For the past six years, Iâve satisfied my appetite with Major League Baseballâs evolving offerings.
What used to be a glitch-filled, clunky desktop-based system is now a robust experience that includes sleek, high-performing apps for iPhones, iPads, Android and other devices.
This yearâs version of the software, MLB At Bat 2012 [1] , is the best yet. Iâve been using it on my iPhone throughout the budding baseball season, and Iâve found it to be smooth, easy to use and virtually indispensable when Iâm on the go.
Although there are still a few kinks to work out, the league has a solid hit. This yearâs version brings many behind-the-scenes software updates to enhance the experience.
Downloading the app on Appleâs iPhone or iPad wonât cost you anything, but be forewarned: The free version wonât get you very far. It doesnât offer much more than a scoreboard and limited news about baseball.
Youâll be tempted to spend $14.99 to unlock the expanded features this year, or if you prefer you can pay $2.99 a month.
Itâs less than the cost of good seats at a game, and you wonât be sorry you did. For that fee, you get access to the appâs full offerings on both your iPhone and iPad.
The app is also available on Android, BlackBerry and Windows devices, though itâs a separate fee for each system. Unlike the app for Apple devices, though, thereâs no free version or monthly payment option.
Access to the mobile apps is also available through MLB.TVâs premium package, which costs $124.99 and lets fans watch live games on their mobile devices, desktops and Internet-connected TVs for that one price.
Rounding the bases
The price of admission gets you a flurry of features.
You get all the staples youâd expect, including box scores, video highlights and statistics from around the league. You also get Gameday, a graphical tool for tracking the game pitch by pitch.
One glimpse at the Gameday screen lets you know whoâs on base, what happened the past few plays, whoâs pitching, whoâs at bat and, of course, whatâs the score.
You get a cartoon view of the stadium from where the umpire is standing behind home plate, complete with a generic batter standing on the correct side of the plate depending on whether heâs left or right handed.
The batter is even wearing the teamâs uniform. As each pitch is hurled, you see a dot showing where the ball crosses the plate.
The tracker also will let you know if itâs a strike, ball, hit or out. And it will tell you the speed and the type of pitch coming across the plate.
Itâs a lot of information â" the type die-hard fans eagerly absorb.
Thereâs often a lag of several seconds, though. Sometimes, Iâve seen the scoreboard change before Gameday even registered what happened.
But programmers have rounded out other rough edges in the past few years, including renderings of all 30 baseball parks that grace the backdrop.
My favorite feature, though, is the ability to listen to any game through my phone. It offers home and away feeds, too, so I can switch to a different set of announcers if I donât like the way things are going. It can get confusing following Gameday with the audio on because of the audioâs lag.
But other than that, I havenât had many problems with the feature. At most, Iâve had to restart a connection to get a clean feed.
Video can get a bit more complicated. For $124.99 a year, or $24.99 a month, you can sign up for MLB.TVâs premium package, which lets you watch live games with a similar choice of home or away broadcasts.
For out-of-towners who want to follow their favorite teams, itâs an offer that can be hard to resist. The video can take some time to load, but the picture is smooth and vibrant if you have a strong connection.
Those who live in their favorite teamâs markets shouldnât bother signing up for the premium service, though. Onerous restrictions may prevent you from watching your team play.
No comments:
Post a Comment