Major League Baseball 2K9 Hands-On Preview (IGN)

[lived]

IGN has posted their hands-on preview of Major League Baseball 2K9.

"The all-important franchise mode is also borrowing from NBA 2K9 and is home to a similar MLB.com home display. I didn't find the presentation of NBA's franchise to be all that inviting. Here's hoping that it has made some advancements. Sabermetrics are in, crazy as they may be; simming games is now faster than ever; and team and player records can be erased one at a time so you can leave your own mark on the franchise.

Player ambition -- another feature that started in NBA 2K9 -- is now in MLB 2K9's franchise mode. There are four types of concerns that you'll need to monitor: financial security, team prestige, playing for a winner, and their desire for playing time. These four meters are said to have a direct impact on a player's likelihood of accepting a given deal."

[baa7]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Hmmm...

[duke776]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Don't like the sound of Framerate issues when the ball is in play

Sigh...

...like you said, we'll just have to wait for the demo

[dorismary]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Framrate worries me since I have a ps3

[wsu_gb23]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Why do I get the feeling this is going to be 2K8 all over again? Framerate is a problem this late in development? That should have been the first thing they fixed before moving on with any other part of the game....

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Sigh...

...like you said, we'll just have to wait for the demo

The only concern I have, is there were no framerate issues in 2K8's demo, and it was galore in the final product.

Framrate worries me since I have a ps3

And as a PS3 owner, The Show is not your first option?

As for the screenshots. Still looks too "cartoony" for my tastes after playing The Show last year, and seeing it this year.

[lived]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Your forced to laugh when comparing 2k with The Show. Sony's Baseball game is literally light years ahead of 2k. Heck this year there gonna have a three man booth and for christ sakes, 2K STILL can't fix the ******* framerate

[areobee401]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Im not sure what to think to be honest

[MizzouRah]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Wow.. I actually took a lot of good from the hands-on.

While horrible frame rates would really hurt the game, it's not a finished build so maybe they will get it cleaned up before release?

Now the mechanic works like this: Make one move with the right stick and a circle fills, when it reaches its max you make the second motion with the stick. Complete those two steps (you can opt to add the third step through the menus) and your pitch should be spot-on. The difficulty of pitching raises as you progress through a game and your pitcher becomes fatigued. Of course, composure is also a factor so you'll need make sure that your setup man has the fortitude to face Ryan Howard with a man on second and third with nobody out in the eighth inning.

A third? VERY interesting...

Rather than having to perfectly time your step with the pitch and then the all-important swing, players can now simply hold down on the right analog and swing when the time is right without fear of looking like a lumberjack chopping wood. This made it much easier to tee off on balls with the big boys of the lineup. That is, once I got the timing down.

This sounds great to me.

Other aesthetic differences from MLB 2K8 include a new base throwing meter that is functionally the same as last year (meaning it's still governed by the right stick) and pitches that are identifiable thanks to a flash of color as they cross the plate.

Love the color to determine pitches.. MVP had this.

The change starts with a new duo in the booth in Gary Thorne and Steve Phillips. Almost as important is the fact that their comments will now be able to cut off when something exciting happens in the game, then pickup where they left off once things calm down. It might seem small, but the feature helped keep the two commentators from droning on needlessly.

Interesting..

2K Share feature that some might remember from NBA 2K9. It lets you give other gamers things like your settings, created players and roster settings.

Glad that's in...

MLB 2K9 has some features that baseball nuts will surely appreciate (like the ability to save in the middle of any game)

YES!!!

[Cubfan]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Gary Thorne and Steve Phillips calling the action. Hate to see the series still have frame rate issues. Hopefully they are ironed out before the game ships.

[Knight165]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Im not sure what to think to be honest

...and we won't until the FINAL version is out.(I'm not saying this directly to you)

Let's hope they iron it out.

M.K.
Knight165

[areobee401]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Funny thing is I know for a fact I will be buying this game day one. What can I say im a sucker for baseball and this is my only option. Like you said lets hope they can iron out these issues before they ship the game.

[lived]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Well, the pitches being identified by colour was in last year's game.

[roadman]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

I quit reading it when the author said he wasn't impressed with NBA 2k9's presentation.

[jeffy777]

Re: IGN 2k9 Hands On

Looks like Pitching is way too easy this year.

It says in the IGN article that you can turn on the pitching release step in the options, so you can make it harder if you want.