2K8 Brinkman Interview

[CMH]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I understand when people say that Ben is a salesman and that we still need to wait and see but it saddens me too.

I guess that's what happens when as a gamer you get lied to so much.

But, honestly, there's a reason why people give Ben so much credit. I said it last year and I'll say it again this year; Ben has always come the closest to giving the fans what they want in a baseball game.

I'm not saying he's the one sitting down programming the code. But, it's extremely rare that you can take an interview from him (MVP days to MLB2k7) and find something that he lied about or didn't deliver on. He talked about MLB2k7 last year and said what he was hoping to fix. I remember that Graphics was his main priority. He talked about it for pages and pages. "I don't like how the caps sit on the player's heads." "We need to add signature style. Player authenticity." So on and so on. And he delivered.

Then as MLB2k7 was running in people's disk trays during the summer he talked about needing to fix the pitcher/batter duel, fielding, AI-decisions on and off the field. Now he's talking about it again saying that they did that.

I have a difficult time not believing him. He's never lied about stuff like that.

Everything that was an issue in MLB2k7 (exception, lineups in franchise mode) was discussed as rewritten and redone by Brinkman. I think that puts Brinkman right there with the SCEA guys that visit us. They listen to the fans and make changes.

A lot of the changes being made to 2k8 sounds like the things we saw fixed in MVP2004. Hopefully, we won't get a lefty bug

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I wonder if there is a create a player mode that you put your guy in the minors and bring him up....interesting...probably not but still, its a sick feature.

I mean, technically, you can do this. Just create a player, insert him on your A team, set GM decisions to Auto (I don't know the real term for it), and just play your A games and try and get him up. Granted, there's no way to really skip batters and such to your turn unless you go into the Manage Only mode part of the game and join back in every time he bats, and I also don't know how often your GM will promote/demote, either... but I mean it's sort of a workaround in that sense.

Does anyone think there will be 120+ stadiums in this game, or just a few authentic minor league stadiums? I would love to play in the Fresno Grizzlies stadium!

[DaoudS]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

there might be a dozen or so, it would be silly to put more than that because that space could've gone to other things

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Everything that was an issue in MLB2k7 (exception, lineups in franchise mode) was discussed as rewritten and redone by Brinkman. I think that puts Brinkman right there with the SCEA guys that visit us. They listen to the fans and make changes.

"Rocket arms" and poor CPU lineups were perhaps the only things not mentioned once in this interview. But you're right... it was a great interview, with a lot of things talked about.

there might be a dozen or so, it would be silly to put more than that because that space could've gone to other things

Well, they fit about 100 on All Star Baseball back in the PS2 days...

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

One more cool thing would be a separate TV style presentation for the minor league games overall... including the announcer booth and overlays. I have a feeling that would take up too much memory, though.

[mjb2124]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I understand when people say that Ben is a salesman and that we still need to wait and see but it saddens me too.

I guess that's what happens when as a gamer you get lied to so much.

But, honestly, there's a reason why people give Ben so much credit. I said it last year and I'll say it again this year; Ben has always come the closest to giving the fans what they want in a baseball game.

I'm not saying he's the one sitting down programming the code. But, it's extremely rare that you can take an interview from him (MVP days to MLB2k7) and find something that he lied about or didn't deliver on. He talked about MLB2k7 last year and said what he was hoping to fix. I remember that Graphics was his main priority. He talked about it for pages and pages. "I don't like how the caps sit on the player's heads." "We need to add signature style. Player authenticity." So on and so on. And he delivered.

Then as MLB2k7 was running in people's disk trays during the summer he talked about needing to fix the pitcher/batter duel, fielding, AI-decisions on and off the field. Now he's talking about it again saying that they did that.

I have a difficult time not believing him. He's never lied about stuff like that.

Everything that was an issue in MLB2k7 (exception, lineups in franchise mode) was discussed as rewritten and redone by Brinkman. I think that puts Brinkman right there with the SCEA guys that visit us. They listen to the fans and make changes.

A lot of the changes being made to 2k8 sounds like the things we saw fixed in MVP2004. Hopefully, we won't get a lefty bug

You do make some good points. In the past, I don't recall Ben stating certain features would be in a game and then those features were not. It could have happened and I missed it (I don't always watch all the interviews nor do I dissect them), but it has never been something that's "slapped me in the face".

I just know these guys have to sell games and aren't the type that will mention the problems...they'll always stay positive and mention the great things that have been fixed or implemented. That's a good salesman and that's part of developers/producers/directors job.

I would really like to see some actual gameplay videos - not canned footage. Those videos usually show a lot about the game and what has and has not changed.

[jim416]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I would really like to see some actual gameplay videos - not canned footage. Those videos usually show a lot about the game and what has and has not changed.

Yep. Ben said he was having a blast playing it. Well, need to see something real soon then.
They could still lose the PR game if they don't start showing off their game. People are still skeptical and they have lots to prove, so "show us the money". It's not too early. A simple ten second video of an outfielder taking a ball of the wall will do. Let's see the 60 fps.

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I would really like to see some actual gameplay videos - not canned footage. Those videos usually show a lot about the game and what has and has not changed.

Yep. Ben said he was having a blast playing it. Well, need to see something real soon then.
They could still lose the PR game if they don't start showing off their game. People are still skeptical and they have lots to prove, so "show us the money". It's not too early. A simple ten second video of an outfielder taking a ball of the wall will do. Let's see the 60 fps.

I mean, we'll see the 60 FPS, but when a video is uploaded and converted to say Quicktime, a lot of frames are lost. The only way to see the difference for sure is when you play it on your own TV at home.

[jim416]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Talking about the animation fixes too as there were definitely missing frames in the fielding animations.

[nyisles16]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

need to fix the lineup issue in game modes other that "single game"... as much as I think they took steps in the right direction last year, to have this "glitch" several years in a row is plain sad...

[jim416]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

need to fix the lineup issue in game modes other that "single game"... as much as I think they took steps in the right direction last year, to have this "glitch" several years in a row is plain sad...

This a big one.

[DaoudS]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Brinkman might have been referring to that glitch when he was talking about how old the code is and how its laughable that it was still used. Not getting too optimistic here but I pray that they figured out a way to fix that; it really ruins the game for franchise lovers.

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Does anyone think there will be 120+ stadiums in this game, or just a few authentic minor league stadiums? I would love to play in the Fresno Grizzlies stadium!

On second thought, I really hope they have Isotopes Park. That place is amazing!

[Spectre]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Talking about the animation fixes too as there were definitely missing frames in the fielding animations.

That was sorely needed- he was dead on, OF would run to a ball and then pick one of five or so canned animations.

I'm really happy they just blew up certain parts of the game. The hitting engine was clearly broken and now we'll get to see one that seems to more closely resemble baseball. When he mentioned which factors would go into where a ball is hit, I was very happy.

[Scooter3]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Well, they fit about 100 on All Star Baseball back in the PS2 days...

Blzer,
I just hope they let us enjoy these stadiums in Franchise & Season, Your right if ASB could fit a gazillion Future & Classic Parks plus all of today's parks into the limited space that PS2 offered, 2K shouldn't have any trouble with not enough space...

Any idea as to what % of the PS3 Blue-Ray disk is being used?

Scooter...