Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

The defensive swing is a good addition. It happens in baseball. The writer didn't explain it thoroughly, but what he did state is that it is difficult to time it. You have to time it and determine that's what you want to do. That makes complete sense.

This is not a "fourth strike" option. it's not like you can flick your stick left or right and you are guaranteed a foul off. This is about gauging the count and pitch selection and defending your current situation.

It is the same thing that was in 2K7. They only switched it to left or right instead of just flicking up.

IMO, having it on a separate swing mechanic, now poses problems as far as a natural feel to hitting, and crosses into the lines of sim or not.

Where as in The Show for instance. 1-2 count 2-2 count or even 3-2 count, you see a pitching coming in that will be borderline, and it tails outside or too high or too low in the zone, you know swinging at it last minute is going to most likely foul it off with a good vision hitter to stay alive for another pitch. It feels natural because you are still using the same swing mechanic.

That gameplay mechanic is incorporated into the batter interface. Where as having this have its own swing mechanic that is not a part of the batter interface, just feels cheap IMO, and almost takes you out of the experience. It did not work well with flicking up on the stick in 2K7, and having it even more unorthodox to your swing, it seems even worse.

[ckarlic]

Re: Hands on preview

John Kruk has been added? I think that if he can sound lively and mesh well with Thorne and Phillips, I'm all for it... but I don't know if I've ever heard him call a baseball game, I've only seen him on Baseball Tonight..

You know, as a Yankees fan I can't stand John Kruk. He seems to always have a grudge against them.

[DickDalewood]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

Hmmm:

"There were still moments of graphical slowdown – mainly when the swing analyzer popped up to show me my poor timing – but there's little doubt that it was running smoother than it was last year. The visuals have taken a bit of a hit because of the goal of delivering a more fluid framerate..."

They toned down the visuals even more and are STILL having some slight framerate issues?

Other than that, some of the stuff sounded pretty good. I definitely like the MLB Today feature. The new pitching sounds a little better, although I'm wondering if the "Hitters Eye" will make hitting too easy now.

Sometimes I got the feeling the writer hasn't played man baseball videogames though. He mentions you could use face buttons for throws... you could do that last year. He also mentions that "we gamers must make do with what we're given... and that's the MLB 2K series." That's... not the only option. Unless of course he was trying to say he was an Xbox only owner.

I'll be looking forward to other write-ups, etc, but this one was decent I guess.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

He also mentions that "we gamers must make do with what we're given... and that's the MLB 2K series." That's... not the only option. Unless of course he was trying to say he was an Xbox only owner.

Well it was the 360 version he was previewing, so that could be the reason why. It is viewed on the 360 portion of the site.

[DickDalewood]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

The defensive swing is a good addition. It happens in baseball. The writer didn't explain it thoroughly, but what he did state is that it is difficult to time it. You have to time it and determine that's what you want to do. That makes complete sense.

This is not a "fourth strike" option. it's not like you can flick your stick left or right and you are guaranteed a foul off. This is about gauging the count and pitch selection and defending your current situation.

The problem I see with it though is that, now you're having to go for a defensive swing, making it almost sound like you have no chance of going for a hit, just trying to keep the count alive. I realize that's the basic idea of a defensive swing, but guys do make good contact once in a while for a hit.

[ckarlic]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

Not a big fan of pitching and hitting with the analog sticks. For the life of me I can never get the timing down and the hang of it. I hope they still have the option to use other methods.

[countryboy]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

The defensive swing is a good addition. It happens in baseball. The writer didn't explain it thoroughly, but what he did state is that it is difficult to time it. You have to time it and determine that's what you want to do. That makes complete sense.

This is not a "fourth strike" option. it's not like you can flick your stick left or right and you are guaranteed a foul off. This is about gauging the count and pitch selection and defending your current situation.

I understand there is timing involved, but shouldn't a player's skill(in game not user) have some determining factor in the outcome?

I guess maybe the timing window expands/contracts given the skill of the batter?

[DaveDQ]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

It is the same thing that was in 2K7. They only switched it to left or right instead of just flicking up.

IMO, having it on a separate swing mechanic, now poses problems as far as a natural feel to hitting, and crosses into the lines of sim or not.

Where as in The Show for instance. 1-2 count 2-2 count or even 3-2 count, you see a pitching coming in that will be borderline, and it tails outside or too high or too low in the zone, you know swinging at it last minute is going to most likely foul it off with a good vision hitter to stay alive for another pitch. It feels natural because you are still using the same swing mechanic.

That gameplay mechanic is incorporated into the batter interface. Where as having this have its own swing mechanic that is not a part of the batter interface, just feels cheap IMO, and almost takes you out of the experience. It did not work well with flicking up on the stick in 2K7, and having it even more unorthodox to your swing, it seems even worse.

I think we need to hold off judgement on whether it is the same as 2K7. We haven't played the game. Inside Pitch plays a role in a hitter's potential, and according to the article, it has been "beefed up."

I don't think it's cheap either, nor does it border on "un-sim." You see a pitch you aren't sure of and they offer a controller mapping to put you in a situation to defend it. It's not like you are using a completely different button. You pull back on the stick, don't like what you see but aren't sure...try and knock it foul.

Makes perfect sense to me.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

I think we need to hold off judgement on whether it is the same as 2K7. We haven't played the game. Inside Pitch plays a role in a hitter's potential, and according to the article, it has been "beefed up."

I don't think it's cheap either, nor does it border on "un-sim." You see a pitch you aren't sure of and they offer a controller mapping to put you in a situation to defend it. It's not like you are using a completely different button. You pull back on the stick, don't like what you see but aren't sure...try and knock it foul.

Makes perfect sense to me.

We will agree to disagree on this one. It is the same feature from 2K7, even the same name.

[brendanrfoley]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

A quick note about the aforementioned "slowdown." The version of MLB 2K10 played by IGN, Gamespot and others is far from final. Those sites played it two weeks ago (the build is likely a month old at this point) and optimization is typically the last thing that happens during development.

MLB 2K9 ran smoothly (for the most part) and I expect no worse from 2K10.

[m-dogg]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

"the visuals have taken a bit of a hit"

i agree this is most dissappointing. I know gameplay is more important, but while the parks were fine for me last year, the players were so bland and lacking any detail or textures.. I was really hoping these would be upgraded as they optimized last years engine. its crazy, intead we have:

2k7 graphics >>>>> 2k9 > 2k10

why are we going the wrong direction in next gen?

honestly, I'd much rather have 30 fps and 2k7's graphics with 2k10's gameplay than have the overrated 60 fps. 2k7 was smooth enough for me, in fact, I don't remember anyone complaining about the frame rate of that game. it just had massive issues in gameplay and a horrendous hitting engine that made no sense at all.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

We will agree to disagree on this one. It is the same feature from 2K7, even the same name.

Sure, it's not a big deal really. I'm going to mess with the 2K7 demo and use that up stick to knock off pitches. I'll test it on the lower rated players to see how much of a difference that makes.

A quick note about the aforementioned "slowdown." The version of MLB 2K10 played by IGN, Gamespot and others is far from final. Those sites played it two weeks ago (the build is likely a month old at this point) and optimization is typically the last thing that happens during development.

MLB 2K9 ran smoothly (for the most part) and I expect no worse from 2K10.

2K9 ran ok except for that slowdown when a ball was hit to the outfield. Also, the foul bowl animation where the stands would reach for the ball looked nice, but it slowed the game down a lot.

Your optimization comment is something I have come to hope for but that is probably the most used comment we see right before a game is released. That hope often lets us down too. I agree with you, I just don't trust it will happen.

[brendanrfoley]

Re: Major League Baseball 2K10 Hands-on (IGN)

Again, I'd take the "graphics have taken a hit" line with a grain of salt.

To start, screens show slightly improved player models and lighting over 2K9. The person who wrote the preview also talked-up many new features as "new" when they are in fact not (button-base throwing, hurry up baseball).

I get the sense this person played little (or none) of 2K9. In that case, if 2K8 is his last real frame of reference, the graphics have taken a hit. But 2K9 is at times a very pretty game that could look much better with solid animations.

I need to see the game in motion before passing judgement.

[Trevytrev11]

Re: Hands on preview

I think TrevyTrev will like the defensive swing mechanic, and it sounds appropriate with the control gesture you have to do. I hope they worked on cursor hitting, though... I'd much prefer that over the swing stick if there's no left stick skill for making contact.

It depends.

It sounds more like a tool used mainly to foul of pitches than one where a hitter is shortening up and trying to execute something on purpose. And I think there is a difference. Fouls, IMO, should be based on timing (for left and right) and I guess randomness as far as fouling balls back with a timing only system. In a cursor system, they should be 100% physics based at the relationship between the bat and ball, speed of the pitch, etc. would determine this.

My hope was for a shortened swing, which had a slightly larger window of contact opportunity at the cost of a reduction to power. I'm looking for more of a Jason Kendall 2 strike swing or a hit and run swing...not an automatic foul ball swing.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Re: Hands on preview

It depends.

It sounds more like a tool used mainly to foul of pitches than one where a hitter is shortening up and trying to execute something on purpose. And I think there is a difference. Fouls, IMO, should be based on timing (for left and right) and I guess randomness as far as fouling balls back with a timing only system. In a cursor system, they should be 100% physics based at the relationship between the bat and ball, speed of the pitch, etc. would determine this.

My hope was for a shortened swing, which had a slightly larger window of contact opportunity at the cost of a reduction to power. I'm looking for more of a Jason Kendall 2 strike swing or a hit and run swing...not an automatic foul ball swing.

Exactly.