Anyone picking up MLB2K6 for the 360 today?

wpw721 · Post by **wpw721** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:58 pm

Shouldn’t games freezing up be a thing of the past at this point? I mean come on, is any beta testing done at all? It seems like they spend their ten minutes of beta testing and debugging huddled around the only 360 on the planet that can run their game without locking up.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Tue Apr 11, 2006 11:58 pm

some folks are saying deleting their VIP stops the freezing

Badgun wrote:
sportdan30 wrote:
Theo wrote:That's 4 freezes in 45 minutes. I give up. I guess I will buy the PS2 version.
I'm hearing more and more complaints about the game freezing up. The problem is you don't know who to believe. Of course, I believe Theo but others could be trolling.

Theo, have you tried taking the game back yet and exchanging it?

Why in the world would you continue to try and play it if it keeps locking up?

That makes no sense.
You can believe it. I'm on my 2nd copy and I haven't gotten through a game yet. After about 5 freezes with my first copy, I decided to try it on my other 360. It was even worse...3 freezes in less than 10 minutes.

So I took it back and exchanged it. Second copy...felt good for about 4 innings...then it froze up. Tried again and it froze in the first inning. Then I saw something at OS about deleting your VIP profile had stopped the freezing for some. Deleted my VIP and started a game...froze in the second inning. I don't know what to do...I can't just keep going back to EB and swapping it.

The bad thing is, even though it doesn't really stack up to The Show, I actually like the game and would love to have a working copy...the game looks like it could really be fun.

If anyone sees any kind of fix for the freezing on another site, please post it here.

Thanks

slyguy · Post by **slyguy** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:08 am

I'm having a freezing issue too but i think it might be the roster update. When i first got the game i didn't use the roster update and it did not freeze once but when i tried the roster update it froze on me twice

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:26 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:I don't see where the complaints are with the graphics. I think it looks WAY better than the Xbox version. Guess I'm blind. The player models seem to be a little better as well. Whatever.

I think most people are just thinking about the two 2k sports basketball games and how good they looked. In that respect, the baseball game doesn't even come close. I think a lot of us were hoping for that kind of step up in graphics, but the reality of it is we got was a little bit higher rez of the same graphics we've had for two years. As a matter of fact, most players still have that same generic face they've been using since 2004.

While it may be an upgrade over the Xbox version, it certainly doesn't qualify as next gen like most of the other sports games on the 360.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:29 am

slyguy wrote:I'm having a freezing issue too but i think it might be the roster update. When i first got the game i didn't use the roster update and it did not freeze once but when i tried the roster update it froze on me twice

Doesn't matter. I've done it with and without, deleted them completely from my hard drive and I still get the freezes. Trust me, if you're getting freezes now, you will never be able to trust that you will get through a full game.

Unlike last year's MLB 2006 game from Sony, I'm not going to hang onto this one hoping they fix it and get stuck with it. I'm taking my second copy back in the morning and swap it for Tomb Raider or BAttlefield. I'll pick it up again if they fix it.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:31 am

Deleting my VIP did nothing for me. Froze up in the 2nd inning.

JackB1 wrote:some folks are saying deleting their VIP stops the freezing

Badgun wrote:
sportdan30 wrote: I'm hearing more and more complaints about the game freezing up. The problem is you don't know who to believe. Of course, I believe Theo but others could be trolling.

Theo, have you tried taking the game back yet and exchanging it?

Why in the world would you continue to try and play it if it keeps locking up?

That makes no sense.
You can believe it. I'm on my 2nd copy and I haven't gotten through a game yet. After about 5 freezes with my first copy, I decided to try it on my other 360. It was even worse...3 freezes in less than 10 minutes.

So I took it back and exchanged it. Second copy...felt good for about 4 innings...then it froze up. Tried again and it froze in the first inning. Then I saw something at OS about deleting your VIP profile had stopped the freezing for some. Deleted my VIP and started a game...froze in the second inning. I don't know what to do...I can't just keep going back to EB and swapping it.

The bad thing is, even though it doesn't really stack up to The Show, I actually like the game and would love to have a working copy...the game looks like it could really be fun.

If anyone sees any kind of fix for the freezing on another site, please post it here.

Thanks

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:37 am

I too am having freeze up issues. Only one during 3 games so far (2nd inning) but the WORST is that I cannot play online. Everytime I try to get online it takes me up to a point where it says my "profile cannot be retrieved, creating a new profile" only to crash my XBox at that same moment every time (tried like 6 times).

Offline, I enjoy the game (as noted in my earlier post) but this is becoming an epidemic with 2kSports games. College Hoops drops every time I've tried to connect on Live, and there have been numerous freeze-ups with all my 2k games (while all other games run just fine).

I don't believe a different game disc will do the trick, this is just shoddy programming and ZERO playtesting.

I had greater success/reliability with my DREAMCAST both offline and ONLINE back in the day that with my 360 and 2kSports games; were it not for the sublime TopSpin 2, I might just STOP buying all 2kSports games until they get their act together. Say what you will about EA, but their games ALWAYS work for me...EA makes a solid football game, and I'm confident Madden will continue to improve despite the license; 2k on the other hand seems content to put out ALPHA level software to leverage their exclusive contract.

BS!!! I hate this crap!

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 3:47 am

Alright...I give up. The game is a turd. It's unfortunate...but oh well. Back to MVP 05.

I cannot get over how buggy this game is. I haven't had any freezing issues at all...but I have had bonehead AI crap happen EVERY single game. That's just not acceptable. Bye bye MLB. Maybe next year.

JackDiggity · Post by **JackDiggity** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 6:10 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:Alright...I give up. The game is a turd. It's unfortunate...but oh well. Back to MVP 05.

I cannot get over how buggy this game is. I haven't had any freezing issues at all...but I have had bonehead AI crap happen EVERY single game. That's just not acceptable. Bye bye MLB. Maybe next year.

Welcome back!! 05 is still going strong 2 years later.

On the real. I feel bad for all you console baseball fans that have 360's. It's a shame you have this shitfest as your only baseball option.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:29 am

Just wondering. Some had freeze ups, some didn't. Would it matter whether you had the 360 horizontally or vertical as you played the game? Judging by the comments, I'll be waiting for Fifa World Cup.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:33 am

10spro wrote:Just wondering. Some had freeze ups, some didn't. Would it matter whether you had the 360 horizontally or vertical as you played the game? Judging by the comments, I'll be waiting for Fifa World Cup.

One of mine is upright and the other is flat...the game freezes on both of them.

Millennium · Post by **Millennium** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 7:50 am

dbdynsty25 wrote:I don't see where the complaints are with the graphics. I think it looks WAY better than the Xbox version. Guess I'm blind. The player models seem to be a little better as well. Whatever.

My problem isn't as much with the graphics as it is with the animations.

Short arm throws, balls magically transferring from the glove to the throwing hand due to a bad animation, etc. are what bother me visually about the game. Do they affect the core gameplay? Not really. But when you put it up next to MLB: The Show the animations just don't compare, and while I can't speak for anyone else, that is what is killing me visually in this game.

Bill_Abner · Post by **Bill_Abner** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:04 am

Millennium wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:I don't see where the complaints are with the graphics. I think it looks WAY better than the Xbox version. Guess I'm blind. The player models seem to be a little better as well. Whatever.
My problem isn't as much with the graphics as it is with the animations.

Short arm throws, balls magically transferring from the glove to the throwing hand due to a bad animation, etc. are what bother me visually about the game. Do they affect the core gameplay? Not really. But when you put it up next to MLB: The Show the animations just don't compare, and while I can't speak for anyone else, that is what is killing me visually in this game.

Wow thats in the 360 version too? I was finishing up some testing last night and hit a grounder to 3rd and th eball hit the 3rd baseman and was rifled to first so fast it looked superhuman.
o

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:07 am

I am a veteran of the freezing problems with 2K games. I think they are all related to the hard drive. So basically, I blame both 2K and Microsoft. 2K for poor QA and MS for screwing the pooch and making the hard drive optional.

Thankfully, we won't have to worry about a 2K sports game until the fall.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 8:49 am

Well, I'll be in the minority (at least until my copy starts locking up

) but I like the game so far. The pitching is very cool, especially with the strike zone turned off. I like the Inside Edge idea and feel it works well. The batting is taking me a while to get used to but I can see it will be very cool, and when you really stroke one well you know it. I still think the baserunning is the best of any baseball game as I did last year. The momentum fielding doesn't bother me at all, I have a cousin who says there's nothing worse in baseball than those first 2 steps in the wrong direction; the momentum feature certainly displays that.

The main problem is that there are so many new things in it that they really bombard you, and it can be a bit overwhelming at first. I've only played 4 exhibition games so far, so haven't gotten into a season. I did notice that when using the Phillies '79 home uniform, the batting helmets were black!?! It's a shame to see things like that, because thats an indication that more stuff was missed elsewhere in the game (and why I don't doubt any of the negative posts I've read, I just haven't seen a lot of the issues myself yet.)

Keep in mind that I never look at player faces, and to be honest could care less if they all used the same batting stance. I understand that there are folks who like those features and because of that 2K should try to get it right, but for me I honestly don't even notice it either way. I also seem to be much more forgiving when it comes to animations.

So overall I'm happy so far, it looks like a solid baseball game for my 360.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:18 am

AJColossal wrote:The best comparison I can think of is Madden 360. Like Madden, some are going to be intrigued by certain gameplay developments, while others who are looking for a complete game are going to be turned off by the rushed and sloppy feel.

That's a pretty fair comparison, but the flaws in Madden just don't seem to bother me as much because I realize it's a new engine. Based on the improvements I've seen in Madden each of the past 6 years (especially the past 2) on the current generation, I'm fairly confident that EA will work out the kinks and put out a good product. Plus, I think Madden 360 would have looked and played a lot different if it was released mid-April rather than November.

Two things worry me about Kush and the future of the MLB 2K series.

1. Based on the last 2 Xbox versions, I'm really worried that this is how Kush thinks baseball games should play. Kush screwed up things that weren't really broken in ESPN 2K4 like fielding camera angles, shoddy controls, and on-the-field AI. Why did they remove the zone hitting option and replace it with a seemingly poor copy of MVP 05's system? I just don't think these guys have a clue about what makes a good baseball game. In baseball terms, they're 0-2. Based on what I've seen in the incremental improvements over the years in MVP and MLB SCEA, the earliest we are going to get a good 2K game in the best case scenario is 2-3 years down the road. I would love to see Kush scrap this engine and go with a plan similar to what EA did when they canned Triple Play. The worst case, and most likely, scenario is we get a series like ASB that has some clever innovations but never lives up to its potential.

2. Kush (and 2K in general for that matter) has a horrible track record regarding QA and bugs, freezes, franchise issues, etc. I really wish every game they developed came with a money back guarantee.

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:19 am

The main problem is that there are so many new things in it that they really bombard you

That is very true. The manual is not much help, you just have to scroll around to figure out how to do things. Changing the camera angle is in both settings and in your VIP profile. I couldn't figure out how to change the pitching view and then found it in the VIP profile. I am still not sure how to save some options. You are right about the pitching interface - it is very well done.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:31 am

Gurantsu wrote:The momentum fielding doesn't bother me at all, I have a cousin who says there's nothing worse in baseball than those first 2 steps in the wrong direction; the momentum feature certainly displays that.

I got used to the momentum fielding after a game or two, but the problem with it is that you have to "go with the flow" of those first two steps made by the *CPU*. Maybe I had some sort of "assisted" fielding on? If not, fielding felt canned and automatic. Some of my best plays were made by the CPU (for instance, a nice dive by Rolen at third) and I felt like I had little input. After a ball was hit I would wait to see which direction the CPU had me running in the first two steps and then go from there. The poor fielding camera angles don't help either.

BTW, is there any way to turn off the illumination of the ball in the field? I just want to see the baseball and not the effect. I turned off the ball trails.

Jimmydeicide · Post by **Jimmydeicide** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:37 am

Have any of you tried removing your hardrive and trying it ? It helped the freezing for 2k6 hockey.

At least it might not freeze in time for you to realy figure out its just a s*** game .

Im glad im not a huge baseball fan. My sons psp version of the show is fine for me .

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 9:38 am

kevinpars wrote:
The main problem is that there are so many new things in it that they really bombard you
That is very true. The manual is not much help, you just have to scroll around to figure out how to do things.

I agree with you guys. I kept looking for some tutorials, but couldn't find anything.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 10:05 am

there is an online enhanced manual at www.2ksports.com.
they also have the tutorial videos posted there, but those are
also in the game.

Leebo33 wrote:
kevinpars wrote:
The main problem is that there are so many new things in it that they really bombard you
That is very true. The manual is not much help, you just have to scroll around to figure out how to do things.
I agree with you guys. I kept looking for some tutorials, but couldn't find anything.

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 12:23 pm

The game is freezing for me BIG time as well, although I have had freezing episodes with other games.

So is it premature to declare The Show the baseball game to get for this year?

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 1:33 pm

JackB1 wrote:they also have the tutorial videos posted there, but those are also in the game.

I really don't think those tutorials are in the 360 version.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:11 pm

that's odd, because they are in the XBox version for sure......I watched them. Either way, you can view them online at http://www.2ksports.com

Leebo33 wrote:
JackB1 wrote:they also have the tutorial videos posted there, but those are also in the game.
I really don't think those tutorials are in the 360 version.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 2:13 pm

Thanks, I will check them out tonight. I'm willing to give the game a good look and a fair shot. I'd love to be wrong about my first impressions. It's happened before.

BTW, in-game saves are back and that is huge for me.