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Here, all camera cuts occur in real time, so each new angle you see flows directly into the next one. For example, if I hit a home run, the camera will follow the ball into the stands. Next, it might show some raucous fans celebrating, and then switch to a shot of the dejected pitcher who served up the long ball. Alex Rodriguez will probably be in the shot, since he’ll be rounding second base behind the pitcher. Finally, the camera might show the entire field, which is when the infielders can be seen shifting to the right side of the diamond in preparation for the next batter, Mark Teixeira. This is the kind of attention to detail that Sony San Diego is known and loved for — it seems minor, but makes MLB 10 stand out.

Other visual additions in MLB 10 include dynamic fans and off-field players: fans seated in the front row will reach over the railing to try and grab a foul ball, and players in the dugout will duck to avoid balls hit in their direction. You’ll even see pitchers warming up in real time after you put them in the bullpen. And the developers finally addressed a longtime gripe of mine — collision detection. It’s still not perfect, but at least it’s not completely absent like in years past.

Unfortunately, the audio side of the TV equation is less impressive. While the ambient ballpark noises are wonderful — and if you’re not happy with them, you can augment them yourself in Sounds of the Show — the commentary trio of Matt Vasgersian, Rex Hudler, and Dave Campbell remains the only unremarkable, mediocre aspect of the presentation. Hudler and Campbell, in particular, repeat lines too often — and some of their tired old sayings haven’t changed in years.

Of course, you can turn them off and focus on the game itself, which is still stellar. New features include a more granular throw meter and three different kinds of pickoffs, and although the pitcher/batter confrontation itself hasn’t changed, it would be silly to criticize Sony San Diego for opting not to tinker with something that works perfectly as-is. What’s so great about The Show is the way in which players behave: baserunners hop over ground balls, outfielders crash into the wall after catching deep fly balls on the run, and double-play-turning infielders tumble over runners sliding into them at second base. Thanks to better animation blending, the on-the-field action exhibits a fluidity that has to be seen to be believed.

It’s a shame, then, that the most impressive aspects of MLB 10 simply evaporate when playing the game online. The Show has been continually held back from true greatness by its sub-par online play, and sadly, it’s no better this time around. I played ten or so games, most of which ended prematurely when the player on the other end quit due to pervasive, crippling lag. Perhaps it’s my wireless connection, but for what it’s worth, I haven’t had issues with any game besides The Show (both MLB 09 and MLB 10).

Lag can ruin any online game, but it’s particularly disastrous in baseball, where a mere split second can mean the difference between a home run and a very long out. The terrible lag causes hitters to flail wildly at pitches whose journeys to home plate have gaps, and it makes it tremendously difficult to properly locate pitches because the pitching meter — which is completely timing-based — stutters. What’s more, the initial indication of your connection to your opponent, which shows up in the team select screen, doesn’t seem to have any bearing on the actual quality of a game. Every game I played online had an ostensibly “great” connection — according to the team select banner — but the in-game display was rarely green (“great”), instead fluctuating between yellow and red.

In fact, the awful lag compromises the entire online play experience. Strange visual glitches — which are nowhere to be seen in the offline game — pop up online. I saw my first baseman fail to stick out his glove to catch a ball thrown to him, but he managed to catch it anyway before the hitter got to first — which somehow ended up in a “safe” call at the bag. In addition, either the X button magically becomes much less responsive online, or check swings are just nearly impossible to pull off over the Internet. I’m also miffed that Sony San Diego hasn’t yet integrated the PlayStation Network friends list into the game; instead, you have to add your PSN friends to a separate in-game buddy list. Perhaps it’s an issue with the way the PSN itself is set up as opposed to something the developers have any control over.

We already know how Yakuza 3 is blatantly better than Final Fantasy XIII, but it turns out that it could have been even more blatantly better, because some folks have reported that SEGA cut much more content out of the game than was originally revealed.

It wasn’t just the hostess bars and the obscure history trivia minigame that were cut out, it seems that the mahjong, shogi, “loser song” minigames were axed, as well as dozens of side quests. Estimates are placed at about 13% of the content available in the game’s first 6 chapters were absent from the English version of Yakuza 3.

And it’s not just a problem of most players not knowing what they’ll miss. Many of those sidequests are worth experience and cashed used to buy upgrades and items, potentially making the game more difficult or grind-heavy.

I don’t really understand why they had to go and do this. Why were they concerned about releasing the game ASAP? Were they in that much of a hurry to get steamrolled by Final Fantasy XIII and God of War III? And it’s not as if cutting content suddenly makes an already very Japanese game more appealing to western audiences. After all, it was the constant whining by Japanophiles like myself that convinced them to bring the game over in the first place. Sega’s continuing inability to properly gauge its audience is maddening.

All that said, I’m just glad Yakuza 3 is happening at all. There’s plenty more content available to play, even with the cuts, and I encourage everyone who’s interested to take the plunge. If nothing else, you’ll get a good game, and Sega might be convinced to bring Yakuza 4 over in a more complete state.

Destructoid and GameStop have teamed up for three weeks of God of War III giveaways! GameStop is currently holding their own contest called “Be the Envy of the Gods” where over 2,000 prizes are being given away until March 15. Along with the daily prizes, they’re doing some weekly promotions and this week’s GameStop contest is a VIP Experience at a premier music festival.

Back here on Destructoid, we’re giving away God of War III, $50 GameStop gift cards and something big during the third week of this contest series thanks to GameStop. This week’s prizes are as follows:

* First place: God of War III and a $50 GameStop gift card.

* Second place: God of War Collection.

* Third place: $50 GameStop gift card.

Simply leave a comment below telling us about your best concert experience you’ve ever had or tell us what music festival you’re looking forward to the most this year. One entry per person and contest is open to US residents only. You have until Sunday, February 28th at 11:59PM CST to enter. Good luck!