Thinking of buying - questions

[ggazoo]

I'm really tired of MVP, and I was thinking of picking this game up (for XBox). I have a few questions first:

- how long is franchise mode?
- in franchise, can you select the other teams jersey when playing them?
- are there legendary players? if so, is Babe Ruth and Cal Ripken Jr. among them?
- are ther mound visits?
- can you see a pitcher warming up in the bullpen, and does he actually walk out (like in MVP)
- all all the known bug in the game, which ones can be fixed or worked around (ie passed balls, the injury bug etc)?

Thanks!

[jim416]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

I can answer a couple.

Yes, there are mound visits. Done very well.

You can't see the pitcher warming up in the bullpen, but it does show him jogging in from the bullpen.

You can fix the passed ball by setting the AI ERRORS to 45.

I know when playing in season you can only choose your teams jersey.

[ggazoo]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

Thanks jim - what about a sportsticker? Or an out ot town scoreboard to see otherscores in the league during your game? I remember 2K4 had this in the pause menu.

And I liked getting player feedback in 2K3... is it in this years title?

[slickdtc]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

I too am thinking of picking this game up, just as a side addition to MVP Baseball 2005 (which I've very happy with). Here's some more questions:

(1) Is the K-Zone pitching a good system? Does it feel like you can't always hit your spot and sometimes do give up the 'fat pitch'?
(2) Is the sound of the bat really annoying or do you get used to it?
(3) How is the crowd noise? I know Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are just amazing, but if the crowd is dead, it takes something away from the game.
(4) Are baserunning controls very complex? In ESPN MLB 2k4 I couldn't really get a hang of them, they just felt very awkward.
(5) Is the game fun? Sounds like a lame question, but when I play my sports games I try to mimic real life. But sometimes it seems I'm trying too hard to get the realistic results and it's not fun. Does this game give you the results without overly trying to go for the realistic amount of strikeouts?
(6) What are the bugs/glitches in the game? All of them please.
(7) Are trades realistic? And if they aren't, is there any way to trade back players as if it never even happened?
(8) Is there bad roster management? I don't want to see some minor leaguer who is hitting .151 playing over a bona fide superstar.

Wow, a lot more questions then I thought I had. Thanks in advance for any of them answered!

[inkcil]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

I too am thinking of picking this game up, just as a side addition to MVP Baseball 2005 (which I've very happy with). Here's some more questions:

(1) Is the K-Zone pitching a good system? Does it feel like you can't always hit your spot and sometimes do give up the 'fat pitch'?
(2) Is the sound of the bat really annoying or do you get used to it?
(3) How is the crowd noise? I know Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are just amazing, but if the crowd is dead, it takes something away from the game.
(4) Are baserunning controls very complex? In ESPN MLB 2k4 I couldn't really get a hang of them, they just felt very awkward.
(5) Is the game fun? Sounds like a lame question, but when I play my sports games I try to mimic real life. But sometimes it seems I'm trying too hard to get the realistic results and it's not fun. Does this game give you the results without overly trying to go for the realistic amount of strikeouts?
(6) What are the bugs/glitches in the game? All of them please.
(7) Are trades realistic? And if they aren't, is there any way to trade back players as if it never even happened?
(8) Is there bad roster management? I don't want to see some minor leaguer who is hitting .151 playing over a bona fide superstar.

Wow, a lot more questions then I thought I had. Thanks in advance for any of them answered!

1. Yes, k-zone is very fun in its own right. Especially when the k-zone speed is set to 90 or higher.
2. It's a little annoying, but you get used to it.
3. Atmosphere and crowd noise is great, one of the best things about the game. I don't think any other pro game does atmosphere and presentation better than this one.
4. Yes, it will take a learning curve. Most seem to liek it once they learn it.
5. Its' fun but the bugs are annoying. It will suck you in with the atmosphere and presentation, but then when your seconbasemen automatically lunges for little bloopers in the infeild without you touching a button, little things like that may begin to annoy you.
6. LOL, no time for all that. But the game is only 15 bucks new at Blockbuster, so it's still worth that. But there are some gameplay and franchise bugs. Seek out baa7, he is the premier resource for this game on these boards. He's like the Yoda of MLB2k5.
7. Sorry, i play with trades off.
8. Not started a season yet.

Dude, bottom line is that they were almost there this year, if only they had waited another month to do more quality testing. You will get sucked up in the fun factor for awhile, then it will be up to you if you want to grit your teeth and bear through the flaws. I have MVP too and I know it's a good game, but it gets stale b/c of the lack of atmosphere. If onbly MVP had 2k's atmosphere, graphics and presentation, and if only 2k had MVP's gameplay, animations and detail. Oh well, to have the best of both worlds, you need both games.

[ggazoo]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

what about the sports ticker and player feedback?

[inkcil]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

what about the sports ticker and player feedback?

sports ticker is there during games, i don't know about player feedback. do you mean like something that says "Swung late" or something?

[ggazoo]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

do you mean like something that says "Swung late" or something?

No, I was referring to feed back as in "I want to be traded". It was in 2K3, and done very well.

[Vince]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

How is the crowd noise? I know Jon Miller and Joe Morgan are just amazing, but if the crowd is dead, it takes something away from the game.

They do the Yankee rollcall. That should tell you of how good the atmosphere is...

But it really is amazing. So many player chants, cutscenes with the fans signing "take me out to a ballgame" during the 7th inning stretch. This game is the equivalent of NFL 2k5 in terms of atmosphere and fan animations and it easily beats out MVP.

[Cardot]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

The atmosphere is great. Morgan and Miller are fantastic...especially when Miller says "Safe". The ESPN baseball music is incorporated well.

My biggest gripe is camera angles....especially on balls hit to the outfield. It's too close. I want to see the ball like I am at the park or watching on TV.

One cool feature that I like is they also have a few international teams: USA, Dominican Republic, Venezuala....maybe one or two more. Also, like NFL2K5 on the XBOX, the game saves all replays that you can go back and look at.

[inkcil]

Re: Thinking of buying - questions

set your xbox to widescreen...this will help zoom out the camera.