ESPN Baseball Impressions ...

[matthewk]

Naples, feel free to keep posting about this as long as you feel you have something to say. I don't mind the debate. In fact, you made some good points in that last post. I didn't really think of it that way. Maybe it's because I've always been a contact guy when I hit I thik I have the contact hitters mentality, like an Ichiro or Yount.

I think it's the combination of a contact mentality and years of playing HH that has be a bit set in my ways. I also think I may be a bit ticked off at MVP for the lefty issue, and that may be causing me to be a little resistant to giving MVP too much credit.

I do think that the idea could be great, but the way it's implemented in MVP it's just good. I was having trouble hitting homers until I started just pressing up on anything when a decent power guy was up. All of a suden it became too easy to hit homers with mid-tier power hitters like Rolen and Renteria. It was like finding a money play in Madden.

[pigpen81]

Lockdown, it may seem good power hitters are golfing low pitches and "trying" to hit HR's...but that is not the case.

Good power hitters do this thing in their swing called "finishing high".

The reason they do this is because it creates "backspin" on the ball which literally makes the ball react like a "golf" ball of the bat and it rises.

Notice hitters who "roll" their wrists over the ball....what does the ball do?.....it curves

Hitters that finish "high", like Bonds, can keep balls fair down the line because they lesson the curve on the ball because of the backspin.

Also, hitters that finish high, tend to increase their opposite field homeruns because they creat that "backspin" rather than rolling over the ball and grounding to SS.(for a RH hitter).

2 things happen in a swing causing pop-ups:

#1 The hitter collapses his backside during the swing causing a lopp and the ball to hit underneath the ball.

#2 The hitter hits the ball off of the front foot causing the loop affect.

The only hitter that I ever saw that was a front foot hitter and the best HR hitter ever was Hank Aaron....but I think it was because he was so freakin strong and he kept his hands inside the baseball so well.

[Naples39]

I can pretty much agree with you last post Matthew. My head tells me MVP has the most realistic approach for the stuff I discussed before, but something about it doesn't totally work for me yet. Maybe it's cuz I suck at hitting in that game no matter how much I play, and the lefty thing is a total crock. I just hope EA keeps working on this system without changing the general idea, but just tweaks it for better results.

[Slumberland]

Seeing some great new animations in this game. Juan Pierre was chasing a fly ball that was just out of his reach, but not quite worth laying out for. I dove, and he did this sort of half-dive, onto his knees, and made the catch. Great stuff.

[Lockdown]

pigpen -

Very educational. Thank you.

[reeche]

Good feedback. I was on the fence about picking up ESPN this year even though I enjoyed it quite a bit last year. I think I'll pick it up. Can anybody paste any posts about the online experience after this post or comment on it. I just don't have time to read through 9 pages of posts but since I'll most likely be playing it mostly only online, the impressions would be welcome on how that experience is. Thx.

[XXXIV]

Anyone think the effort meter makes a difference?
Ive been playing with it turned off....and getting crushed.

Im diving back in.

[OmflShark]

I have a few quick questions about ESPN baseball.

1)How long does it take to play a game?

2) Is there a fast play mode, or sliders to make the games go quicker (different game speeds) ?

3) Can you sim part of the game? For example, if you have a big lead in the 6th inning can you then go ahead and sim the rest of the game?

4) This question is for those people who liked HR King. Is this game just as good or better then HR King?

Thanks

[ScoopBrady]

I have a few quick questions about ESPN baseball.

1)How long does it take to play a game?

2) Is there a fast play mode, or sliders to make the games go quicker (different game speeds) ?

3) Can you sim part of the game? For example, if you have a big lead in the 6th inning can you then go ahead and sim the rest of the game?

4) This question is for those people who liked HR King. Is this game just as good or better then HR King?

Thanks

1. Between 30-45 minutes
2. Yes there is a fast play mode, but I haven't tried it.
3. You can sim the rest of the game.
4. I wasn't a huge fan of HR King but I did like it and I like ESPN Baseball better. I'm not the best person for this opinion though since there are a few others here that really enjoyed HRK.

[snate]

1) ~ 45 minutes
2) no, but there is a gamecast mode that is a text like manage mode.
3) yes, you can sim to finsh.
4) different - better in some ways, worse in others.

[DChaps]

Anyone had better luck yet with online play? Are any of this years games decent online?

I basically quit videogame baseball when the last version of High Heat PC no longer had online play built in.

[OmflShark]

Snate & Scoop,

Thanks for the input!

[FatPitcher]

There's a "Quick Play" option, might be on the presentation menu. Gets rid of replays, unnecessary cutscenes, makes the AI hurry up with the pitching a bit more. Maybe a couple other things too.

[LazyScumbag]

better gameplay than the great high heat?

if i try to throw strikes down the middle all day, will i still walk people?

[snate]

better gameplay than the great high heat?

if i try to throw strikes down the middle all day, will i still walk people?

No you probably wont walk anybody if you throw down the middle all day. Though if you dont aim and do the same in HH you probably wont walk anybody either.

[Blublub]

Well just finished my first online game, and it was a mixed bag, to say the least.

I quickmatched someone who took the Astros, I took the Orioles. This guy played a straight-up game throughout (with the possible exception of bringing Oswalt in from the pen for a few batters). I'm not sure if it's just luck but I keep finding more of these folks online. Before you know it they're going to give online gaming a good name

Anyway, we had a nice smooth connection with hardly any noticeable slowdown. Unfortunately, whoever decided to have online default to "real" pitch speed obviously never tried to play it online. There is the tiniest bit of slowdown on some pitches which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to time the swing properly. Even under the best of circumstances it's a total guessing game - there simply is no time online to actually react to a pitch, even a breaking ball.

Nonetheless the guessing chess match was kinda fun for its own sake. Not surprisingly there were a huge number of strikeouts and very few balls put into play. In the fifth inning I managed to get a guy on, steal second, bunt him to third, and score on a single. Figure I'm golden since he's barely touched me all game.

Well, in the eighth he starts a rally against Buddy Groom. Fair enough - all were clean hits. Then it happened - he singles sharply to right and tries to score from second. I have him nailed dead to rights and actually have to wait for him with the catcher. But he barrels over Lopez knocking the ball all the way to the backstop. He evidently must have knocked Lopez out completely since it shifted control to my 3B. By the time I could locate my 3B (he was well off the screen) he manages to bring everyone home, including the batter for an inside the park homerun.

Normally this sort of thing would be very welcome, but when we're talking about a couple hits a game for each team, these stupid random AI things really piss me off. It wasn't just me getting the shaft. He had his SS drop an easy liner for a one-base error, and had Kent break his ankle in the first inning.

If there was some way to turn down the speed of the pitch for online it would not only be playable but would be tons o fun. Fatpitcher, any way the online settings could be changed through an update? I think Fast would probably work, although medium might be best. Also wide zoomed might be better since it gives more time to react.

[snate]

I agree Blub. Honestly, I think Inside Pitch is still the best online XBOX baseball game. I never thought I'd be saying that after ASB and ESPN came out.

[FatPitcher]

It could be changed, but then you have the issue of people changing stuff in the middle of the game to make it hard for you and easy for them.

My advice would be to use optimatch for matchmaking and make sure you choose medium for pitch speed, at least until people learn to use that as their pitch speed of choice for online games, or host a game with the settings you want.

[snate]

My advice would be to use optimatch for matchmaking and make sure you choose medium for pitch speed, at least until people learn to use that as their pitch speed of choice for online games, or host a game with the settings you want.

FP - If I am not mistaken, pitch speed is NOT an option when you create a match. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. Can someone check this for me?

[Blublub]

Yeah, I didn't think it was an option either. If it is, then problem solved. Checking...

[Blublub]

Snate's right - it's not an option. You can select power pitching, batting type, skill level, etc. but not pitch speed. Trust me, "real" just isn't going to work for online. Is this something that could be set on the server side?

[seanmac]

Well, I just picked up ESPN today and played two online games back to back. The first one was Yankees-Giants with me as SF, and it was damned near impossible to hit thanks to some noticeable lag. I gave up three runs in the first inning until I realized how to take advantage of the lag, then Jason Schmidt shut down everything the rest of the way. I got two runs in the ninth to make it interesting, but the game really wasn't that enjoyable.

Next game was a totally different story. The first of what I'm sure will be many, many Yankees-Red Sox games, with the other guy taking Schilling and me starting Vasquez. Our connection speed was great, and while the pitching still dominated for a while, it had more to do with the matchups than with the connection. I got an early run in off a Posaga double, then we went a couple of scoreless innings before Boston came back with two runs in the fourth and a homer in the fifth. Schilling stays in despite getting visibly tired, and I'm able to mount a rally. As soon as the bullpen comes in, my lineup goes to town-as they should- and next thing you know it's 4-3 Yanks. My setup guys are shakey, but good enough to get me to the ninth with a one run lead, and then Mariano blows away the heart of the order.

It was a quality, quality game. My only complaint is that the server doesn't seem to be recording wins and losses at the moment. But with a good connection, this is a very entertaining game.

[FatPitcher]

That's odd. I could have sworn it was an option, and that "Medium" was the default. I still don't have the game yet (or an Xbox...or a TV, for that matter) so I can't take a look just yet.

[J_Cauthen]

Now that the college hoops season is over, I can turn my attention to baseball in earnest. I managed to rent ESPN Baseball today at Blockbuster. I wasn't expecting much because I had played the dreadful demo. Thankfully, it is much better than the demo. However, I'm not sure I'm going to fall in love with this one.

The first thing that strikes me about this game is the overdone musculature of the players... my gosh - they are so muscle bound they look like characatures of the players they're supposed to be. They're so silly looking that I can't get it out of my mind.

The batter animations aren't as bad as I thought they would be. I can live with that. What bothers me more is the missing frames as a player is fielding the ball in many cases. It's like the player magically wills the ball into his glove in some instances.

I liked the pitching and batting interface, although I still prefer MVP's pitching interface overall. I'd give a slight edge to ESPN with the batting interface.

The walks, strikeouts, homeruns, steals, pickoffs, and extra base hits played out about right in the two games I played (at Pro level... I know - I suck!).

I like the fielding in this game the best - I felt like I had the right amount of interaction and responsibility for the outcome.

Still, I'm not riveted by the game... not sure why - the atmosphere seems a bit dead compared to MVP. I'll keep playing with the hope that I can get over my objections to the incredible hulk players. Ultimately, I have a hunch that I'll wind up going with MVP 2004 PC, and plugging in the mods. It really looks fantastic in the demo - I just need a controller that does the job. So far I'm coming up empty on that front.

[snate]

Trading in this game is way too easy again.

I traded B.Shouse, J.Tyner, and some other scrub for J.Vazquez
Then I dealt some 35 yr old scrub minor league outfielder for R.Harden

At least the Rangers now have some pitching help.

I gave online another try tonight. Same result. It is worthless.