Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

[Steve_OS]

Here is the other Major League Baseball 2K9 video, I promised you guys. Please don't post any questions or requests, just stay on topic. More videos will be posted later.

[jeffy777]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Thank you Steve

I think my PC/browser may not like the flash player because at first it looked hitchy in some spots, but if I rewind and watch the same spot again it's smooth with no hiccups. So in this case, it's not the video itself that is hitchy (or the game). It seems to be something on my end or the player. I always pause and let the whole thing download before watching too.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Well, I've noticed a lot of repetative animations in the crowd and dugout, but that's a minor gripe. While they masked uplicate coloring and body types fairly well, the animations still sync up close by too often. The crowd still looks good overall, mind you, just an observation. Probably not something most will notice during the flow of a game anyway.

The dugout seemed stuck in a looping clapping animation, but aside from when it was focused on it during the lineup overview, I doubt it will be directly visible for that long very often, so it shouldn't prove too distracting.

My concern is (and this might sound funny) that the gameplay looks like it has the same feel as it always has. That might be a positive for many here, but I hope I can find improved core gameplay within that construct at least. Tough to tell is all.

The hit variety seemed good enough given the small sample, but the bat sound still really bugs me. That's another thing that effects the "feel" for me (it makes the hitting feel more forced, and less fluid...if that makes any sense). I know that may sound odd to plenty of people, but I know what I'm saying at least...lol. The feel of the gameplay is very important to me. Obviously hard to truly gauge from just watching it, so I'm not making any definitive judgements or anything. Just something that I'm thinking about.

The commentary and presentation still looks/sounds quite good to me, so that's another plus. There seems to be a good flow to Thorne and Phillips overall, so that's good. Obviously, it could end up repetative, but it should be at the very least a d*mn good start, IMO.

The plyer models still look good to me mostly (except the exaggerrated elbow arc...but that's really nit-picking), and the rest of the graphics will be good enough if all else is working.

The biggest plus for me so far is that, despite it being an early build, it seems to run fairly smoothly. There are a few hiccups and some transitional gaffs, but overall it looks solid enough. Hopefully it's even better come release

[wayne23]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Thank you Steve

I think my PC/browser may not like the flash player because at first it looked hitchy in some spots, but if I rewind and watch the same spot again it's smooth with no hiccups. So in this case, it's not the video itself that is hitchy (or the game). It seems to be something on my end or the player. I always pause and let the whole thing download before watching too.

Thanks Steve. Everything looks great.

Jeff I think you may be onto something. I just did the same thing you did and everything seemed alot smoother. Man there is just so much going on in the ballpark...really immersive.

[Lordcledus]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

I'm very impressed. Gameplay looked smooth, presentation has gotten a LOT better, and the game looks great appearance wise. Could be a very solid year for 2K9.

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Looks good to me, maybe us 360 owners will actually have something this year!

[jeffy777]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Jeff I think you may be onto something. I just did the same thing you did and everything seemed alot smoother. Man there is just so much going on in the ballpark...really immersive.

Glad I'm not the only one. For a second I thought maybe something was wrong with my computer or something.

Everything is much smoother when I rewind and play the choppy spots again. Looks really good

[The Bimmer]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

This could change after i rent it, but so far its a...

[King Gro23]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

looks good to me, I feel it. I think the stuff he did at 2nd to turn the double play was right except his head was looking toward home i believe. I seen No hiccups really in the bottom half of 1. I did notice in one of the beta screens, some sliders seem juiced resulting in unnatural look maybe

[metsfan75]

every thing looks really great the only thing that i saw that was weird i thought there was supposed to be 300 new signature styles but i didnt see anything diffrent with the stances

[baa7]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

The hit variety seemed good enough given the small sample

Not IMO. Still the same imbalance of flyballs and hard-hit balls to the OF, with only the occasional hard-hit groundball. Everything is scorched in 2K baseball and it has to do with the high player ratings. Lower Power and Contact ratings and you start to see the proper balance and mixture of groundballs and softly hit balls. The new vids here seem to indicate that VC spent their time on the graphics, presentation, menus and adding modes, and not this. That said, the game looks a lot better and I'm looking forward to renting it, LOL.

[rock85]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Not IMO. Still the same imbalance of flyballs and hard-hit balls to the OF, with only the occasional hard-hit groundball. Everything is scorched in 2K baseball and it has to do with the high player ratings. Lower Power and Contact ratings and you start to see the proper balance and mixture of groundballs and softly hit balls. The new vids here seem to indicate that VC spent their time on the graphics, presentation, menus and adding modes, and not this. That said, the game looks a lot better and I'm looking forward to renting it, LOL.

baa we seen TWO video's of gameplay can we at least see some more vids/play the game before we pass judgement on hit variety

[baa7]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

baa we seen TWO video's of gameplay can we at least see some more vids/play the game before we pass judgement on hit variety

Those are my initial impressions nonetheless. The other thing I'm not seeing are fouls and nubbers and rollers that go foul. I saw one foul ball, but other than that every ball that made contact with the bat was put into play -- which is another example of how the gameplay in 2K has been for years. Batters come up to the plate, and there's no extended battle with the pitcher. AB's are one-and-done for every batter. They swing, put the ball into play, and are either out or end up on base.

[jeffy777]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Those are my initial impressions nonetheless. The other thing I'm not seeing are fouls and nubbers and rollers that go foul. I saw one foul ball, but other than that every ball that made contact with the bat was put into play

There were two fouls, one in each video. The first one was a weak grounder down the first base line at the beginning of the first vid.

-- which is another example of how the gameplay in 2K has been for years. Batters come up to the plate, and there's no extended battle with the pitcher. AB's are one-and-done for every batter. They swing, put the ball into play, and are either out or end up on base.

It all depends on who's playing. The person playing in the video was swinging at almost everything, but when I play 2K7 I work the count and get some good battles with the pitcher, and the same is true when I'm pitching.

From what I've seen, hit variety in 2K9 is dependent upon pitch location and the quality of the contact made, so that's a good thing. Doesn't seem as random as in years past.

[Blzer]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Bottom 1st

Ten seconds into the video and I already have a big gripe about no-doubter foul balls having cut scenes, especially ones where you can't see the ball. It takes away from the TV atmosphere is all.

However, thirty-five seconds in, I do notice the little delay in the camera after contact, which is very nice!

Steve, would you say this is breakpoint pitching? Meaning you pick the location of where your pitch will begin moving, and end up in a different location than you set?