Operation Sports
Sports Gaming News Weekly Wrap-Up - MLB The Show 22 Review, Legend Bowl Franchise Mode & More
Every Sunday, we will get you caught up on the sports gaming news you might have missed, during the busy week. This includes featured articles from the staff and new trailers.
Sports Gaming News
- F1 2021 Patch 1.17/1.18 Available Now, Improves AI Behavior & More – Patch Notes
- SnowRunner Releases on May 31 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S
- iRacing and Monster Games Teaming Up For World of Outlaws Console Game Arriving This Fall
- Retro Bowl Update Adds Kickoff Returns, Replay Controls, Updated Team Strengths & More – Patch Notes
- MLB The Show 22 & Cricket 22 Available on Xbox Game Pass
- NBA 2K22 Season 6: Zero Gravity Arrives on April 8
- NBA 2K22 Patch Available Today – Patch Notes
- eFootball 2022 Patch 1.0.0 to Release on April 14 – Improvements For Defense, Passing, Shooting, Dribbling & More Revealed
- Gran Turismo 7 Patch 1.11 Brings Plenty of Changes – Patch Notes
- MotoGP 22 Trailer – MotoGP Academy, Revised Tutorial & Riding Analysis System
- Try Football Manager 2022 Free on Steam Until April 11
- Legend Bowl Adds Franchise Mode – Player Progression, Offseason Events, Hall of Fame & More
- EA Play Member Only April Rewards Available in Madden NFL 22, NHL 22, FIFA 22 & GRID Legends
- Out of the Park Baseball 23 Trailer, Screenshots and New Features Revealed
- Diamond Dynasty – Nike City Connect Event Features Willie Mays and Don Sutton
Operation Sports Featured Articles
Headliners Set 2 Veteran Billy Wagner replaces Prospect Spencer Torkelson in Headliners packs today. He is a 90 overall. We are also getting a Prospect Julio Rodriguez added to the Chase Set 1 packs to go with Awards Albert Pujols. Of the two new cards, Veteran Billy Wagner seems like the bigger deal since bullpen help early in the year (especially from the left side) is always in high demand. Wagner has a 97 mph fastball, and mixes that in with a slider, changeup, and curveball. He has 86 control of the fastball and 81 control of the slider. Wagner is generally a solid option in DD in any form, and the 107 H/9 is an added bonus here for sure.
MLB The Show 22 has had a relatively smooth launch (especially when compared to prior years), but there are some technical issues cropping up, especially on Microsoft platforms. With MLB The Show 22, the biggest culprit remains the pinpoint pitching bug on Xbox consoles. To break it down further, the general issue seems to be that official Xbox controllers are having an issue at times reading the downward input as you finish off your pitch using pinpoint pitching. From my own personal testing on the Xbox Series X with an official Xbox Series X controller, I would say roughly 7/10 pitches have correct inputs in full wireless mode, with that number getting slightly better if the controller is wired to the console.
Diamond Dynasty at its core is an online-focused mode. While the content overall has flourished, offline gameplay has long lagged behind the innovations and improvements to the online sphere. So coming into this year, the introduction of Mini Seasons in Diamond Dynasty has been a fantastic addition. For years, you really didn’t have any interesting ways to use your team offline. You basically only had Extra Innings, 9-inning games against other users’ teams helmed by the CPU, or 9-inning games against regular CPU MLB teams. Neither of these modes really had a purpose. They were tied into Inning Programs, but there was no real reason to grind these modes unless you wanted a change of pace. Conquest, the RTS-like territorial control mini-game where you play 3-inning games against MLB teams, provided some level of variety but ultimately was a repetitive mode that grew stale by the All-Star break.
With the Big Dog Set 2 packs and the Headliners Set 3 packs, we get a bunch of new players in Diamond Dynasty, including Prospect Bobby Witt Jr. (fresh off a successful debut against the Guardians) and the diabolical All-Star Kenny Lofton card. All-Star Kenny Lofton replaces Veteran Billy Wagner, and Bobby Witt Jr. headlines the fresh pack replacing Big Dog Set 1. The other players in the Big Dog Set 2 pack are: Signature John Franco, Prime Adam Dunn, Prospect Triston Casas, Awards Huston Street, Rookie Minnie Minoso, All-Star Steve Finley, and Prospect Noelvi Marte.
As someone who has played every iteration of this series dating back to the days of 989 Sports, it is getting harder and harder to impress me on the field, but that’s precisely what has happened this year with MLB The Show 22. However, before anyone becomes too excited, I was a fan of how the game played between the chalk in ’21 also, and I don’t believe there is anything in ’22 that will blow you away if have not been a fan of the gameplay for whatever reason. That said, I do understand some of the critiques last year, especially as it relates to elements of hitting like hit variety and check swing inconsistencies. On the pitching side of things, I do think it got too “easy” with Pinpoint at a certain point, and that has been tweaked as well here. In short, I found things here to be more refined, more natural, and more authentic.
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