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Sony San Diego cannot 'dilute' MLB The Show experience by working on other sports

Sony's San Diego studio is known for their quality work on the MLB The Show series. But the studio also worked on NBA The Inside, a series that disappeared after its 2008 release. So what happened?
Andrew Yoon
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Sony's San Diego studio is known for their quality work on the MLB The Show series. Year after year, critics have called it the best baseball game in the biz, beating Take-Two's MLB 2K series. However, that wasn't the only sports franchise that called San Diego its home. The studio also worked on NBA The Inside, a series that disappeared after its 2008 release. So what happened? Christian Phillips, San Diego Studio senior director talked about the commitment Sony has to its baseball game in the latest issue of GameQ (now available on iPad, free). He said that the team could no longer work on other sports games, as their focus is to "ensure that we never take away from or dilute the excellent experience delivered each year in MLB The Show." Delivering a "best-in-class" game offers a reason "why sports fans need to own a PlayStation console," Phillips added.

MLB The Show is a 'system seller' for Sony

Consolidating the studio's focus to just one sports game appears to have yielded significant critical returns. Whereas the final installment of NBA The Inside floundered with a 63 Metacritic score, MLB The Show has seen remarkable improvement, going from a 77 score in 2007 to entirely positive reviews from 09 to now.
For more behind-the-scenes on MLB 12: The Show, read issue one of GameQ, now available on the App Store.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

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  • Shacknews legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
    reply
    May 7, 2012 11:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Sony San Diego cannot 'dilute' MLB The Show experience by working on other sports.

    Sony's San Diego studio is known for their quality work on the MLB The Show series. But the studio also worked on NBA The Inside, a series that disappeared after its 2008 release. So what happened?

    • Onward, to futility! legacy 10 years
      reply
      May 7, 2012 11:25 AM

      I do love The Show, but it is depressing my only choice on PC nowadays is the exceedingly lackluster 2K series.

      Hopefully EA will be able to bring back MVP after that stupid exclusivity agreement expires, but I wonder if they are still capable of making something of the caliber that was MVP 2k5.

      Probably not. :\

    • Dimmona legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      May 7, 2012 1:52 PM

      The problem is that MLB The Show has been pretty much perfect for a few years now, and each year's iteration doesn't really bring much to the core game. I'd rather they just put MLB on the shelf for a few years and work on a football game (assuming EA's lock on NFL rights expires in our lifetime)

      • AndrewYoon legacy 10 years
        reply
        May 7, 2012 2:05 PM

        It makes them too much money, and no sports franchise will ever implement DLC rosters.

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