San Diego Studio production has released yet another masterful version of MLB: The Show. This annually anticipated release of MLB the Show had gamers lining up at the doors. With new additions to franchise mode and gameplay angles in the fan favorite Road to the Show, this game has made some far better improvements since its inauguration in 2006.
And now to the one thing that is surrounded with just as much controversy as the game itself, the cover athlete. In 2006 David Ortiz (DH/1st baseman-Boston Red Sox) was blessed with the honor of representing the new game that was supposed to revolutionize sports games. It didn’t disappoint. With statistical data being an important part of gameplay and the player’s faces and reactions being more realistic, it excited baseball fans after losing the classic MVP Baseball which had fallen in 2005.
In 2007 David Wright (3rd base- New York Mets) was painted on the Shows cover. The only change to be made to the game was batting stances.
2008 showcased the first faded background cover. The style was an intriguing reason to buy the game. Or so it seemed. It sold over 650,000 copies within a year and thus began the creative cover race. Ryan Howard (1st base-Philadelphia Phillies) was a good choice for the cover, but they needed to start finding more fan favorites. So they let the fans decide.
The bracket style fan vote was a copy of the Madden Cover Vote. They choose 16 players they feel fit and willing to be a cover athlete then put them in head to head matchups, letting fans vote for players they want to be on the cover of the game.
The first winner of the cover vote was Dustin Pedroia (2nd base-Boston Red Sox). He had just won the A.L. MVP award and was a scrappy player everyone enjoyed to see. Pedroia was a good fit for the cover.
2010 was a reaching year for the show cover. They had predetermined that whoever won the cover vote would be the athlete for years to come, like Derek Jeter and 2k sports. Joe Mauer (catcher-Minnesota Twins) was the lucky fellow to be named the cover athlete
2011 was the terrible result in people not seeing enough improvements in the game, and no change in cover athlete, fans decided to flock to MLB 2K11 instead. The Show was in decline.
2012 changed the games career path in a positive direction. Eliminating Joe Mauer as cover athlete and replacing him with Adrian Gonzalez (1st base-Boston Red Sox) was a brilliant move on the Shows part. People were interested in looking for the game and the new changes in broadcast and presentation were enough to get people reading. But the real thing for online gamers was Diamond Dynasty mode. This was a glorified franchise mode were you build your team from the ground up, with fake players and everything.
And finally to this years game. The cover athlete was decided by the vote. But this year was very unpredictable in the winner. With social networking playing a big role, players like Buster Posey (catcher-San Francisco Giants) who don’t have Twitter or Facebook were practically out of the running, despite his accolades. Buster Posey’s counterpart in the American League Miguel Cabrera who had just won the triple crown and MVP, looked to be a favorite to win. But other superstars like Matt Kemp (outfield-Los Angeles Dodgers), Bryce Harper (outfield-Washington Nationals) and Andrew McCutchen (outfield-Pittsburg Pirates). Bryce Harper led the social networking charge but Matt Kemp had Hollywood on his side. McCutchen took his campaign to the streets in his hometown and Pittsburg. Ultimately people liked the hands on approach more than social networking, because Andrew McCutchen would be named cover athlete for 2013.
This game has been slapped with the slogan, “It’s so real, it’s unreal”. The slogan couldn’t be more true. This game has more hidden details and tiny fundamentals that true fans look for in a game. Its hard to find a flaw in this game. Whether it be the pre and postgame broadcast, or the real feel of the crowd during the playoffs, this game is so real, it’s unreal.