Bryan (@PastaPadre) and I discuss EA Sports UFC and some other things with Rich Grisham.
The wait is almost over, and I’m ready to play MLB 14: The Show on the PS4. For me, there is only one way to do that, way too much, for way too long. So this Tuesday, May 6th, I’ll be streaming the full docket of fifteen scheduled MLB games for that day on my Twitch channel, http://www.Twitch.TV/ThatSportsGamer. The stream will start around 10am ET.
To break up the fifteen games, and not waste the whole day, I’m going to do five games with Player Lock, five games with Quick Counts, and five full games. This should allow me to get some fairly accurate numbers on gameplay times between using Quick Counts vs Full Games.
If you can’t be around for the live stream, I’ll also make all the game videos available on YouTube after the fact, but you’ll definitely be missing out on a bunch of shenanigans and fun that we’ll be having in the chat. Also, as of now there are two scheduled guests, but you never know who might call in and make an appearance or drop by the chat.
I was honored to appear as the first guest on Steve Gibbons‘ new show, Reel Gamer Podcast. In this show the creation of ThatSportsGamer, why it exists and have an honest discussion about creating content on the internet.
Reel Gamer is a new community of Gamers that want to grow their presence online through YouTube, TwitchTV, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter & other social channels so that they can do what they love every day and be more successful.
Make sure you head over to ReelGamer.com and check out the post there.
This week on ThatSportsGamer Show: Shawn “Keezy” Kearns joins me to talk about his recent purchase of a Vita just for MLB 14: The Show, my PAX East 2014 experience, our thoughts on Trials Fusion, R.B.I. Baseball 14‘s release, the lack of a demo for MLB 14: The Show, and I’m surprised to find out Keezy is a huge fan of UFC games.
Links to some of the posts we discussed:
- PAX East 2014 Recap
- ThatSportsGamer T-Shirts
- Keezy vs ThatSportsGamer In MUT Game 1 & Game 2
- Rich Grisham vs ThatSportsGamer at the MaddenTips Office
- Press Row Podcast – PAX East 2014 Panel via Operation Sports
- R.B.I. Baseball 14: Giant Bomb Quick Look via GIant Bomb
- How to Pull Off Every Trick in Trials Fusion via Good Game Bro
Be sure to subscribe and rate/review us in iTunes or your podcatcher of choice with this RSS feed. Or if you prefer to stream it to your device of choice, why not try out Stitcher? We’re on there too.
Also don’t forget to follow us on twitter @ThatSportsGamer and @SpecialKeezy while you’re at it, why not Like ThatSportsGamer on Facebook.
Special thanks to Chris Beck for our outro music.
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East
Washington Nationals – The Nats made it out of Spring Training with only, new addition, Doug Fister on the DL. When we returns they could have one of the best rotations in baseball with Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez and Jordan Zimmerman. Look for Bryce Harper to finish in the top 5 of MVP Voting after his off-season bulk up.
Atlanta Braves – Unlike the Nats, the Braves Spring Training destroyed them. Losing Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy to Tommy John surgery all but forced the signing of Ervin Santana. Even with a depleted staff, the Braves should still be able to hold off the rest of the field, who have bigger issues than them.
Philadelphia Phillies – Aging, in-fighting, and injures is the best way to describe the Phils right now. The Phillies core continues to get older along with playing their age. Jimmy Rollins and, new manager, Ryne Sandberg, have spent Spring Training bickering, leaving Rollins’ Philly future in question. Cole Hamels has only begun throwing bullpen sessions after discomfort in his shoulder hampered him at the start of the season.
Miami Marlins – The Marlins could be a threat in the division in the next few years, but they are still building. Jose Fernandez is the Ace, and veteran, even though he is the youngest, at 21 years old, in an extremely young Marlins rotation. If Giancarlo Stanton can get some support in the lineup, they could move up and finish as high as 3rd in the division.
New York Mets – With Matt Harvey being out for the year, the Mets will regress, but they are taking steps in the right direction. When he returns, Harvey, Zack Wheeler, Jon Neise and Dillon Gee could be one of the best young rotations. David Wright continues to be the cornerstone of this team, the real question is “will Curtis Granderson be able to adjust to life at Citi Field?” There is no short porch in this NY stadium, if he can adjust to this stadium, it could be reminiscent of his days at Tiger Stadium, if not, it could be a long year in Flushing.
Central
St. Louis Cardinals – The Cards have two things, guys that hit homers, and guys that throw pure gas. A trip though the heart of an order consisting of Matt Holliday, Matt Adams and Allen Craig should terrify any pitcher. Adam Wainwright, Micheal Wacha, Lancy Lynn, Shelby Miller, and Joe Kelly may just be the best rotation in baseball, and their bullpen will only be more un-hittable when Jason Motte returns from his 2013 Tommy John surgery.
Pittsburgh Pirates – 2013 wasn’t a fluke for the Pirates, they are the real deal. Andrew McCutchen should put together another great season, and along side Starling Marte and Jose Tabata, should form one of the best outfields in the NL. The main concern with the Pirates is their pitching staff. If Gerrit Cole can pitch like the future #1 he looks like he can be, they should be contending for a Wild Card.
Cincinnati Reds – The one to watch on the Reds is Billy Hamilton. After stealing an astounding 155 bases between A+ and AA in 2012, and stealing 75 bases in AAA, and an impressive 13 bases in 13 games during a “cup of coffee” with the Reds last year, the real question is can he hit MLB pitching. If he can get on base, he’ll cause havoc for pitchers having to keep a close eye on him and face Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. Spring was not kind to the Reds bullpen, which leaves J.J. Hoover as their closer. It could be a long season in Cincinnati.
Milwaukee Brewers – While the Brew Crew didn’t have Corey Hart last year due to injury, losing him to Free Agency might hurt more. Their lineup looks a little weak outside of Ryan Braun and an aging Aramis Ramirez. Their rotation with Yovani Gallardo, Kyle Lohse, and Matt Garza is nice, I just worry that they won’t get the run support they need to contend in this division. They are very similar to the Reds and could easily flip-flop spots in this prediction.
Chicago Cubs – The Cubs have a lot of young talent coming up this year and next, but without Anthony Rizzo and Starling Castro taking over as offensive leaders for this team, it may not matter. Ongoing negotiations with Jeff Samardzija leave the future progress of the Cubbies up in the air.
West
Los Angeles Dodgers – These guys are pretty stacked throughout the lineup, if Matt Kemp can return to form, they will have one of the most potent offenses in baseball. With their All-Star rotation of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Hyun-jin Ryu, the Dodgers should coast to an NL West Championship.
Arizona Diamondbacks –
San Diego Padres –
San Francisco Giants –
Colorado Rockies – The perpetual problem with playing in Colorado is that you’ll never have enough pitching. There pitching is pretty bad, so almost no amount of hitting is going to help.
This past weekend I traveled up to Boston to attend PAX East. After attending last year as the Press Row Podcast‘s Chief Technology Officer, Rich Grisham invited me back to be a panelist on the Press Row Podcast’s panel “The Crisis In Sports Video Games“. Not only was it a great honor to be asked to be on the panel, but also a great experience.
It’s one thing to sit in my office and talk into a microphone, it’s an entirely different thing to sit on a stage with a room full of people that want to hear your opinion on a topic. When you do a podcast, you put words into an .mp3 file, and maybe someone listens to it, and possibly someone responds. Doing a panel is completely different, with every word you say, you get to see how people are reacting. It seems crazy, but it was really exhilarating experience, and I want to thank everyone that came out and hopefully PAX will let us do it again next year.
Click this to check out the audio of the panel.
The PAX floor isn’t really a place for sports gamers, actually, I don’t think there were any sports games there at all, though, there may have been something at the 2K booth for NBA and WWE. After a few hours there, at least for us, there wasn’t much point to sticking around.
After that I had a great lunch with the MaddenTips‘ guys, Zach Farley and Steve Gibbons, followed by drinks with Zach and Rich. The best part of the night was our annual post panel dinner. Joining myself, Zach and Rich were Kat Bailey of US Gamer and our panel, Chris Johnston of Adult Swim Games and the Player One Podcast, Jeremy Stein of the GSN Games, and Kevin Larrabee of Back In My Play and The FitCast. It was really great to sit down and talk to them in person.
Saturday was the day of a tough decision, to return to the show floor or not? Eventually we decided to go to The Knotty Pine for breakfast, Zach’s recommendation. The rest of our day was spent at the MaddenTips office where we streamed Madden for about 3 hours. You can find some video that we shot right here.
At the end of the day it really was a great trip and I can’t wait for PAX East 2015. I just want to thank everyone again for a great time, especially Zach Farley who was our Boston guide for the weekend.
Early this morning Microsoft dropped a bombshell on the sports video game industry. In his first official act as head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, Phil Spencer announced the impending release of their simulation baseball title, High Heat Baseball 2014.
We’ve realized that the lack of a simulation baseball title on the Xbox One has resulted in many dedicated sports video game players looking to other consoles for a “complete array” of sports video games. However, we are proud to announce that, after years of development, we are ready to being to you a truly revolutionary simulation baseball game for next generation systems. High Heat Baseball 2014 will allow you to see the true power of the Xbox One.
No release date or game modes have been announced but an All-Star break release was hinted. Also, a screenshot was provided, which seems target the facial hair screenshots that MLB 14: The Show has put out. They say this is from an in-game screenshot, if it really is, I’m running out right now to buy an Xbox One.
Happy April Fools’ Day!
East
Boston Red Sox – The youth movement is in full effect in Boston. With Jackie Bradley Jr,, Xander Bogarts and Will Middlbrooks poised to have big years, the mix of quality young players with experienced vets should have enough to bring 2013’s World Series Championship back to the playoffs as the AL East Champion.
Baltimore Orioles – If Manny Machado was at full strength going into the season, I’d be more inclined to put the O’s on top of the division. When healthy, the O’s could have one of the best infields in baseball.
Tampa Bay Rays – A full year of Wil Myers along with a pretty stacked rotation of David Price, Alex Cobb, Matt Moore and Chris Archer with Grant Balfour closing out games, this team could be really dangerous. Should be a good battle between the Rays and O’s all year, probably ending in the one-game Wild Card matchup.
New York Yankees – The Yankees could easily win this division, but with so many aging players and players coming back from injuries, I just don’t have the faith that they’ll all be able to stay healthy for the long haul.
Toronto Blue Jays – Last off-season the Blue Jays tried to make all the moves, it didn’t work. This year, they barely made any moves, it still won’t work.
Central
Detroit Tigers – While the Tigers lost some key players during the off-season, most notably Doug Fister and Prince Fielder, they should be able to hold off the Indians in the division. A rebuilt back-end of the bullpen with Joba Chamberlain and Joe Nathan will help Phil Coke and Al Alburquerque in shortening games.
Cleveland Indians – It’s going to be interesting to see where Carlos Santana ends up playing the majority of the time, but the real story here is the Indians rotation. With a bevy of starters headed by Justin Masterson, there shouldn’t be any question about Cleveland’s ability to hold off the, medicore at best, bottom of the AL Central.
Kansas City Royals – The Royals are full of guys that should be amazing, but they’ve never really been able to put it together. They should have enough hitting to put them right in the middle of this division, and if things start clicking and either the Tigers or Indians struggle, they could quickly become the #2 team in the division.
Minnesota Twins – No amount of back-end rotation arms from New York (Mike Pelfrey, Phil Hughes) will help the Twins this year. While 2014 won’t be their year, with the talent the Twins have in their farm system, these guys should start being a serious contender for the division in the next 2-3 years.
Chicago White Sox – With a questionable rotation after Chris Sale, and some young talent around the field they should find themselves at, or just below, .500..
West
Los Angeles Angels – I literally changed this division while in the middle of writing this post. I’m going to assume something (we all know how that works) about the Angels. Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton can’t possibly play as bad as they have. If they can even play to half their potential, the Angels have a chance to win this injury riddled division.
Oakland Athletics – Up until I wrote the blurb for the Angels I had the A’s winning this division. However, with injuries all over the field, I can’t see the A’s winning the division this year. They just don’t seem like a team that has anyone that can say “alright, get on my back” and run off a streak of W’s. Still, with the injuries to the Rangers and M’s, the A’s might have enough in the tank to finish second.
Texas Rangers – After one of the worst Spring Training’s in history injury-wise, it looks like the Texas Rangers might not be able to field their projected Opening Day lineup until sometime in late May / early June.
Seattle Mariners – Signing Robinson Cano was a great move, the problem was they didn’t do much to protect him. They have a roster full of guys who have spent a ton of time in platoon situations and with starting pitchers Hisashi Iwakuma and Taijan Walker starting the season on the DL, and no real protection for Cano, the M’s won’t be knocking on the door to the playoffs this year.
Houston Astros – The Astros are going to spend another handful of years at the bottom of the AL West and, most likely at the bottom of the MLB standings. While they are better than the 2013 Astros, they probably aren’t 11 games better than them, so I’ll say they lose 100+ games this year.