ASB05 Impressions Thread

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:14 pm

That on Legend level, Bad? Don't neglect the difficulty slider.

That truly sucks for those who really wanted zone hitting.

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:20 pm

Well after 10 games I am pounding the sh*t out of the cpu. I haven't lost a game yet on legend level. I am using zone hitting and it's a homerun fest. Barry Larkin has 8 HR's in 10 games and he's 60 years old!. I have hit 5 HR's with my pitchers and I am also noticing the cpu dosen't hit that well.

I grooved every pitch in the last game I played vs the Cubs and only gave up 2 runs

I am loving the way this game looks but the gameplay is not a challenge at all. I am bummed. I don't care for the way the baseball turms into a softball,hell a beachball on HR's. The ball lands in the stands and it's bigger than the fans sitting in the stands.

I really want to like this game but gameplay is a must for me when it comes to baseball. I am playing with the Reds and there is no way in hell I should be unbeaten with the pitching staff they have. I wil not play cursor ball,so thats not an option. Looks like I will waiting for WSB.

My biggest grip with this game is that it's to damn easy to win. I mean if your going to have a legends level make it harder than hell to beat the cpu. Damn this pisses me off.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:25 pm

And there you go. That really stinks. If this proves to be true on cursor batting games too, I'll be down to counting on ESPN.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:26 pm

webdanzer wrote:That on Legend level, Bad? Don't neglect the difficulty slider.

That truly sucks for those who really wanted zone hitting.

There are people playing it on Legend and are having 27-22 games with 10-15 HRs. This is a frigging joke. I've got MVP and MLB 2005, I don't even know why I'm wasting my time trying to make this game work when it's obvious that zone batting is busted.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:29 pm

Thanks for the impressions guys...it looks like you have saved me $30 at Gamestop...thank god they didn't get the game in today.

I am going to stick with MLB right now...I am still loving that game.

Toper · Post by **Toper** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:32 pm

These early returns are very disconcerting. Granted, I'm not an "ASB guy", but I really thought that they would get their act together for this iteration.

Anyways, I will be trying the game tonite and giving it a fair shake, but if doesn't cut it, I'm swearing off this series for good...there's just too much competition out there right now.

Toper

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 11:53 pm

That's funny... I'm having a much different experience regarding difficulty, and I'm only playing on Hall of Fame. I keep losing by one run, and I have to pitch pretty carefully. Maybe I just stink.

Pigpen, I like ASB, but it's not encroaching on my love for MLB. Keep the faith! Save your money!

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:13 am

Well, what can I say....I love this game. Maybe it's just me, but I'm finding all my games to be competetive. Sorry, not going to hop on the bandwagon of negativity this time. I realize this is an impressions thread, but perhaps the majority of you are more skilled than you know. Hands down, I like this game much better than MLB. I was bored stiff after playing a couple innings. I felt extremely detached in regards to fielding in MLB.

Anyways, I did find Veteran level in ASB to be somewhat easy. The pitches seemed a bit slower than last year. Once I bumped it up to All-Star, it became that much more of a better game for me. I guess I just don't look at every little animation and pick it apart to death. This game just looks more like baseball than any of the games out thus far. Who gives a crap about the "crouch". You knew it was going to be in the game and they weren't going to be able to eliminate it all together.

I find myself walking batters with the generated count on. I love this addition and wish it was implemented in all the baseball games. The commentary is stellar and the ball parks are gorgeous.

I guess some of us are just on a different level of play. Gotta say it's not bad to be mediocre when it comes to this game. For those of you who have already made their points about why they dislike this game, return it. It's nauseating to keep reading from the same people over and over that they found something else wrong with the game. You made your point.

I'm out.

pk500 · Post by **pk500** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:26 am

>>>For those of you who have already made their points about why they dislike this game, return it.<<<

Or do what I'm doing: Getting loose and jamming to a classic tune by the Charlie Daniels Band: "Saddle Tramp."

It's about as far away from "Devil Went Down to Georgia" -- what a f*cking disgustingly hokey tune that is -- as you can imagine. Highly recommended download to anyone who enjoys some good, Dixie-fried rock with an extended guitar jam session!

Back to baseball dissection, fellas!

Take care,
PK

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:30 am

I'm playing cursor batting on HOF, and the CPU is hitting against me. I tried your 'groove it' thing, Jackdog, and the Marlins started smacking the ball all over the place!

So far, still unsure.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:33 am

sportdan30 wrote:For those of you who have already made their points about why they dislike this game, return it. It's nauseating to keep reading from the same people over and over that they found something else wrong with the game. You made your point.

I'm out.

Sorry that these things bother you so much. Maybe you shouldn't read these posts if you have a weak stomach. I'm sure there are people out there that can read the comments and make intelligent decisions either way. I know when I see guys like Webdanzer, Bill Abner, Scoop, Slumberland, etc. make negative comments towards a game I know they aren't just nitpicking. On the other hand, when I see someone like you make comments I know to take it with a grain of salt because you are likely to change your mind in the same thread. If there are people on this board that nauseate you with their comments then just don't read their posts.

Why is everyone so God damned sensitive lately? (even myself

)

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:35 am

Has anyone else tried the fastest pitch speeds with zone batting? Maybe I suck, but it seems harder.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:59 am

I like the game so far. Roster management up the yazoo...

Try batting with the Fish-Eye camera. The pitches look pretty damn good from that view...even though the pitcher seems like he's a mile away.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 1:27 am

DB, I want to like the game so bad. I am starting to warm a little bit to the mechanics of the game, but I am seeing quite a few AI problems. In my last game I had a ball bounce off the pitcher's glove (which looked cool as hell) and it rolled towards third. The thirdbaseman just stood there while the secondbaseman ran all the way over to field the ball even though the thirdbaseman was standing right there. That wasn't too bad though because the situation wasn't effected (I would have still had runners at first and second). But, in my last game I hit a relatively high popup in the infield between first and home and the pitcher, firstbaseman, and catcher just stood there and watched it hit the ground while the secondbaseman made a long run to make a futile attempt to catch it. ARRRRRG.

There are things I like though. I'm seeing a ton of hit variety and I am finding the CPU challenging at the plate.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 1:30 am

I've had a little more time with the game and I'm still torn. There's a lot to like here but it's not rapped up in a shiny little package with a pretty bow

. I can live with the 'magic ball' I've seen and the cpu outfielders waiting until the last minute to make their run for the fly ball. I really don't want to use a cursor batting system but might have to since I'm going yard too often. I will try bumping up the difficulty before making the switch though.

I'm getting more used to fielder cam and had a RTFM moment. After RTFM I realized you could control the camera with the right analog stick and this is what might make this fielding perspective work whereas EA's attempt years ago failed.

I'm not drawing any walks nor am I walking anybody unintentionally but I can deal with that since MVP and MLB are the same. I really don't like the idea of generated counts. Call me a purist but I sure as hell wouldn't play a football game with generated downs and yards so why would I with baseball?

This game has potential to last but the real deal for me will be the online play. That's one of the biggest reasons I wanted to try ASB since MVP and MLB will be fine for any single player baseball I will play. I still haven't had a chance to try it out online so I'll have to wait and see.

Most of my initial negatives had to do with visuals, button-mashing, and fielding but I think the button-mashing and fielding will be resolved to a certain extent when I get more playtime under my belt.

One more gripe I didn't mention earlier is atmosphere. This game has no stadium atmosphere at all. I like the commentary but the crowd sounds bored and the players do a lethargic thorazine shuffle around the bases after a homerun and look on the verge of suicide. I'm shocked to read that someone actually finds the atmosphere here better than MLB's (forget who said it).

snate · Post by **snate** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 1:41 am

Has anyone tried analog batting?

They seemed to have forgotten to put it in the manual. I just remembered it was in the game from the preview. You pull the right stick back and push forward insted of using the A button to swing. It is pretty cool.

Changing the game speed from fast to normal was good too.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 1:54 am

Leebo33 wrote:Has anyone else tried the fastest pitch speeds with zone batting? Maybe I suck, but it seems harder.

didn't do anything for me. I've tried everything except cursor batting and I will not do that again...ever.

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 1:59 am

ScoopBrady wrote:I've had a little more time with the game and I'm still torn. There's a lot to like here but it's not rapped up in a shiny little package with a pretty bow . I can live with the 'magic ball' I've seen and the cpu outfielders waiting until the last minute to make their run for the fly ball. I really don't want to use a cursor batting system but might have to since I'm going yard too often. I will try bumping up the difficulty before making the switch though.

I'm getting more used to fielder cam and had a RTFM moment. After RTFM I realized you could control the camera with the right analog stick and this is what might make this fielding perspective work whereas EA's attempt years ago failed.

I'm not drawing any walks nor am I walking anybody unintentionally but I can deal with that since MVP and MLB are the same. I really don't like the idea of generated counts. Call me a purist but I sure as hell wouldn't play a football game with generated downs and yards so why would I with baseball?

Scoop, I'm with you there, my friend, but I've got a feeling that next year "generated counts" is going to become all the rage. People are saying they're getting some walks with it so I'm sure every game will institute it next year instead of fixing the pitcher control. Remember, you heard it here first.

GROGtheNailer · Post by **GROGtheNailer** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 3:30 am

didn't do anything for me. I've tried everything except cursor batting and I will not do that again...ever.

Man...now that my friends is some good ole fashioned bitterness. :lol

JeffBarnes · Post by **JeffBarnes** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 5:03 am

So how would you explain the excessive hits & homeruns in Zone Hitting? Is it just too easy for experts to decipher?

And on another note will this game become "Diamond Mind Baseball on consoles" w/brilliant statistics & etc to sort through? The game seems most promising this. Most promising this. I'm gone.

JeffBarnes · Post by **JeffBarnes** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 5:15 am

Now as far as the whole "generated counts" thing or "My Theory of Video Game Pitching":

Years ago I remember watching wrassling and I saw Arn Anderson of the Four Horsemen "break" Sam Houston's arm over the ringpost. I also saw Ric Flair "snap" humans' legs w/the Figure Four Leglock. My theory of video game pitching (when up to bat) is the same way:

I work the arm of the AI pitcher; often taking 2 strikes on a 3-0 count for example. In Triple Play 2001, I LOVED hitting foul balls constantly as well. Taking pitches or fouling off pitches inflates the AI pitch counts for the starters and then I can beat up on the bullpen. I LOVE AI video game pitch logic. I must say for a PS1 game, Triple Play 2001 did a great job w/AI pitch logic (w/a few hickeys n&t). Anyhow, as I snap the stamina of the AI arms & legs, it gives me a right good chance of playing a down & dirty game of video game baseball.

I hope ASB 2005 is like that and I'm not into the "generated counts" unless I'm really in hurry; it seems Cheesy. But by crikey! If TP 2001 was good enough for Dennis "Fox" Doucette to make a huge gamefaq, then ASB 2005 sounds like a right righteous bobbly dazzler. If nothing else the options sound terrific for franchise/season & I can take average gameplay. Just don't be a bit clem Jim and you'll be all right as the song says.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 5:32 am

LOL....I have been listening to the Cowboy Cultural Society on Winamp Radio all night while playing MLB2005......than I read Jeff's post.

BTW....I love Streamripper...PK...you are the man for that find.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 6:09 am

Ok, I'm gonna sound like the biggest moron alive but I created a user profile and can't for the life of me figure out how to use it. It's getting annoying having to change the settings each time I start a new game. Anyone?

Badgun · Post by **Badgun** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:18 am

GROGtheNailer wrote:
didn't do anything for me. I've tried everything except cursor batting and I will not do that again...ever.

Man...now that my friends is some good ole fashioned bitterness. :lol

Grog,
That's not bitterness, my friend...it's f***in reality. Why, when I have not one, but two, excellent baseball games in MVP and MLB that DON'T even have a cursor, should I waste time and energy trying to use one in a game that's obviously inferior to both of those?

Is it my fault that I average a homerun per inning with their highly touted "zone" batting? No, it's Acclaim's fault for making zone batting an afterthought and still keeping the cursor in the game. Well f*** Acclaim and their shitty little broken game, too.

Parker · Post by **Parker** » Thu Mar 25, 2004 10:46 am

Obviously inferior to both? That's a highly subjective statement. Particularly in the case of MVP.