Gurantsu wrote:I turn off the strike zone, as I do in all baseball games, but I love the 2K pitching interface. The whole pitcher/batter duel just feels better to me than it does in The Show. And whats wrong with having to learn how to make a pitch? Why should pitching be more stat based yet batting be more skill based? (As crappy as I am at batting it should be the opposite!) I enjoyed the pitching interface of The Show last year more than any other, when using the stick, yet you still did the same motion for each pitch. I kind of like having to do a different motion to throw a different pitch. Much better to me than using the same motion to make a pitch as I do to play Tiger Woods Golf.
And I know I'm getting old, because the animations don't bother me one bit. Hell, I remember when a guys face was just a solid block. Whatever the problems are I either don't see them or they don't bother me.
I'm with you.. classic pitching is mega boring. I want to control all aspects of pitching, which 2k does so well. I hope MLB 12's pulse pitching is good, I'm counting on it. Baseball is boring enough on a console, so I hope The Show has similar pitching/hitting/fielding as 2k does. I also like how 2k's game gets right to the point.. I would imagine you could finish a game much quicker than in The Show, but this is my first year getting The Show day 1 over MLB 2k.
I'll pick up MLB 2k at some point I'm sure of it.
You can knock out a game of The Show in like 25 minutes if you use fast play.
Got my MLB/NBA 2K pack from Gamestop last night. Traded in BF3, Black Ops, and MLB 2K11, walked out with the pack for $18 and change.
Played a couple of games and couldnt believe the framerate problems. Reminded me of 2K8!
However, previous poster is right, the 3MB patch today completely fixed the framerate.
I bought this game for PC and it plays great with none of the frame rate issues you guys on console are having. Only played one game so far and using Lester I was able to throw a complete game with 95 pitches. Looks like some slider tweaks on my end will be needed. Played on All star level and was happy to see Verlander hit the 100 pitch mark in the 6th inning.
I finally put some ime into the game. my impression is the same as most, it's a nice upgrade from 2K11, and there doesn't seem to be any bugs yet.
It can look like a nice game at times, and others it is just fugly. They added to and improved the running animations. But they seem to run with lot sof hesitation.
Even after the patch, there is still frame hiccups when you make contact. It's not really bad or a big deal to me, but it makes the game look cheap. It has had zero effect on my gameplay.
I'm totally sold on Dynamic Pitch ratings. I love that I can get a Wainright's 96 rated 12-6 Curveball to 99, or have it drop into the 80's. During the course of a game, it creates confidence or lack thereof in different pitches. It feels right.
I'm less sold on having pitches lose effectiveness based on if you use them too much according to each pitcher's real life %'s. It is kind of cool that when you have a RED coded Fastball, you know it is a good time to pop in a change-up, and it works. On the other hand, t feels like the game is dictating too much, and taking a lot of your choices away. The penalty for throwing a RED coded pitch seems heavy. I am going to have to ive this time to see how it affect strategy over the long haul.
You can turn off Dynamic Pitch Ratings, but I have not seen a way to turn off the other. Maybe that turns both things off. Not sure yet.
I made four small changes to sliders that greatly improved the feel of the game.
I used All-Star as my base, as the game plays well from there.
I dropped USER Pitch Control from 45 to 30.
I dropped CPU Strike Tendency from 50 to 40.
I also bumped CPU Pitch Speed by 10. I can remember now what the value was. But it provides a smoother looking pitch speed that is easier to time and read. The game is obviously geared towards the average player that swings too much, and hates for the pitch to not go exactly where he wants.
I also increased USER OF Run Speed from 20 to 30.
This was a SIGNIFICANT improvement in the feel of the game. One of the things run speed affects is how long the AI will move your player toward the ball. At 20, it had serious issues with the guy starting, then stopping, then trying to catch-up. At 30, there is none of that. And OF looks like they are running in mud at 20, and look perfect at 30.
My Batting camera is set to:
Zoom 1
Height 6
I started out with height at 8, but decided a bit lower helped judge strikes better. I may fiddle more, as I did not really spend a lot of time testing it.
I suspect CPU Base Stealing Aggression will need to be dropped. They run a lot. But I have Molina, and he has a gun. I've nailed several, including Jose Reyes.
I played a game online last night. It was hit or miss, and mostly miss. When it was going well, it was like playing offline. It was that good. But it froze up a lot. And then it would get choppy. and then it was smooth for a few pitches. Then it would get choppy. If you have a great connection, and play someone with a great connection, it's probably going to be a blast. We'll see how it does over time.
It's not a big deal, as baseball is always the worse online game to play. the games take longer than any other, and split second timing needed to pitch and hit requires the best connection. It's unreasonable to think an online league is worth the time and effort. It's probably a million times better than The Show, and it still doesn't matter. All baseball games ought to go with a manage only mode for online, like BBPro 98.
Overall feel for the game so far is very positive.
Aristo wrote:I finally put some ime into the game. my impression is the same as most, it's a nice upgrade from 2K11, and there doesn't seem to be any bugs yet.
It can look like a nice game at times, and others it is just fugly. They added to and improved the running animations. But they seem to run with lot sof hesitation.
Even after the patch, there is still frame hiccups when you make contact. It's not really bad or a big deal to me, but it makes the game look cheap. It has had zero effect on my gameplay.
I'm totally sold on Dynamic Pitch ratings. I love that I can get a Wainright's 96 rated 12-6 Curveball to 99, or have it drop into the 80's. During the course of a game, it creates confidence or lack thereof in different pitches. It feels right.
I'm less sold on having pitches lose effectiveness based on if you use them too much according to each pitcher's real life %'s. It is kind of cool that when you have a RED coded Fastball, you know it is a good time to pop in a change-up, and it works. On the other hand, t feels like the game is dictating too much, and taking a lot of your choices away. The penalty for throwing a RED coded pitch seems heavy. I am going to have to ive this time to see how it affect strategy over the long haul.
You can turn off Dynamic Pitch Ratings, but I have not seen a way to turn off the other. Maybe that turns both things off. Not sure yet.
I made four small changes to sliders that greatly improved the feel of the game.
I used All-Star as my base, as the game plays well from there.
I dropped USER Pitch Control from 45 to 30.
I dropped CPU Strike Tendency from 50 to 40.
I also bumped CPU Pitch Speed by 10. I can remember now what the value was. But it provides a smoother looking pitch speed that is easier to time and read. The game is obviously geared towards the average player that swings too much, and hates for the pitch to not go exactly where he wants.
I also increased USER OF Run Speed from 20 to 30.
This was a SIGNIFICANT improvement in the feel of the game. One of the things run speed affects is how long the AI will move your player toward the ball. At 20, it had serious issues with the guy starting, then stopping, then trying to catch-up. At 30, there is none of that. And OF looks like they are running in mud at 20, and look perfect at 30.
My Batting camera is set to:
Zoom 1
Height 6
I started out with height at 8, but decided a bit lower helped judge strikes better. I may fiddle more, as I did not really spend a lot of time testing it.
I suspect CPU Base Stealing Aggression will need to be dropped. They run a lot. But I have Molina, and he has a gun. I've nailed several, including Jose Reyes.
I played a game online last night. It was hit or miss, and mostly miss. When it was going well, it was like playing offline. It was that good. But it froze up a lot. And then it would get choppy. and then it was smooth for a few pitches. Then it would get choppy. If you have a great connection, and play someone with a great connection, it's probably going to be a blast. We'll see how it does over time.
It's not a big deal, as baseball is always the worse online game to play. the games take longer than any other, and split second timing needed to pitch and hit requires the best connection. It's unreasonable to think an online league is worth the time and effort. It's probably a million times better than The Show, and it still doesn't matter. All baseball games ought to go with a manage only mode for online, like BBPro 98.
Overall feel for the game so far is very positive.
I really enjoy the dynamic pitching added to the game as well, finally might be able to call my own game (have been letting catcher call everything the last couple of years, so I wouldn't abuse pitches)
Played one game online, had fun, but you're right about the occasional choppiness that seems to get worse in the later innings. 2K promised smooth online this year (I believe they said it would play the same as offline). They still have lots of work to do in this area. Still peeved you can't use classic hitting or pitching online.
My camera setting is Batter 1, zoom 6, height 2, gives me a good lower view of the strike zone.
The best thing about this game is all the things you can adjust (camera view, sliders)...everyone should be able to find an enjoyable game.
Yeah the dynamic pitching is really neat, I'm digging it.
I'm playing on the PC, so haven't seen any frame rate problems at all, but like I mentioned earlier I think the PC builds are newer than the console ones.
The feel of the ball off of the bat seems better, with the ball going where you would expect it after swinging.
The living season seems neat too, but I need to put more time into it.
Overall I'm very happy with it, it's a great game of ball.
So the living season seems like it will be cool, however it doesn't keep stats during spring training (which actually makes sense).
Basically you play whatever game your team has scheduled that day, and then it looks like it will keep stats comparing your play against the actual results. It looks like it will be a very slick extension of the MLB Today mode we've seen for the last couple of years.
Another cool thing is that you can only play the current days game. No jumping ahead in the schedule, just whatever your chosen team is actually doing that day. It also loads the current living roster before each game, which should be pretty slick with players getting injured. Its a little tough to judge how that actually works now, since technically there is no DL in spring training; I just played a game against the Phillies and Ryan Howard was in the lineup. I expect that once the season starts then the lineups will reflect the latest data.
I have no idea what happens if you miss a day, I would assume that it will only compare stats for games you've actually played, but until the regular season starts I can't tell (unless there is info online about it, I haven't really looked).
I've created a season for my beloved Pirates, but will probably start ones for a couple other teams also. I played a lot of the MLB Today mode the last couple of years, so its cool that there is a little more incentive to try it.
I've really enjoyed the MLB today mode the last two years. I love this idea of letting your stats sub for real life.
To be fair, though, this i not a good substitute for a real franchise mode. If I play the cardinals into 1st or second place, but in real life the team struggles, the team will make some odd moves. I can see Berkman getting traded if they feel like they are out of it. But no way does he get moved if they are in position to make a run.
But it is a fun exercise, anyway. All I really wanted was some stat tracking for what I did. I would play my games, and then the next day would come, and everything I did was just gone, replaced by the real life events. So now, when they talk about about the two home runs a player hit the day before, they will be talking abut my home runs, which will be cool.
One thing to keep in mind is that the mode is not 100% accurate. There are issues, like how long it takes to get a rookie into the game. The game does update typical line-ups, but it is not matching real-lide line-ups, because they are not written yet. A manager like La Russa the last few years would be impossible to predict.
They do have the right starting pitchers like 95% of the time, but even that is not foolproof. And while in the normal MLB Today mode you can swap out starting pitchers, it looks like they restrict you in MLB today Season mode.
Another weakness to the system that I had hoped they would improves is the fatigue. If they know how many innings all of my bullpen guys threw over the last week, I would really like a realistic view of who is available. But in MLB Today, everyone is always 100%. It's not a dealbreaker, but the more limitations the real life manger has that they can force on the game, the better.
The way I played it was usually waiting until sometime in the afternoon, or evening, when the line-ups were announced, and then adjust them in the pre-game menu. Although, I really only cared about that accuracy when was playing Cardinal games. If I i got the right starting pitchers and accurate roster and typical line-ups, it was fine for any other games I might play on the schedule. That was a fun way to get a glimpse into other teams. As you play the game you get news on how guys performed the night before, current stats and standings, and it was just a more enhanced version of Play Now games.
I have to say, the more I play the game, the more I am enjoying it. If The Show did not exist, I think this game would not get near the slam on how it looks. There's no denying that 2K is light years behind SCEA. But most of the game looks good, the stadiums look great (I think Wrigley was just phenomenal), and the presentation continues to be stellar, even if it is a little heavy on the flash and color explosions.
And gameplay-wise, it's fantastic. Pitching, always a strength, is so much more immersive wit the dynamic ratings. Hitting is such a great battle. One game I struggle huge against Kershaw, failing to force him to throw enough pitches to get him out of the game. The next I frustrate the hell out of Strasburg, getting him over 40 pitches in two innings. And the game already had great hit variety last year, but it has been significantly improved this year. it has also led to more foul balls.
Player ratings make a huge difference in the field. Guys bobble balls, but it is not just animations for errors. Many times they still have time recover and make a play. Sometimes they are forced to give up on the double play and go to first.
Right now, there is not a gameplay mechanic that I don't consider the best way I have ver played a baseball game. And they way they have tuned the game to aslo produce realistic results, forcing realistic strategic decisions, while having so much control is just really satisfying.
This really is a great game. I saw a comment about how this is the game 2K8 should have been. I disagree, because 2K8 was a great game that released with unplayable frame rate issues. But a combination of patches, and then Microsoft's new, at the time, feature of loading games to the hard drive fixed it. So I would say that this is what 2K9 should have been.
It's going to be a bummer if we don't get future versions of the best gameplay mechanics in a baseball game because Kush fouled up their 2K8 release so bad they got fired. That forced VC to release a bugged and crappy 2K9 on short notice, and set in motion a situation where 2K could not invest in the game properly. It was partly because 2K8 and 2K9 created a PR nightmare, and 2K paid a ridiculously high licensing fee that let Sony still make a game.
I got this as part of the combo pack and played it for a few hours. Some interesting mechanics for pitching but as I played I kept thinking tow things.
1. I'm glad this came with NBA2K
2. I'm glad I won a PS3.
I'll give it some more time but maybe I'll try it on the PC since it's only $25
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Aristo wrote:I have to say, the more I play the game, the more I am enjoying it. If The Show did not exist, I think this game would not get near the slam on how it looks. There's no denying that 2K is light years behind SCEA. But most of the game looks good, the stadiums look great (I think Wrigley was just phenomenal), and the presentation continues to be stellar, even if it is a little heavy on the flash and color explosions.
And gameplay-wise, it's fantastic. Pitching, always a strength, is so much more immersive wit the dynamic ratings. Hitting is such a great battle. It's going to be a bummer if we don't get future versions of the best gameplay mechanics in a baseball game because Kush fouled up their 2K8 release so bad they got fired. That forced VC to release a bugged and crappy 2K9 on short notice, and set in motion a situation where 2K could not invest in the game properly. It was partly because 2K8 and 2K9 created a PR nightmare, and 2K paid a ridiculously high licensing fee that let Sony still make a game.
Very well said. There's no doubt The Show is king of the baseball video game market, but there's not enough credit for what 2K does bring to the table. Eveyrone nitpicks 2K baseball to death like it's the worst game ever made. It reminds me of the regular everyday joe little brother of a guy who is a millionaire. It can be said that 2K does a few things better than the Show:
1) Commentary
2) Commentary (deserves two bullet points)
3)MLB Today and Season mode (for reasons mentioned superbly above)
4)Adjustable camera views
5)Slider options
Honorable mention: My Player may not be better than RTTS but it is comparable and has some elements that are more fun (i.e the Fielder View cam is outstanding)
bulls23 wrote:Very well said. There's no doubt The Show is king of the baseball video game market, but there's not enough credit for what 2K does bring to the table. Eveyrone nitpicks 2K baseball to death like it's the worst game ever made. It reminds me of the regular everyday joe little brother of a guy who is a millionaire. It can be said that 2K does a few things better than the Show:
1) Commentary
2) Commentary (deserves two bullet points)
3)MLB Today and Season mode (for reasons mentioned superbly above)
4)Adjustable camera views
5)Slider options
Honorable mention: My Player may not be better than RTTS but it is comparable and has some elements that are more fun (i.e the Fielder View cam is outstanding)
Funny...none of those have to do with how good the game is on the field of play.
bulls23 wrote:Very well said. There's no doubt The Show is king of the baseball video game market, but there's not enough credit for what 2K does bring to the table. Eveyrone nitpicks 2K baseball to death like it's the worst game ever made. It reminds me of the regular everyday joe little brother of a guy who is a millionaire. It can be said that 2K does a few things better than the Show:
1) Commentary
2) Commentary (deserves two bullet points)
3)MLB Today and Season mode (for reasons mentioned superbly above)
4)Adjustable camera views
5)Slider options
Honorable mention: My Player may not be better than RTTS but it is comparable and has some elements that are more fun (i.e the Fielder View cam is outstanding)
Funny...none of those have to do with how good the game is on the field of play.
I was intending on these being an addition to aristo's comments, and I'm only including things that I feel 2K does "better". Anything equal to the Show I'm not including. You can also add:
Gurantsu wrote:Considering I've gotten both for the last three years and this year decided to get only 2k12 I guess I know which game I like better on the field.
Y'know what? I have thoroughly enjoyed the last couple of iterations of 2K baseball, and I don't think I appreciate having my intelligence questioned for it. Db, you love The Show. I think we all get that by now-you're a house organ for it. Fantastic. I don't care which one you prefer; why do you seem to care if some of us prefer something different? Is it such a big deal that you'll resort to making crazy accusations that you can't prove, and questioning the judgment of those of us who'd rather play 2K12? Truth is, I find The Show to be incredibly boring. Yes, it's 'purdy', and doesn't have some of the hiccups graphically and whatever, but it's just not my cup of tea. So can we cut out the fanboying, or at least tone it down a bit? It doesn't serve much of a purpose.
I would like to apologize to Sony and Major League Baseball for daring to prefer MLB 2K12 over The Show. I shall immediately fly to California for re-education, where I will spend hours using classic pitching while Matt Vasgersian regails me with tales of how he misses High Heat and Dave Campbell shows me pictures prooving that they got Tim Lincecum's mullet just right.
One thing I have always enjoyed about the 2K series is it's been a lot of fun to play more so than The Show. I love all the stuff regards pitching in 2K. And actually the Show and 2K are different in how it presents the game. It's like Need For Speed vs Forza.
I think the Show in some ways has gotten stale but the game is soooo refined it does all the little things well. Last year I bought both games as I usually do and sold them both a couple of months into the season.
I think everyone can enjoy each game, I usually do and like I said when I buy both 2K gets more playtime because of the fun factor.
I am having a blast with this game. I am 7 games in and have had pitching duels, slugfests, and a late extra inning game. Now I have to figure how to do this mvpmods for the uniforms..
The Show vs 2k smells a lot like FIFA vs PES.
If I liked baseball as much as I do soccer I'd buy both baseball
games because they offer 2 different experiences.
