MLB 2K7

Blublub · Post by **Blublub** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 7:50 am

webdanzer wrote:For those of you that have the retail game and have played the demo, how different do you feel the two are? After putting in 15 innings into the demo, I have quite a few issues.

Same here - I'd love to hear that the full game was vastly different from the demo, because I am thoroughly underwhelmed. It definitely has the same gimmicky feel for me as last year.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 8:57 am

I like the pitcher-batter interface, but I don't imagine that I will walk any batters using it - except on purpose. I will probably institute house rules that force me to try to hit corners when behind in the count. Is there a way to have variable umpires? If so, I didn't see it.

And maybe i am getting old, but it seems like sports games get less intuitive every year. I am just not interested in studying the manual. But I shouldn't complain - at least this game has a manual with a lot of information in it.

I did not see any delay when batting - on an LCD monitor. I did not try it on my LCD TV, so it may be there. I tried both styles of batting, and like last year, I am still not loving the hit stick. I will probably try to give it a little time to see if it grows on me, but I most likely will go back to button swinging.

There are some little things that annoy me - the lack of dynamic scoreboards scream "last gen" and the blurry backgrounds feels overdone. And the crowd noise is fine for background type noise, but mediocre to poor during moments when the crowd should be into the game.

The interface is pretty cleaned up - which is nice. In past years, I would mess with the sliders and then the game wouldn't use them because you would have to load them every time you went into dynasty mode. That garbage has been fixed.

Sully · Post by **Sully** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:02 am

Franchise mode is a buggy mess, rendering it useless.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:26 am

Whats wrong with franchise mode?

I'm playing on All-Star, but with tweaks. I had to raise my contact because I for the life of me can't hit a thing (I must be getting too old for these games). I also brought the power ratings down for both the AI and myself, because I was seeing too mant HR's. Having done that, there are a lot more balls put into play, and more runs scored on base hits instead of HR's. Also there is a lot more variety in the hits. As I'm playing games, I just hop into the options, tweak a bit, and get right back into the game to test. I like that it saves your settings instantly.

Fielding is much better than last year, but still not quite there yet. Again I have to say... GIVE ME AUTO FIELDING!!!!! I do agree that if you let the AI do it's thing before taking control, you have a much better idea of where the ball is. I've been able pull of a few double plays, although I did give up one inside the park HR. Not to bad as this time last year I gave up about 7 of them...

I keep switching between the swing stick and classic, because I really want to use the stick, but I'm terrible at it. I may turn down the slider that increases the effect that the step makes on the hit.

Certainly better than last year, and a big step forward for the series. There is still a lot to be

done, but at least it looks like they are taking it seriously. Now lets have a full manager only module, more camera angles, and AUTO FIELDING on the list for next year...

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:55 am

Well, I finally got a chance to play the final version last night and I must say I am disappointed. I still have the swing delay I mentioned in an earlier post but that is not the reason I am disappointed. As some of you know (DB

) I am a huge fan of "The Show" and will be measuring any new baseball against it until it is overtaken as my #1.

The overall feel of the gameplay just isn't doing it for me. I'm not talking about AI (too early to tell on that)...just the feel of the gameplay. Overall its just too unresponsive. We all know the fielding cam is brutal. I like many of the animations but I also dislike many of them...especially the fielding/throwing ones. Many routine plays take on the "flair" animations. There are a combination of things that are just turning me off.

Pros:
Beautiful game. Presentation is top notch.
Pitching interface is solid.
Menus and general interface are great.
Game Modes look to be very deep.
The lineup card interface is nice.

Cons:
Unresponsive gameplay!
Animations I mentioned above.
Fielding cam is horse sh*t.
Lack of camera options.

matthewk · Post by **matthewk** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 9:56 am

Sully wrote:Franchise mode is a buggy mess, rendering it useless.

Care to give us some real information here?

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:11 am

tried the demo a lot last night and was a bit underwhelmed....
horrible audio (hope u can adjust levels in full game)...all you
here is the play by play....on field gameplay sounds have no impact.
Fileding can is AWFUL!!!! You should have such a hard time picking
up the ball in play. The graphics are nice but look "cartoony" to me
and not as realistic as The Show...overly bright and colorful tones.
Hitting is HARD for me! Like the swing stick.

Question...are you supposed
to aim the hitters eye with the left stick while you swing with the right or do you just place it before the pitch and leave it alone after that?

How representative is the demo of the full game? Might have to Gamefly this one. I was going to buy it regardless, but now i am not sure.

kicko · Post by **kicko** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:11 am

I feel pretty good about the game. All that was mentioned before is correct, I do not suffer any swing delay and turning the cam mode off made the fielding much better. I think some sliders need to be tweaked a tad, I found a bit too much contact and power. 2k controls have always been funky to me so i really need to learn everything, I still think the best base running controls were mvp05 (directional pad) they were simple and almost impossible to make a mistake.

Jack, the hitters eye is just a location guess so its not required to aim the hitters eye, but i was not sure if i had to aim the hit stick or the left stick when swinging.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:17 am

JackB1 wrote:Question...are you supposed to aim the hitters eye with the left stick while you swing with the right or do you just place it before the pitch and leave it alone after that?

I haven't touched the manual, but I think you are supposed to aim the hitter's eye and then hit the A button when you find the spot you are looking to focus on.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:24 am

This game can be seriously pretty at times. During a home run trot, when you can see the pitcher out of focus in the foreground... eerily realistic. That 'plate-cam'-ish replay angle where the dirt is in the extreme foreground... awesome.

I'm curious as the what the franchise bugs are, exactly, because I'm really looking forward to playing a season and taking a tour of all the stadiums at different times of day.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:33 am

Slumberland wrote:I'm curious as the what the franchise bugs are, exactly

Yeah, me too. Franchise mode always scares me with 2K games. I will never forget how the trade deadline AI ruined my 2K4 season over 100 games in!

I couldn't finish my otherwise excellent season (had played EVERY game up to that point) because teams did stupid sh*t like trade all their catchers away (so I'm playing the Cubs with Aramis Ramirez at catcher) and the lineups were really hosed.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 10:36 am

I know I tend to have an EB Games horror story any time I try to pick up a new release there, but last night I went to pickup my MLB 2K7 pre-order (a strange set of circumstances led me to place one against my better judgement) and they couldn't find my copy. I stood in the store for 25 minutes while they searched the place for the four copies they allegedly had remaining, until the clerk finally gave up and refunded my ten bucks, after which I went around the corner and picked up one of the many copies sitting at my local mom-and-pop. He did the right thing by giving my the money back, but I'm still convinced my EB Games is the worst in the world.

fanatic · Post by **fanatic** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:03 am

I've only played a few games so far, but from what I've seen I think this one is going to get a lot of playing time over the coming months. I'm a baseball nut, so that might account for part of this, but I really do think it's a solid game overall.

To me, it just feels like baseball. The presentation is top notch and having things like between inning highlites and Miller/Morgan just add to the immersion. Nice to see player faces take such a huge step forwards from previous versions.

Gameplay seems fairly well executed too. I guess if we used MVP as a base, I'd have to say that MLB definitely outshines it pitching wise. The mechanics are done perfectly. Batting wise, I think the swing stick is pretty addictive- I'm sure I'll be more proficient as I stick (no pun intended) with it.

Fielding obviously can't compare to MVP. Clunky, awkward, however you want to say it. But, I really haven't had a problem with it so to speak, it's just not something that draws me to the game.

The only real gripe I have so far is the amount of home run robbing, Willie Mays catching, Roberto Alomar diving plays I've seen so far by the CPU. Totally unacceptable and just ruins the realism on a very frequent basis. I'm hoping that sliders will address this issue.

I think I might give the Inside Edge and Batter's Eye feature some time too. Usually I like the pure game without any add-ons like these, but I'm intrigued by the level of depth it might provide.

So far so good I guess.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:10 am

I think the HR robbing is a result of non-power swing homeruns. It's nice that you can hit hr's without using a power swing but it's not cool to have a lot of them robbed. Maybe a slight boost in power will fix this?

I only got to play a handful of innings of Cubs/Brewers and a handful of innings of Sox/Twins but I'm really enjoying the game so far. I thought last years game had potential but was below average. This year they seem to be meeting some of that potential but I'd like to see more foul balls and improved fielding (though the fielding isn't a big issue for me personally). I think after playing the crap out of The Show the past two seasons this game is a breath of fresh air. I haven't even tried The Show yet. I might pick it up for PSP since I don't have a PS2 anymore.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:11 am

I'm liking it alot myself. But I don't know how long I can stick with it because of the lack of auto fielding. I guess i just woke up and realized i am in the very small minority of players who hates having to do the fielding.

I always feel at a disadvanteg, let the game do the fielding and take into account their rating, instead of me running by a ball because I can't judge a camera angle.

What is mind blowing is why they would leave this out, they already vae it programmed into the game for the AI, so its not like it take much more work to give the player the same option.

I'll just keep dreaming that one day, someone will wake up and make a manege only, graphical sim for the computer. If OOTP would just add that element I would be set.

Anyway sorry to rant.

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 11:20 am

Danimal wrote: I'll just keep dreaming that one day, someone will wake up and make a manege only, graphical sim for the computer. If OOTP would just add that element I would be set.

Anyway sorry to rant.

Oh how I miss the days of High Heat.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:12 pm

Bought it yesterday and just played a Cubs/Cards game on Pro, Zambrano vs. Carpenter. Had a nice pitchers duel, just 12 hits total, and no dingers. I lost 3-0.

The thing that immediately bugged me was that they mapped the sacrifice bunt to the right stick. I must have struck out at least 6 or 7 times because I bunted instead of swinging. I like the idea of the swing stick but it was really hard to time it. It did feel awesome to make contact and I ripped a couple nice drives to the gaps.

Pitching was a lot of fun. I really dig having the catcher call the game. While you can definitely throw strikes if you want, I definitely threw plenty of balls when following the catcher's position and walked a couple guys.

The fielding didn't bother me as much as I thought it would. I only misplayed one infield single, and that's more because I didn't sprint.

One game is not enough for impressions, but my main one is I would like to play it again. It's no NBA 2k7, but seems like a pretty nice baseball game.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:12 pm

Diablo25 wrote:
Danimal wrote: I'll just keep dreaming that one day, someone will wake up and make a manege only, graphical sim for the computer. If OOTP would just add that element I would be set.

Anyway sorry to rant.
Oh how I miss the days of High Heat.

Not me. I'm perfectly happy with 2K7. In any case, I'm sure glad there's two baseball games this year to choose from. We can all be happy.

Sudz · Post by **Sudz** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:30 pm

franchise impressions?

even none up at OS...

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:30 pm

Can someone please clarify using the swing stick & the batter's eye?

After you guess the pitch location with the batter's eye, it will "lock" in when the pitcher begins his windup. What you are supposed to do next is a mystery to me. Do you keep holding the left stick in that spot or let it go? Do you then just time your swing or do you have to "aim" the batter's eye at the pitch location while you swing?

The other thing that is messing me up is that I keep pushing the stick forward and power swinging. Letting go of the stick seems unnatural to me. They should have made the swing forward and back and just press
the left trigger for a power swing. This system is very awkward to me.
I love the extra interaction, as opposed to just pressing buttons, but the design is perplexing. I think MVP07's hit stick is much more intuative.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 12:36 pm

Once the batter's eye locks into place, don't worry about it. If you see the little red glowing circle light up inside the hitter's eye then you know the pitch is going to go there, otherwise it's going somewhere else. Pretty simple, actually.

As for the swing stick, I wouldn't decry it after one day of playtime. Practice, grasshopper. Though in theory I agree with you.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:02 pm

Wherever you place the battters eye will lock into place once the pitcher begins his windup. At that point all you need to concern yourself with is the swing stick and can let the left stick go completely.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:08 pm

Sport73 wrote:Just played an ONLINE game with RallyMonkey, and while it was mostly smooth as silk there was one rather comedic issue:

Joe Morgan likes to give away your pitch locations - ALOT! You'll be setting up a 1-2 pitch on the outside corner and just getting ready fire when he'll chime in "and <catcher> is lining up outside and down around the knees" or whatever.

Since I prefer to play people online, this would be a game killer for me, I think. Again, a design decisions based on 'what is it like to watch a baseball game on TV?' but they seem to forget that we are supposed to be playing the game, not watching it. I guess v. CPU it makes no difference (heck, the CPU knows where you're pitching anyway, even without the commentary glitch), but, sheesh, that's a pretty stupid 'feature' to put in for onilne gaming. 'Comedic' is certainly one way to state such stupidity, but I would say downright incompetent, along with 'doesn't anyone test these things?' I suppose you could agree to turn the commentary off, but there's no way to tell if your opponent has actually done that.

Question: in online games, do you pitch from behind the pitcher view, or does it revert back to the standard, behind the plate view? Sounds like behind the pitcher, if the catcher is a factor, so that's nice and would be a first I believe for online baseball. Also, does this game have the 2K league system the other 2K games have (I'm hoping with an actual functional website that isn't all garbled up like CH2K7)? A league with player movement, injuries, stats tracked etc. could be pretty cool.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:09 pm

so you don't "aim" the hitter's eye after it locks in?
that makes the hitting system 100% timing based.

so lets say you guess low and inside corner, then the pitch
comes in high outside. Should you still swing or is there little
chance of making contact?

RallyMonkey wrote:Wherever you place the battters eye will lock into place once the pitcher begins his windup. At that point all you need to concern yourself with is the swing stick and can let the left stick go completely.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Feb 28, 2007 1:22 pm

I couldn't give a sh*t less about Franchise mode...the AI in season mode as far as positions and batting order seemed to be sound as I simmed through a season last night. Works for me. I don't care about all the fluff in franchise modes, so I stick with seasons instead.

Speaking of season, I started one last night. I am seeing a pretty good variety in scores. I lost the opener 7-6 and then won the next two 4-1 and 3-2. All three games were well played and I am pretty comfortable with the fielding now. The option to turn off the fielder focus helped a great deal and just getting used to it helped as well. On the infield, you definitly have to allow the ai to take the first step for you. It is almost like they knew it would be too hard to react so they give you a little nudge. Once you allow that to happen, you will be moving in the right direction and you shouldn't have twitch issues. One thing that I really like is how if you stick a player in a position he doesn't normally play, he is a disaster. I put an outfielder at first base because of some switching I did and he dropped quite a few balls in the process. I dig that. I am VERY happy with this game.

The only issue I have found so far was a scoring error, but then again those are judgement calls so it happens sometimes. There were two guys on base and there was a short popup to right where Franceour dropped it while on a dead run and the hometown Phillies scorekeeper gave the guy a hit. Bullsh*t, but I guess it happens.