Meh, even real-time wasn't implemented that well. Some of the things I've seen are hilarious: Girardi skating through the dugout fence before finally lumbering up the steps onto the field, cameras panning to blank spots of grass, no celebrations to speak of after a game, and umpires, base coaches, and on-deck hitters staying on the field after the final out. I realize VC had limited time, but some of this stuff is so goofy that it's amazing they didn't just scrap real-time altogether. They probably should've made it "perfect" before releasing it in a game.
I'm not going to lie, this game is fun, but I can see their target audience wasn't us. It was kiddies who don't care if the CPU swings at every strike, or every other ball is a home run, or diving plays are a dime a dozen (which they're not, thankfully). It's meant to pop and explode and be in your face. And even here, the developers failed miserably. The game would bore the hell out of me and, frankly, just piss me off if I weren't a huge fan of baseball. The only people I can see sticking with this game are those like me- 360 owners with no other choice of baseball game.
I've wanted a decent baseball game to play for five or six years. This is as close as I'm gonna get, so I'm going to play it. 2k9 has moments of brilliance. With slider tweaks, the game can turn from an offensive homer-fest into a pitchers duel. Right now, I'm actually going to turn the AI and human hitting up, because the scores are too low. Nobody is hitting with any authority. I need to find a balance.
Blzer, you played 2k3, right? Dude, this game has that same feel. The hitting is about as close to 2k3 as possible, and I think the fielding is fine, minus the first basemen garbage. The pitching could use some work, but overall, I like how everything moves. It's familiar. And it's much crisper than the slow motion, mud wading movement in Kush's disaster of 2k7. Seriously, the fielding in that game was gross, and the camera angles were horrible.
I'm not going to tell anyone to buy this game, because there's just way too many issues going on. Too many things to look past. But let me tell ya, if the AI aggressiveness is fixed and first basemen glitch disappears (supposedly a fix by holding the trigger?), I can deal with the game until 2k10, when hopefully we'll have a complete package. However, I won't be holding my breath. I'd rather not suffocate right now.