Maestro23 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 http://community.2ksports.com/community/insights/ *The Devs heard the outcry about the checkswing, and are patching it in. Hello, My name is Sean Bailey and I am a gameplay designer on Major League Baseball® 2K10. I want to share with you a quote straight from the white board in my office. Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn once said, “Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.” After winning more games than any left-handed pitcher in baseball history, Mr. Spahn is as well versed as anyone when it comes to the battle at the plate between a pitcher and a hitter. In Major League Baseball® 2K10, we have provided an experience where the gamer will really feel the benefits and challenges of upsetting timing, as Warren Spahn so eloquently put it decades ago. VIDEO (Click link above for video) Let’s walk through an at bat together and touch more on the pitching improvements that make this year’s game the most enjoyable baseball game I’ve ever played. Right now, I literally have the controller in my hand with recently acquired Roy Halladay on the mound for the Phillies. As you can see, we allow you to select your pitch this year before performing the gesture. By selecting the pitch before doing the gesture, we prevent you from accidentally throwing a pitch type that you never wanted to throw in the first place. The pitch selection means that you will always throw the pitch type that you intended to throw, regardless of how far off your gesture was. With Pablo Sandoval at the plate, I am going with my catcher’s suggestion in the 0-0 count: Cut Fastball. Upon selecting your pitch, a diagram will show you how the gesture should be performed in order to throw a pitch with the optimal control, break, and aim. The green zones in the diagram are the targets for where you want to move your right stick. Since Halladay has a good control rating, these gesture targets, or green zones in the diagram are larger than those of some of his teammates, like Antonio Bastardo. Bastardo’s control rating is only a 70, making it tougher to precisely stop the 2nd gesture in the right spot. Now that I’ve selected the Cut Fastball, it’s time to let it fly. The Inside Edge report shows me that Pablo Sandoval bats over .300 against right handed pitchers in all but 3 zones. Luckily, 2 of those 3 zones are low in the strike zone. Sorry Pablo. I’m not serving you any high heat just yet. The first pitch is a ball. The Cutter missed the low, inside corner that I was trying to paint with Halladay and almost grazed Pablo’s leg. On my gesture, I was supposed to stop at 9 o’clock. However, I moved the right stick too far past 9 o’clock (more like 7 o’clock…whoops), resulting in the pitch being overthrown in that direction. Had I done the opposite and completely stopped short of my gesture, the pitch would have been closer to the middle of the plate rather than outside for a ball. The right stick gesture this year dictates the placement of the ball in a way that is predictable. No more random pitch gestures with random results. If you stop short of your gesture on a 12-6 curveball, the pitch will be hung. If you go past your gesture on a 12-6 curveball, the pitch will be overthrown below the strike zone, or even into the dirt. This 1-to-1 relationship between the right stick gesture and final location of the pitch is consistent for each pitch type. Even better though, it gives the gamer a sense of command on the mound. And like we touched on earlier, the pitcher’s control rating plays a heavy role in how far off a pitch misses when the gesture is performed inaccurately. After pitching earlier today with Jonathan Sanchez, I really feel how much bigger the margin for error is with an ace like Halladay. Back to Halladay vs Pablo. After going with the slider, I filled the meter 100% for a max pitch . The Panda swings for the fences. Strike 1. When getting a max pitch, the batter’s contact chance is decreased and the pitch is thrown with ideal velocity and movement. The smaller the pitch meter is, the less breaking balls will move and the slower fastballs will travel. Think of a full meter as a way to represent the pitcher’s ratings. If I fill the meter 50% instead of 100%, Halladay’s cut fastball is no longer a rating of 88 for that pitch. This is crucial considering how important a pitch’s rating is to the batter’s chances of making solid contact, or just contact in general. And don’t worry - the likelihood of timing a max pitch is easier or harder depending on who is pitching and how tired they are. The 2K10 dev team did a great job making sure that the player ratings, player tendencies, and performance of the gamers’ pitching mechanics all come together in a realistic, learnable fashion. While accurately nailing the gestures is required for perfect aim, the degree of difficulty varies from pitcher to pitcher, and pitch to pitch. Since the slider is Halladay’s lowest rated pitch, it requires more accurate movement on the right stick and more precision in timing the meter compared to his higher rated sinker. Let’s get back to this 1-1 count between Halladay and Sandoval. Better yet, now that I’ve touched on the pitching mechanics, let’s pause the game and switch sides. I’m taking over for Pablo. It’s time to go over the new hitting mechanics. As I take over at the plate with Pablo, I am informed that Sandoval is a .315 hitter with 9 HRs and 37 strikeouts after a 1-1 count . If pitching is about control, command, and avoiding the big mistake, hitting is definitely about waiting for the right pitch and working the count. Get ahead in the count, and you’ll be more likely to see a fastball for a strike. Fall behind in the count, and you’ll be chasing breaking balls outside of the strike zone. Face a pitcher like Halladay, and both the balls and strikes are separated by inches. Face the 4th or 5th man in the rotation, and strikes are down the middle more often while the balls are way outside of the strike zone. That’s the beauty of incorporating Inside Edge™ into the CPU AI hitting and pitching logic. Per count, every pitcher will throw what he throws in real life and will try to hit the spots that he hits in real life. Sticking to the realism theme, every batter has a new eye rating this year (both vs lefties and righties). The higher the eye rating, the more likely your batter is to see the pitch type as it is being thrown as well as what part of the strike zone it is being thrown to. By pitch type, I mean fastball, breaking ball, or change-up. You won’t know the exact pitch type, but by knowing which of the 3 categories the pitch is, your timing will be that much better on the swing. Unfortunately for me, Pablo’s eye rating vs righties is only a 64. The next pitch is a 12-6 curveball by Halladay that just drops into the strike zone. No swing. Strike 2. The pitch started out looking a lot like a fastball that would have been high for a called ball 2. If Pablo had the eye rating of a guy like Albert Pujols, I would have had a chance at knowing it was a high breaking ball and waited to unload on it. If I hadn’t read so deep into Halladay’s scouting report, I wouldn’t have ruled out a 12-6 curve being thrown. Only 18% of his pitches in real life are 12-6 curveballs compared to 71% which are fastballs. I should clarify that by no means are the pitch tells too effective. They simply provide occasional and subtle hints to the batters in real life who are patient, read pitches, and draw walks. While Pablo had an outstanding 2009 season, he is not what we would call a patient hitter. Looking to end the at bat, Halladay delivers a cutter low and away, hoping to graze the strike zone. Knowing it is a strike (thanks to the new batting camera and new strike zone which make it so much easier to watch the incoming ball), I swing away with the contact swing. Foul ball. My timing was a little late, but I’m still alive. In Major League Baseball® 2K10, we completely re-wrote the physics of the hit distribution. The location of the pitch and the timing of the swing have everything to do with where that ball is hit and how hard it is hit. Replicating real life, the location of the pitch and my late timing is what drove the ball 20 feet foul to the left of the 3rd base line. Had I timed my swing perfectly against that low and away strike, Pablo could have been looking at a line drive base hit over the 3rd baseman’s head. My timing was late and the angle of the bat during contact resulted in a foul ball. Want to pull a ball and rip it down the base line for a double? Start the swing early against an inside pitch when making contact, just like in real life. If you want to hit a blooper over the infield to opposite field, swing a little later against an outside pitch. Major League Baseball® 2K10 is about playing baseball, not spamming the swing stick in hopes of base hits that are randomly sprayed about the field. If you find yourself hitting too many fly outs to the outfield, it’s time to lay off the power swing against high pitches. If you find yourself grounding into double plays, it’s time to lay off those low and away pitches being thrown for balls. Oh, by the way, while writing this, Pablo just grounded out to 3rd. Faced with a 1-2 count, I resorted to the defensive swing. The defensive swing is a new swing type in Major League Baseball® 2K10. Flicking left or right on the right stick will perform a defensive swing. This swing is a low risk, low reward swing that is good to use when faced with 2 strikes. If you aren’t sure whether an incoming pitch is going to be a ball or a decisive 3rd strike, flick the right stick to the left or right to protect the plate. It’s all about working the count and waiting for the right pitch. This is a good way to foul pitches off to stay alive. In my case with Pablo, the defensive swing resulted in a ground out to 3rd. For other players with a lesser contact rating, they may swing and miss. However, you still have a better contact chance and a higher foul ball chance when using the defensive swing. In addition to staying alive with 2 strikes while waiting for the dream pitch, defensive swings can also wear down a starting pitcher who is trying to go the full 9 innings by racking up a high pitch count. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maestro23 Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 Pitchers vs. Hitters Battle, Part II By: 2K Admin Ron | Monday February 08 2010 Hello, Sean Bailey, back again, to offer Part II of the Pitchers vs. Hitters Battle Developer Insight. In case you missed it, catch Part I here. Let's pick it back up with a conversation about where our inspiration for the three swing types come from, along with a conversation about check swings. Motion capture shoots with 2-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum and A’s 2009 Rookie of the Year Andrew Bailey allowed us to pick the brain of the best arms in the business. Both young guns said that guys like Kevin Youkilis, Bobby Abreu, and Colorado’s Todd Helton were more than just tough outs. Due to protecting the plate and their defensive swings, they were frustrating outs. They worked the count by taking balls and fouling off strikes that didn’t give them much to work with. During a long inning, they can temporarily wear a pitcher down. With the new batting camera, you’ll have an even better idea of which pitches are defensive swing candidates along the edge of the strike zone. The other two swings types, power and contact, are self explanatory. The contact swing is the base swing in Major League Baseball® 2K10. It is performed simply by flicking up on the right stick. By flicking up, it gives the gamer a quick, responsive swing with a higher contact chance than with a power swing. The size of the contact window is driven by the hitter’s contact rating (vs righties and vs lefties). CPU AI players, like Ichiro, not only use the contact swing religiously, but the elite contact hitters will hit the ball with much more velocity when using a contact swing. This is true when the gamer is batting with guys like Ichiro or Derek Jeter, as well. The power swing is performed by holding down on the right stick and then flicking up. While making contact is more difficult, the power swing is the best way to hit a home run or smack one into the gaps for an extra base hit. The CPU AI batters will choose their swing type based on the count and their own ratings against that specific pitcher. While Alex Rodriguez might contact swing during a 2-2 count, you better believe that he is thinking power swing any time he is ahead in the count. In addition to giving the gamer more depth and artillery at the plate, the 3 different swing types also make the CPU batters play like themselves. Only in Major League Baseball® 2K10 will you see Todd Helton battling an 8 pitch at bat, see Ryan Howard going all in using the power swing (for better or worse) against anything in the strike zone, and see Ichiro smack a line drive up the middle for a single by using the contact swing. The term “Signature Style” does not stop at animations. The other half of it is making sure that each AI player’s strategy and decision making (both on the mound for pitch type and location per count, and at the plate for swing type per location and count) resembles their real life counterpart. Now, I know what you are thinking… if this is so realistic, then why have I read from recent previews that there might not be a check swing in Major League Baseball® 2K10? Before we get into check-swing talk, let me clarify that the check-swing is in fact part of an upcoming patch. Pulling back on the right stick will play a check swing if you previously committed to a power swing or contact swing. Flicking up to contact swing and then pulling down will stop the contact swing. A power swing is performed by pulling down and then flicking up, as mentioned above. However, if you pull the right stick down back towards you after starting a power swing, that too will result in a check swing. This implementation of check-swinging makes it impossible to do one by accident. Pulling down on right stick = check swing. Never again will you have to ask “Why the heck did he check swing?!?!?” before contemplating launching a controller across the room. It also makes it easier to trigger when you actually want a check swing to play. Now, with that being said, you will rarely find yourself in a situation where you are trying to check swing. Before you crucify, let me shed some light on the reasoning. Other baseball games and previous 2K baseball games did not provide a default camera that gives a clear view from the strike zone’s height to the pitcher on the mound. Prior to playing Major League Baseball® 2K10, I had to decide before the pitch was even thrown as to whether or not I was going to swing. Forget knowing if it was a ball or strike…that had been impossible in baseball games before 2K10. I’m just talking about the decision to swing or not to swing. In Major League Baseball® 2K10, the strike zone, default batting camera, realistic movement and aim on pitches make it easier to decide whether to take a pitch or swing at a pitch. Add in the new Batter’s Eye as well as the defensive swing to protect the plate against borderline balls/strikes and now you have the same view, information, and swing types that the big league hitters have. Without a great camera view for deciphering balls/strikes, without Batter’s Eye, and without 3 swing types, I too would have over-used check-swings in other baseball games. So, by no means are we against check-swings. It’s just that we are now equipping the 2K10 batter with new mechanics and new information, the same information that results in All-Star hitters check-swinging with a low frequency in real life. The check swings are looking good and feeling more responsive than check swings of the past. The team here at 2K is full of passionate sports gamers and fans who understand the importance of capturing every element in a baseball sim. A couple new features that I have been getting a lot of mileage out of lately are the Swing Analyzer and the Pitch Analyzer. Any time a gesture is inaccurately performed by your pitcher, you can pull up the Pitch Analyzer. The Pitch Analyzer will allow you to see/control a freeze-frame slow motion replay of the pitch. Included in the Pitch Analyzer is a diagram of your exact gesture that you just performed on the pitch. By seeing how far off your gesture was, you will be able to see how that impacted the aim and break of the pitch. Also included in the Pitch Analyzer is the percentage in which you filled the pitch meter before releasing the ball, the exact pitch type, the count, the mph of the pitch, the strike zone, and full replay controls that include 3 preset camera views designed for watching the break of the ball. In other words, the Pitch Analyzer leaves no questions as to what you did right or wrong on your previous pitch. On the batting side of things, the Swing Analyzer will let you see how far off your timing was on a missed swing or on a foul ball. Like the Pitch Analyzer, the Swing Analyzer provides a freeze-frame replay with controls, allowing you to toggle between 3 camera views that show a clear view of where the baseball was at each frame, where the plate is in relation to the ball, and where exactly the swing started. These tools are completely optional and don’t ever have to be triggered. The frequency of them showing up is also in the settings (Occasionally, Always, or Never). However, you would be making a mistake by not wanting to know how to get better after an errant pitch or ill-timed swing. Intuitive, visual feedback can be hard to come by in the world of gaming. Historically, video games have told us when we are doing something clearly wrong…like when I’m driving the wrong way against traffic in a racing game. However, very rarely are we told when we are barely doing something wrong in a video game and that’s why I like the Pitch and Swing Analyzers so much. Barely missing the gesture with a pitcher could result in a walk to load the bases for Pujols. Barely swinging too late against a Felix Hernandez fastball could lose you the game. The Swing and Pitch Analyzers give you feedback when you are off by a small or large margin, making them that much more helpful (or, you can be like me and also use the Pitch Analyzer whenever you want to bask in a strikeout after watching your 12-6 curve fall off the table for a strikeout). Last but not least, I’d like to touch on our new pitch count system. Baseball, more so than other sports, makes less use of terms like stamina and fatigue. In baseball, the proper term is pitch count. Sure, announcers will comment on how a pitcher looks tired or fatigued but his teammates, coaches, and manager will be talking about his pitch count. In Major League Baseball® 2K10, we do the same. In an organic style of feedback, the speed of the meter and the shrinking gesture targets are the key indicators of stamina feedback. Every pitcher is rated so that he caps out at his max pitch count in-game. When a pitcher starts to get tired, the meter will start moving faster and faster, making it harder to nail the 100% mark. The green zones representing the pitch gesture targets will shrink smaller and smaller, making it significantly harder to hit your target. Also, the pitch ratings for each pitch start to plummet. The Felix Hernandez fastball that was working wonders in the beginning of the game will start to get hit harder and harder, by more and more hitters if he is left in too long (it should also be noted that the pitch ratings tie more into the contact quality this year. How else could we have simulated the gameplay fact that in 2009, Tim Lincecum allowed 60% fewer HRs per 9 IP when throwing his dreaded change-up and fastball?) If a pitcher’s pitch count gets too high too soon, leaving him in for a complete game will definitely beat up his ERA. This authentic approach leads to bullpen decisions and strategies that have always taken place in real life but not in video games. The importance of needing a low pitch count will also change your strategy when batting. We already went over all of the big reasons why you should work the count for a pitch that will be a quality pitch to hit. This is just one more reason to work the count. Even if the first pitch is a hittable strike, swinging at it every time may be doing the pitcher a favor as far as his pitch count goes. Thanks for taking the time to learn more about our new and innovative pitching and batting. I’ll stay in touch with Ronnie and provide some more details in the future about how our composure and mound visits work as well. In the meantime, I can’t wait for all of you to get your hands on this game March 2nd so we can hear your thoughts. This team has put in a lot of hard work and focus on giving sports fans the baseball game they deserve. It has been a lot of fun working on a game that answers the question, “How do you make a sports sim feel both realistic and fun?” I am confident that we have found the answer to that question. If anyone wants to battle on the sticks when MLB2K10 comes out, the gamer tag I’ll be using is Vernon Maxwell. Who knows, maybe one of you will be a $1 million pitcher by then. Lastly, I’d like to tip my hat to Jarrod Hatfield. Jarrod is the programmer that all the designers work with on pitching and batting. Jarrod spent a good portion of his summer and fall sifting through scouting reports, Inside Edge reports, and designs, all in an effort to make this the best pitching/hitting experience to date. - Sean Bailey Gameplay Designer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy82 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 And thus MLB2k10 became a viable competitor with The Show. This game looks absolutely amazing. The three swing types, pitching, stance/windup editing... wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonSPa Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 looks more and more promising lets hope so anyways guess we will find out in about 3 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 2K: Gameplay video or GTFO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy82 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 2K: Gameplay video or GTFO. There is a gameplay video; if you go to the insight page (here) there's quite a bit of gameplay footage in that vid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trues Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 YAY! check swings to come in a patch. :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleChange11 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 No more random pitch gestures with random results. If you stop short of your gesture on a 12-6 curveball, the pitch will be hung. If you go past your gesture on a 12-6 curveball, the pitch will be overthrown below the strike zone, or even into the dirt. This 1-to-1 relationship between the right stick gesture and final location of the pitch is consistent for each pitch type. Even better though, it gives the gamer a sense of command on the mound. And like we touched on earlier, the pitcher’s control rating plays a heavy role in how far off a pitch misses when the gesture is performed inaccurately. After pitching earlier today with Jonathan Sanchez, I really feel how much bigger the margin for error is with an ace like Halladay. This is what I have been asking for. As one who considers the pitching controls THE best attraction for the series, I'm pretty excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilkmanAnt Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Looks promising...but I need a demo or straightup gameplay videos! I'm so happy the check swing will be there, can't wait 'til 3/2...of course only if the gameplay is solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkB Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 There is a gameplay video; if you go to the insight page (here) there's quite a bit of gameplay footage in that vid. Ahh, I didn't notice the update. It wasn't there when I first loaded the page. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Z Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 And thus MLB2k10 became a viable competitor with The Show. This game looks absolutely amazing. The three swing types, pitching, stance/windup editing... wow. Don't go blowin' 2K just yet. They made MLB 2K9 look decent too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleChange11 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Don't go blowin' 2K just yet. They made MLB 2K9 look decent too. That's the problem, 2k9 was only "decent". I've been a major critic of 2k, as a burned customer for the previous 3 versions (expected really good, ended up with decent). This is the first year that I am reasonably excited. They seemed to add a lot of features customers asked for, made pitching controls easier for the idiots without dumbing it down for those that loved it, cleaned up a lot of the generic/horrible graphics (accessories, particles, etc), and the collision stuff is better as evident by both of a hitter's hands on the bat while hitting the ball the other way ... and without the bat being tilted at a ridiculous angle too. Basically, it looks like they took a lot of what they learned with the NBA series and put it into their baseball game. Admitingly the game could just "decent" like 2k9, but it looks to be a considerable improvement over 2k9, which didn't look that much better than 2k8, which didn't look that much better (overall) from 2k7. 2k8 was the most disappointing, despite the innovative controls, with 2k7 being a good first entry, and 2k9 making some lateral moves. 2k10 at least appears to be one step forward, maybe more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick1609 Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 This thing looks absolutely AMAZING!! The only thing that bothers me already is Halladay's old portrait! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DylanBradbury Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 The only thing that bothers me already is Halladay's old portrait! Funny you should say that, because the only thing that bothers me is Halladay's new uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean O Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 This is why I have no interest in The Show; there hasn't been an interesting addition compared to MVP. 2k10 has an incredible pitching system that was even really good last year, when everything else about the game sucked. The Show has completely given up on advancing to the future of baseball games, content to stick with 2003 level design. I'm getting pretty excited. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRudi26 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I can't comment on 2K's baseball titles from the recent past, but I do know that last year's version (2K9) was a mess, from the time they put it on the shelves until the time they walked away from it, which was virtually simultaneous. And honestly, I've only looked at one trailer, and that was just out of sheer curiosity. I'm going to hold off for a few weeks and read some reviews because I want to know what it plays like, rather than what it looks like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleChange11 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I'm going to hold off for a few weeks and read some reviews because I want to know what it plays like, rather than what it looks like. I'm going to find out for myself, for $30. From what I have seen in the past at 2k forums, about 60% of the games' "bugs and flaws" were really just "gamer error". Outfielder movement has never been a strong point, but when people claim not to be able to pitch or hit and blame the game, well ... there were a whole lot of people that were able to pitch & hit. When everyone complains of the same thing, such as too many robbed HRs and unrealistic AI power in 2k7, meatballs and no AI stealling in 2k8, and impossible stealing and over-the-top AI offense in 2k9 (combined with visual and collision flaws), then it's reasonably certain to be bugs or flaws. In short, I wouldn't take too many gamer's opinions at heart, because most of them suck at the game and are looking to blame it on something other than not being good at the game fresh out of the box. My overall issue with the previous versions is that the user had to overall both the rosters and sliders in order to get the game to "play decent", and in the end it just "wasn't worth the work". The amount of slider tweaking required is borderline insane. I'm hoping Darkspace sliders from 2k9 work well from the get go for 2k10, b/c I'm not real interested in playing 50-60 games just to get playable sliders, nor am I interested in the 300 page slider threads where people change their sliders based on whatever the results from their last game were. Play it for yourself would be my suggestion. We all saw last year the reaction to your (JR's) "pro" sliders when people don;t experience things for themselves first-hand. Also keep in mind that MOST gamers want a high offense, quick-action, eye candy filled game that they can master straight out of the box. I'd say the learning curve for the stick pitching and hitting is more along the lines of 30 games, and few seem to have that patience or desire to play a game where you have to "work" to throw 70% strikes, or actually be able to tell a strike from a ball when it comes to hitting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleChange11 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Oops, I actually forgot about the 2 worst things from 2k9 ... [1] AI batters swung at everything. [2] You had to drastically change the pitch movment slider so that everyone in the league didn;t throw a "Wainwright Curve". Those both seem like rather easy programming fixes, they just need to test it for a little while before release. With the reliance on patches, everyone should be prepared to NOT start a dynasty upon release and wait until the actual season starts in April, by then a patch might be released ... and you'll have to restart your dynasty for the patch to take effect. I'll just be playing single player and my player games initially while working on rosters/ratings/names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeRudi26 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I get what you're saying, and I know not to rely on a handful of reviews to make or break whether I buy the game. You sort of have to see which way the masses are leaning, and make your own decision based on the majority of what you read. In other words, if the problems are basic, fundamental glitches such as the 'first basemen foot of the bag', or the 'ball goes through the outfielders glove' type bugs, etc., then it's obvious the company still has glaring issues, and would be a no brainer for me to pass on. If the majority are critiquing cosmetics, such as dirt on the uniforms, working scoreboards, portraits, etc., then for me, it's worth a second look. Don't get me wrong, I want a next gen game with next gen graphics, but it has to be fundamentally sound first. Unlike most (probably), I am willing to play a significant amount of games to get the sliders to reflect a good, realistic game. The key is and always has been for me the game play, and I'll do whatever it takes, especially with a new PC title, to get it to play to my liking. Good (working) fundamentals and a good working slider set should be the foundation for a simulation type baseball game, in my own opinion, and there's probably nothing more personal than a slider set, hence the reason I usually tweak them myself. All in all, I want 2K to succeed. If they do, then it looks like we're on our way to next gen PC baseball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Z Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 This is why I have no interest in The Show; there hasn't been an interesting addition compared to MVP. 2k10 has an incredible pitching system that was even really good last year, when everything else about the game sucked. The Show has completely given up on advancing to the future of baseball games, content to stick with 2003 level design. I'm getting pretty excited. I honestly understand your point of view on this subject, but what good is an incredible pitching system if every other aspect of the game is bad or mediocre at best ? You hate The Show and now I know why, but you know damn well that game is a solid MLB video game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleChange11 Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I get what you're saying, and I know not to rely on a handful of reviews to make or break whether I buy the game. You sort of have to see which way the masses are leaning, and make your own decision based on the majority of what you read. In other words, if the problems are basic, fundamental glitches such as the 'first basemen foot of the bag', or the 'ball goes through the outfielders glove' type bugs, etc., then it's obvious the company still has glaring issues, and would be a no brainer for me to pass on. If the majority are critiquing cosmetics, such as dirt on the uniforms, working scoreboards, portraits, etc., then for me, it's worth a second look. Don't get me wrong, I want a next gen game with next gen graphics, but it has to be fundamentally sound first. Unlike most (probably), I am willing to play a significant amount of games to get the sliders to reflect a good, realistic game. The key is and always has been for me the game play, and I'll do whatever it takes, especially with a new PC title, to get it to play to my liking. Good (working) fundamentals and a good working slider set should be the foundation for a simulation type baseball game, in my own opinion, and there's probably nothing more personal than a slider set, hence the reason I usually tweak them myself. All in all, I want 2K to succeed. If they do, then it looks like we're on our way to next gen PC baseball. I figured we'd basically be on the same page, but then we seem to hjave similar experiences with baseball video games over the years and are likely a similar age. Most of the gamers at 2k are in their teens ... and it shows. They seem to be NBA 2k9 fans that just want a baseball game to "mash" until football season, whereas the disenfranchised customer, the franchise/dynasty player wants something with more realism and depth. Things like 1B off the bag of OF glitch were much more rare for me than possibly some others. In 100+ games, I never experienced the 1B glitch and the OF thing happened about 4 times. My gut feeling is that a lot of people can;t play the field and anytime they take a bad route or anything else, then it's "the glitch" ... just like everytime they lose a lead it's "comeback logic" even though many others never seem to have the problem. When it comes to baseball and boxing games, I think based on my playing experience (25 years, starting with microleague and earl weaver) that I probably am better as assessing a baseball game. when it comes to FPS or RPG type games, I listen to the critics, but not when it comes to BB. They are looking for a smooth online game with lots of features. I'm looking for playing realism (ball reacts correctly on a late swing on a low and away slider, ball hooks down the line, and tails in the gaps) and a deep franchise mode, particularly with REALISTIC AI trade logic (I hate dynasties where guys basically pillage the top prospects from every organizations for the Jack Wilsons of the world). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean O Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 I honestly understand your point of view on this subject, but what good is an incredible pitching system if every other aspect of the game is bad or mediocre at best ? You hate The Show and now I know why, but you know damn well that game is a solid MLB video game. Because the only mode I want is My Pitcher. If they can get that right, and just have basically functional AI, I don't care about anything else. Hell, they can give everyone in MLB a rating of 79, again, and at least we can fix that. They actually don't even need to get progression correct in my player, because hopefully someone will have a trainer out soon afterwards so we can do it ourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsoxxfan Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 WOW! this sounds good..maybe, finally i can play a real next-gen baseball game on 360 or PC.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjs007 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I hope it's good! Because I just seen MLB 10 THE SHOW and crapped..I will buy a PS3 in May if it's not! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.