After playing MVP........................

[bkrich83]

Re: After playing MVP........................

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
TopDog said:
A couple of other points.

I don't really think the batting system works all that well. Other than pushing the stick up when I jack a few homeruns, it doesn't seem to work much on groundballs. I've gotten a good variety of hits, but there are a tad too many pop fouls.

The animations are really nice but they really, really hurt double plays in some cases. Twice in the same game today I blew double plays due to animation glitches. I shifted my infield to double play depth and got perfect ground balls to my second baseman behind the bag. As soon as I fielded the ball I pushed the throw button and the fielder got hung standing still for a second and then went into the underhanded toss animation. Even though I had the throw meter pegged in the red, he threw a soft toss to the bag which the runner beat and of course was way too late to relay to first.

All in all it is a fun game but it is FAR from perfect. It's a shame that games like this are so highly touted and glaring problems are not even mentioned by reviewers simply because EA is stamped on the front. In the case of ASB, it seems like people go out of their way to find any problem at all so they can blast away.

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

See this is all a matter of preference. As I posted earlier I hated the ASB batting interfaces last year. The batting interface for ASB is what lead me to ultimitely stop playing the game mid season the last 2 years, and pick another title.

[cub]

Re: After playing MVP........................

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
TopDog said:
It's a shame that games like this are so highly touted and glaring problems are not even mentioned by reviewers simply because EA is stamped on the front.

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

I really don't think that's the reason.

I've seen all of your complaints happen in my MVP games too, and I agree that the game is vastly overrated in general. I mean, from what I've seen of MVP so far, it has as many problems as ASB had last year. Maybe more. But I think it comes down to your taste in games.... It's just that some things bug some people more than they bug other people. I also think that a lot of people are really excited to see a baseball franchise trying lots of new things, so they're much more forgiving of flaws.

[cub]

Re: After playing MVP........................

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
TopDog said:
It's a shame that games like this are so highly touted and glaring problems are not even mentioned by reviewers simply because EA is stamped on the front.

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

I really don't think that's the reason.

I've seen all of your complaints happen in my MVP games too, and I agree that the game is vastly overrated in general. I mean, from what I've seen of MVP so far, it has as many problems as ASB had last year. Maybe more. But I think it comes down to your taste in games.... It's just that some things bug some people more than they bug other people. I also think that a lot of people are really excited to see a baseball franchise trying lots of new things, so they're much more forgiving of flaws.

[cub]

Re: After playing MVP........................

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
TopDog said:
It's a shame that games like this are so highly touted and glaring problems are not even mentioned by reviewers simply because EA is stamped on the front.

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

I really don't think that's the reason.

I've seen all of your complaints happen in my MVP games too, and I agree that the game is vastly overrated in general. I mean, from what I've seen of MVP so far, it has as many problems as ASB had last year. Maybe more. But I think it comes down to your taste in games.... It's just that some things bug some people more than they bug other people. I also think that a lot of people are really excited to see a baseball franchise trying lots of new things, so they're much more forgiving of flaws.

[bkrich83]

Re: After playing MVP........................

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
It's a shame that games like this are so highly touted and glaring problems are not even mentioned by reviewers simply because EA is stamped on the front. In the case of ASB, it seems like people go out of their way to find any problem at all so they can blast away.



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

I don't see this at all. Just depends on your point of view. I know of plenty of EA fans that can say the same thing with the roles you mentioned reversed. Or Sega fans say the same thing, but with Sega in the mix. It's all about perspective, and some people lack it.

[bkrich83]

Re: After playing MVP........................

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
It's a shame that games like this are so highly touted and glaring problems are not even mentioned by reviewers simply because EA is stamped on the front. In the case of ASB, it seems like people go out of their way to find any problem at all so they can blast away.



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

I don't see this at all. Just depends on your point of view. I know of plenty of EA fans that can say the same thing with the roles you mentioned reversed. Or Sega fans say the same thing, but with Sega in the mix. It's all about perspective, and some people lack it.

[bkrich83]

Re: After playing MVP........................

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
It's a shame that games like this are so highly touted and glaring problems are not even mentioned by reviewers simply because EA is stamped on the front. In the case of ASB, it seems like people go out of their way to find any problem at all so they can blast away.



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

I don't see this at all. Just depends on your point of view. I know of plenty of EA fans that can say the same thing with the roles you mentioned reversed. Or Sega fans say the same thing, but with Sega in the mix. It's all about perspective, and some people lack it.

[Crucial Mike]

Re: After playing MVP........................

I knew that when getting MVP, I would have to accept the fact that there would be some things that would be a little unrealistic and quirky.

To make up for it, MVP provides the gamer with a totally unique baseball experience IMO.

Actually having to execute on pitches is very rewarding.

Even the baserunning is challenging.....I brought Delgado around third today in the late innings, and I used the wrong slide at the plate. Instead of going in head first or hook sliding to the right of the bag, I hook slid to the left of the bag, making it easy for the catcher to tag me out.

This is the kind of stuff that makes me happy. Having to actually control each aspect of the game. Every pitch, every throw, every slide.

The combination of all these great controls along with awesome atmosphere (I just got swept in Fenway and the crowd was so loud at times I really felt like I was on the mound getting rocked!) really make this game enjoyable for me.

[Crucial Mike]

Re: After playing MVP........................

I knew that when getting MVP, I would have to accept the fact that there would be some things that would be a little unrealistic and quirky.

To make up for it, MVP provides the gamer with a totally unique baseball experience IMO.

Actually having to execute on pitches is very rewarding.

Even the baserunning is challenging.....I brought Delgado around third today in the late innings, and I used the wrong slide at the plate. Instead of going in head first or hook sliding to the right of the bag, I hook slid to the left of the bag, making it easy for the catcher to tag me out.

This is the kind of stuff that makes me happy. Having to actually control each aspect of the game. Every pitch, every throw, every slide.

The combination of all these great controls along with awesome atmosphere (I just got swept in Fenway and the crowd was so loud at times I really felt like I was on the mound getting rocked!) really make this game enjoyable for me.

[Crucial Mike]

Re: After playing MVP........................

I knew that when getting MVP, I would have to accept the fact that there would be some things that would be a little unrealistic and quirky.

To make up for it, MVP provides the gamer with a totally unique baseball experience IMO.

Actually having to execute on pitches is very rewarding.

Even the baserunning is challenging.....I brought Delgado around third today in the late innings, and I used the wrong slide at the plate. Instead of going in head first or hook sliding to the right of the bag, I hook slid to the left of the bag, making it easy for the catcher to tag me out.

This is the kind of stuff that makes me happy. Having to actually control each aspect of the game. Every pitch, every throw, every slide.

The combination of all these great controls along with awesome atmosphere (I just got swept in Fenway and the crowd was so loud at times I really felt like I was on the mound getting rocked!) really make this game enjoyable for me.

[HMcCoy]

Re: After playing MVP........................

I don't think MVP is too bad, like Live they've made nice strides. The pitching meter reminds me of the Read and Lead passing in Fever. Its a mechanic that EVERY game should have. That being said, I found MVP to be EXTREMELY overrated and I personally cannot wait for ASB '05.

The main gripe I have with MVP is the horrendous defensive back-up fielder AI. I misplayed a shot into shallow left center and the ball got past me(I controlled the LF). The center fielder ran to within about 3 feet of the ball, stopped, and stood their while my LF had to make his way BACK to the ball. Same type of play happened at the edge of the grass where I went the wrong way with the 3rd baseman, and the SS sprinted to about 2 feet behind the ball and stood there. The AI never seems to field the ball or help out in any way, and isn't that what back-ups are for? Maybe I'm just spoiled by ASB where the AI actually cares whether we win or lose and even plays to 1B have the appropriate back-up (the catcher). I've given up at least 8 or 9 inside the park HR's and after a few games, I realized that its not the park dimensions or the fielder speed, its that the back-up guy is NEVER in good position.

Another funny thing is that everyone was shouting hallelujah about this oh so ground breaking batting... HOAX OF THE CENTURY. The batting is STILL just a slightly souped-up timing based model. Repeat, the batting is still timing based. You can get 8-10 hits per game without ever touching the analog stick. Reviewers have been spouting-off about this "pure-swing" system like it REEEEEEEAAAAAALY represents baseball.

. What a joke.

The batting is still all timing, with a directional "modifier". If the ball is low and away, THE BATTER WILL SWING LOW AND AWAY NO MATTER WHAT YOU INPUT. If you press up and in on the analog, he'll STILL swing low and away, but the contact will be "modified" by what you input. If you press low and away, you'll be rewarded with better contact. So when in doubt(need a hit) forget the directions and just time that sucker and you'll still get a decent hit. Funny how no one mentioned that in all of the glorious previews...Anyway, its not a bad system at all, as it accomodates all levels of gamers, and its still not easy on Superstar, but the be-all end-all hitting system it AINT. VERY overrated.

One other little thing is that theres a hitch in the relay system that never allows the smooth transition other games have. Even the CPU suffers from the hit or miss DP's. The throw meter should go away on relay throws, that pause costs you and the CPU at least 2 DPs per game.

Also, the CPU pitchers warming up for 6 innings kinda sucked. In ASB, the warm-up pitch counts matter, and if you forget to sit a warming pitcher, you may go to him only to find he's tired as hell and fatigued from all the warm-up work. Also you can stall on a mound visit until the reliever is ready, how cool is that? If MVP had it we'd have 4 threads on that alone.

Other than the back-ups and the non-stealing CPU, I think this game is actually preety sweet for casual baseball fans.
There were alot of things I liked about it, (like the aggressiveness of the CPU baserunners. If you throw to the wrong bag, they WILL advance), but theres a MEGATON of little things a love about ASB. After my first couple of games with MVP, I popped in my ASB04, and played a pick-up game. The feel, the look, even the crack of the bat was more immersive and authentic in All-Star. I was playing the game at the old disheveled playground lot and when I struck-out, I noticed the sound of little kids laughing at me in the background as Josh Gibson looked at his bat in disgust.

God I love ASB....

[HMcCoy]

Re: After playing MVP........................

I don't think MVP is too bad, like Live they've made nice strides. The pitching meter reminds me of the Read and Lead passing in Fever. Its a mechanic that EVERY game should have. That being said, I found MVP to be EXTREMELY overrated and I personally cannot wait for ASB '05.

The main gripe I have with MVP is the horrendous defensive back-up fielder AI. I misplayed a shot into shallow left center and the ball got past me(I controlled the LF). The center fielder ran to within about 3 feet of the ball, stopped, and stood their while my LF had to make his way BACK to the ball. Same type of play happened at the edge of the grass where I went the wrong way with the 3rd baseman, and the SS sprinted to about 2 feet behind the ball and stood there. The AI never seems to field the ball or help out in any way, and isn't that what back-ups are for? Maybe I'm just spoiled by ASB where the AI actually cares whether we win or lose and even plays to 1B have the appropriate back-up (the catcher). I've given up at least 8 or 9 inside the park HR's and after a few games, I realized that its not the park dimensions or the fielder speed, its that the back-up guy is NEVER in good position.

Another funny thing is that everyone was shouting hallelujah about this oh so ground breaking batting... HOAX OF THE CENTURY. The batting is STILL just a slightly souped-up timing based model. Repeat, the batting is still timing based. You can get 8-10 hits per game without ever touching the analog stick. Reviewers have been spouting-off about this "pure-swing" system like it REEEEEEEAAAAAALY represents baseball.

. What a joke.

The batting is still all timing, with a directional "modifier". If the ball is low and away, THE BATTER WILL SWING LOW AND AWAY NO MATTER WHAT YOU INPUT. If you press up and in on the analog, he'll STILL swing low and away, but the contact will be "modified" by what you input. If you press low and away, you'll be rewarded with better contact. So when in doubt(need a hit) forget the directions and just time that sucker and you'll still get a decent hit. Funny how no one mentioned that in all of the glorious previews...Anyway, its not a bad system at all, as it accomodates all levels of gamers, and its still not easy on Superstar, but the be-all end-all hitting system it AINT. VERY overrated.

One other little thing is that theres a hitch in the relay system that never allows the smooth transition other games have. Even the CPU suffers from the hit or miss DP's. The throw meter should go away on relay throws, that pause costs you and the CPU at least 2 DPs per game.

Also, the CPU pitchers warming up for 6 innings kinda sucked. In ASB, the warm-up pitch counts matter, and if you forget to sit a warming pitcher, you may go to him only to find he's tired as hell and fatigued from all the warm-up work. Also you can stall on a mound visit until the reliever is ready, how cool is that? If MVP had it we'd have 4 threads on that alone.

Other than the back-ups and the non-stealing CPU, I think this game is actually preety sweet for casual baseball fans.
There were alot of things I liked about it, (like the aggressiveness of the CPU baserunners. If you throw to the wrong bag, they WILL advance), but theres a MEGATON of little things a love about ASB. After my first couple of games with MVP, I popped in my ASB04, and played a pick-up game. The feel, the look, even the crack of the bat was more immersive and authentic in All-Star. I was playing the game at the old disheveled playground lot and when I struck-out, I noticed the sound of little kids laughing at me in the background as Josh Gibson looked at his bat in disgust.

God I love ASB....

[HMcCoy]

Re: After playing MVP........................

I don't think MVP is too bad, like Live they've made nice strides. The pitching meter reminds me of the Read and Lead passing in Fever. Its a mechanic that EVERY game should have. That being said, I found MVP to be EXTREMELY overrated and I personally cannot wait for ASB '05.

The main gripe I have with MVP is the horrendous defensive back-up fielder AI. I misplayed a shot into shallow left center and the ball got past me(I controlled the LF). The center fielder ran to within about 3 feet of the ball, stopped, and stood their while my LF had to make his way BACK to the ball. Same type of play happened at the edge of the grass where I went the wrong way with the 3rd baseman, and the SS sprinted to about 2 feet behind the ball and stood there. The AI never seems to field the ball or help out in any way, and isn't that what back-ups are for? Maybe I'm just spoiled by ASB where the AI actually cares whether we win or lose and even plays to 1B have the appropriate back-up (the catcher). I've given up at least 8 or 9 inside the park HR's and after a few games, I realized that its not the park dimensions or the fielder speed, its that the back-up guy is NEVER in good position.

Another funny thing is that everyone was shouting hallelujah about this oh so ground breaking batting... HOAX OF THE CENTURY. The batting is STILL just a slightly souped-up timing based model. Repeat, the batting is still timing based. You can get 8-10 hits per game without ever touching the analog stick. Reviewers have been spouting-off about this "pure-swing" system like it REEEEEEEAAAAAALY represents baseball.

. What a joke.

The batting is still all timing, with a directional "modifier". If the ball is low and away, THE BATTER WILL SWING LOW AND AWAY NO MATTER WHAT YOU INPUT. If you press up and in on the analog, he'll STILL swing low and away, but the contact will be "modified" by what you input. If you press low and away, you'll be rewarded with better contact. So when in doubt(need a hit) forget the directions and just time that sucker and you'll still get a decent hit. Funny how no one mentioned that in all of the glorious previews...Anyway, its not a bad system at all, as it accomodates all levels of gamers, and its still not easy on Superstar, but the be-all end-all hitting system it AINT. VERY overrated.

One other little thing is that theres a hitch in the relay system that never allows the smooth transition other games have. Even the CPU suffers from the hit or miss DP's. The throw meter should go away on relay throws, that pause costs you and the CPU at least 2 DPs per game.

Also, the CPU pitchers warming up for 6 innings kinda sucked. In ASB, the warm-up pitch counts matter, and if you forget to sit a warming pitcher, you may go to him only to find he's tired as hell and fatigued from all the warm-up work. Also you can stall on a mound visit until the reliever is ready, how cool is that? If MVP had it we'd have 4 threads on that alone.

Other than the back-ups and the non-stealing CPU, I think this game is actually preety sweet for casual baseball fans.
There were alot of things I liked about it, (like the aggressiveness of the CPU baserunners. If you throw to the wrong bag, they WILL advance), but theres a MEGATON of little things a love about ASB. After my first couple of games with MVP, I popped in my ASB04, and played a pick-up game. The feel, the look, even the crack of the bat was more immersive and authentic in All-Star. I was playing the game at the old disheveled playground lot and when I struck-out, I noticed the sound of little kids laughing at me in the background as Josh Gibson looked at his bat in disgust.

God I love ASB....

[Pared]

Re: After playing MVP........................

Ok, so it's timing based with a slight modifier. What's your point? The game rewards you when you actually control the swing. You feel you're hitting the ball too well by just timing it? Adjust the contact sliders.

You can't do the same in ASB. If I'm killing the ball on one difficulty level, but EVERYTHING ELSE seems spot on, what can I do? Move up a difficulty where the AI has even MORE unrealistic hits and such, just to get a challenge hitting? C'mon....

The hitting system gets rave reviews b/c of the risk/reward feature. Sure you can make contact with just swinging, but you can get even BETTER contact for swinging with the pitch. You're going to complain about a hitting system that actually allows you to check your swing and hit a weak dribbler that you didn't mean to? Or how about the fact that you can even actually have a foul-tip caught by the catcher for a third strike? I've seen both, and they're things lacking in other baseball games. You don't realize how great they are until they've happened to you. On top of the, MVP has the best hit variety ever seen in ANY baseball game of late.

Oh, and all those who said there isn't HR collision detection can eat their words. It's not up to the quality of ASB, but it's still there!

Now bring on ASB! Nothing compares to their stadiums...

[Pared]

Re: After playing MVP........................

Ok, so it's timing based with a slight modifier. What's your point? The game rewards you when you actually control the swing. You feel you're hitting the ball too well by just timing it? Adjust the contact sliders.

You can't do the same in ASB. If I'm killing the ball on one difficulty level, but EVERYTHING ELSE seems spot on, what can I do? Move up a difficulty where the AI has even MORE unrealistic hits and such, just to get a challenge hitting? C'mon....

The hitting system gets rave reviews b/c of the risk/reward feature. Sure you can make contact with just swinging, but you can get even BETTER contact for swinging with the pitch. You're going to complain about a hitting system that actually allows you to check your swing and hit a weak dribbler that you didn't mean to? Or how about the fact that you can even actually have a foul-tip caught by the catcher for a third strike? I've seen both, and they're things lacking in other baseball games. You don't realize how great they are until they've happened to you. On top of the, MVP has the best hit variety ever seen in ANY baseball game of late.

Oh, and all those who said there isn't HR collision detection can eat their words. It's not up to the quality of ASB, but it's still there!

Now bring on ASB! Nothing compares to their stadiums...