What'cha Playing Wednesday: Half-Gen Edition
Written by TheBBPS   
Wednesday, 30 May 2007 05:30
MLB 07: The ShowDo we have an industry-standard term for last-gen games that are lightly enhanced and ported to a next-gen console? I'm going for "half-gen" on this one, but if you've got a better idea, please leave it in the comments. It could come in handy at some point.

I picked up MLB 07: The Show for PlayStation 3 on Monday. I'm a baseball nut, and I've already reviewed the two other major hardball games this year (MLB 2K7 for Xbox 360 and MVP 07 for PS2), but I held out on MLB 07: The Show until the PS3 version finally came out. I played a few minutes of it at Gamers Day a couple weeks back and wasn't terribly impressed, but I'm making an effort to play every baseball title this season (including the forthcoming The BIGS). I want to be the "baseball guy" at any publication I end up writing for, so I'm getting my work in now.

Anyway, keeping in mind my opening paragraph, MLB 07: The Show for PS3 is distinctly a half-gen game. It looks like a very crisp, high-definition PlayStation 2 game. There's no flair to the in-game presentation and very little excitement at all in the experience. To top it off, analog controls are nowhere to be found for batting or pitching, which feels very last-gen (even though The BIGS is going the same route). That said, I haven't spent nearly enough time with it to have a complete opinion, but I'm just not terribly impressed by what I've seen thus far. I doubt I'll play through a franchise or career, but I'll definitely check out the Road to the Show mode.

But it does do one thing so incredibly right that I have to draw attention to it. Every time you hop online, the game will automatically download the latest Live Roster, which appears to be updated every time a change is made to the real-life MLB rosters. Sure, you expect to see Dice-K and Okajima on the Red Sox at the end of May, but Marmol and Marshall back on the Cubs? Neither has been with the major league club for more than a week! I absolutely love it. I don't know if they've done this in previous iterations, but it's a fantastic feature and I now expect it in every other baseball game from here on out. Make it so!

Alright, you know the drill -- what has everyone been playing lately? What are you planning on picking up in the next week? My fellow BBPS writers and contributors will be dropping comments throughout the day, so be sure to check back to see what we've been digging recently.


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Comments (8)Add Comment
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written by Dan Zuccarelli, May 30, 2007
Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Catan are taking up almost all of my game time these days....

and World of Warcraft, Kevin and I went on quite the tear last night and I hit level 38!!
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written by Xav de Matos, May 30, 2007
Well I've been playing a bunch of games for review including today's 3in5 Review Roundup game F.E.A.R. (PC review going up later today!), Halo: Custom Edition for PC and my advanced copy of Halo 2 for PC that only half works... thanks to my buddy Mike @ EA! I want to hook up my 360 again (it's been moved to my PC for video capture reasons) to download MadTracks... and boy do I miss Catan!
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written by Dexie Oblivion, May 30, 2007
I'm still doing stuff on Pokemon Diamond, and planning on starting Odin Sphere later.
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written by Dan Zuccarelli, May 30, 2007
ohh, I'm interested to hear how Odin Sphere is
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written by Kevin Alexander, May 30, 2007
im ihn mai bdrm, playin' ur mad trax lolz!!!11!!

im in ur azrth, beetn dwn sum doodz
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written by Xav de Matos, May 30, 2007
Kev is so 1337!
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written by B, May 30, 2007
Just picked up Forza, that'll be in my 360 for awhile.
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written by Kevin Alexander, May 30, 2007
The live updating the roster should be a standard feature in EVERY sports title. There's zero excuses for why it hasn't been since last gen.

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