PC Gamer: 81%

[jonnymo]

Well, we (can I say "we"? I mean, I say "we" when I talk about the Reds and Sox, and I have far less to do with their success) didn't garner the editor's choice this year, but kudos are kudos.

If anyone else already posted this, please feel free to disregard, but I just got the September issue of PC Gamer, and Brett Todd has reviews of the Big Three on page 98:

Baseball Mogul 2007: 81% (Excellent)
PureSim Baseball 2007: 74% (Good)
OOTP 2006: 46% (Tolerable)

How the mighty have fallen, eh?

It should be noted that last year's review (with a score of 90%) was written by Dan Morris, which highlights one of my few issues with PCG reviews: the score is given not by the staff, but by the individual reviewer. In Todd's review, he states, "The latest edition is no also-ran... this is the best Mogul I've played in years."

Long live the king!

[Clay Dreslough]

Weird. Someone showed me a thread about the same article posted at the OOTP forums but it seemed like it was a hoax (it was a very long thread). And that conclusion seemed to be not just because they didn't like what it said, but because there was only one person saying he'd read the review and there weren't any references to it anywhere on the internet.

I have a PC Gamer subscription and I don't have my copy yet. And I usually check GameRankings and Google to see if there are any new Mogul reviews and I can't find any.

For example, here's a blog talking about the review 5 days ago. But then he posts and says it may be a hoax. And this blog is the only reference to this review I can find through Google.

If PC Gamer came out 5 days ago, why doesn't anyone else know about this review? And where's my copy? And why were Baseball Mogul sales down this weekend if there are 300,000 magazines out there telling people to go buy it?

I'm confused to say the least. You say you actually have the printed PC Gamer in your hands?

Clay

[jonnymo]

If PC Gamer came out 5 days ago, why doesn't anyone else know about this review? And where's my copy? And why were Baseball Mogul sales down this weekend if there are 300,000 magazines out there telling people to go buy it?

I'm confused to say the least. You say you actually have the printed PC Gamer in your hands?

You got me, boss. I do indeed have it in my possession, although I left it at home today. If this is still a mystery tomorrow, I can scan in a copy of the review.

Maybe I got mine first because I subscribe to the non-demo-disk version, but I'll tell you one thing -- I am honored that the good folks at PCG chose to send me my copy before anyone else.

[Clay Dreslough]

You got me, boss. I do indeed have it in my possession, although I left it at home today. If this is still a mystery tomorrow, I can scan in a copy of the review.

Thanks for the offer but don't bother. I'll get my copy soon enough. Starting with the AIM that told me to go to a thread that wasn't there, I've been confused from the get-go. That is very good to hear that Brett Todd likes the new Mogul. He was pretty critical a few years back. But considering we weren't even working on Mogul full-time, I see where he was coming from.

Clay

[disposablehero]

first of all, im an OOTP disciple and think BM plays second fiddle (at least its in the band, unlike the newest PS ).

now that that is out of the way, i tend to think that this is not a hoax. ive got friends who claim to have received their copies, but i have not. OOTP2006 has major problems, especially the version Mr. Todd reviewed. i dont know if i would go so far as to give that version a 46%, but certainly no higher than 65%.

in that thread, Markus is just defending his baby. its gotta be tough to hear that one of the leading game rags has given you what amounts to a 'dont ever buy this' rating. wouldnt you defend BM, Mr. Dreslough? and can you agree that the current version of BM2007 is better than the initial release?

i think the groundwork for an amazing baseball sim (the best ever) is there in the latest incarnation of OOTP, but this version is not a good one. im currently still enjoying the previous version (and all my online leagues are still using it).

[bmoseley07]

I think the level of ease, the short learning curve, and sophistication is pefect with Mogul. You don't have to fiddle around with hundreds of pages like OOTP. Although there are some things that OOTP has that BBM doesn't, it's not enough to deter me from my baseball simulation roots. I tried it (OOTP) but frankly the game just doesn't flow. You can't use the function keys to move to all the pages and it's just a poorly made interface. Another thing I like about BBM is everything looks like button instead of link. Stuff is bigger and there's less to take in- have you seen the play-by-play window on OOTP. It's so cluttered, but it's consistent with every other page. The aesthetics in BBM just put it over the top. Also, ignoring the fact that OOTP doesn't have a Clay or Ian. This is truely one of my favorite companies and would support the company no matter what.

Sorry, I just wanted to get that out.

[HoustonGM]

I agree completely bmoseley07. Although, once CubbyFan releases complete rosters, I will try OOTP again.

[disposablehero]

an interesting post i read today at another forum....i did not fact check

OK, so here's the updated list of ratings that OOTP2006 has received from gaming evaluators, according to GameSpot (who has yet to post their own review):

GameSpy - 3.5 out of 5 - June 16
GameZone - 7.3 out of 10 - July 19
Worth Playing - 7.2 out of 10 - June 26
Operation Sports - 9 out of 10 - July 7
Deeko - 8 out of 10 - June 14
PC Gamer - 46 out of 100 - ? (GameSpot hasn't posted this one; I'm including it for comparison's sake)

Out of six ratings, only one is lower than the equivalent of a 70, and it's far lower than that. What I'm saying is that it's an outlier, and should probably be treated as such.

so, my 65% rating makes sense and 46% does not

[HoustonGM]

Do all the evaluators use the same initial release version to rate the game, or do some use patched versions? Because the patched versions are miles better than the initial release, which blew.

[disposablehero]

5/31 release
6/6 patch 1
7/7 patch 2.1
7/20 patch 2.2 and 2.25
7/25 patch 2.3

my guess is that most used the first patch and Gamezone used the patch 2.1 version.

the people at Deeko, Operation Sports, and PC Gamer are out of their mind, considering the versions they used.

[ohms_law]

I love the featureset of OOTP, but the interface i so terrible that it just overwhelms the game, unfotunately.
Basically, I feel the same a bmoseley07.

[disposablehero]

7/25 patch 2.3

this was released yesterday.

[rant]

im highly disappointed.

this is the last patch, unless there is major problems found in it (crashing). overall, this version was a step back. i fully expected Markus to support this version and add the features he said he was going to. shame on SI for pulling the plug this early.

[/rant]