MLB 12 The Show vs. MLB2K12: A duel on the diamond
It is a writ of passage that when spring arrives, it is time for baseball season. In the video game world, “MLB12 The Show” (Sony) and “Major League Baseball 2K12” (2K Games) both arrive and ready to crack the starting line-ups of gaming consoles everywhere. Each franchise has been around for a while – 8 years for “2K12” and 6 years for “The Show” – but one is starting it age.
Pitching styles is a big difference between the two titles. “2K12” continues to use their gesture mechanic with the joystick controllers that relies on timing one circle to fit within another. The artificial intelligence has been fine-tuned so that batters will remember pitches and adjust accordingly, thus ramping up the realism level a bit.
“The Show” has added a pulse pitching mechanism that determines how accurate your pitches are within your target area. It’s all about timing, but only utilizes one button as opposed to moving the joystick in a particular way. Saves a lot of wear and tear on the thumbs.
Defense is straightforward. There are animation differences that I’ll get into later, but fielders move and throw with good precision. Both title use a scale to determine how accurate the throws get – “The Show” uses a circle; “2K12” uses a bar. Push a button to the corresponding base and fire the ball. Holding down the button longer makes for a stronger, but possibly inaccurate throw.
Zone batting is new for “The Show,” where the right stick determines your stride and swing while the left allows you to move your “sweet spot” to the area where you think the ball will cross the plate. “2K12” already uses a similar style to determine how hard you are swinging and where. It also will give pitch type hints as the ball is heading for the plate, much as a batter would be able to recognize a curveball from a slider. “The Show” also has a simple button swing mechanic if that is more your speed.
The animations and look of “The Show” really make it shine above “2K12”. Each player has a unique look and fluid movements in everything they do. Pitching, hitting, throwing and catching the ball all appear very realistic and natural. It is a visually appealing game and looks like you are watching an Orioles vs. Yankees matchup on television.
“2K12” looks less like a TV broadcast and more like … well, a video game. There are hiccups and stutters in some of the animation. Most of the players don’t look much different from each other. Balls hit near fielders will make sudden leaps into the glove or outfielders will jump slightly to one side before catching a fly ball. It isn’t as well polished as its counterpart and looks old.
And speaking of TV broadcasts, a tip of the cap to the announcing team of Gary Thorne, Steve Philips and John Kruk on “2K12.” Their banter seemed fresh and timely, referencing the right things and never sounding boring. Matt Vasgersian, Dave Campbell and Eric Karros for “The Show” sounded stale and repetitive. Some of their phrases sounded exactly the same as last year, and there were a couple of games when I wondered if Karros had gone out for a pretzel and just never came back because he was heard so infrequently.
Franchise mode is back for each as well as allowing you to create your own player and work him through the ranks. “2K12” offers a “MLB Today” mode that lets player play games at the same pace as their favorite MLB team. But that means you can only play one game a day in that mode and doesn’t allow you to play past or future games.
The new “Diamond Dynasty” mode for “The Show” seems geared more for a fantasy franchise baseball fan than someone who wants to play a game. There are baseball cards, budgets, and customizable team logos and colors. If you are a stats nut or someone who likes to micromanage, this might be right for you.
The “Perfect Game Challenge” is back for “2K12” with a twist. In previous years, whoever got the first perfect game of the season using the title won $1 million. This year, the first eight perfect games will get the chance to head to New York City and compete in a live tournament for that top prize.
“The Show” is Move ready, bringing motion controls to every aspect of the games. They have also tied the PlayStation 3 game with the new PS Vita handheld console. Games can be saved to the Cloud on one console and downloaded to another for continued playing. For die-hard video baseball games, this mean never having to stop even when you are away from home (provided you have a Vita).
The biggest drawback to “The Show” is that it is a PlayStation exclusive title. If you own anything other than a PS3 or Vita, you can only play “Major League Baseball 2K12.” Fundamentally, it is a solid, but visually underwhelming, title that will be enjoyable.
But if you have a choice, “The Show” brings together realistic mechanics with outstanding animation to create an “at the ballpark” feel that outshines its competitor. All I need now is a hot dog and a frosty beverage to make the experience complete.
“MLB12 The Show” is available now only on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. “Major League Baseball 2K12” is available now for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS, PSP and Microsoft Windows. Both games are rated E for Everybody. This review was done playing both titles on the PS3 as well as playing “MLB12 The Show” on the Vita.
Perfect Game Challenge becomes a tournament
Want to play a video game and win $1 million? The Perfect Game Challenge in “Major League Baseball 2K12” is back, but this year, the contest contains a new twist.
The past two seasons, 2K Sports has included the $1 Million Perfect Game Challenge in their baseball video games. The contest revolved around who could throw a perfect game – allowing no batter to reach base — in the video game first. Wade McGilberry used Kenshin Kawakami of the Atlanta Braves to win in 2010 and Brian Kingrey used Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies to claim the prize in 2011.
This season, it isn’t who can do it first, but who can pitch the most perfect of perfect games. A month long contest will find the best eight “perfect” players who will then compete in a live tournament for the $1 million check.
Beginning on Opening Day, April 4, gamers will get their chance to throw a perfect game, submit a unique code to 2K Sports and find out if their game was good enough to make into the top eight. Jason Argent, vice president of marketing at 2K Sports, said the idea was taken from fan suggestions who wanted to take the speed out of the contest and focus on quality.
“We wanted you to not only throw a perfect game but do it the best, the most perfect of all perfect games so that was the impetus for this,” Argent said. “At the end of the day, it is the degree of difficulty of the perfect game that we want to reward. Obviously throwing a perfect game is an amazing feat, but doing it with the highest degree of difficulty at the very, very end is what we want to reward.”
Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander was chosen to be on the cover of the game box this year and he came very close to pitching a perfect game last season. He tossed his second career no hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays in May, but gave up a walk in the 8th inning to spoil his perfect bid.
“You try not to think about (the perfect game), but you can’t help thinking about it,” Verlander said. “As you get closer to the end, the pressure really begins to build. You don’t want to give in to a hitter, but you also don’t want to groove (a pitch) either.”
Verlander said he has played previous versions of MLB2K games, usually as himself, but has never come close in the video game to tossing a perfect game. He thinks if someone does it using him, it would be pretty special.
“That would be cool and awesome. Obviously, I personally can’t enter the contest but to be a part of winning the challenge would be great.”
The contest runs through the month of April. Players can enter as many perfect games as they can throw, but only the eight best individual games will make it to the final round. In mid-May, those eight gamers will gather in New York City for a head-to-head, bracketed tournament against one another to find the new $1 million champion.
“Even people who have thrown a perfect game will see themselves potentially drop down the leaderboard and they’ll pick a pitcher who has thrown a perfect game on the leaderboard and kind of keep at it,” Argent said. “The whole dynamic nature of the tournament is going to be a lot of fun for us and the fans.”
“Major League Baseball 2K12” is rated E for everyone and will be available March 6 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.