Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

[hitstreak13]

IGN has posted their hands-on preview of Major League Baseball 2K10.

"The single clutch moment I played had my double-A team down one run with two men on in the bottom of the ninth. All I had to do was slap a single into the outfield and we'd win the game. Well, it didn't happen, but the potential was there for an exciting moment. Aside from standard games, you'll also take part in drills to build your attribute points."

[tj1182]

Re: Hands on preview

"The last new feature that was shown to me was also one of the coolest, provided it can be tuned properly. It's called Hurry-up Baseball"

Ummm...this was in last years game.

[hitstreak13]

Re: Hands on preview

Franchise Mode has seen a few revisions as well, though my time was mainly spent tinkering with the core gameplay. Your season now starts in spring training where you'll be charged with whittling a 40-man roster down to 25 to start the season.

I wonder if they got rid of Single A clubs. I hope not.

[Blzer]

Re: Hands on preview

John Kruk has been added? I think that if he can sound lively and mesh well with Thorne and Phillips, I'm all for it... but I don't know if I've ever heard him call a baseball game, I've only seen him on Baseball Tonight.

I think TrevyTrev will like the defensive swing mechanic, and it sounds appropriate with the control gesture you have to do. I hope they worked on cursor hitting, though... I'd much prefer that over the swing stick if there's no left stick skill for making contact.

I have no desire to play My Player mode, but I think it's kind of nice how it really wants you to progress far into it instead of playing every game, so hopefully people will post about being in their sixth year, blah blah.

No real mention of a new HUD or upgrades to real time presentation (including camera angles). I don't think this is the year for me to look at renting 2K10 and at least be pleased by it, but I certainly hope that this is a playable game for 360 owners this year.

"The last new feature that was shown to me was also one of the coolest, provided it can be tuned properly. It's called Hurry-up Baseball"

Ummm...this was in last years game.

So was throwing with the face buttons (as I recall in the demo). I don't think Ahearn played last year's game much, but I don't blame him.

[tj1182]

Re: Hands on preview

That was a horrible Hands on. No mention if they changed the animations. Last year all the players moved like robots together when the game was over or the end of an inning.

I could care less about the my player mode. I just to play a season without getting annoyed by all the bugs.

[kcxiv]

Re: Hands on preview

John Kruk has been added? I think that if he can sound lively and mesh well with Thorne and Phillips, I'm all for it... but I don't know if I've ever heard him call a baseball game, I've only seen him on Baseball Tonight.

I think TrevyTrev will like the defensive swing mechanic, and it sounds appropriate with the control gesture you have to do. I hope they worked on cursor hitting, though... I'd much prefer that over the swing stick if there's no left stick skill for making contact.

I have no desire to play My Player mode, but I think it's kind of nice how it really wants you to progress far into it instead of playing every game, so hopefully people will post about being in their sixth year, blah blah.

No real mention of a new HUD or upgrades to real time presentation (including camera angles). I don't think this is the year for me to look at renting 2K10 and at least be pleased by it, but I certainly hope that this is a playable game for 360 owners this year.



So was throwing with the face buttons (as I recall in the demo). I don't think Ahearn played last year's game much, but I don't blame him.

Dude had no clue about baseball and what to look for is the thing i got from that article.

I am sure you can still swing left and right, its just flicking left and right goes into a defensive swing, pulling back and going diagonal up are 2 different things.


We have to see though, i just dont think this dude really had a clue about the game of baseball.

[Blzer]

Re: Hands on preview

Oh, and I'm concerned about the Batter's Eye thing. I always turn it off because it doesn't work realistically. In years past, we get to see where the ball is before the pitch even comes (same with The Show). As a baseball player, if you guess the correct half of the plate and the right pitch, you'll hit it hard yourself. You don't need to be told that it's coming, you just have to be set up beforehand and literally look for only that pitch. We should be rewarded ourselves for looking for that pitch, not having some pre-determined calculations take place for us, especially if they let us cheat and tell us that we're correct before the pitch actually comes in.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Hands on preview

Since MVP Baseball 2005, every game based on the sport has been a disappointment for me. Simply put, nothing has been as fun as what EA Sports was able to produce before 2K Sports snatched up the Major League Baseball license, the same way EA Sports did with the NFL license.

Really guy, really?

Come on now, Nostalgia is a wonderful thing, but this is because you don't want to enjoy other games.

While My Player is wonderful to have, it seems like a different approach to what MLB: The Show (Sony's baseball title) has done in recent years more than a truly original idea.

Huh? After reading your short preview on it, it sounds EXACTLY like RTTS, and not "a different approach".

This guys sounds "out of touch".

The last new feature that was shown to me was also one of the coolest, provided it can be tuned properly. It's called Hurry-up Baseball and it allows you to skip all those annoying cutscenes and replays that you'd usually have to tap A (or X on PS3) to get through.

Ok I read enough. IGN, get a guy who values sports especially baseball, cause this guy seems to care less, and the coolest feature to him is "fast play" (The Show). Really now.

That is the only letdown from these big corporate sites that are not genre focused like Operation Sports. You get the guy who isnt into sports games, hanging on to nostalgia when there is many sports games after that game just as good, if not better, doing previews/reviews. Gamespot is guilty of this too.

[kcxiv]

Re: Hands on preview

That was a horrible Hands on. No mention if they changed the animations. Last year all the players moved like robots together when the game was over or the end of an inning.

I could care less about the my player mode. I just to play a season without getting annoyed by all the bugs.

Signature Styles and a new Motion Model ensure every pitch, swing, catch, throw, steal and slide looks and feels like you’re at the ballpark.

I think they did something with them.

[Blzer]

Re: Hands on preview

Dude had no clue about baseball and what to look for is the thing i got from that article.

I am sure you can still swing left and right, its just flicking left and right goes into a defensive swing, pulling back and going diagonal up are 2 different things.


We have to see though, i just dont think this dude really had a clue about the game of baseball.

No no, I understand how the defensive swing mechanic works, but what I'm saying is that the swing stick in general always used the left stick to influence what kind of hit you wanted, and not so much where you were placing the bat (zone hitting). That's the reason I want to jump to cursor if I play this game, but I don't want such an obstructive graphic.

[bodhiball]

Re: Hands on preview

"the visuals have taken a bit of a hit"

thats a little disappointing...but I guess expected if they wanted to fix the framerate.

Oddly he never mentioned some of what I thought were the biggest issues in last years game...does the AI batter swing at everything? Is it too easy to pinpoint your pitches? Is it a HR fest?

[hitstreak13]

Re: Hands on preview

Im glad they added the 40 man roster this year. I am strictly an offline franchise guy so I hope they implemented this correctly (60 day DL). I also am praying they added Rule 5, arbitration, etc.

[ShowTyme15]

Re: Hands on preview

I just hope we get total control when editing players. Also I hope they got rid of player edit limitations. That was what kept me from buying this game last year. It sounds promising so we'll see what happens.

[jeffy777]

Re: Hands on preview

Sheesh, this what I don't like about IGN. They need to get a guy who actually has a clue about baseball video games. I'm looking forward to what OS has to say about this game when they get their hands on it because this IGN article is ridiculous.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: Hands on preview

I don't know why they give these games to people who clearly don't get what baseball is about. Drooling over a fast-play/hurry-up mode over anything else is crazy.

There are some good things to glean from this...from the obvious MLB Today and My Player features to the mention of 40-man rosters and addition of defensive swings (which they had in 2K7, I believe...press up on the swing stick).

Not sure I how I feel about Kruk. If it's a "throw to the booth" kind of deal, fine...but 3-man commentary is overrated and I don't know about him doing games/color. We'll see though...commentary is the least of my concerns either way.

Some concerns for me are the graphical hit (I thought 2K9's graphics were generally fine, but textures ranged from pretty mediocre to horrible and colors tended to be a bit washed out) and the fact that they wasted time dumbing down the pitching controls even further. Seriously...what's the point of selecting the pitch with the face button other than to avoid the missed gesture penalty? It adds an unnecessary step. IMO, if you couldn't grasp the pitching controls from 2K9, then you have no hope anyway...lol.

I'm not too concerned with the fact that there was no insight on gameplay, AI, and animation details/improvements as it's clear the reviewer had limited time with the game and wouldn't have known what to look for anyway.

At least it's some info though.