All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

[Steve_OS]

Yea, I'm late on this one, because of the change over to the new host, but oh well...just in case someone missed it.

http://www.operationsports.com/Revie...me=asb2004xbox

Thoughts??

[pigpen81]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

looks and sounds great.....I just hope they fix the bat physics....The last two versions had batters magically hitting balls after they entered the catchers glove....game killer IMO.

I still prefer the High Heat non-cursor method of batting....

[BaseballGuru]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

That only appeared in instant-replays, never from the batter/pitcher view. Graphical error, not a gameplay detractor.... and it never even mattered until someone on IGN pointed it out.

The new version sounds great.

[Graphik]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

English and Spanish versions? Holy Sh!t, they put a lot in this game. Sounds good from what I read. 50 teams, 200 unis, 75 stadiums. Kick ***.
I've never played there games before but always wanted to pick it up from blockbuster for 20$, never got around to it though. But if its any baseball game I will get, it this one. Looks better than the comp IMO. Heard it plays a decent game of baseball. Not that I'm a graphic whore but HH graphics made me wanna toss that game. Major turnoff.

My only gripe so far without even playing the game, is that I know i'm gonna hate Jeter after listening and seeing him on this game so much.

[ghm125]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

how much more can they add year after year,just hope some things are changed...speed of pitches,and the frame thats missing when you field a ball.... other than that this game year after year is solid....

[snaz16]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

I can deal with the pitch speed,hopefully you will be able to draw a walk or 2. Perhaps thats what the front end overhaul means. It would also be nice if they would allow you to use some of the old time stadiums during a season game and not just in exibition mode. Overall it looks like its moving in the right direction.

[Diablo25]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

The only way I'll give this one a look is if they changed the pitcher/batter interface...which I doubt. I hate cursor based hitting...just not a true representation of baseball. The bread and butter of a baseball game is the pitcher/batter interface.

[snaz16]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

You can turn off the cursor,by using the easy batter option. Which is really an oxymoron if you use that option on all star level,because it actually plays a decent game of ball.

[FatPitcher]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I hate cursor based hitting...just not a true representation of baseball.

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You know, until now I had not realized that swinging in one of 9 zones is how real batters bat. Learn something every day.

[Diablo25]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

Its as close as you are gonna get in a video game.

[pigpen81]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
You know, until now I had not realized that swinging in one of 9 zones is how real batters bat. Learn something every day.

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Well....if you have ever read Ted Williams book on hitting(The Science of Hitting)....he broke down his batting average in 77 different zones....so in actuality 9 zones isn't bad for a video game.

The thing that HH does well and I believe can still be improved upon is that you have to hit the pitch correctly in each zone to have the most success....and by that I mean...if you hit a pitch on the low and outside corner out in front of the body.....you will either A)hit a weak grounder, or B)hit a weak pop-up.

If you wait for the ball to travel in the zone and attack it off the back leg then you have a better chance of driving the ball...like all good hitters strive for.

I could talk hitting all night but to end my point....NO VIDEO GAME RE-CREATES REALISTIC HITTING BETTER THAN HIGH HEAT.

[FatPitcher]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

So unrealistic bat placement, unrealistic pitch movement, and unrealistic pitch speeds together form a realistic experience?

I'm not too sure how the bit about Ted Williams really supports your argument. If he said, "I only ever swung in one of [X] places," then maybe...

The argument I would make against batting cursors is that if you have it outside and the pitch is inside, it's generally too tough to compensate. Real batters can simply decide to swing inside (even if you're looking outside, you should still be able to adjust). The reason batting cursors are popular with the mainstream baseball crowd is that it's a more enjoyable video game mechanic. My theory is that hardcore people will never be satisfied unless they are out on the field playing baseball (though they will always defend their chosen game to the death, because of the "rah-rah" instinct), while the rest of the people are more concerned with how fun the game is, how good it looks, whether their favorite hitter has his lucky red shoes, etc. I think a lot of the fun people have in sports games--and in any video game--is getting good results when they do something right. Without a batting cursor, High Heat must rely heavily on "die rolls" to determine outcomes...leading the user to the conclusion that he doesn't have much control over the outcome. Which is fine for people that like "manage-only" and whose primary concern is realistic stats...but is not fulfilling for many others.

[pigpen81]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
So unrealistic bat placement, unrealistic pitch movement, and unrealistic pitch speeds together form a realistic experience?

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

HH having unrealistic pitch movement and pitch speeds is not accurate IMO...especially with pitch speed sliders....

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
I'm not too sure how the bit about Ted Williams really supports your argument. If he said, "I only ever swung in one of [X] places," then maybe...

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Good hitters know their strengths and weaknesses when hitting....in High Heat it is good practice to sit on certain pitches and zones.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
The argument I would make against batting cursors is that if you have it outside and the pitch is inside, it's generally too tough to compensate. Real batters can simply decide to swing inside (even if you're looking outside, you should still be able to adjust).

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

you are assuming that all high heat players use the Dpad when swinging...I for one do not....if the pitch is inside I try to get my bat-head in front of the zone....I tend to go the other way with fastballs so I can stay back on offspeed pitches more easily

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
My theory is that hardcore people will never be satisfied unless they are out on the field playing baseball (though they will always defend their chosen game to the death, because of the "rah-rah" instinct), while the rest of the people are more concerned with how fun the game is, how good it looks, whether their favorite hitter has his lucky red shoes, etc. I think a lot of the fun people have in sports games--and in any video game--is getting good results when they do something right.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I can see your point here...As someone who plays on a weekly basis in a high quality league..(went 2-3 Saturday to raise my avg. to .440...yay) I do look for realism in my baseball games and I can see how that realism could put off more casual gamers.

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Without a batting cursor, High Heat must rely heavily on "die rolls" to determine outcomes...leading the user to the conclusion that he doesn't have much control over the outcome. Which is fine for people that like "manage-only" and whose primary concern is realistic stats...but is not fulfilling for many others.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I disagree with the roll the dice line....While some hits can qualify...a strike out is a strike out in High Heat when it comes to human controlled players....HH 2002 for PC was much better at this than last years version because you could tune the bat variables which made for some great baseball action....lets hope 2004 brings this back in some form.

[FatPitcher]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
a strike out is a strike out in High Heat when it comes to human controlled players

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Yeah, I'm just talking about batted balls....sometimes you think you hit it dead on and you hit a weak grounder to the pitcher, sometimes you send it over the fence...with a batting cursor, if you get it right, you hit it hard. Maybe at someone, maybe to dead center in Minute Maid, but at least the outcome is based more on what you did than on Curt Schilling's pitching rating meets Barry Bonds' batting rating.

By the way, there are a couple new WSB screenshots on Gamespot. And these haven't gone through Photoshop. (ahem!) screenshots

[BaseballGuru]

Re: All-Star Baseball 2004 Fact Sheet and Screenshots

We'll see how good your game looks when it's running at full speed without 30 passes of anti-aliasing turned on, just for the sake of screenshots... but that's for another thread, another day.

As for everything else you've said Fat, I completely agree. Especially when it comes to the feeling of rolling a dice and then seeing where the ball goes. I never felt that skill was a factor in High Heat... everything was just about bucking the odds and hoping they were in my favor on a particular swing or pitch. Realistic baseball should involve more skill, more strategy... I'm all for a little bit of randomness when it comes to my pitch location or missing the sweetspot by a quarter of an inch and flying out... but when you look at players like Maddux or Bonds, they have a skill and precision that puts the odds in their favor. If I play a game long enough, I too want to have a little bit of skill that is taken into account in the results of my game.