ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

[fishepa]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

I have both ASB and ESPN, and I have the same problem.

[SnakeEyez]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

Hi Penguit, I was kinda curious to try ESPN myself. Could you share some thoughts on some of it's gameplay? I had rented last year's ESPN, but I haven't been able to find this year's yet as a rental. Thx in advance.

1) Is the ball still "floaty" off the bat? It's hard to explain, but line drives and such in last year's ESPN seemed kinda lofty as they were in flight to the outfield...

2) Does the ball bounce hard off of the outfield grass still like a ball bouncing off concrete?

3) I've read many complaints regarding the player's facial graphics and just the player models in general... they don't look too bad to me from the screenshots, but then again I don't see any close ups either. Do they move robotically or is the animation smooth as well?

4) Have you played online? Do you like it?

thx.

[SnakeEyez]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

Hi Penguit, I was kinda curious to try ESPN myself. Could you share some thoughts on some of it's gameplay? I had rented last year's ESPN, but I haven't been able to find this year's yet as a rental. Thx in advance.

1) Is the ball still "floaty" off the bat? It's hard to explain, but line drives and such in last year's ESPN seemed kinda lofty as they were in flight to the outfield...

2) Does the ball bounce hard off of the outfield grass still like a ball bouncing off concrete?

3) I've read many complaints regarding the player's facial graphics and just the player models in general... they don't look too bad to me from the screenshots, but then again I don't see any close ups either. Do they move robotically or is the animation smooth as well?

4) Have you played online? Do you like it?

thx.

[SnakeEyez]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

Hi Penguit, I was kinda curious to try ESPN myself. Could you share some thoughts on some of it's gameplay? I had rented last year's ESPN, but I haven't been able to find this year's yet as a rental. Thx in advance.

1) Is the ball still "floaty" off the bat? It's hard to explain, but line drives and such in last year's ESPN seemed kinda lofty as they were in flight to the outfield...

2) Does the ball bounce hard off of the outfield grass still like a ball bouncing off concrete?

3) I've read many complaints regarding the player's facial graphics and just the player models in general... they don't look too bad to me from the screenshots, but then again I don't see any close ups either. Do they move robotically or is the animation smooth as well?

4) Have you played online? Do you like it?

thx.

[Cardot]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

I faced a similiar decision last year with NBA2K3 and Inside Drive 2003. I really liked the feel and play of ID, but 2K3 just looked so much better. I got them both, but ended up playing ID alot more because it was more fun to play. There were many times I wished ID had looked like 2K3, but not enough to actually play 2K3.

[Cardot]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

I faced a similiar decision last year with NBA2K3 and Inside Drive 2003. I really liked the feel and play of ID, but 2K3 just looked so much better. I got them both, but ended up playing ID alot more because it was more fun to play. There were many times I wished ID had looked like 2K3, but not enough to actually play 2K3.

[Cardot]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

I faced a similiar decision last year with NBA2K3 and Inside Drive 2003. I really liked the feel and play of ID, but 2K3 just looked so much better. I got them both, but ended up playing ID alot more because it was more fun to play. There were many times I wished ID had looked like 2K3, but not enough to actually play 2K3.

[faster]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

If you have a TV that has Widescreen and supports 720p, ESPN is probably 3 times better looking than ASB, literally. It's much much clearer, brighter... really amazing.

1) I don't notice the floatiness of the ball this year. I think it's because the fielding camera is very close and zoomed in and you can't change it. That's a definate minus to ESPN. I did notice that last year though.

2)Yep, ball still bounces hard off of the wall.

3)Player models are pretty good. I'd say ASB and ESPN are fairly close, though some would argue to the death with me. Like all the baseball games, the faces are here and there, some are good some not so good.

ESPN is a very very polished game overall. The AI is smart for the most part, stealing when it should. Sliders are abundant and do have a real effect this year. You can basically control whatever bothers you, or you think is out of whack. The announcing and sound is good (with Dolby Digital), and the roster managment/player editor/player finder is superb. Franchise is fairly deep, though not ASB.

ESPN has the best hitting interface of any game with True Aim or whatever it's called. It's basically a cursorless directional hitting system BUT the analog stick is sensitive to how far you push or pull it. That means if it's WAY inside, you have to push farther inside to hit it square. Without a doubt, it's simply magnificent.

All that being said, it feels like a video game and more artifical. I'm unable to put into words how however.

ESPN is certainly a much upgraded game... with a great hitting system that should be implemented in every game.

Online I find ESPN to be smoother and less of a hassle than ASB.

It's certainly worth a try. ESPN is probably the best overall game this year. That being said, I'm still torn.

[faster]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

If you have a TV that has Widescreen and supports 720p, ESPN is probably 3 times better looking than ASB, literally. It's much much clearer, brighter... really amazing.

1) I don't notice the floatiness of the ball this year. I think it's because the fielding camera is very close and zoomed in and you can't change it. That's a definate minus to ESPN. I did notice that last year though.

2)Yep, ball still bounces hard off of the wall.

3)Player models are pretty good. I'd say ASB and ESPN are fairly close, though some would argue to the death with me. Like all the baseball games, the faces are here and there, some are good some not so good.

ESPN is a very very polished game overall. The AI is smart for the most part, stealing when it should. Sliders are abundant and do have a real effect this year. You can basically control whatever bothers you, or you think is out of whack. The announcing and sound is good (with Dolby Digital), and the roster managment/player editor/player finder is superb. Franchise is fairly deep, though not ASB.

ESPN has the best hitting interface of any game with True Aim or whatever it's called. It's basically a cursorless directional hitting system BUT the analog stick is sensitive to how far you push or pull it. That means if it's WAY inside, you have to push farther inside to hit it square. Without a doubt, it's simply magnificent.

All that being said, it feels like a video game and more artifical. I'm unable to put into words how however.

ESPN is certainly a much upgraded game... with a great hitting system that should be implemented in every game.

Online I find ESPN to be smoother and less of a hassle than ASB.

It's certainly worth a try. ESPN is probably the best overall game this year. That being said, I'm still torn.

[faster]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

If you have a TV that has Widescreen and supports 720p, ESPN is probably 3 times better looking than ASB, literally. It's much much clearer, brighter... really amazing.

1) I don't notice the floatiness of the ball this year. I think it's because the fielding camera is very close and zoomed in and you can't change it. That's a definate minus to ESPN. I did notice that last year though.

2)Yep, ball still bounces hard off of the wall.

3)Player models are pretty good. I'd say ASB and ESPN are fairly close, though some would argue to the death with me. Like all the baseball games, the faces are here and there, some are good some not so good.

ESPN is a very very polished game overall. The AI is smart for the most part, stealing when it should. Sliders are abundant and do have a real effect this year. You can basically control whatever bothers you, or you think is out of whack. The announcing and sound is good (with Dolby Digital), and the roster managment/player editor/player finder is superb. Franchise is fairly deep, though not ASB.

ESPN has the best hitting interface of any game with True Aim or whatever it's called. It's basically a cursorless directional hitting system BUT the analog stick is sensitive to how far you push or pull it. That means if it's WAY inside, you have to push farther inside to hit it square. Without a doubt, it's simply magnificent.

All that being said, it feels like a video game and more artifical. I'm unable to put into words how however.

ESPN is certainly a much upgraded game... with a great hitting system that should be implemented in every game.

Online I find ESPN to be smoother and less of a hassle than ASB.

It's certainly worth a try. ESPN is probably the best overall game this year. That being said, I'm still torn.

[truckie16]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
penguit said:
If you have a TV that has Widescreen and supports 720p, ESPN is probably 3 times better looking than ASB, literally. It's much much clearer, brighter... really amazing.

1) I don't notice the floatiness of the ball this year. I think it's because the fielding camera is very close and zoomed in and you can't change it. That's a definate minus to ESPN. I did notice that last year though.

2)Yep, ball still bounces hard off of the wall.

3)Player models are pretty good. I'd say ASB and ESPN are fairly close, though some would argue to the death with me. Like all the baseball games, the faces are here and there, some are good some not so good.

ESPN is a very very polished game overall. The AI is smart for the most part, stealing when it should. Sliders are abundant and do have a real effect this year. You can basically control whatever bothers you, or you think is out of whack. The announcing and sound is good (with Dolby Digital), and the roster managment/player editor/player finder is superb. Franchise is fairly deep, though not ASB.

ESPN has the best hitting interface of any game with True Aim or whatever it's called. It's basically a cursorless directional hitting system BUT the analog stick is sensitive to how far you push or pull it. That means if it's WAY inside, you have to push farther inside to hit it square. Without a doubt, it's simply magnificent.

All that being said, it feels like a video game and more artifical. I'm unable to put into words how however.

ESPN is certainly a much upgraded game... with a great hitting system that should be implemented in every game.

Online I find ESPN to be smoother and less of a hassle than ASB.

It's certainly worth a try. ESPN is probably the best overall game this year. That being said, I'm still torn.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">
I respectfuly disagree about the announcing. While I think they sound great thier timing is way off on some plays. I've had ground balls hit to short and my guy gets thrown out then as my next batter is awaiting his first pitch the announcer will say "and he got em on a close play at first". Literally 4-5 seconds after my guy was thrown out. It's not on every play just once in a awhile but still irritating.
I also feel that the hitting system while good could have been a lot better. I should not be able to pull a ball that is 6in. out of the strike zone. I swear every HR I've hit was on a low and away pitch,I also don't like how evry HR is 480+ft with most being over 500ft. I actually prefer MVP's pure swing system even with the topspin problem.
With all that being said ESPN is still a very solid game at it's core, which for a lot of people is all that matters. The fielding is great(even though the CPU gets to just about evrything that isn't in a gap, the pitching is very good and the batting is good.
I think all of this years games do somethings right but they all have thier flaws as well.

[truckie16]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
penguit said:
If you have a TV that has Widescreen and supports 720p, ESPN is probably 3 times better looking than ASB, literally. It's much much clearer, brighter... really amazing.

1) I don't notice the floatiness of the ball this year. I think it's because the fielding camera is very close and zoomed in and you can't change it. That's a definate minus to ESPN. I did notice that last year though.

2)Yep, ball still bounces hard off of the wall.

3)Player models are pretty good. I'd say ASB and ESPN are fairly close, though some would argue to the death with me. Like all the baseball games, the faces are here and there, some are good some not so good.

ESPN is a very very polished game overall. The AI is smart for the most part, stealing when it should. Sliders are abundant and do have a real effect this year. You can basically control whatever bothers you, or you think is out of whack. The announcing and sound is good (with Dolby Digital), and the roster managment/player editor/player finder is superb. Franchise is fairly deep, though not ASB.

ESPN has the best hitting interface of any game with True Aim or whatever it's called. It's basically a cursorless directional hitting system BUT the analog stick is sensitive to how far you push or pull it. That means if it's WAY inside, you have to push farther inside to hit it square. Without a doubt, it's simply magnificent.

All that being said, it feels like a video game and more artifical. I'm unable to put into words how however.

ESPN is certainly a much upgraded game... with a great hitting system that should be implemented in every game.

Online I find ESPN to be smoother and less of a hassle than ASB.

It's certainly worth a try. ESPN is probably the best overall game this year. That being said, I'm still torn.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">
I respectfuly disagree about the announcing. While I think they sound great thier timing is way off on some plays. I've had ground balls hit to short and my guy gets thrown out then as my next batter is awaiting his first pitch the announcer will say "and he got em on a close play at first". Literally 4-5 seconds after my guy was thrown out. It's not on every play just once in a awhile but still irritating.
I also feel that the hitting system while good could have been a lot better. I should not be able to pull a ball that is 6in. out of the strike zone. I swear every HR I've hit was on a low and away pitch,I also don't like how evry HR is 480+ft with most being over 500ft. I actually prefer MVP's pure swing system even with the topspin problem.
With all that being said ESPN is still a very solid game at it's core, which for a lot of people is all that matters. The fielding is great(even though the CPU gets to just about evrything that isn't in a gap, the pitching is very good and the batting is good.
I think all of this years games do somethings right but they all have thier flaws as well.

[truckie16]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr />
penguit said:
If you have a TV that has Widescreen and supports 720p, ESPN is probably 3 times better looking than ASB, literally. It's much much clearer, brighter... really amazing.

1) I don't notice the floatiness of the ball this year. I think it's because the fielding camera is very close and zoomed in and you can't change it. That's a definate minus to ESPN. I did notice that last year though.

2)Yep, ball still bounces hard off of the wall.

3)Player models are pretty good. I'd say ASB and ESPN are fairly close, though some would argue to the death with me. Like all the baseball games, the faces are here and there, some are good some not so good.

ESPN is a very very polished game overall. The AI is smart for the most part, stealing when it should. Sliders are abundant and do have a real effect this year. You can basically control whatever bothers you, or you think is out of whack. The announcing and sound is good (with Dolby Digital), and the roster managment/player editor/player finder is superb. Franchise is fairly deep, though not ASB.

ESPN has the best hitting interface of any game with True Aim or whatever it's called. It's basically a cursorless directional hitting system BUT the analog stick is sensitive to how far you push or pull it. That means if it's WAY inside, you have to push farther inside to hit it square. Without a doubt, it's simply magnificent.

All that being said, it feels like a video game and more artifical. I'm unable to put into words how however.

ESPN is certainly a much upgraded game... with a great hitting system that should be implemented in every game.

Online I find ESPN to be smoother and less of a hassle than ASB.

It's certainly worth a try. ESPN is probably the best overall game this year. That being said, I'm still torn.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">
I respectfuly disagree about the announcing. While I think they sound great thier timing is way off on some plays. I've had ground balls hit to short and my guy gets thrown out then as my next batter is awaiting his first pitch the announcer will say "and he got em on a close play at first". Literally 4-5 seconds after my guy was thrown out. It's not on every play just once in a awhile but still irritating.
I also feel that the hitting system while good could have been a lot better. I should not be able to pull a ball that is 6in. out of the strike zone. I swear every HR I've hit was on a low and away pitch,I also don't like how evry HR is 480+ft with most being over 500ft. I actually prefer MVP's pure swing system even with the topspin problem.
With all that being said ESPN is still a very solid game at it's core, which for a lot of people is all that matters. The fielding is great(even though the CPU gets to just about evrything that isn't in a gap, the pitching is very good and the batting is good.
I think all of this years games do somethings right but they all have thier flaws as well.

[faster]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

I agree with most of those statements about ESPN. I maintain the batting interface is still heads and shoulders above any, if not for it's execution, then at least for the concept.

Personally I like the sound but do not love the sound. I believe ASB delivers better announcing... and and announcing that won't annoy you after you play a few games -- and that's a big plus. Everyone knows announcing will get old, but after 50 games, whichever game makes you less want to slam your head into a wall usually wins. That being said, you can turn it off, but that takes away from some of the atmospher IMO.

Regardless, ESPN is probably the most polished, well-rounded game IMO, but I think the others certainly have there great value. For satisfaction, everybody will look at something different, that's for sure. For me, the worst game was MVP. I hate it. Thought it played like an arcadey pile of crap. Thought it look poor, sounded poor, had an absolute annoying pitching interface (it gets old to have to hit the meter every time), and the hitting interface was aweful.... regardless, there are MANY MANY people who believe this game to be the best overall, and certainly the most fun to play.

It's hard for me to argue with those that ESPN is king, because I love the to play it. I also love ASB for the subtle things and how it makes me feel more like it's baseball season.

I don't know, I'll keep both perhaps... divide my time until a clear winner emerges.

[faster]

Re: ESPN or ASB... how do I decide... help me please!!!

I agree with most of those statements about ESPN. I maintain the batting interface is still heads and shoulders above any, if not for it's execution, then at least for the concept.

Personally I like the sound but do not love the sound. I believe ASB delivers better announcing... and and announcing that won't annoy you after you play a few games -- and that's a big plus. Everyone knows announcing will get old, but after 50 games, whichever game makes you less want to slam your head into a wall usually wins. That being said, you can turn it off, but that takes away from some of the atmospher IMO.

Regardless, ESPN is probably the most polished, well-rounded game IMO, but I think the others certainly have there great value. For satisfaction, everybody will look at something different, that's for sure. For me, the worst game was MVP. I hate it. Thought it played like an arcadey pile of crap. Thought it look poor, sounded poor, had an absolute annoying pitching interface (it gets old to have to hit the meter every time), and the hitting interface was aweful.... regardless, there are MANY MANY people who believe this game to be the best overall, and certainly the most fun to play.

It's hard for me to argue with those that ESPN is king, because I love the to play it. I also love ASB for the subtle things and how it makes me feel more like it's baseball season.

I don't know, I'll keep both perhaps... divide my time until a clear winner emerges.