MLB 2K11 info coming tomorrow

[matthewk]

Nice! At least now I can try it out for myself before deciding on which one to get this year. I'm glad the Show added the right stick controls, but it still puts me to sleep.

I just hope the fielding, pop ups, swing animations, and injuries are fixed. If they can do that without messing anything else up, that me be enough for me to stick with them this year.

[Diablo25]

Pretty nice hands on preview by a guy over at OS.
http://www.operationsports.com/previews ... -hands-on/

[pigpen81]

Pretty nice hands on preview by a guy over at OS.
http://www.operationsports.com/previews ... -hands-on/

I am salivating after reading that

I can't wait!!!!!!

[MizzouRah]

Great read... thanks.

[Rodster]

When does the demo usually hit XBL? I can't wait for MLB 2K11.

[Diablo25]

When does the demo usually hit XBL? I can't wait for MLB 2K11.

Well, it was up this morning (7am) but there was no button to click download it. I'll just get it after work.

[TheGamer2]

Have to go to the marketplace website and download it to your queue. Then go to your console and start it from the active downloads.

[Rodster]

I just started downloading it.

[TheGamer2]

I'm skipping console baseball this year.. it just does nothing for me anymore..

You're going to want to pick this one up. at least the demo. Without gushing too much, I love this demo. Dribblers to the infielders, short hops, off line throws, signature style is back, active base coaches. While I'll have to zoom and raise the batting camera, the default view is great to read pitches. Love how the camera stays in the viewpoint after the ball is hit. Pitching is not as easy as previous versions. only got to play one game, but I really like what I've seen so far.

[AJColossal]

No PS3 demo yet, correct?

[GTHobbes]

Love how the camera stays in the viewpoint after the ball is hit.

Liked what I saw of that in the videos -- look forward to trying it out when the PS store updates this evening.

[Gurantsu]

I'm surprised how limited the demo is, when compared to The Show. No announcers, no options to change cameras, seems strange.

Still, what is there seems like an improvement over last year. I like how you can really tell the difference between outfielders of various skill levels, some are hard to get the throw in the green.

The game looks a little better, the camera angle they use is pretty cool.

I'll be snagging it next week!

[RallyMonkey]

Well slap my a** and call me Sally....this demo, while as previously mentioned missing a couple of things like commentary and in-game menu stuff, has really REALLY surprised me. Let me first say I've been a Show baseball guy for three years and have HATED every 2K baseball game in that time. Well times have changed and I for one am jumping on board. Plenty of hit variety. Pitching is challenging and rewarding. Love the batting camera angle and feel it is MUCH easier to pick up pitch location than in The Show. Of course i still strike out plenty because i'm as impatient as can be at the plate. But this is good stuff.

I love that the demo varies the pitchers in the game so you can use/face everyone from Lincecum to Baumgarner on the Giants and the same with the Rangers. That's a great little addition to see the differences in the pitchers. And it can be seen. I threw a three inning no-no with Lincecum and he was just grooving while Brandon Webb showed some "rust" when i used him.

Sure there are some quirky animations for sure....strange catches in terms of the "fielder is in place but takes a last step and has to reach back and make some awful looking one handed grab" catch or the bullet throw to the fielder who is a foot away rather than the soft toss, but i'll live with that if the game plays like it has so far.

One other minor "gripe". I've seen bobbled balls in every game so far and my concern is a) have they built this in and it's going to be TOO prevalent and b) it seems as though the AI fielders just give up on the play when they make a bobble even though there would still be time to throw the runner out. On the couple of occasions that my player bobbled the ball, once i was still able to get the out while the other i was not. In the few times i've seen the AI fielder do it, they never even try to make the throw. Hoping that's fixed in the final build.

Anyway, gonna get back to more games shortly, but again, gripes are minor and I am VERY impressed and pretty damn excited for next week now.

[Diablo25]

Sounds positive so far. I'll fire it up when I get home from work.

[Inuyasha]

Damn, based on the demo I will definitely be buying this. Had no intention to until later in the year but now it's a must get this week.

Demo Impressions :

Presentation - like the new intro graphics to the game. Big, nice, and bright.

Graphics - from the demo much like last year, seems like the colors are a bit more brighter. Good stuff.

Gameplay - man, this just kills last years game in this category.

Fielding - it's a new system where I really can't figure it out. I get the ball, pump the meter, but my guy still keeps the ball in his hand. I have to pump first then push the button again for him to throw. I am guess one is for power and the other is for accuracy. FIELDING ERRORS EXIST THIS YEAR!!! Also, not sure I understand fly balls but you get a big circle that goes smaller so I am guessing it's based on fielder rating?

Batting - so much more improved. Feels so organic in the demo. They sort of when the way of THE SHOW where a base hit feels different than hitting a HR. I also noticed how varied the hits were this year compared to last year. The cpu pitcher in the demo is tougher than last years game.

Pitching - not sure about this one yet. I still can hit corners and it seemed pretty easy, was just throwing fast balls with Jonathan Sanchez of the Defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants. I saw the composure meter drop more quickly in the demo when Texas had guys on.

I like it. If I can find this game less than retail somewhere this week or next week I'll be buying it. I had fun with it last year because it was not as overtly sim like The Show but sim enough.

[Rodster]

Gameplay wise this game definitely is much much better than last years. Pitching is a lot tougher to get right, throwing to a base is metered and can go wide of the mark. The CPU while punish you for bad throws.

Animations have been cleaned up, the color palette looks better. They fixed the pitcher throwing to first base animation. I'm sold on the demo off to preorder the PC version on Amazon for $29.99

[ScoopBrady]

Last year Gamestop had the PC version on sale for a buck or two on opening day. Maybe it was $5. I'm not sure but it was ridiculously cheap. I'll check to see if they're doing it again this year.

[Rodster]

I have NO problems hitting, pitching has gotten easy again (no biggie as sliders fix that). I don't recall the AI doing a defense shift on me during the game. The Rangers did one with Ross at the plate.

Animations are still a little off but it's getting there. I saw a catcher throw to third with 2 strikes on the batter. I saw the animation break for the dugout with 2 men out. Again it's just nit-pick as the core game is looking good.

I do LIKE the variation of hits and how the ball bounces on the grass. The new batters camera is fecking awesome

Another thing is the game looks tight NO JAGGIES !!!

Last year Gamestop had the PC version on sale for a buck or two on opening day. Maybe it was $5. I'm not sure but it was ridiculously cheap. I'll check to see if they're doing it again this year.

I forgot about that, will wait then

[MizzouRah]

I'm skipping console baseball this year.. it just does nothing for me anymore..

You're going to want to pick this one up. at least the demo. Without gushing too much, I love this demo. Dribblers to the infielders, short hops, off line throws, signature style is back, active base coaches. While I'll have to zoom and raise the batting camera, the default view is great to read pitches. Love how the camera stays in the viewpoint after the ball is hit. Pitching is not as easy as previous versions. only got to play one game, but I really like what I've seen so far.

I'll definitely check out the demo tonight with a few beers.

[RallyMonkey]

Question to those of you who played last year's game. In about 10 games with the demo the contact swing hasn't generated more than one or two extra base hits or what i would deem "hard outs". Is the power swing the only way to generate HR's or deep shots in this game? It's really my only issue with the game right now but a 30 inning sample size from a demo isn't really a fair way to judge which is why i'm asking. In The Show i never used the power swing and had solid HR, Double and Triple totals so i'd much rather only use the power swing here when the situation calls...3-1 counts with the right batter, bases loaded with 2-0 count. Those types of situations when i know the pitcher has to groove one.

[Gurantsu]

It was $3 at Gamestop via download on opening day. I'll be waiting for it also as I'll certainly grab it if it shows up. I'll check at my store but so far no e-mails have mentioned it them doing it again.

[tjung0831]

This game has occasional framerate issues...it definitely stutters sometimes. I don't like that at all.

[TheTruth]

This game has occasional framerate issues...it definitely stutters sometimes. I don't like that at all.

A guy over at OS that wrote the hands on preview said there were no framrate issues. So it must be isolated to just this demo build. Let's hope anyway.

[Rodster]

I also noticed framerate issues and slight pauses when the ball was hit. Typically I noticed the problem when I was batting. Even so it didn't bother me too much.

[sportdan30]

Well, suffice to say the PS3 version does not suck this year. There's a lot to like this year, but not enough to pull me to the dark side.

+ Great atmosphere. Even without the commentary, you feel like a ball game is going on.
+ Graphics are much cleaner than last year, at least on the PS3.
+ I like the throwing meter better than The Show
+ Pitching is enjoyable and fielding is better.
+ I really had a good sense of the plate and where the ball was being pitched.

- Occasional frame rate problems after the ball has been hit.
- No practice swings?
- There are still too many icons on the screen making it feel a little cluttered. MAX red circle.....destroy it!
- The umpire calls feel a little too arcady.
- Players move a little robotically when running the bases, and their cleats don't seem to hit the ground. Petty I know.....
- I sure hope you can change the camera view after swinging the bat. Seeing a fly ball hit to the deep part of the outfield had me
squinting.
- The pace of the game actually feels slower than The Show. To be fair, I play on fast play.
- The outfielders seem to get late jumps but maybe that is the momentum playing a part.
- I didn't see a big difference in one fielder's arm strength to another.
- It sounds weird to hear the organ music almost on queue start to play as soon as an out is made.
- The pitchers seems like he's pitching from second base. I'm assuming the view can be changed?

Overall, it's a big step up from last year, and it's inching closer to becoming an enjoyable baseball game. It's a sure fire rental for me which is a good sign.