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

[spankdatazz22]

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

Really liking the demo. Demo doesn't go anywhere near far enough to explain the controls, but the more I play the more I get the hang of things.

+ Commentary is simply superb. Fantastic job
+ Like the scale of the field and players
+ Animations can be kinda wonky at times, but think they're very good for the most part. Glad they retained the OF catching. Seems to be sort of an auto-strafe on fly balls; would be nice to be able to do it on demand
+ So happy meatballs are gone. Kinda miss seeing how close I nailed the pitch motion though. Now that I'm being more effective by not trying to fire everything full blast, seeing some depth
+ Love the crowds and real-time atmosphere
+ Lots of hit variety
+ tv style presentation makes watching cpu vs. cpu games enjoyable (could be my imagination, but even seems like I'm noticing more "in the batter's box" anims than I see when playing the cpu for some reason)

- Lighting is better than 2K8, but still not as pronounced as I'd like. Graphics overall are clean but nothing mind blowing
- Almost certainty tweaks will be necessary to increase pitch counts
- Sig Styles don't stand out much in the demo
- lack of tutorial info in the demo

Overall it seems it'll be a very enjoyable game and a nice improvement over 2K8. The demo is somewhat gimped w/the lack of replays and other things; the full game should shine that much more with everything "turned on"

[dave_sz]

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

One question: as someone who didn't buy MLB 2k8, can someone explain to me the pitching and how it works?

Thanks.

very easy actually. You have the pitches on the side and each pitch has a start motion. For example fast ball is down then up(no need to press up at all though) so press and hold down til the circle gets as big as possible, then release to let the ball go. Left stick of course controls location....

[dave_sz]

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

Oh no! Already talks of needed slider tweaking? That's definitely not signs of a good game. Good luck.

Umm, every game needs sliders to make it play right for the specific player. Show is the same...

[~Guru~]

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

Dammm Price is the bomb...I am mowing em down with Price.....

THis demo is nice after you get use to the controls....


PS

do you guys run it on 720p or 1080p

I heard that games should always be run on native for best possible experience

[Eski33]

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

very easy actually. You have the pitches on the side and each pitch has a start motion. For example fast ball is down then up(no need to press up at all though) so press and hold down til the circle gets as big as possible, then release to let the ball go. Left stick of course controls location....

In simpler terms, each pitch has a two step process. You no longer need to use step 2. Just press the direction of step 1. Hold it until that big yellow ball fills up and let go...

[Bumble14]

I wanted to play the demo extensively before chiming in, and after 15-20 games I think I am ready to give my pros and cons of the demo. As a preface let me say that I am a fan of any good baseball games. I love the sport more than anything, and baseball games are my bread and butter. I am completely objective, and play no favorites.

First the Positives:

+ Hitting feels great, and the ball off bat physics seem pretty realistic.

+ I think the commentary could be the best I've ever heard in a sports game.

+ I'm not a huge fan of the analog pitching mechanic, but I enjoyed it in the demo.

+Presentation was nice, nothing spectacular, but a huge step up from other 2K baseball games.

Now for the Negatives:

- Fielding is an absolute mess. There are some serious issues with outfielders slowing down when fielding, and it feels as if you lose control of your fielders in certain situations.

Also, try running in circles with an outfielder if you miss a ball- for some reason the game speeds your player up and there are animation chops that look like you are reenacting some sort of Benny Hill chase sketch. There are some serious issues with fielding in this demo.

-Already encountered 2 glitches. #1 You can pick anyone off as long as they take a 2 step lead. Try it- it's automatic. #2 The CPU can't hit breaking pitches.

-Once you get the hang of hitting the game becomes a homerun derby.


Overall Impressions:

Pitching and hitting are great, but fielding is terrible. I want to like this game because of how much fun I have hitting and pitching, but the fielding issues-specifically the player control issues- have me thinking about sitting this year out.

I really hope the pickoff and curveball glitches are just demo issues- these could be gamebreakers for some.

[Brooklynnets24]

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

Umm, every game needs sliders to make it play right for the specific player. Show is the same...

the shows 08 was fine on default

[kGinGreen]

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

Dammm Price is the bomb...I am mowing em down with Price.....

THis demo is nice after you get use to the controls....


PS

do you guys run it on 720p or 1080p

I heard that games should always be run on native for best possible experience

Hey Guru, I've figured out the subs and everything else came back to me pretty quick, but could you please tell me how to dive? and steal, advance individual runners? I cant figure t hose 3 things out.

[kGinGreen]

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

the shows 08 was fine on default

I believe it. 2k games usually need quite a bit a tweaking compared to other games.

[JonahFalcon]

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

Sliders have become a crutch.

Used to be, sliders were for personal preferences.

Now, it's basically users having to virtually patch a game for the devs.

[kGinGreen]

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

Sliders have become a crutch.

Used to be, sliders were for personal preferences.

Now, it's basically users having to virtually patch a game for the devs.

I dont liek sliders at all for that reason. This game does play pretty well out of the box though and we are on pro difficulty most likely. I want to try some of the other difficulties.

[dave_sz]

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

Is the demo only out on the 360? I dont see it on PS3 network.

that's because the PSN store is updated on thursday, ALWAYS, unless it's a major game demo like RE5...

[dave_sz]

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

the shows 08 was fine on default

for you maybe it was, I said every player is different...

[Brooklynnets24]

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

for you maybe it was, I said every player is different...

thats it for people default can be find for NBA 2K9 and now MLB 2K9 its a must to change the sliders so the game isnt messed up. You basically have to finish the game for them

[Rob_NYY]

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

Just played a game. Didn't swing at any pitches and threw only curves while pitching. Here are the results:

- Kazmir threw 11 pitches in the first, 9 pitches in the second, and 10 pitches in the third. 30 pitches in 3 innings, 27 strikes, 3 balls. Absolutely ridiculous.

- I threw nothing but curveballs with Hamels. The CPU did not take one pitch the whole 3 innings. The CPU got 0 hits in 3 innings. I threw 9 pitches in the first, 12 pitches in the second, and 6 pitches in the third. 27 pitches in 3 innings, 0 balls.

The game ended in a 0-0 tie.

Some heavy, HEAVY slider work is going to need to be done to get this game playing correctly.