MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

[lived]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

One thing that worries me. A lot of singles and homeruns. The CPU had over 10 hits yet only managed 3 runs.

[ehh]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Kushgamer said they got rid of most of the old code and re-wrote it.

That's interesting, the game largely seems the same from 2K7 from the vids even though BB said the game "feels" entirely different. I know next to nothing about video game code, but wouldn't the graphics/animations, etc be part of the code? Or does code just apply to gameplay?

[PVarck31]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

That's interesting, the game largely seems the same from 2K7 from the vids even though BB said the game "feels" entirely different. I know next to nothing about video game code, but wouldn't the graphics/animations, etc be part of the code? Or does code just apply to gameplay?

I am pretty sure the code has nothing to do with the graphics.

[Betterai]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Just want to calm a few people down

This is a preview build, I've stated that many times...any quirks you see now will not be in the final build

The vids were compressed, converted and whatever transitions they go through before being posted on the net......I would not judge the game based on the quality of those videos.....

I will post some HD videos later this week, but they will be super short....

DJ Rhude

[Rebel10]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Perhaps some insight? How do you not think this is a strong base to build off? Seems fine to me.

As some of the interviews have suggested prior to 2K8's release, a lot of the code was four, five, and six years old, perhaps older as Brinkman suggested. Components of 2K6 and 2K7 felt fundamentally broken, hit selection, the physics of the ball and the bat and where balls would go after being hit, fielding elements, suspect base running components. Many of these can be tightened up, but similar to how Triple Play 2002 (which came out, remember, 2 years before MVP if my memory serves me), the mechanics of the game feel wrong... and I think that most people would agree with me about this, at least people who play a lot of baseball games over the years.

Now, I do not think that it's a lost cause so to speak. They can tweak and patch and rewrite a lot of the code to get it up to snuff, but it seems like they're doing this every year. MLB 2K7 was supposed to be "A Whole New Ball Game," which was an obvious reference to that MLB 2K6 was a horrible mess, and 2K7 was the re-emergence of the series, however aside from many of the basic flaws being fixed and the game being cleaned up, core aspects of the gameplay were goofed up (those that I mentioned above), which made for other elements to be overlooked (the broken manager mode where you could not substitute players, roster management, etc).

Most reactions to MVP 2003, the first, were of surprise. Triple Play was such a poor game that nobody was expecting EA to rebuild and completely revitalized their series... and they did. 2K7 did not ditch 2K6, which I think that it had to do to really move forward. 2K8 seems like they've started to ditch 2K6, by dumping a lot of the old code that Brinkman mentioned in interviews. However, it's three games deep into the next gen series... how long do we have to wait until they're back up to the quality of the products made four years ago? And by then, are we going to switch to the new batch of consoles and then the same excuses will be made? When MLB 2K11 appears on the Playstation 4 and the next 360, is it going to be the same story as MLB 2K6, where the game inexplicably falls in on itself and then we have to have another "three year project," before the game is up to the bar set three or four years before?

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm trashing 2K8... I'm not, I am hopefully optimistic for 2K8. However, 2K7 wasn't the "whole new ball game" that was talked about, it was an improvement of a really bad game from the year before, but when you're building on a shakey foundation (which we can all agree, 2K6 was a shakey foundation), adding more floors is not going to necessarily make anything better. With 2K8 trashing a lot of the old code, this game may be the solid foundation that the series needs, but it will be depressing to know that MLB 2K10, or whatever it is called then, will be the next baseball game to capture what another series did some five or six years previously.

Hopefully that explains my position a little bit better, and I don't want to sound like I'm trashing the series. I have a strong fondness for Brinkman, having had the opportunity to get to tap into his mind a little during the development stages of MVP '06.

[Pared]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Just want to calm a few people down

This is a preview build, I've stated that many times...any quirks you see now will not be in the final build

The vids were compressed, converted and whatever transitions they go through before being posted on the net......I would not judge the game based on the quality of those videos.....

I will post some HD videos later this week, but they will be super short....

DJ Rhude

Hey, how about some clarification on what happened with the dropped ball?

[Rebel10]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

One thing that worries me. A lot of singles and homeruns. The CPU had over 10 hits yet only managed 3 runs.

Worries me too, that's plagued a lot of baseball games in the past... even MVP w/o good sliders. I noticed the final score seemed good, given the matchups, but I think a lot of the computer's runs were on HR's... which was the story in 2K7.

[PVarck31]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Worries me too, that's plagued a lot of baseball games in the past... even MVP w/o good sliders. I noticed the final score seemed good, given the matchups, but I think a lot of the computer's runs were on HR's... which was the story in 2K7.

I wouldnt worry about it to much, it was just one game. I have had alot of games like that on the shows demo too.

[RedLine]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

FYI,

I noticed a few people mentioning that they were not sure what difficulty these games were played at and I didn't see anyone chime in so I looked at the description on the main video page and the author said they are all on All Star.

"...See the entire game which was played at All Star difficulty using the aerial and dynamic camera views, in the following videos."

This surprised me a little as it did seem a little too easy to strike out the batters. Last year in 2K7 it was much harder to strike out batters, especially good batters like Big Papi and Manny.

I realize this is just a preview build so it may not represent the difficulty we will see with the final build, we'll see.

Overall, I like what I'm seeing as this does appear to be an improvement over 2K7

[ehh]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Worries me too, that's plagued a lot of baseball games in the past... even MVP w/o good sliders.

That is definitely true for almost every baseball game I've played and what kept MVP from being a truly legendary game (I'll admit I still play it because it's fun but I don't think it's as amazing of a game as most people make it out be).

You really can't put your thumb on the cause of it, is it because most gamers don't sacrifice and play small ball? Or is it because there aren't enough slow-rollers and dribblers that allow runners to advance? I honestly have no idea, but I honestly can't think of a game that didn't have this problem to a certain extent. Those 14-hit, 2-run games are always annoying.

[Rob_NYY]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

And if you hated the commentary in 2k7, it can only be at least slightly better in 2k8, right? Try and be positive here. At the least you turn it off much like last year, similar to what someone else posted.

I don't see how it be slightly better. Philbert Brinkman said they didn't record any new commentary. Then later, he went on to say it will sound fresh because they added commentary that wasn't used last year. O RLY? I just don't see how commentary recorded 2 years ago is going to make it sound fresh.

I can't wait to hear them talking about A-Rod's 2005 season again every freaking time A-Rod comes to bat.

Like other mentioned, the best bet is to turn commentary off.

I'm hoping (wishing, praying, ect.) they go with a whole new commentary team next year to hopefully go with all new presentation.

[Betterai]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Hey, how about some clarification on what happened with the dropped ball?

User error

I was controlling the center fielder Taveras and you noticed I drifted too close to the left fielder?

Once I did that the ball indictar disappeared on the field and I lost track of where the ball was landing

I nudged Taveras a little bit too far to the left trying to guess and the ball landed to the right of me

"I got it, no you take it"

Nice touch of realism because in reality if two fielders came together, confusion would arise about who was going to catch the ball

The call off button is your friend.....

[PVarck31]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

User error

I was controlling the center fielder Taveras and you noticed I drifted too close to the left fielder?

Once I did that the ball indictar disappeared on the field and I lost track of where the ball was landing

I nudged Taveras a little bit too far to the left trying to guess and the ball landed to the right of me

"I got it, no you take it"

Nice touch of realism because in reality if two fielders came together, confusion would arise about who was going to catch the ball

The call off button is your friend.....

Good to hear, sounds like realism to me and not AI error. just a quick question for you rhude, does it still rain in domed stadiums?

[CMH]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

The ball indicator disappearing? Hmm, I like that if it's done right.

I know we heard about this with guys moving back on flyballs they couldn't see but we don't know how deep this new feature will be.

[Heelfan71]

Re: Vetzballin.com: MLB 2K8 Game of The Week: Red Sox vs. Rockies

Just watched the first 3 innings and not sure why some are complaining so much. Really like the throwing meters for the fielders, like the new cams too. Lots of foul balls too.