Please Post MLB 2005 Impressions

[Bill_Abner]

One bad thing I noticed so far...it takes an unusually long time to warm up a pitcher...unless I'm missing something.

You must be, it took me 1/2 an inning to get my guys ready.

OK so far so good. I do have a few gripes after playing 2 games (I fought back TV control muahaha!)

-Can you check swing? So far it's tough to gauge a ball and a strike because, once again, I think the SZ is just a bit too large. I miss the MVP check swing. I really like that about that game. If you press the button, yer swingin' in MLB unless I am missing something.

-After getting used to the controls it's still pretty easy to throw a strike. I have walked 2 batters in 2 games, which isn't *bad* (hey it's better than none) but when push comes to shove -- I'm throwing a strike if I want to. That said, I think I'll play with the cursor off next game. That could help and I'll also use a wild pitcher.

-Too early to tell about CPU walks. I played a game vs Milwaukee with Sheets pitching and didn't draw a walk, but Sheets is a very good control pitcher. I got to several 3-2 cpunts but *every* pitch on 3-2 was right down the middle, like Sheets was terrified to walk me. We'll see how this pans out.

-I suck at batting on Veteran LOL

-Audio... I LOVE Vin Scully in real life, but the sound in this game is kinda bad. This is not specific to MLB but when will a baseball game have some real banter between the guys in the booth? Anything to liven up the commentary. Anyway...

-I REALLY like how you can strike out CPU hitters. They chase pitches, miss pitches and take pitches. Very good.

-Did I mention that I suck at hitting? It might be MVP-itis but I swing early at damn near everything.

So far I'm having fun -- admittedly more fun than I thought I'd have with the game.

[drewman011]

"I hate the friggn PS2 though".

What's the deal with this free cap coupon in the box thing? Is it decent, or an el-cheapo adjustable mesh thingee?

quote]

go to www.neweracap.com/989sports to see the caps, look pretty good to me. the check out is not working right now, but they said they would have it up tomorrow morning

[Zeppo]

OK only played one game on veteran, here are my honest impressions and a few things I noticed:

First off THE GOALIES ARE BROKEN!!! My game was a 14 inning marathon, with these lines:

NYM 0 7 3
PITT 1 11 0

After the 10th inning, I was pretty much grooving pitches to get the damn thing over with. Finally some joker smacked a long ball off Franco to end the marathon.

No d/l rosters that I can find anywhere, not even a slot where they should be. Can't figure it out. Also, can't seem to choose who the starting pitcher is in an exhibition; I wanted to throw Glavine, but had to use Leiter. Maybe I am missing something.

No free agents in the rosters, but a lot of inactive players on each team.

Matsui (mets) IS in the game, and Maddux in on the Cubs. Didn't check too many other player movements.

The PA guy is funny, but the crowd sounds aren't great. Not enough layering going on there, especially compared to MVP.

If this is the High Angle fielding cam, I fear to look at the others.

Stirke Zone is pretty nice, decently low and the top of it changes depending on the batter.

The plate is HUGE, it must be at least 30" wide. And batters stand strangely close to the plate, some almost stepping on it. I doubt this affects gameplay, but it looks odd to me.

I hit a triple!!!! And the CPU did not! It was with a speedy guy, and felt right, as it was a deep and high fly ball to the wall. I also stole a base easily with Perez, but got thrown out with Matsui on a pitch out.

Base running is not really intuitive to me at this point, I had the same issue with a Sac bunt that Slumber had; why don't they run when forced?

PH with Cedeno in the 8th, left him in to pitch, since I thought it was cool that I could. Pitched 2 shutout innings, despite 3 Es. Didn't have any problems throwing strikes, picking my spots, even with Cedeno.

I don't understand warming up pitchers. They seem to go from cold to ready, and then I check on them a little later, and their little meter is blank. I need to take the guy out of the BP and put hm back in to get him to get warm again.

After selecting a PH, there is a bizarre shot of an empty dugout. Weird.

The game was taking forever, then in the second inning I noticed the "Fast Play" option, but it doesn't show you who is batting in the fast play, so you really have to know them all by number I guess. My 14 inning marathon took me 1hr 10 minutes to play

Leiter has NO CUTTER!!!!! But John Franco does, while he has no screw ball. Also, Cedeno had 4 pitches including a sinker. He hit his spots well with them all, as mentioned above.

In my 14 inning marathon, there was one base on balls total, and it was an intentional walk to Piazza.

Now, here's the kicker:

Peep this: bottom 13, one out, man on third. I try to bring my outfield in, but they can only go so far (but this turns out to be a GOOD THING). Batter hits a deep fly ball to right. I am jamming on the X button to charge up a throw to the plate, and when I look, well the runner is NOT TAGGING UP. Nope. He goes half way from 3rd base with 1 out in the bottom of the 13th.

Needless to say, he trotted comfortably back to the bag, I got a grounder on the next batter, inning over, oy!

Just some honest impressions from the one game I played. I am very curious about d/l rosters, and would love to get a game in online, if anyone from here wants to give it a go.

[Badgun]

2 Random Players... 2 quitters.

random online community holding true to its roots.

You know, I've always hated the PS2 online community. I think it really is true that it is mostly kids. I hated the little pricks when I played Madden online, but at least back then I didn't have to hear their whiny little voices.

I was hoping this game would fill my online void, but I still might have to pick up ESPN to satisfy that urge.

[sportdan30]

I'm curious about the fielding controls. Someone pointed out on OS that you almost need to use the "fielding assist" because there are no shadows or vector lines. Therefore, it creates this huge circle when the ball is in sight and basically takes over the positioning of the fielder. I'm wondering how does it play with it off? Personally, I like to have control over my fielder as much as possible. If there's one negative so far, this seems to be it.....true or false?

[Bill_Abner]

Peep this: bottom 13, one out, man on third. I try to bring my outfield in, but they can only go so far (but this turns out to be a GOOD THING). Batter hits a deep fly ball to right. I am jamming on the X button to charge up a throw to the plate, and when I look, well the runner is NOT TAGGING UP. Nope. He goes half way from 3rd base with 1 out in the bottom of the 13th. Needless to say, he trotted comfortably back to the bag, I got a grounder on the next batter, inning over, oy!

Doh. OK that's not good. I did have a CPU runner tag up from 2nd to 3rd in my games...maybe it was a fluke or something to do with tagging up to score?

[Zeppo]

I hope it was a fluke, honstly I was hoping he'd score, since it was inning 13 of a scoreless game. Sometimes with video baseball games, I get in this mode where I just want the damn thing to end, ESPECIALLY the scoreless extra-inning games. This was one of them. I got a few hits, but couldn't put anything together, even against the parade of relievers the CPU was using.

I still have trouble with the high pitches; they look like balls to me but somehow drop in. I think like you do Bill that the SZ is too big, BUT I think in the real MLB the strike zone is TOO SMALL, making games longer than they should be. So, I'm sort of in two ways about the issue in a video game.

Still, I think I only got to 3 balls once or twice when batting, and a couple times when pitching.

One thing I forgot to mention, is that I was able to intentionally bounce a curve ball off the plate. That was nice to see.

[sportdan30]

How's the intelligence of the AI pitching? Will they work both sides of the plate? What about the appropriate substitutions for different lefty and righty match-ups?

[Boom]

Pitched some meetballs in some different parks just to see the HR animations / celebrations.

Coors Field the Water Jets out beyond Center Field turn on.

Minute Maid BP - Train horn and then it cuts to the train up above the left field wall. Pretty cool actually.

I also saw an ad sign in Minute Maid that made me take a triple look. The sign is Bug Light, but I thought for sure it was a Bud Light sign. I even thought to myself... Can they have that in this game????/ LMAO I'm a dumbass.

[Boom]

I know this is going to sound VERY STUPID and it's by no means really anything important... but damn why do most baseball games get Center Field at Minute Maid Ballpark comepletely wrong? Very few games have the left flagpole actually IN PLAY. Center Field is actually all wrong in this game. They have it completely flat vice the hill out there.

[grtwhtsk]

OK only played one game on veteran, here are my honest impressions and a few things I noticed:

No d/l rosters that I can find anywhere, not even a slot where they should be. Can't figure it out. Also, can't seem to choose who the starting pitcher is in an exhibition; I wanted to throw Glavine, but had to use Leiter. Maybe I am missing something.

No free agents in the rosters, but a lot of inactive players on each team.

If this is the High Angle fielding cam, I fear to look at the others.

Stirke Zone is pretty nice, decently low and the top of it changes depending on the batter.

The plate is HUGE, it must be at least 30" wide. And batters stand strangely close to the plate, some almost stepping on it. I doubt this affects gameplay, but it looks odd to me.

Base running is not really intuitive to me at this point, I had the same issue with a Sac bunt that Slumber had; why don't they run when forced?

I don't understand warming up pitchers. They seem to go from cold to ready, and then I check on them a little later, and their little meter is blank. I need to take the guy out of the BP and put hm back in to get him to get warm again.

The game was taking forever, then in the second inning I noticed the "Fast Play" option, but it doesn't show you who is batting in the fast play, so you really have to know them all by number I guess. My 14 inning marathon took me 1hr 10 minutes to play

Leiter has NO CUTTER!!!!! But John Franco does, while he has no screw ball. Also, Cedeno had 4 pitches including a sinker. He hit his spots well with them all, as mentioned above.

In my 14 inning marathon, there was one base on balls total, and it was an intentional walk to Piazza.

Now, here's the kicker:

Peep this: bottom 13, one out, man on third. I try to bring my outfield in, but they can only go so far (but this turns out to be a GOOD THING). Batter hits a deep fly ball to right. I am jamming on the X button to charge up a throw to the plate, and when I look, well the runner is NOT TAGGING UP. Nope. He goes half way from 3rd base with 1 out in the bottom of the 13th.

Needless to say, he trotted comfortably back to the bag, I got a grounder on the next batter, inning over, oy!

Just some honest impressions from the one game I played. I am very curious about d/l rosters, and would love to get a game in online, if anyone from here wants to give it a go.

Anyone who has played a few games care to tackle some of the things mentioned above? Some seem troubling. One that worries me are the pitches thrown by each pitcher. How can Leiter not have a cutter while Franco not have a screw ball? To the guys are playing with "their teams," is this something you are noticing as well? I can't imagine what it would be like if the pitchers didn't have their "ace" pitches. If you check the Yankees, does Mussina have his knuckle curve? (just curious)

I'm another one of those Xbox guys really thinking about picking up a PS2, and this game would definitely impact that decision. So please keep those impressions coming guys. Thanks.

[webdanzer]

I'm working from home. and actually working , so I only popped the game in for three innings at lunch. Will play more tonight.

Quick questions:

1) Can you not set a separate camera view for pitching and batting without going back and doing it yourself every 1/2 inning?!

2) How do you guess the location of the pitch. I've played past MLB's, and I seem to recall you just use the D-pad or left analog stick while holding r2, but it's not listed in the manual.

While I really shouldn't say much given my limited playing time, I'm enjoying it so far. I think users won't be giving up many walks in this one, too, though.

[sportdan30]

How's the pitch speed? I'm reading it's a bit slow......I though there were 5 different pitch speeds. Maybe I'm mistaken.

[Zeppo]

Quick questions:

1) Can you not set a separate camera view for pitching and batting without going back and doing it yourself every 1/2 inning?!

2) How do you guess the location of the pitch. I've played past MLB's, and I seem to recall you just use the D-pad or left analog stick while holding r2, but it's not listed in the manual.

While I really shouldn't say much given my limited playing time, I'm enjoying it so far. I think users won't be giving up many walks in this one, too, though.

1) I don't think you can, I think you would have to switch every 1/2 inning. Not sure, though.

2) I believe you can guess the type of pitch by holding R2 and hitting the appropriate button. One thing I like is when you hit the R2 button, it shows you the 'pitch history' of the previous at bat, or once a pitch is thrown, the at bat you are in. Nice.

You use the left analogue stick to chose where you are trying to swing, and then you can apparently use the right analogue stick to try to hit a fly ball or try to hit a ground ball. I'm not sure how I am supposed to do both, and still hit the X button to swing, though. So, I guess it's one or the other.

[Leebo33]

While I really shouldn't say much given my limited playing time, I'm enjoying it so far. I think users won't be giving up many walks in this one, too, though.

I am really enjoying the game, but I agree with Web. I have the cursor, vibration, and strike zone off and I have only walked one batter in 3 games. I am only playing on the middle difficulty level, but I think most people were also guaging the pitcher accuracy in MVP on less than the hardest setting. I just don't see that much difference in pitch location precision between this and MVP. That said, this game just feels so much more like real baseball...at least so far.

[JRod]

While I really shouldn't say much given my limited playing time, I'm enjoying it so far. I think users won't be giving up many walks in this one, too, though.

I am really enjoying the game, but I agree with Web. I have the cursor, vibration, and strike zone off and I have only walked one batter in 3 games. I am only playing on the middle difficulty level, but I think most people were also guaging the pitcher accuracy in MVP on less than the hardest setting. I just don't see that much difference in pitch location precision between this and MVP. That said, this game just feels so much more like real baseball...at least so far.

Arghh, this worries me a whole lot.

What about the CPU stealing? Hit and Runs?


Are there any real big issues with the game so far??? I know it's early.

[dbdynsty25]

i agree with Leebo, although I'm walking a lot of guys...nibbling with 3,4,5 starters will do that to you.

[webdanzer]

2) I believe you can guess the type of pitch by holding R2 and hitting the appropriate button. One thing I like is when you hit the R2 button, it shows you the 'pitch history' of the previous at bat, or once a pitch is thrown, the at bat you are in. Nice.

You use the left analogue stick to chose where you are trying to swing, and then you can apparently use the right analogue stick to try to hit a fly ball or try to hit a ground ball. I'm not sure how I am supposed to do both, and still hit the X button to swing, though. So, I guess it's one or the other.

Thanks Hugo.

I know you can guess the pitch, but you are also supposed to be able to guess location, other than just aiming your swing when the pitch comes in. It says in the manual that by doing so you increase both your power and your contact region if you guess both correctly on All-Star level...but they neglect to tell you how to guess location!

According to the manual, you can use the right analog stick before or during the pitch to influence the height of batted balls.

Not being able to set batting and pitching cameras independently is annoying.

[Zeppo]

Arghh, this worries me a whole lot.

What about the CPU stealing? Hit and Runs?


Are there any real big issues with the game so far??? I know it's early.

Well, discounting the fact that Cedeno pitched 2 scoreless innings in my game, and the tag-up thing I mentioned in the bottom of the 13th, maybe not any big issues. Also narry a walk in the one game I played despite 14 innings of play.

The CPU didn't try to steal on me, nor try a hit and run. One guy did strike out trying to bunt a guy over, though.

[sportdan30]

Worth the trade in of MVP? How exactly does it feel more like baseball?

[ScoopBrady]

Ok, I broke down and picked it up since I enjoyed last years so much. It seems better to me in just about every way.

I was able to play one game as the Cubs at home against the Reds on Pro and I lost 3-0. B

Boxscore:
Reds 3 - 8 - 0
Cubs 0 - 6 - 1

Positives:
Graphics and animations are all really well done. I saw some pretty impressive double play animations.

Pitching is fun and you really have to know the break of the ball or else you'll miss the zone or groove one in the wrong place.

Hitting is challenging. I only had 6 hits and I felt like I truly earned each one. When push came to shove though I was unable to come through with men in scoring position and ended up pushing nothing across the plate.

Not one homerun hit in the game since it was a classic pitchers deul. This could turn into a negative if there are consistently no HR's hit. Will have to wait and see.

Unlike Bill, I'm a fan of the audio in the game. Vin Scully has always done a great job in MLB and this year is no exception IMO. I agree with Bill that it would be nice to hear some actual banter between the play by play and color commentators but that's all secondary to gameplay.

Of the 14 hits in the game they were all a wide variety of hits. I saw gappers, bloop singles, line shots.

Ball physics are good. Along with the variety of hits I saw I also noticed choppers, nice fouls, slow rollers.

I didn't draw a single walk but that wasn't because of the pitching AI. I was impatient when I had 3 balls and was swinging like an Irishman during last call later tonight (Happy St. Pattys day all). If this continues after I learn some patience then this will turn into a negative.

AI Pitchers seem to work the plate and made me their b*tch on more than one occasion. They vary their pitch locations and speeds quite well.

Negatives:

There is no way to check a swing. Not a game killer but a major bummer when every other game has this and you really rely on it sometimes.

I didn't walk a single batter but did get deep into the count a few times. I didn't turn off any of the pitching aids so maybe that will help.

The cpu didn't try to steal on me but I didn't really notice if they really had the opportunity to.

No sliders. The other games have sliders, is it too much to ask for?

Misc:
I didn't try this puppy online so I can't comment on that aspect.

I haven't looked at the Dynasty mode but it sounds pretty deep according to the manual.

To use a different pitcher other than your number 1 you need to sub him out of the lineup before you start your game. When your lineup comes up for changes just select your number 1 and sub in whoever you want to start the game.

[Zeppo]

Anyone want to get a game in ONLNE right now?

I have a login name of CP Zeppo.

C'mon I'm dying for some 2 player action!!!!! Either this or MVP will do, but since this is just out today the "new game smell" would tell me this is the one.

Anyone?

[Bill_Abner]

One thing about the walks (and this kinda related to MVP in a way) is that I have a helluva time deciphering balls from strikes. This was something Heat High exceptionally well. Maybe it's just a practice thing or I need to try a few different camera angles. I could walk a few times per game, I dunno because I swing at a lot of bad pitches. Still, the pitchers like to groove pitches when they have 3 balls. So far at least.

What lvl is everyone playing on?

FYI Rookie mode is useless except to work on timing. It's literally a homer or a deep fly every at bat.

[dbdynsty25]

I"ve never played PS2 online but lets do it...same name, dbdynsty25

[Boom]

Damn, wish I had seen this a couple seconds sooner. I just hopped on SOCOM II with some friends.