UH OH - OXM reviews MLB FOM

[Saruman101]

Official Xbox Magazine gave MLB Front Office Manager a 5.0/10 in its monthly issue. A positive about the game was that it's VERY in-depth and will be more than enough management for those nerdy baseball fans (like myself...), but negatives do sound rough: poor menu design and a "useless" manager mode. I'm always careful about how I look at reviews, as I am still highly anticipating this game.

[krunchybox]

Im not surprised as this game went from concept to development in less than one year.

[RedLine]

Thanks for the heads-up Saruman, I was hoping for better news on this game as I am interested in picking it up. Perhaps the reviewer is not really a baseball-sim game player... maybe that explains the low score. I would expect Blue Castle to do a better job on the game, I really liked The BIGS for example.

Can you post any more details from the review? I have not received my issue yet and the review is not on the OXM site. Thanks in advance.

[Saruman101]

Very short - very concise. The reviewer really liked how in-depth the game went with baseball management, but as a video game itself... he made it seem like MLB FOM deserved its score. I'm still anticipating the game, but this worries me. The BIGS never did much for me, but for someone hoping to pursue a job in baseball's front office one day, I am counting Blue Castle pulls through for us baseball geeks.

[krunchybox]

With a title like front office manager, you would think that you would be able to do everything that is done in the front office including marketing and what not. We should have been allowed to set prices for tickets, concessions, and our marketing budget.

They wanted this to be a GM style game and GM's don't handle that aspect of the front office. Then it shouldn't have been called front office manager.

[loyal]

we need more info or people will take there word for it.

[RKO BLACK RKO]

me and chad been saying this for like a week and a half now lol

[jrmycmpfan]

Definitely a rental first.

[SFG MLB]

Bottom line is I have not heard the most important thing that IMO that needs to be heard and this reviewer is not a good one IMO for leaving this out unless I have missed it somewhere.

Great it's real in-depth so the bad is menus WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW IS does it SIM GOOD!

The sim engine is the most important factor here IMO and should be the 1st thing discussed in a review so I take this review with a gain of salt.

[kcxiv]

Depends what part of the front office you work in. Some people work on different things. Like i know different sport, but the Chiefs are looking for a new GM. Their old one was also the CEO of the team. He did EVERYTHING. Well the owner of the team is now looking to split responsibilites. GM will oversea all football operations. Well, another person with a different title will do all the business side of the team.

[krunchybox]

Depends what part of the front office you work in. Some people work on different things. Like i know different sport, but the Chiefs are looking for a new GM. Their old one was also the CEO of the team. He did EVERYTHING. Well the owner of the team is now looking to split responsibilites. GM will oversea all football operations. Well, another person with a different title will do all the business side of the team.

Whether you are handling player acquistions or determing the marketing budget, that's all part of the front office. In fact they go hand in hand. A GM doesn't get an unlimited amount of money to play with every year (unless you are the GM for the Yankees). Each team has a budget which is determined by partly by last year's attendance and what they project they could draw for the following year. Fan attendance = money (concessions, parking, tickets, soveniers, other stuff)

Front office manager would encompass everything that goes on in the front office. GM manager wouldn't. This is an area where MVP '05 proved why that was the best baseball game to date. Do you make the stadium upgrade OR put the money toward the big name free agent? These are decisions made......in the front office.

[Gamerdrw]

either way i think that this game is gonna be better than mlb 2k9 is going to be...that is why i am gonna buy it on the 26(?) when it comes out

[GhostRider]

If this game can be adjusted to loof like a normal game, thenm I am buying for sure....

If it is only made to be watched in a silly sped up on-filed mode, then I don't think so...

If you're gonna make a manager game, make the graphics good and the game watchable..

Otherwise it may as well be pure text with a simple diamond.

NBA2k9 is great to play in coach mode for this reason...More fun than Head Coach is(which is good, but needs work)

So I'm hoping the developers realise that a larger audience will be attracted through graphics and gameplay than just making it mostly about the GM part(still very important, but balance is needed)

[ColonelBuckshot]

With games like this and NFL Head Coach (and other games with coach or manager modes), it's tough to judge, because it depends on whether the reviewer is looking at it from a casual, every gamer standpoint or a hardcore standpoint. These developers have been very open about the fact that this is for a hardcore audience. NFL Head Coach got average ratings, but hardcore fans enjoyed it for the most part. I imagine this game will be similar in that the target audience will love it but others will be turned off by it.

[johndango]

With games like this and NFL Head Coach (and other games with coach or manager modes), it's tough to judge, because it depends on whether the reviewer is looking at it from a casual, every gamer standpoint or a hardcore standpoint. These developers have been very open about the fact that this is for a hardcore audience. NFL Head Coach got average ratings, but hardcore fans enjoyed it for the most part. I imagine this game will be similar in that the target audience will love it but others will be turned off by it.

Exactly. I also feel that it should be mentioned that I find there will be little chance of the PC version not being the best version to buy. Think about it. Have you ever tried to play a game that was mostly menu navigation with a controller? Isn't that one of the reviewers complaints in OXM? I think the PC one will be superior for sure.

PS- If all else fails, Out of the Park is still the best baseball simulation game out there. This probably won't even keep me away from my beloved game for a whole week.