Last MLB2K game with zone hitting?

[Yeats]

Was it 2K7, 2K8 or 2K9? Thinking of picking up the 360 version of whichever one it was. Thanks.

[Blzer]

None of them had zone hitting. 2K5 was the last one that had it (it was called True Aim).

2K9 had an analog cursor, but I don't know how good the option is. I never really played that game outside of the demo.

[Mendota]

The analog cursor was just for predicting location pre-pitch. In 2K8 its size was affected by the hitter and the count. If you hit a ball in the zone you predicted, you would get a power boost. In 2K9, they kept the mechanic, but cursor remained the same size regardless.

2K9 was the game in which VC broke a ton of the good things Kush had begun in 2K8. Most notable was the moving from three to two steps in pitching.

It took a couple of years before VC's vision began to be realized.

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mendota

The analog cursor was just for predicting location pre-pitch. In 2K8 its size was affected by the hitter and the count. If you hit a ball in the zone you predicted, you would get a power boost.

You're talking about something else that I'm talking about. That's the hitter's eye. As I already said, the last game to have true zone hitting was 2K5.

2K1, 2K5, and 2K9 had available analog cursor options (2K1 was required, actually). 2K2, 2K3, and 2K4 had digital cursor hitting options. But these aren't zone. Only 2K4 and 2K5 had zone hitting.

Quote:

In 2K9, they kept the mechanic, but cursor remained the same size regardless.

I'm trying to find a YouTube video that has what I'm talking about, but again I think you're referring to the hitter's eye feature. 2K9 actually had a cursor hitting option. I might be wrong in saying it was analog, though. Thinking about it again, it might have been digital.

Quote:

2K9 was the game in which VC broke a ton of the good things Kush had begun in 2K8. Most notable was the moving from three to two steps in pitching. It took a couple of years before VC's vision began to be realized.

Ugh, don't remind me! The only two good things to come from 2K9 were RTP and Gary Thorne. The rest was a crapfest. I would have loved 2K8 if it looked any good on PS3. It was tolerable on 360 with the exception of the ugly grass and framerate issues. Best gameplay in all of the years of this game, even though it didn't have zone hitting.

I still like 2K13, but its gameplay is certainly far behind. 2K5 is my favorite.

[Mendota]

You're right, I'm thinking if the hitter's eye.

I'm pretty sure Gary Thorne was in 2K8. It's been awhile since I played it. What is RTP?

One thing VC never got right was access to your opponent's roster during the game to evaluate what moves they might make. 2K8 had a cool graphic that looked like a lineup card, which would scratch out players as they were used. With one button press you could see how many left or right handed pitchers and hitters a team had left. I don't mind the graphic not being used, but it always annoyed me that the info was darn near impossible to find.

While I still wish they had brought back the three step pitching, I do think that 2K12 finally introduced truly realistic pitching. They finally came up with a decent way to reprint a pitcher's confidence, or lack thereof, in his pitches. I think it was handled even better than 2K8's payoff pitch.

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mendota

You're right, I'm thinking if the hitter's eye. I'm pretty sure Gary Thorne was in 2K8. It's been awhile since I played it. What is RTP?

Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were from 2K5 to 2K8 (Rex Hudler was with Miller in 2K4). Gary Thorne, John Kruk and Steve Phillips jumped on in 2K9.

RTP is Real Time Presentation. It was the first time a sports video game introduced exactly what I wanted to see: no cut-scenes. Everything is organic as the camera would change around. The Show adopted it in 2011, I believe. I still think both games needed to do a lot more with it though, but The Show improved on it this year in some ways while pulling back a little in other ways.

Quote:

One thing VC never got right was access to your opponent's roster during the game to evaluate what moves they might make. 2K8 had a cool graphic that looked like a lineup card, which would scratch out players as they were used. With one button press you could see how many left or right handed pitchers and hitters a team had left. I don't mind the graphic not being used, but it always annoyed me that the info was darn near impossible to find.

I know exactly what you're talking about. I miss it, too.

Quote:

While I still wish they had brought back the three step pitching, I do think that 2K12 finally introduced truly realistic pitching. They finally came up with a decent way to reprint a pitcher's confidence, or lack thereof, in his pitches. I think it was handled even better than 2K8's payoff pitch.

Yeah, but damn that pitching system was beautiful. I played that demo on my roommate's 360 over and over and over, and I loved it tremendously. The hitting was also so fun, only it was a bit easy and I couldn't tweak the sliders... but the controls were spot-on, everything you would want in them. Too bad they couldn't withstand 2K7's visuals, keep a solid framerate, and go into 2K9 with the end of that "three year vision."