Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

[wookie48]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

Some things I like:

1. Commentary is soooo sweet! Love the booth guys as they are right on with all their calls

2. Gameplay is smooth as ever. The ball off the bat or the IF throw to first is smooth as glass and very natrual looking.

3. Lighting is good

4. Hitting is very organic and just feels right. the bat noiseis top shelf as well

5. Presentation is very primo. Love the crowd, the noise the cut aways and the overall broadcast is nice.

Cons

1. I hate the between innings transition. I know this wont be in the final but crap I hate it none the less

2. All the arcade options I turn off anyways but the strike zone and all the other fluff is annoying

3. Baserunning is really wierd. I figured out how to steal but overall BR is hard as crap.

4. PLayer faces and graphics are bad. I hope for the most part this was an early build but honestly the faces and the gear, as well as the game has a graphical weirdness to it. Makes me think of mlb the show 07.

5. Sig stance for a couple of players flat out suck. One that sticks out like a sore thumb was bj upton.

6. Kinda got bumbed about the HR that I hit with ibanez and the bell rung but didnt do its swinging thing and it wasnt really exciting even though it was in the 2nd and it won the game for me.

***Not really worried about some of these things, as to its a demo after all. It looks as though this was an earlier build than what steve has here at OS. I know sliders are present bt the speed of pitches was waaaaay to slow. Cant wait for the final build. I have both PS3 and 360so the show and 2k are getting bought this year first day

[Heelfan71]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

Game is a lot better than last year. Nice frame rate too. Not sure what is going on with the demo but the steals are just crazy. Wish we could change the camera angles and hitting and pitching interfaces though.

Graphics are decent, not as good as The Show. I do like the announcing better in MLB than I do in THe Show though.

[therizing02]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

This stinks; the demo is no longer available.

I went to MLB 2K9 in the list of demos. MLB 2K7 shows 2K9's box art, 2K9 has is listed but shows a a blank box, and the 2K9 demo is listed as "content unavailable."

This sucks.

Brendan,

When I went to get the demo this am I saw the same message. Go to the game and select "All downloads" and it should be there. That's how I got it.

Good luck.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

1. I hate the between innings transition. I know this wont be in the final but crap I hate it none the less

Wookie, I think that's going to remain. I think they are shooting for an in between feel where you transition from commercials to game. I like the flow of it where the audion blends back in, giving the feel like you got back just in time.

[jzal8]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

Alright, my impressions from two games this morning.

+ I was very impressed by the presentation. There was alot of talk about bringing in a broadcast feel and thats exactly what it has. Only played two games but both times the "broadcast" opened up with something different, once zoomed in on ryan howard stretching talking about how he was going to be a difference maker in the game, and once on the bell in the outfield with a little blurb on philly. Every bit of presentation added to the television broadcast feel. Especially, at the end of the side of an inning they break almost like they are going to commercial. My initial concern was this could really slow things down and get old fast, but i was able to shuffle through fairly fast after I had seen it a few times.

+ The pitching controls were new to me since I hadnt played 2k baseball since mlb 2k7. Would have really been nice to get a tip available on it, but after getting shelled the whole first game (9-0 in three innings) I finally figured it out, and think it may have potential.

+ I am not much of a graphics/framerate/player model expert, so from my average next gen gamer opinion I think the graphics look pretty good. I wouldnt say its on the level of where the best of the best games on 360 are at, but i still think it looks next gen and beautiful on my plasma. I'm more of a fan in general of EA graphics than 2k. I don't know why, but I have the impression that 2k graphics arent as smooth.

+ Vartiety of hits are great. Using the left stick to aim your hits seems to be nice as well.

+ Climb this wall is no longer a canned automatic operation like it was in 2k7. I haven't pulled one off but you get the sense it takes a great deal more timing and skill.

+ I've read a number of comments about the stadium feeling small. My impression is just the opposite. I felt as the the stadium was really large on deep hits.

- *I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere yet, I may have missed it. I can pick off anyone on first or second who takes more than a one step lead. In my second game, all three batters hit singles, and I picked off all three batters on my first try. Is anyone else seeing this? Someone mentioned this demo may be on an easy difficulty level. If so, its not a big concern I guess. But even on easy difficulty levels, you'd imagine it wouldnt be this easy.

- It may because I am a loser or I suck haha, but I am definitely not a fan at all of the strike box disapearing during the pitch. In mlb2k7 that was how I was able to really judge where the ball was coming in at. Now I understand that in real life there is no box and judging the pitch is apart of the game, but without that box I have a hard time even telling what it should have been after the call has been made.

- May be a demo thing, but I don't see HR feet displayed and I don't always see mph after a pitch.

- Catcher didnt seem to call a variety of pitches or pitch locations. More playing time, and playing with the real game will be needed to pass absolute judgment, but it was an impression I came away with.

Overall, I like the game, and I'll be interested to see if we get some comments from 2k on any of the generally noticed complaints. As an xbox360 only owner and casual baseball fan, it will take a gamebreaker to keep me from getting this. My itch to play a season with the mets is just something I need to scratch. I came away from the demo with confidence that this game will be fun, and ultimately that will be enough for me.

[kGinGreen]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

this thread is great. Everyone is all over the place. Some love hitting, some hate hitting, some think you get call K's, some think you never get called K's. And on and on and on.....

I havnt played it yet since im working, I always hate it when people give a 1 sided view. No game is ever a 10 and no game is ever a 0. If you cant find one pro or con in your opinion, then your only looking for the good or bad.....and your opinion offers no value and even less credibility

i aprieciate the people who are posting both pros and cons. Keep it up :righton:

I don't see how if someone really likes a game that gives them less credibility. Maybe we are right? I can see wanting to hear pluses and minuses but I also think sometimes people just nitpick things that aren't even there. If someones pointing out pluses and minuses for the sake of pointing out pluses and minuses that arent there does that give them credibility? I have no problem calling out things if there are issues. nba 2k9 there were several positives and negatives with that game. I'm sure this game isn't perfect and things will crop up, but so far it's really good imo.

One thing I like is it seems to really matter how you throw a pitch. If you hit it just right you will see the AI take the pitch or swing and miss. One thing i'm not completely sold on is the fielding seems kind of lacklluster but we will see. I've seen some cool animations in the videos. The hitting also seems to be a bit arcadish. Overall to me it seems like 2k has found a good balance between sim and arcade play with great presentation and really solid gameplay. I can understand people being sick of 2k but this game is a huge improvement over 2k8 imo and received a complete overhaul from the presentation to the gameplay. People are weird and are just going to complain regardless imo. I really think some people are just sick of 2k and went into this game just with an attitude that they were going to find any issue they could and hang their hat on it. The game is really good.

[boomhauertjs]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

I just found a work around for people having problems with XBox Live.

Sign into your XBOX.com account and add the demo to your queue. As soon as you power up your XBOX 360, it will start to download (as it is for me right now)!

Thanks for the tip. If only I could train one of our cats to turn on the Xbox, it would be downloaded when I got home from work!

[nyisles16]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

Alright, my impressions from two games this morning.

+ I was very impressed by the presentation. There was alot of talk about bringing in a broadcast feel and thats exactly what it has. Only played two games but both times the "broadcast" opened up with something different, once zoomed in on ryan howard stretching talking about how he was going to be a difference maker in the game, and once on the bell in the outfield with a little blurb on philly. Every bit of presentation added to the television broadcast feel. Especially, at the end of the side of an inning they break almost like they are going to commercial. My initial concern was this could really slow things down and get old fast, but i was able to shuffle through fairly fast after I had seen it a few times.

+ The pitching controls were new to me since I hadnt played 2k baseball since mlb 2k7. Would have really been nice to get a tip available on it, but after getting shelled the whole first game (9-0 in three innings) I finally figured it out, and think it may have potential.

+ I am not much of a graphics/framerate/player model expert, so from my average next gen gamer opinion I think the graphics look pretty good. I wouldnt say its on the level of where the best of the best games on 360 are at, but i still think it looks next gen and beautiful on my plasma. I'm more of a fan in general of EA graphics than 2k. I don't know why, but I have the impression that 2k graphics arent as smooth.

+ Vartiety of hits are great. Using the left stick to aim your hits seems to be nice as well.

+ Climb this wall is no longer a canned automatic operation like it was in 2k7. I haven't pulled one off but you get the sense it takes a great deal more timing and skill.

+ I've read a number of comments about the stadium feeling small. My impression is just the opposite. I felt as the the stadium was really large on deep hits.

- *I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere yet, I may have missed it. I can pick off anyone on first or second who takes more than a one step lead. In my second game, all three batters hit singles, and I picked off all three batters on my first try. Is anyone else seeing this? Someone mentioned this demo may be on an easy difficulty level. If so, its not a big concern I guess. But even on easy difficulty levels, you'd imagine it wouldnt be this easy.

- It may because I am a loser or I suck haha, but I am definitely not a fan at all of the strike box disapearing during the pitch. In mlb2k7 that was how I was able to really judge where the ball was coming in at. Now I understand that in real life there is no box and judging the pitch is apart of the game, but without that box I have a hard time even telling what it should have been after the call has been made.

- May be a demo thing, but I don't see HR feet displayed and I don't always see mph after a pitch.

- Catcher didnt seem to call a variety of pitches or pitch locations. More playing time, and playing with the real game will be needed to pass absolute judgment, but it was an impression I came away with.

Overall, I like the game, and I'll be interested to see if we get some comments from 2k on any of the generally noticed complaints. As an xbox360 only owner and casual baseball fan, it will take a gamebreaker to keep me from getting this. My itch to play a season with the mets is just something I need to scratch. I came away from the demo with confidence that this game will be fun, and ultimately that will be enough for me.

Good point about the stadium. I felt that it was plenty big myself, considering all the doubles smacked around on me :wink:

The only thing I noticed which is odd is the rundown sequence. I managed to get in a pickle, but no one really "chased me" down - basically it was two guys standing on bases and throwing the ball back and forth

[dlasp66]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

I don't see how if someone really likes a game that gives them less credibility. Maybe we are right? I can see wanting to hear pluses and minuses but I also think sometimes people just nitpick things that aren't even there. I have no problem calling out things if there are issues. nba 2k9 there were several positives and negatives with that game. I'm sure this game isn't perfect and things will crop up, but so far it's really good imo.

One thing I like is it seems to really matter how you throw a pitch. If you hit it just right you will see the AI take the pitch or swing and miss. One thing i'm not completely sold on is the fielding seems kind of lacklluster but we will see. I've seen some cool animations in the videos. Overall to me it seems like 2k has found a good balance between sim and arcade play with great presentation and really solid gameplay. I can understand people being sick of 2k but this game is a huge improvement over 2k8 imo and received a complete overhaul from the presentation to the gameplay. People are weird and are just going to complain regardless imo. I really think some people are just sick of 2k and went into this game just with an attitude that they were going to find any issue they could and hang their hat on it. The game is really good.

hahha yea like people nitpicking about the clouds moving too fast (i tried looking for this and havent seen it yet)

[dlasp66]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

The thing that really disappoints me is the way outfielders run on trying to catch up to a fly ball

[kGinGreen]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

has anyone noticed how smooth the framerates are in the demo? This game is silky smooth.

[kGinGreen]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

The thing that really disappoints me is the way outfielders run on trying to catch up to a fly ball

yeah the fielding is a little bit disapointing. they still do that slow jog and then speed up. I don't really mind that though. it's not a big deal. The way guys run in general could use some work.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

The thing that really disappoints me is the way outfielders run on trying to catch up to a fly ball

Do you mean the slow approach? I don't like that either. I thought they fixed it but seems like it's still there where they seem almost not interested and then make a quick break on it.

A few control questions, if someone could answer.

How do you call off a ball?

How do you call off a pitch and switch location? I'm hitting A and it selects a new pitch, but how do you position the catcher's mit?

How do you steal?

thanks!

[Blzer]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

As a PS3 gamer, I'm having second thoughts about downloading the demo for this game so I can reserve all judgment for the final version when it comes to renting it. I don't want to be too disappointed to rent it, and I am fully ready to justify my eight dollars spent regardless of the game's quality.

[kGinGreen]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

called strikes are definately tied to how well you throw the pitch. you throw a perfect pitch and you will get a lot more called strikes and swinging misses. I've also had batters chase balls out of the zone this way.