MLB 2K9 Post-Patch Impressions (360 & PS3 merged)

[JBH3]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

I'm curious to try out default All-Star. I wonder how much of a challenge it will be.

[jerm21]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

Played a wonderful game last night, Red Sox vs. Rays.

Use Inside Edge, throw to cold zones, throw balls on purpose and throw pitches hitters have a hard time hitting. I did that, and here was Jon Lester's pitching line:

7IP, 6K, 1BB, 6 Hits, 2 Runs, 97 pitches.

I'm thrilled. Pitching successfully is hard, and I appreciate the challenge.

what difficulty you using? or sliders
and how was your offense? cuz i seem to get incredible pitching my by starters and i can never produce runs! i can get hits though

[spankdatazz22]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

Count me in the group that feels patch 2 improved the game/gameplay overall. I haven't played the game since the patch was announced, so hard to make a direct comparison. But pre-patch I found myself becoming disinterested/bored with the game and unable to finish most games which was why I stopped playing.

Now the game feels much more engaging. Most obvious difference is the change made to the pitch gestures; now the increased placement difficulty adds a ton more substance to the pitcher/batter battles. Using a slightly modded version of Guru's sliders to my own preferences/skill level and even I'm seeing extended cpu pitch counts - and I have very little plate discipline. Whatever they did to help smooth out some of the animations has also made a big difference; able to appreciate the walk up anims a lot more. Anims overall just seem better, easier to appreciate. Baserunning anims are still stiff looking and there's quirkiness here or there, but overall they have a lot of good stuff going on animation-wise. Not sure of the the extent of the tweaking done, but it's made it a lot easier for me to appreciate the tv style presentation also. Still need to tweak some but the game is definitely more enjoyable imo; now actually feel compelled to play/practice

[sportyguyfl31]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

Im really enjoying default legend.

Im playing a 52 season franchise. (I like playing every game and want to have multiple seasons for once )

1st 2 games, ive dropped, Santana gave up 5 runs to the reds, and I could not locate a thing with Maine who gave up 6.

Lost the 1st game 5-3 and the second 8-7.

I was thrilled to see the CPU crush a curveball for an opposite field homer. Its no longer an auto-out pitch.

Ive hit a homer with church, and delgado has 2 homers...so homers on legend arent impossible if you get the pitch you are looking for, and are able to drive it.

I find stolen bases to be a bit difficult. It seems like if you dont have a super large lead, you are getting thrown out.

[Zalf]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

3 games post patch as the Indians. Pitching is 100% improved. I got 7 strikeouts with CLiff Lee in one game and 4-5 in the next two games with Carmona and Pavano and tons of strikes looking. I love this aspect of the game now.

However, I am not happy with the toned down hitting. Previously I played with custom sliders and would hit 2-3 homeruns in a game, with the occassional 0-1 homerun game. I was okay with this. I had room to pull the sliders back and make it more realistic as I improved. However, my first game with these slider post patch has netted me nothing but singles and an occasional double. Balls that I normally crushed were routine flyballs. So in an effort to see if I can adjust this, I moved the power slider all the way to 100 and played 2 more games and still only hit flares and singles with one doule to the gap. I crushed the ball on 3-4 different occasions and it only hit the wall 2-3 feet up from the ground. None of hits really feel powerful now. It's like they seriously de-juiced the ball.

Sadly, this is the main reason I had chosen 2k over the show as the hitting in the show just felt weak....I never felt like I was really ripping into the ball like I did with 2k9. Now, 2k9 is feeling like the show.....never really feeling like I am crushing the ball or driving it now. All bloop singles, squib hits or flyballs. In fact, I see a lot more weak dribblers in front of the plate.

Now in fairness, the hit variety seems better...as I like seeing all types of hits. But in 3 games, I have not hat that satisfying smash hit to the gap, down the line or deep into the seats. Neither has the CPU. I do not fear hanging a pitch anymore....it will just be a single.

While many complained it was a homerun fest prior to the patch, I actually like the power of the hits, and I could tone it down via sliders.

At this moment, power sliders maxed and I just don't feel "it" anymore and there is nowhere to go from 100!

So now 2k9 feels more like the show....and while to some that might be good, I liked that the 2 games felt uniquely different....now neither feels satisfying to me from a hitting point of view.

Any suggestions? Anyone else noticing a "major" drop in power?

What do you have User Batting Pitch Influence set at? To me it seems like post patch 2 has amped up how much impact this slider has. Like you I was seeing a lot of 1-2 homer games with some 3-4s thrown in. Post patch a lot of weak pop ups and fly balls.

I am going to try to find a combination of slightly increased power and slightly decreased User Batting Pitch Influence.

[notasenator]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

well, I had a couple of challenging games post patch, I was having trouble hitting well at All Star. Turns out it might have just been my vision, as I got glasses yesterday and today started a Nats franchise with a 22 hit, 12 run outing against the Marlins.

[jonbanks]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

WHAT THE BLEEP DID THEY DO TO PITCHING.

I can't throw inside to save my life. With Hamels I need to aim over the outside part of the plate for an inside FB....

Yeah. Hit 4 batters through two innings with Moyer, who is known for his immaculate control (one of which hit Jorge Cantu in the friggin foot). I like the inability to just pinpoint pitches but this is crazy.

Patch has generally improved the game, I play on All-Star stock sliders. But user pitching is wild now, and AI still throws a few too many strikes. Any one have any thoughts on this?

[jbrown]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

Yeah. Hit 4 batters through two innings with Moyer, who is known for his immaculate control (one of which hit Jorge Cantu in the friggin foot). I like the inability to just pinpoint pitches but this is crazy.

Patch has generally improved the game, I play on All-Star stock sliders. But user pitching is wild now, and AI still throws a few too many strikes. Any one have any thoughts on this?

For your pitches try decreasing the Gesture Recognition slider. I put mine down from 100 to 90.

For AI throwing too many strikes put the AI Strike Zone Tendency slider down. I have mine at 0. They still throw strikes but they are not afraid to walk you on 4 or 5 pitches some times either.

[kmp714]

In my opinion the patch has made this the game to play...online. I only play online, I just believe that AI will always be somewhat flawed in video games, or it just becomes stale after awhile, but online makes each game seem fresh.

And if you are an online player like me then this is the baseball game to get, especially after the patch. The Show may be a better overall game but the online experience is horrible.

Just my opinion...They could still stand to reduce home runs a little but its not terrible.

[bwiggy33]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

Well I am absolutely furious. I have tried to play franchise games and it freezes everytime. I haven't been able to stay in the game for more than 20 seconds. I haven't even been able to throw a pitch or swing the bat. This is absolutely absurd. How can something like this happen. I've tried to delete my cache and that doesn't work. I have no idea what to do.

I play MLB for franchise mode. I don't play it for online or exhibition. So the one thing I like doing in the game I can't even do cuz the 2k developers are so damn stupid that they can't even make a patch correctly. I had no freezing issues with the game before this patch.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Edit:
I just found out I can't play an exhibition game because it freezes in the same exact spot that it does in franchise. Wow this is flat out awesome. Now I can't even play the game! I absolutely cannot believe this.

[jbrown]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

Well I am absolutely furious. I have tried to play franchise games and it freezes everytime. I haven't been able to stay in the game for more than 20 seconds. I haven't even been able to throw a pitch or swing the bat. This is absolutely absurd. How can something like this happen. I've tried to delete my cache and that doesn't work. I have no idea what to do.

I play MLB for franchise mode. I don't play it for online or exhibition. So the one thing I like doing in the game I can't even do cuz the 2k developers are so damn stupid that they can't even make a patch correctly. I had no freezing issues with the game before this patch.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Not at all. I have played 14 franchise games now since the patch and have not had the game freeze once. It didnt freeze before the patch either.

[brendanrfoley]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

To whomever asked about my offense... in three post-patch games, my offense has stunk.

I play on a hybrid version of sliders where User hitting is essentially All Star Difficulty and CPU hitting is Legend. CPU pitching uses BFJ's sliders and User pitching is Legend.

I can't stress how important Inside Edge. Pitch to players' miss zones and avoid their in play zones, and you will see a lot of taken pitches and swings and misses. The game may be a little too reliant on Inside Edge to get these results, but the amount of information is incredible. I just wish hitters' strengths and weaknesses were easily accessible, or the catcher did a better job calling a game.

My last pitching line with Matsuzaka:

7.1 IP, 2BB, 4K, 4 Hits, 1 Run, 93 pitches.

[Sportsfan1889]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

so after thinking about getting a ps3 and the show because this game was "bad"...and then deciding I don't have money for that...and then this patch getting released...i finally picked up my copy today. i'm curious to see how this game plays on all-star default...

[jeffy777]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

All Star default plays pretty good, but I've tweaked it a bit to better suit me. It just depends on your skill level. Also, tweaking the AI pitching a bit helps to get more realistic balls/strikes from the AI pitchers.

[Kane182]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K9 Official Patch 2 Available, Impressions Here (360 Only)

Well I am absolutely furious. I have tried to play franchise games and it freezes everytime. I haven't been able to stay in the game for more than 20 seconds. I haven't even been able to throw a pitch or swing the bat. This is absolutely absurd. How can something like this happen. I've tried to delete my cache and that doesn't work. I have no idea what to do.

I play MLB for franchise mode. I don't play it for online or exhibition. So the one thing I like doing in the game I can't even do cuz the 2k developers are so damn stupid that they can't even make a patch correctly. I had no freezing issues with the game before this patch.

Has anyone else had this problem?

Edit:
I just found out I can't play an exhibition game because it freezes in the same exact spot that it does in franchise. Wow this is flat out awesome. Now I can't even play the game! I absolutely cannot believe this.

Sounds like something is wrong with your disc. I would see about getting a replacement. I've heard people are experiencing some freezing every now and then, but not to the point where they can't even complete a game or even inning.