MLB Bobblehead Pros News Post

MLB Bobblehead Pros Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (XBLA)

12:40 PM - July 6, 2011 by ChaseB

Back at E3, I previewed MLB Bobblehead Pros and pretty much could not say enough nice things about it. Konami's Power Pros baseball franchise is beloved for all the right reasons, and this $10 XBLA arcade game seems to be just another way for more people to experience the franchise.

Many folks may have missed out on the series because it has mostly been known for being released on Nintendo platforms this generation, but it's a simulation baseball series that is hidden under a cartoon-like graphical facade. While this version is not quite as in-depth as some of the earlier retail versions of the game, it seems like there is still local co-op online, an edit player feature (although it seems to be locked when you first play the game), full 162-game season and create-a-team elements as well.

Some members here at Operation Sports have already picked up the title and have some nice things to say about it:

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluengold34_OS


	And the game is incredibly realistic..I just started a season and the Pirates blasted the Cubs 8-5. The Cubs starting pitching was atrocious, and the they had 2 errors in the field. You can't ask a game to be anymore realistic than that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by philliesfan136


	It is looking good, and it feels exactly like Power Pros. It's just as easy to play.

There is a demo for folks to try, and it appears more content will be coming to the game later in the summer. Some of the content coming at a later date includes a home run derby, as well as My Bobble mode, which seems like it will be some sort of career mode where you control one single player for a whole season. I doubt it will be as in depth as "The Life" mode found in other Power Pros games, but it would still be a welcomed addition regardless.

Lastly, while the Xbox Live Arcade version is the only one out right now, it seems like a PS3 version will be coming at a later date.

Game: MLB Bobblehead ProsReader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 3 - View All

MLB Bobblehead Pros Videos

Member Comments

# 81 philliesfan136 @ 07/07/11 10:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	Yeah my bad, looks like they have not unlocked the edit player feature yet, so you can only trade players and edit uniform numbers right now in create a team. It says "bobblehead battle bonus" next to the edit player feature. Hmmm. Wonder what that means?

I have yet to find out what "Bobblehead Battle Bonus" means. Probably in the next pack of content.

# 82 kings of queens @ 07/07/11 11:26 AM

It looks like they will try to get us to pay for 2 more DLC packs in order to get the full game. Which they are calling 3 games. I got this from the Konami site.

The first of three games to be released is MLB� Bobblehead Pros which is available today; MLB � Bobblehead Stars will be a DLC pack available around the All-Star Game also known as the "Midsummer Classic," in mid-July. The third game, MLB� Bobblehead Battle will feature a batting battle that will be out later this year.

Here is the full article. http://www.konami.com/article/MLB_%C...O_DOWNLOAD/225

# 83 philliesfan136 @ 07/07/11 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kings of queens


	It looks like they will try to get us to pay for 2 more DLC packs in order to get the full game. Which they are calling 3 games. I got this from the Konami site. The first of three games to be released is MLB� Bobblehead Pros which is available today; MLB � Bobblehead Stars will be a DLC pack available around the All-Star Game also known as the "Midsummer Classic," in mid-July. The third game, MLB� Bobblehead Battle will feature a batting battle that will be out later this year. Here is the full article. http://www.konami.com/article/MLB_%C...O_DOWNLOAD/225

Wow, that sucks. The full game (with Home Run Derby, My Bobble, and Edit Player) will be later this year..
I'll probably just play MLBPP2008 until the full game comes out.

# 84 jyoung @ 07/07/11 11:34 AM

To be fair, they still gave us a ton of game for $10. The gameplay is great and season mode has a ton of depth.

I haven't been able to try the online play yet. It takes forever to find a game and I don't have the patience to wait out the "searching for game" screen.

My scores are becoming a lot more realistic now that I've gotten the hang of manual fielding. My staff ERA if finally under 10 now! Sitting at 9.38 team ERA after my third victory of the season.

Next closest in the league are the Indians at 6.49 ERA.

# 85 philliesfan136 @ 07/07/11 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	To be fair, they still gave us a ton of game for $10. The gameplay is great and season mode has a ton of depth. I haven't been able to try the online play yet. It takes forever to find a game and I don't have the patience to wait out the "searching for game" screen. My scores are becoming a lot more realistic now that I've got a hang of manual fielding. My staff ERA if finally under 10 now! Sitting at 9.38 team ERA after my third victory of the season. Next closest in the league are the Indians at 6.49 ERA.

Yeah, I know, I keep forgetting that.

Haha, I told you, it's always high-scoring, and I guess that's proof.

# 86 jyoung @ 07/07/11 11:42 AM

My starting pitching the last two games has actually been spectacular by my standards.

I held the Braves and the Cubs to 1-run a piece going into the 8th and 9th innings, respectively.

Then I had to hand over the keys to bums like LaTroy Hawkins and Takashi Saito.

And both those games ended up being like 7-8 and 5-6 at the end.

# 87 Fiddy @ 07/07/11 11:53 AM

what settings are you guys using?

keeping your settings the same as cpu's etc? meaning your on pro as well as the cpu. or do you guys bump the cpu stuff say on rookie, while you stay on pro?

# 88 jyoung @ 07/07/11 11:54 AM

Default settings for everything, except I changed the pitching speed to fast and added semi-auto baserunning, which was a huge help.

# 89 Fiddy @ 07/07/11 11:57 AM

gonna sound dumb, but what is default level on this game? pro?

# 90 jyoung @ 07/07/11 12:05 PM

I think pro CPU difficulty is the default. There should be a button you can just hit to reset everything to default and double-check.

Really, the game plays pretty good out of the box on default, it's just the hitting that is too easy, so that's why I upped the pitch speed to compensate.

Outside of Corey Hart being an animal (11 HRs in 8 games), all my power numbers have gone way down across the board now that I switched over to fast pitching.

Ryan Braun in particular hit 3 HR his first game on normal pitch speed but hasn't hit a single one since. He is slumping big time. I love the streak/slump meta-game in season mode.

# 91 Blzer @ 07/07/11 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by falcons2003


	Yeah you can turn the zig zagging off. What I think you mean is if the CPU is going with the curveball it shows you starting high then goes down? It was driving me crazy, making it harder to hit.

Okay, well I'm not sure if we're talking about the same thing. What I think you're referring to is the difference between "pinpoint" and "breakpoint" pitch location, where pinpoint would show where the pitch is going to end up, and breakpoint would show where the pitch was thrown (and the break of, say, a curveball, would let the pitch drop).

But I'm not referring to that. I'm referring to the little reticle that displays before the pitch is thrown. Look at the video posted on here earlier:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComfortablyLomb


	A new gameplay video on Youtube: Yes, Lincecum's curve is filthy. Not sure why the guy playing the game was avoiding it. Link http://youtu.be/xnyHXZVULfQ Edit - Stupid code!

And look at, whenever you or the CPU pitch, you set the location with that cursor. I want to know if there's a way to turn that off. This is specifically for the CPU, but I would also like to know if we can turn it off for our team as well when we're pitching. I don't necessarily want to know where the ball is intended to be thrown before it actually is thrown, especially on offense. And no zig-zagging in the world will confuse me on where the pitch is going.

By the way, the older games used to have an analog style batting cursor as well as a digital style (the cursor won't reset back to the center if you let go of the stick). I know that the former is the default option in this game, but do they still have the latter? That was the only way I could play cursor hitting games, ever since World Series Baseball 2K3.

Thanks.

# 92 jyoung @ 07/07/11 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blzer


	whenever you or the CPU pitch, you set the location with that cursor. I want to know if there's a way to turn that off.

There is an option to turn off the early pitch locator for the CPU.

Quote:


	This is specifically for the CPU, but I would also like to know if we can turn it off for our team as well when we're pitching. I don't necessarily want to know where the ball is intended to be thrown before it actually is thrown, especially on offense. And no zig-zagging in the world will confuse me on where the pitch is going.

You can turn off the pitch indicator for yourself, but then you have no idea where you're aiming the ball in relation to the strike zone.

Bad idea in this game.

Quote:


	By the way, the older games used to have an analog style batting cursor as well as a digital style (the cursor won't reset back to the center if you let go of the stick). I know that the former is the default option in this game, but do they still have the latter? That was the only way I could play cursor hitting games, ever since World Series Baseball 2K3.

I'm not sure if there's a digital option for the hitting cursor. I haven't seen anything like that in the option menus. It seems purely analog.

# 93 LambertandHam @ 07/07/11 12:36 PM

Aside from fielding errors every once in a while, I'm liking the game. It took me a minute or two to realize how to hit.

# 94 spin1993 @ 07/07/11 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	I think pro CPU difficulty is the default. There should be a button you can just hit to reset everything to default and double-check. Really, the game plays pretty good out of the box on default, it's just the hitting that is too easy, so that's why I upped the pitch speed to compensate. Outside of Corey Hart being an animal (11 HRs in 8 games), all my power numbers have gone way down across the board now that I switched over to fast pitching. Ryan Braun in particular hit 3 HR his first game on normal pitch speed but hasn't hit a single one since. He is slumping big time. I love the streak/slump meta-game in season mode.

Are you using the power or normal swing?

# 95 falcons2003 @ 07/07/11 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philliesfan136


	Yeah, I know, I keep forgetting that. Haha, I told you, it's always high-scoring, and I guess that's proof.

LOL..I think I got the low scoring power pros version.

I'm still on default sliders...Last Night,,,CPU Arizona 3 - Me Colorado 1....Daniel Hudson 3 hit me, damn him. His pitches are hard to pick up with his release against right handers who have stances close to the plate. Gave me alot of trouble. His fastball only in the low 90s kept creeping up on me and tough to hit.

Last game last night was ME Oakland 2 - Seattle 1,,,,,Gio Gonzalez went a complete game and wasn't even tired in the 9th. I had 8 hits the CPU had 6.

Also some things I noticed:
-Players with strong arms from the OF have a visual blur on the ball when the throw,,,,I think power pros had that.
-Haven't been able to throw the ball in the stands from corner OF positions on 3rd out,,,maybe they took that out
-Pitcher wipes the rubber with his foot,,,I think that is Left trigger or LB,,,but did they take out going to the rosen bag?

# 96 jyoung @ 07/07/11 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spin1993


	Are you using the power or normal swing?

Power swing every time, baby!

Just as soon as I finished badmouthing Ryan Braun, he goes out and smacks two HRs and 4 RBIs, leading Milwaukee to a 10-3 drubbing of the Cubbies! I think the Brewers finally found an opposing pitching staff worse than their own.

Here are my stats so far through 9 games (3 wins, 6 losses):

Quote:


	team batting average -- .399 team HRs -- 26 team RBIs -- 60 team hits -- 132 team ERA -- 8.88 team MVP -- Corey Hart, .444, 12 HR, 19 RBI

# 97 jyoung @ 07/07/11 01:07 PM

Here's what helped me drastically improve my pitching:

The CPU seems to want to hover their batting icon over their batting hotspots.

So pay attention early in the at-bat to where the batter wants the pitch, and DO NOT PITCH THERE.

This has improved my pitching so much. I am giving up like 1 to 3 runs a game now with my starters. Too bad my bullpen got bought at a flea market sale or something. These dudes cannot close a game even if I give them a half-dozen runs to work with.

# 98 nunogomes @ 07/07/11 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	Too bad my bullpen got bought at a flea market sale or something.

Lol! That was funny!

What if you play say... 6/7 innings instead of 9? Do the starters stamina adjust to the number of innings, meaning that they are tired in the 5th inning of a 5 inning game OR is the stamina static, meaning they ONLY get tired on the late innings of a regular 9 inning game?

# 99 jyoung @ 07/07/11 01:33 PM

Another pitching tip:

Pay attention to the numberical rating they put on-screen next to each pitch type. The higher the number, the better your pitcher's "stuff" will be with that particular type of pitch. Always go to your best "stuff" when you need a big pitch in the at-bat.

# 100 jyoung @ 07/07/11 02:00 PM

Ryan Braun -- 4 HR and 8 RBI in his last two games! Thank you, Cubs pitching! You are just what the doctor ordered to get him out of that slump.

Best batting advice:

Know the hot and cold hitting zones of all your players. These can be found by going into the "lineup" menu.

Braun, for example, feasts on the high corners of the plate, but can't hit anything below his belt-buckle.

As a general rule, I don't swing at pitches below the waist unless I'm behind the count and have to, because low pitches lead to ground balls.

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