Anyone picking up MLB2K6 for the 360 today?

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:34 am

sportdan30 wrote:
bkrich83 wrote:
Gurantsu wrote:What slider set are you using? I'd like to give it a try.
I am using BigFn'Joes sliders over at OS.
I think I posted these sliders in this very thread. Might want to look back a couple pages.

Has there been any update on the freeze issue?

This may sound strange, as wonderful as MLB 2006 is, I just can't see myself playing a full 162 game season on it. Maybe because it represents baseball so well, that the game itself ends up feeling rather dry after several games.

Of course, the same could be said for MLB 2K6, but for the few innings I played on it, it's definitely has a more arcade feel to it. For me, I don't need a baseball video game that plays exactly like a sim. I'm not saying MLB 2K6 is great by any stretch of the imagination, but I can see how it appeals to some gamers.

That's pretty much the boat I am. The Show is obviously a far superior representation of the game of baseball. But for whatever reason I just have fun playing mlb2k6.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:57 am

that is how I always felt about the High Heat series. it played out like a real game of baseball, but I want a video game that's FUN to play. If I want something "real", I will watch or go to a game. Videogames have to balance reality and fun and that's a tricky thing to do sometimes. I still have both games and am still playing both. My main issue with 2K6 is the overly complicated "hitting system". The whole combining the right and left analog stick thing is very awkward for me. I just end up using the right stick to swing and ignoring the left sticj completely. MLB sucks me in with it's immersive commentary, sound and visual presentation. They are both fun right now, but I have to pick one for the long haul.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:01 pm

JackB1 wrote:that is how I always felt about the High Heat series. it played out like a real game of baseball, but I want a video game that's FUN to play. If I want something "real", I will watch or go to a game. Videogames have to balance reality and fun and that's a tricky thing to do sometimes. I still have both games and am still playing both. My main issue with 2K6 is the overly complicated "hitting system". The whole combining the right and left analog stick thing is very awkward for me. I just end up using the right stick to swing and ignoring the left sticj completely. MLB sucks me in with it's immersive commentary, sound and visual presentation. They are both fun right now, but I have to pick one for the long haul.

I've gotten the hitting down. It's the baserunning controls that have driven me nuts. Although I am getting better.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 2:07 pm

Okay, i'll admit it. After now 12 games of my season with the Red Sox, zero freeze ups on and/or off line, i am having an awful lot of fun with this game. Yes, there are things that drive me bananas (the crashing into the wall, the snap throws from across the diamond, the skinny Big Papi) but overall the game itself is a fun game to play.

The hitting model is lots of fun and gives that "wow i earned that hit" feel when you stride and swing perfectly. The pitching model is near flawless IMHO, and with the sliders mentioned earlier in this thread, i am getting some nice varied results.

I know it's against the grain, but i'm enjoying this title. It's no MVP from last year, but it's fun.

I will now commence with the bobbing and weaving to avoid the bullets that may be fired my way.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 2:16 pm

Those are the sliders I'm using.

There is a lot to like in the game, and for the most part my quibbles are minor (sound, etc). But the fielding just drove me bonkers the last couple times I played, and I haven't touched it in a while. I'll get back to it again no doubt, I've just been messing a lot lately with my music and haven't been on the 360. I'm sure that will just get worse once jr arrives one of these days.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 2:38 pm

RallyMonkey wrote:I know it's against the grain, but i'm enjoying this title. It's no MVP from last year, but it's fun.

I will now commence with the bobbing and weaving to avoid the bullets that may be fired my way.

No bullets coming from me...I'd love to have a baseball game on the 360 that I found enjoyable. I'm jealous!

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:02 pm

Leebo33 wrote:
RallyMonkey wrote:I know it's against the grain, but i'm enjoying this title. It's no MVP from last year, but it's fun.

I will now commence with the bobbing and weaving to avoid the bullets that may be fired my way.
No bullets coming from me...I'd love to have a baseball game on the 360 that I found enjoyable. I'm jealous!

Between MLB2k6, and MLB 06 the Show, which for the most part I am now playing exclusively on the PSP, I Am set for baseball games this year. That's a good thing in my book.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:04 pm

bkrich83 wrote:
Leebo33 wrote:
RallyMonkey wrote:I know it's against the grain, but i'm enjoying this title. It's no MVP from last year, but it's fun.

I will now commence with the bobbing and weaving to avoid the bullets that may be fired my way.
No bullets coming from me...I'd love to have a baseball game on the 360 that I found enjoyable. I'm jealous!
Between MLB2k6, and MLB 06 the Show, which for the most part I am now playing exclusively on the PSP, I Am set for baseball games this year. That's a good thing in my book.

As soon as the freezing issue is fixed I'll be in the same boat. 2k6 is not a great baseball game but it's a fun baseball game I can handle that just fine.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 3:06 pm

ScoopBrady wrote: As soon as the freezing issue is fixed I'll be in the same boat. 2k6 is not a great baseball game but it's a fun baseball game I can handle that just fine.

Agreed. I've been lucky on the freezing issue.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:24 am

Update via the 2K website:

2K Sports has finalized a solution that solves the “freeze” issue in Major League Baseball 2K6 for Xbox 360 that is occurring with some consumers. An auto update is currently in compliance testing at Microsoft. 2K Sports and Microsoft anticipate the auto update to be available early next week on Xbox Live, free via the Xbox 360 Live Silver service that comes with every Xbox 360 bundle.

Listed for reference are the temporary work-arounds that may still be used until the auto-update is distributed. (Disclaimer: These methods may not be 100% effective):

1) Remove or disable the HDD

or,

2) Load three different Xbox 360 games to the main title screen of each game then load Major League Baseball 2K6 on Xbox 360. All three Xbox 360 games must be completely different before loading Major League Baseball 2K6.

Please stay tuned for final updates as we will detail methods of delivery and also the procedure for those who cannot access the auto update on Xbox Live. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience to your playing experience and we appreciate your understanding and support.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:50 am

are they serious?

sportdan30 wrote: 2) Load three different Xbox 360 games to the main title screen of each game then load Major League Baseball 2K6 on Xbox 360. All three Xbox 360 games must be completely different before loading Major League Baseball 2K6.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 9:57 am

I am still torn between 2K6 and The Show. The Show no doubt plays a smarter and more realistic game, but 2K6 is FUN with the pitching system/inside edge/catcher movement/hitting stick.

Can someone explain the hitting system thoroughly to me, because I still dont get it. If you want to pull a pitch, do you point the left stick left or do you pull back on the right stick and push it towards "9 o'clock" when you swing. The tutorials show both, but they dont explain the differences. Also if you push towards 9 oclock, is that a "power" swing to try and pull the ball, since just letting go is a normal swing?

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:15 am

JackB1 wrote:I am still torn between 2K6 and The Show. The Show no doubt plays a smarter and more realistic game, but 2K6 is FUN with the pitching system/inside edge/catcher movement/hitting stick.

Same boat here. As of right now, I Am playing a season of MLB2k6, and actually getting a lot of varied games, and some pretty realistic stats. And am using The Show to play a career. That could change 2 or 3 times in the next week, but that's how I have it now.

The Show is definitely the more accurate and better engineered game, there is no disputing that. But I just can't stop playing MLB2k6, and this is from someone that has HATED their last 3 or 4 versions.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:42 am

BK....you mentioned earlier that you "have gotten hitting down".
can you explain the hitting model? see my earlier post a few posts back.
thanks.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:12 am

Jack,

The right stick is the plane of the swing (pull back and let go for a level swing, push up for an uppercut swing). The left stick pulls or pushes the ball around the field BUT is only effective when you try to pull inside pitches and go the opposite way with outside pitches (as it should be). Try to pull a pitch outside and the swing animation alone lets you know you screwed up.

Hope this helps.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:23 am

Rally - that all makes sense, but the part that screws me up is this:
In the XBox tutorial is also says you can push up and to the right with the right stick, or up and to the left. How is that different than pointing the left stick up/left or up/right? It doesn't mention this in the manual, but they do show it in the tutorial. You can see the batting tutorial here:
http://www.2ksports.com/media/movie.php?id=2132&gid=19

RallyMonkey wrote:Jack,

The right stick is the plane of the swing (pull back and let go for a level swing, push up for an uppercut swing). The left stick pulls or pushes the ball around the field BUT is only effective when you try to pull inside pitches and go the opposite way with outside pitches (as it should be). Try to pull a pitch outside and the swing animation alone lets you know you screwed up.

Hope this helps.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:37 am

OK - I "think"??? I figured it out. I watched the tutorial again and they talk about using the left stick to influence the direction, while using CLASSIC (button) HITTING and they talk about moving the right stick in the direction the pitch is while using the SWING STICK. So maybe they do the same thing, it just depends on which hitting system you use?

It still is confusing though, because if you are batting righty and a pitch is high and tight and (using the swing stick) you push the right stick towards "10-11 oclock" to go with the pitch, wouldn't that put an "uppercut" swing on the ball, which isn't what you would want to do?

reeche · Post by **reeche** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:42 pm

I sort of stayed out of the debate because I'm a bit biased but I don't think the game is nearly as bad myself as people have made it out to be. Is it as good as the show imo? No. Is it the worse game ever and deserving a 1 out of 10 which struck me as pure hyperbole. No.

There is a lot of depth in the game play mechanics. In fact the first few times I played it, that's what turned me off. I couldn't really figure out how to do anything. After I watched the tutorial video an obscene number of times, I finally picked up most of the mechanics and actually enjoy the game. That being said most of my experience are in two player games. I've had a wide variety of scoring experiences and once again I'm probably in the minority but I like the hitting/pitching model. I strike out a lot if I don't use my eye and I tend to tee off when I get ahead in the count like I should.

I totally see if it's between owning the Show or MLB why someone would choose one over the other or if your game is crashing (luckily mine doesn't). The baserunning and tagging are quite spotty and my personal only large complaints with the game. Just throwing out my two cents.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:18 pm

And with more slider tweakings, this game is calling my attention more & more. One thing I can't correct is the walks. Baseball games can never seem to get this damn aspect properly, I mean how hard is it to incoporate something like walks into the game a little more.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm

One thing I can't correct is the walks. Baseball games can never seem to get this damn aspect properly, I mean how hard is it to incoporate something like walks into the game a little more.

Agreed. I walk MAYBE once a game using the sliders posted way back in this thread.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:32 pm

Looks like the fix will be available early next week. Taken from the 2ksports forums:

"2K Sports has finalized a solution that solves the “freeze” issue in Major League Baseball 2K6 for Xbox 360 that is occurring with some consumers. An auto update is currently in compliance testing at Microsoft. 2K Sports and Microsoft anticipate the auto update to be available early next week on Xbox Live, free via the Xbox 360 Live Silver service that comes with every Xbox 360 bundle."

http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79739

Yay! I'll be able to try out the sliders!

CincyKid · Post by **CincyKid** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:59 pm

is the flow of the gameplay on mlb 2k6 faster than that of the show?

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:02 pm

CincyKid wrote:is the flow of the gameplay on mlb 2k6 faster than that of the show?

I find it's quicker to finish the 9 innings.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 3:24 pm

CincyKid wrote:is the flow of the gameplay on mlb 2k6 faster than that of the show?

If you set up The Show to have the same presentation and gameplay (for instance, if you lowered the pitch count slider in The Show rather than max it as most do) then I say no. I don't think there is anything inherently faster about 2K6. The pace of the Show is slower because of the presentation, which can be turned off, and the realistic pitch counts (which can also be modified). The other baseball games are faster because they don't have as many pitches or there is very little presentation (High Heat).

One thing that is great about MLB 2K6 is the in-game save.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 4:28 pm

CincyKid wrote:is the flow of the gameplay on mlb 2k6 faster than that of the show?

It appeared faster than the Show, which is definitely one thing I liked about 2K6. As Leebo said, the in game save feature is great, but it should be a given in all sports video games now.

By the way, I do think you'll be quite disappointed though if you compare the two. MLB: The Show is the superior game without question. However, your answer may differ when considering which is more enjoyable to play. For instance, I much prefer the animations, presentation, and player models of MLB, but for some strange reason, I'm more apt to want to play 2K6. Kinda goes back to what I saying before in that I prefer a more arcade style baseball game over a hardcore sim style.