2K8 Brinkman Interview

[Spectre]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I read the part about the 90 minor league teams, but I didn't see anything about authentic minor league stadiums. Is this true? If so, I am so hyped!

But, in MVP they had a few minor league stadiums for AAA and AA. And only 1 stadium for A ball.

Either way, this game sounds great!

They're not going to have all of the minor league stadiums, but some of them. Space wise, that'd be too ambitious but maybe we'll eventually see that. Even a few authentic minor league parks will be great.

[CMH]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Yep. That was one of my main gripes about the game. Too many times I'd hit a ball and the result didn't match where the ball hit the bat. Or I'd be pitching to the CPU and throw a nice pitch and the result didn't match what should have happened (ie: sinker low and away to a RH hitter with little power that was golfed out to LF).

Yep, this problem made pitching a crap shoot in the game.

You couldn't realistically pitch to a player's weakness or to a count because it didn't matter.

I can't count the times I'd be up 1-2 on a hitter and watch him hit a splitter near the dirt into the stands. I mean, I can understand it happening once in a while with a Vlad up to plate. But, not Jorge Cantu.

It also rendered the cutter useless. You'd try to jam a hitter tight and inside and said hitter would jack the pitch the opposite field with authority. That just shouldn't happen ever.

If this stuff is fixed then strikeouts will be more realistic and perhaps foul balls will increase just as a result of the engine being forced into realism.

[UncleMo]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

.......And still no denial or confirmation of PC platform.........

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

.......And still no denial or confirmation of PC platform.........

I'm guessing this won't be a reality, but only time will tell.

[boomhauertjs]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Everything sounds good to me, except for the hitting system. I wasn't a big fan of MVP 2005's hitting - there were too many weak grounders and soft lineouts. Hopefully, they'll find the right balance.

[CMH]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Everything sounds good to me, except for the hitting system. I wasn't a big fan of MVP 2005's hitting - there were too many weak grounders and soft lineouts. Hopefully, they'll find the right balance.

Honestly, that's probably because you weren't too good at it.

And I don't mean that in a degrading way because I absolutely sucked when it came to MVP2005's hitting system.

But I found it the most realistic because it punished you for bad swinging decisions.

[StriderNo9]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I like that they finally rewrote the hitting code. I think thats what broke the game for me, that plus new gameplay angles

[bukktown]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Everything sounds good to me, except for the hitting system. I wasn't a big fan of MVP 2005's hitting - there were too many weak grounders and soft lineouts. Hopefully, they'll find the right balance.

Just out of curiosity, did you like the hitting system in MLB 2k7?

[JaSnake16]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

You couldn't realistically pitch to a player's weakness or to a count because it didn't matter.

I can't count the times I'd be up 1-2 on a hitter and watch him hit a splitter near the dirt into the stands. I mean, I can understand it happening once in a while with a Vlad up to plate. But, not Jorge Cantu.

It also rendered the cutter useless. You'd try to jam a hitter tight and inside and said hitter would jack the pitch the opposite field with authority. That just shouldn't happen ever.

If this stuff is fixed then strikeouts will be more realistic and perhaps foul balls will increase just as a result of the engine being forced into realism.

I agree totally as IMO this was the most frustrating part of last years game post patch. I think the patch helped last years game tremendously as gameplay improved 100 fold. That just made me excited going forward and hopefully Brinkman's crew really tightened things up like he claimed in the interview. Oh well "In Ben, we trust"

[brudjazz]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

"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.


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

I didn't see really that many improvements being mentioned. What about the gameplay (pitchers getting walks, realistic homerun numbers)? Seems to me he spruced up the graphics and the crowd (though the crowd STILL has the stupid repeating images in it) and added some new "features". They can't help themselves, can they?

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

I didn't see really that many improvements being mentioned. What about the gameplay (pitchers getting walks, realistic homerun numbers)? Seems to me he spruced up the graphics and the crowd (though the crowd STILL has the stupid repeating images in it) and added some new "features". They can't help themselves, can they?

Brinkman was never really specific the entire interview, but the way he spoke in general terms lead people to expect that he means the pitching and hitting issues are fixed. Chances are, they aren't... that said, I understand where you're coming from with your statement. But there was nothing in this interview that led us to believe these other two main issues were fixed. At least the other ones perhaps have hope.

[brudjazz]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Blzer, I really don't think producers have any real intention of producing a realistic baseball product. If they did, there would be an animation-based version of OOTP by now. I just wish they'd admit in their interviews that their products are going to be based around customization.

[wookie48]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Just out of curiosity, did you like the hitting system in MLB 2k7?

I loved the concept of the hitting system in mlb2k7. The swing stick was great, just unrealistic. If the response was true to the motion of the stick then this would of have been hands down the sweetest thing. But it wasnt, so it sucked!

[Blzer]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

Here's what I don't understand (and perhaps someone can help me out here). Obviously, they have to know that, out of the box, this game just isn't at all close to realistic. Of course, with sliders, they give us the ability to attempt and make it as realistic as possible. Well, why don't they just tweak the insides themselves to make it as realistic as possible with everything at 50? Of course, pitch speed is a different story... but everything else should be at 50. If it's still not right, then we'll tweak it the rest of the way (or based on how advanced we are as gamers). But I really just don't see the reason for them not doing it this way.

They can still have their defaults with Rookie, Pro, All-Star, and Legend... but right in the middle, all 50's should play very nicely out of the box.

[MizzouRah]

Re: 2K8 Brinkman Interview

.......And still no denial or confirmation of PC platform.........

I can't CONFIRM anything, but I SERIOUSLY doubt there will be a pc game. Has 2k sports EVER released a pc game?