the same question(s) I asked when I saw these as the games being offered.

“What in the holy hell is Trine 2? When was there ever a Trine ONE? Why are they offering a bunch of garbage indie titles on their new console and great games on their old console?”

Like Frozen – I tried to let it go. However, as a gamer and subscriber to the PS+ ‘service’ I simply can’t do that anymore. The biggest reason behind my spoiled brat ‘gimme gimme gimme’ attitude with free games being offered has come out at this point (because believe me – I know they don’t have to offer jack shiznit if they don’t want to) is because I am starting to think that I bought a luxury sports car with an 8-Track player and crank-down windows when it comes to the PS4/PS+ combination.

There has been little reason for me to have the PS+ service other than playing Battlefield 4 online. I also currently own Fifa 14, MLB 14: The Show and Killzone: Shadow Fall. Perhaps the biggest indicator that Sony has a problem is with their very own AAA titles like Killzone – which they release and then forget about. They should have offered it as a free game with PS+, but instead we are stuck with indie arcade titles like Fez and Stick It To the Man. Are you serious? This is almost so insulting it is funny. Except, I’m not laughing. I am quite pissed off to think that I spent money on a service that is giving me the equivalent of throw away SNES titles and acting like they are doing me a favor.

Sony’s own original idea of offering free games to subscribers has been taken by Microsoft and no is clearly being used to destroy Sony’s ‘service’. It is as if Skynet has simply become Skynet Gold and it is laughing at the old version of a good idea that is clearly out of it’s realm.

Sony, you have a problem. It is about time you start re-evaluating your PlayStation Minus service because you are quickly turning into the laughing stock once again. As for your garbage ‘free’ games that you oh, so graciously present to me and my fellow idiot subscribers – I will download them and I might even play them for three to five minutes. However, I am only downloading them because they are there – not because I want them.

MLB 13: The Show Starting To Feel Like Madden?

For the longest time, MLB: The Show has felt like the one sports game you could count on to ‘get it right’. They focused on all the tweaks, gameplay improvements and other nuances that can really only be noticed in baseball. Then came the news that MLB 13 is going to have fans vote on the cover athlete. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that it will be one of three players – Bryce Harper, Mike Trout or Miguel Cabrera. The only other wild card I might throw into the mix is Stephen Strasburg simply because he is the only pitcher people seem to care about. (I am still laughing about the ‘plan’ to hold him out of the playoffs.)

Regardless, we are entering into an area in sports gaming that EA Sports has made rather notorious with their Madden cover votes. Should I react with such distaste about something so ‘minor’? I am sure you are thinking something along those lines – such as my favorite line… ‘You mad, bruh?’. Yes, I am.

I expect more out of The Show. The closest they came to being like EA was shutting down old servers for rosters setting up poor online services altogether. Now they are going in the direction of fan input for cover athletes? This is the slippery slope my friends… I don’t think I want to see what will be next if they keep going this direction.

Have You Seen My Baseball? – Five Reasons To Look Forward to MLB 13

When I was younger I was a baseball fanatic. Ken Griffey Jr. posters adorned my bedroom walls and every summer consisted of a run down the driveway to see the sports page and look for the latest home run count. I am either extremely lucky or unlucky to have grown up during the height of the steroid era of baseball. Thankfully, my favorite player was never implicated in any of the investigations. Unfortunately, the second half of his career was marred by injuries and he never set the all-time record for home runs.

The moral of this story is that since his retirement I have had little reason to pay attention to baseball. I chose not to purchase MLB 12: The Show because there were enough changes going on next season that I figured I would save my $60 for that. Now that we are one day from the World Series and two teams I don’t follow are playing for the title; it’s time to start looking at next year.

Extra Wild-Card Game For Playoffs – This year we saw an addition to baseball that was a long time coming. The addition of an extra playoff series (even if it was only one game) that allowed for another reason to hope for the unlikely to happen with a second wild-card slot. 162 games in a season can often prove to be a marathon that most people stop paying attention to in the months of June and July. This year we saw the likes of the Indians and the Pirates have hopes of the playoffs dashed in the middle/late-middle of the season. The fact that they still had some hope was largely due to the extra playoff spot. In MLB 13 we should hold this as a sign that playing a full season of 162 games might not be a complete waste if you can squeak into the playoffs with an underdog team. Look out for my Tribe next season as we will be making a push with a new manager and hopefully a few new players.

Houston Moves To American League – One reason it was easy to pass up on MLB 12 was due to the fact that the move of Houston to the American League was announced. It takes away from a Franchise Mode when you know that after the first season you will not be able to realistically move a team to another league. This is minor from most perspectives, but it does take away from the immersion if you are in a sports game for the long-term. Even if it is one of the worst teams in all of professional sports.

Harper, Cespedes and Trout – These three players are bringing me back to baseball. It has been a long time since baseball has had a face to bring people to the sports page every day. Bryce Harper is arrogant, sure… but he is one hell of a ball player and his talent is finally more than just some sort of YouTube homerun derby video. Yoenis Cespedes almost saved my fantasy baseball team this year and let’s face it – he plays on Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s. I love the opportunity to watch teams like Oakland play moneyball and develop talent however they can. Mike Trout almost gave me faith that a rookie could win the MVP award and deserve it just because he is a solid player all-around… rather than some sort of brutish homerun king that can’t play defense. Next year could be the year that Trout really jumps to the fore-front as a true MVP contender.

Spring Time – Face it, baseball starts during the springtime. It is one of the few signs that the weather is about to get better after a long winter. I am already dreading the arduous drive to work every day during January and February. Opening day in baseball is unlike that of any other sport. When we see MLB 13 on the shelves it should give us hope that the snow is about to melt and we can get back to enjoying the weather outside… not to mention some of America’s past time.

Faith In Sports Gaming Renewed – Every August we are blessed/cursed with EA Football games. America’s favorite sport is largely football. However, when it comes to sports games – MLB: The Show and NBA 2K are the best ones out there. After the NFL season has come to an end we are often left with that pit in our stomach that there is no more football to watch. However, when we get that first smell of baseball it is hard to let it go. The smell of the leather with a baseball glove over your face, the sound of a hanging curve getting smashed into the bleachers and the feel of freshly mowed grass under your cleats should be enough to make you forget about football… at least until the draft.