Be careful what I wish for. That is the doctrine of MLB The Show 21‘s new pinpoint pitching system.
For all of its shortcomings, I liked the pitching controls on the Major League Baseball 2K series – the final MLB sim on an Xbox platform. MLB 2K13 and its predecessors required unique gestures on the right thumb stick to perform each pitch. Most baseball video games of the time used a three-stop pitch meter, similar to golf video games, but the results often felt arbitrary and out of the user’s control, even if it looked like I did Meter set correctly.
After MLB 2K died, I called YOU San Diego Studio directly steal his nominal rival’s ideas. Eight years later, gesture-based controls are finally being used MLB The Show 21 with a system that Sony calls San Diego pinpoint pitching. But it is a quantity harder than its spiritual predecessor.
While pinpoint pitching has some evangelists, the general response that seems to be the system is too heavy. I had to go back to my Xbox 360 and boot up MLB 2K13
It’s the extra step the designers added to the process that puts me off the most.
A question of timing
Pinpoint pitching begins with the player aiming (and holding his left thumb over) the area he wants to hit in the hit zone. The player then initiates the delivery by moving the right thumb stick directly down, up, left or right (depending on the pitch) and immediately making a gesture (e.g. straight up for a fastball or a semicircle for a curveball) pulls ends up in the embroidery area. A small map on the screen shows the path the player should follow. That’s easy enough.
MLB The Show 21 Have the players draw this pattern right away, then wait – sometimes a few seconds – to do one final step: draw a straight line from the top of the circle to a target to the left or right of the bottom that is the x-axis of yours Circle represents pitching target. You should track the pattern and hit the final target once the thrower delivery animation arrives at the release point.
MLB 2K13The pitching was easier to follow. Players needed to be aware of one thing on the screen that told them everything they needed to know.
As in MLB The Show 21Players began delivery by pulling their right thumb down (and down only). But then they waited There for a bit before you draw the gesture. The ideal timing was represented by a yellow circle that slowly filled to the edges of the circular pitching interface. When the player finished the gesture, the pitch was thrown.
The idea was to complete this gesture exactly when the inner circle met the outer one. End the gesture too early and the pitch will arrive higher than intended. End it too late and it goes deeper. Really messing about the timing or gesture leads to a wild pitch. The lateral accuracy of the playing field (left or right) is taken over by the CPU after assessing the overall effectiveness of the player’s inputs. Your eyes didn’t have to be in two places at the same time, and there was still room for surprise even if you think you did well.
The MLB show version is a major downgrade. The system also has timing issues: when runners are on the base, a pitcher moves into his “stretch” delivery, leaving you less time to perform the gesture. This is the case MLB 2K13, also. But because MLB The Show 21 did you immediately draw the pattern and In front After the final timing and target movement, you will have less time to take the longest step in the process.
Many relief mugs (and some starters) only throw off the track. Realizing that I had built a Road to the Show player that was doing just that, I quit the game, went back to the player customization menus, and gave it a longer wind down. If you really want a generous window, give your husband a vintage delivery, like Walter Johnson’s or Christy Mathewson’s more than a century ago.
i understand why MLB The Show 21The makers would try to use something like pinpoint pitching, now the fourth pitching control option that the developers have introduced. Gesture-based pitching is like driving a sports car with a gear stick: it’s a lot more fun for enthusiasts because you’re more involved.
But right now, only a masochist would try pinpoint pitching. I understand that some players are already very good at it and often land pitches with perfect timing and accuracy. Good for you. There are also people who can 100% “By fire and flames” into Guitar hero 3.
The good news is that Sony San Diego will keep existing controls and options as new ones are introduced. Still, if you are so familiar with your preferred method that you want to take on a new challenge, I would recommend trying one of the three legacy sets as pinpoint pitching is too frustrating with multiple steps to follow and multiple reminders of it indicate that you are doing it all wrong.
