MLB 2K11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (PS3/360)

[jeffy777]

Quote: Originally Posted by jeffy777

I just bumped my profile up to Hard, and wow it does indeed make a huge difference, as others have said. Much more challenging all around. There's virtually no fielder assist on contact, which is nice for those who want total control of the fielding. It's also nice to see the user pitching accuracy go way down, which shows that the pitching accuracy slider is definitely going to be effective, so that's good. Both these things seem to indicate that sliders should be very helpful this year in regards to tuning the gameplay to our individual tastes and skill levels. Another general positive I noticed is that the AI will now occasionally throw balls out of the zone to opposing pitchers. In 2K10, when your pitcher came to the plate you'd never see anythng except strikes, so it's good to see yet another issue that has been fixed. In terms of graphics, The only thing that bothers me is the jagged shadows. I know it doesn't affect gameplay, but I was really hoping they'd be gone this year. Hopefully the retail version is smoother in that department, but it's not a game killer IMO. Gameplay comes first for me.

Just to build on this after playing more on on Hard: it is extremely refreshing to pitch and not have your pitches always go exactly where you want them to. I love the challenge. I really liked the pitching mechanic last year, but quickly got burned out on the pitching in general because of the super accuracy. Now that I've seen what the difficulty adjustments can do for the pitching in a general way, I can tell that I'm going to really enjoy the pitching this year. Same goes for hitting, fielding, and baserunning. I'm looking forward to playing with the difficulty sliders and finding the right balance.

[Shock6822]

Anyone by chance know when/if the demo will be available for non-Xbox Live Gold members? I'd check but I'm not at home right now.

[BlackBetty15]

Here are my honest opinions of 1. What I think thus far of the demo and 2. What we can hopefully expect.

First and foremost, I have played the heck out of both the "other" baseball demo and 2k11. With both demo's, the same can be said for them both as far as visuals and little hiccups regarding framerate. I believe russell said thier game demo was from a december build which leaves me no doubt that this was the same case with 2k11. That said, the retail impressions from the "other" game are thufar VERY positive regarding the visuals and framerate hiccups so I believe the same will be said with 2k11's retail version.

1. Sliders, sliders, sliders... It seems to me this game is gonna be so much slider dependant to get what I want out of it. Luckily for us there are tons of slider adjustments for us to tinker with. The one I like the most is the USER pitch speed which I hope CPU pitch speed is offered. But from the mound perspective, the pitch is goin way to slow. If I could speed it up then a ton of realistic movements and speed perception improvements can be had.

2. Camera...I hate that they chose such poor camera options to show us their product this year. The default hitting camera is so bad. I know for a fact this can be changed so I am not worried about this aspect as to the one I use really brings out the pitcher/batter battle and its a realistic perception of incoming pitches. Similar to the shows catcher 3 or 4 camera. The pitcher camera is just the default cam so I think that the variable broadcast cams that are supposed to be implemented should bring this game out a bit. As it is the default camera really highlights everything I hated about 2k10. I really wish they would have taken an idea from the show and let us move the pitch meter around instead of having RIGHT IN THE WAY of the batter. Call me crazy but I liek to see the K in its entirety. The fielding cam is a bit erratic from the user side of the house. It seems like instead of panning out to a medium view to capture all the play, 2K tries to get a little closer which forces the camera to whip a bit. This is a bummer just because when this happens we as players miss a bit of the action and it kinda takes away fro the game IMO. The hitting camera (user) is neat, I do like the perspective on this. I just hope the retail version is cleaner than the demo.

3. hitting/pitching...love both aspects of this game. I love the hit variety and the new tailing and line shots in the game. Again I am gonna either have to change some settings or sliders to see if I can change up those "weak floater" hits. Its really not that big a deal though for me. The pitching is always good in this game and now with the K zone variable and the pitcher deifferentiation, it really makes it fun. I feel the difference between derek holland and brandon webb. Like I said earlier though, user pitch speed slider, movement, and camera settings are gonna be HUGE in making this worth anything. The demo really takes a crap on it as it is now.

4. Fielding...I ahve had some errors which is nice and some good plays here and there. I am really gonna have to play the retail version to see the end product as to this really didnt showcase a ton which in a demo that is what I expected, a little but not a lot.

5. Graphics...ok this is really to each their own kinda deal. FOr me its a big deal. The show has great graphics but just like anyone else they fail at certain areas and its no different here. Someone on here really complained about the sig style batting stances which is laughable to me simply becasue the "other" game actually used the Batting stance guy and a ton of his animations are still there! Even the ones they have redone are hit and misses for quite a few players...I mean josh ahmiltons stance isnt even close so really, in this department its all in the eye of the beholder. In my opinion, the sig syles in 2K are some of the best in the business. Now I will absolutley FURIOUS if adrian Beltre, alfonso soriano, and jorge cantu's stance are still the stupid generic stances instead fo having their actual sig i the game. THAT will absolutley have me in the modd for midget tossing. But I have faith. Some faces look great, while others....well...they look like my daughter drew them. (not THAT bad but you get the point) For the greater good though 2k did do a pretty good job this year with the faces and bodies. The manager glasses issue...look, if you dont have the glasses in the game, then just dont put crap on the manager faces!!!! I hate seeing Ron Wash in "shooter" glasses. Its like there is a firing range at the mound! No specs are better than what is there now. Ballparks look really good, hopefully the retail is ironed a bit to where the jaggies and grahpics mess is not there. I know the show had some glaring issues that werent present in the retail version so I am sure this is the same.

I think demo's are kind of a mess to begin with so I am not looking into the "state" of the game resting on this demo alone. I mean, when the other games demo hit, bad news was abundant for it fro awhile or at least until today when retail copies were being played and after the impressions on those, that game is all hyped up now so to put a ton of expectations on a demo...especially from 2k, and wanting it to be everything you hoped for is kinda ignorant. What we got was a small taste and if you look at the videos that a****uate the gameplay (playervsplayer) you already see a HUGE difference. I think whats really goin on is that people are on the fence about this game and whats worse is 2K REFUSES to interact with the community. Ronnie is literally peggy from that ******** credit card commercial and the quality of product that we have recieved from 2K is comparable only to KIA vehicles in the early 2001 to 2006. However JUST LIKE KIA, I believe they have turned it around this year and wil deliver. Will a ton of user adjustments have to be made to get the gameplay we want? Absolutley. As of right now this game looks like a winner and will be a day one purchase. (A ton of stinking player edits are gonna have to be done as player gear is all messed up as per 2K normality)

[phillyfan23]

does the game have ZONE hitting ?

[DirtyJerz32]

Thanks for the info on the difficulties.

I'm gonna say two things.

1. This a fun baseball game and I think with sliders it will be more challenging if we want it to be. Hopefully the sliders work.

2. Except for the shadows on the player faces (so jaggy) this would be a very good kicking video game.

[jeffy777]

Quote: Originally Posted by Shock6822

Anyone by chance know when/if the demo will be available for non-Xbox Live Gold members? I'd check but I'm not at home right now.

I think it's usually a week after the demo is released.

Quote: Originally Posted by phillyfan23

does the game have ZONE hitting ?

No. It's timing only, with directional influence on the left stick (left/right pulling the ball or going for the opposite field, or up for a sac fly).

Quote: Originally Posted by DirtyJerz32

Thanks for the info on the difficulties. I'm gonna say two things. 1. This a fun baseball game and I think with sliders it will be more challenging if we want it to be. Hopefully the sliders work. 2. Except for the shadows on the player faces (so jaggy) this would be a very good kicking video game.

Totally agree on both points.

[DirtyJerz32]

Why can't I steal?!?!?!?

[jeffy777]

Quote: Originally Posted by DirtyJerz32

Why can't I steal?!?!?!?

On Hard difficulty? Yeah, it's REALLY tricky on hard, lol...but pretty easy on Normal/Pro. When I get the game, I'll probably set the sliders somewhere in between for stealing.