MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

[rudyjuly2]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

I don't think 2K has thrown the towel in either. If they did they wouldn't have offered the $1 million dollar perfect game competition the last two years (a complete waste of money though imo) and they wouldn't have paid to get Justin Verlander on the cover. If they were really throwing in the towel you would see Brad Penny on the cover.

The quote from the 2K execs was an obvious one. They won't continue the current license deal the way it is which guarantees them to lose money. It was a knee jerk reaction to the EA football exclusive license. I can definitely see 2K continue making a baseball game, certainly on the 360. Unless EA jumps back into baseball gaming, which is certainly a possibility, 2K still has a stranglehold on 360 baseball gaming and should be able to make money if their license fees drop.

Quality control WAS a major issue and after two years of 2K baseball where I've generally had a good time but annoyed at some obvious problems and bugs I doubt I will be getting 2K12 unless the previews are great.

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

And let's not forget how much better the online play has improved in the 2K series the last couple years. It's often overlooked that 2K11 has the smoothest online gameplay in any baseball video game to date. Compare that to before VC took over (2K8 was unplayable online).......so obviously they haven't just thrown in the towel.....but I agree with Rudy that simply ironing out the bugs would go a long way. 2K11 is good, but it could've been great.

[wat3]

This might make me sound old but does anyone rememeber World Series Baseball 2K on Dreamcast? I wish 2K would go back to some of the gameplay from that game. Not so gimmicky and really fun and felt good today.

[SoxFan01605]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

Zone hitting was in back in 2K5. It was definitely in the game when Kush was developing it, and it was definitely VC who removed it.

Actually, it was Kush that removed it. It was removed either for 2K5 or 2K6 (not sure-the game was an abomination so I mostly skipped it).

Kush and Blue shift were both VC studios. VC took it "in house" for 2K9 which, ironically, is the first time zone/cursor (really more cursor) hitting was seen on this generation of consoles. 2K7 didn't have zone hitting. It was the same two modes we see now ("classic" and analog-though analog wasn't as good then).

So, Kush is actually the one to remove it (though, by the time they did, they were called 2KLA, I believe) first. I say first because VC then removed it from 2K10 and 2K11 after bringing it back for 2K9, unfortunately (something I was very vocal about at the time ).

Regardless, I agree zone hitting would provide (in theory, at least..as always, it comes down to how well it's programmed) better hit variety. I also agree it's an area in need of improvement...though it's funny that all this talk stems from a lazy article supposedly triggered by 2K12's cover...lol.

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

though it's funny that all this talk stems from a lazy article supposedly triggered by 2K12's cover...lol.

Well said, ha.

[JOHN 3:16]

I don't think 2K has thrown the towel in either. If they did they wouldn't have offered the $1 million dollar perfect game competition the last two years (a complete waste of money though imo) and they wouldn't have paid to get Justin Verlander on the cover. If they were really throwing in the towel you would see Brad Penny on the cover.

The quote from the 2K execs was an obvious one. They won't continue the current license deal the way it is which guarantees them to lose money. It was a knee jerk reaction to the EA football exclusive license. I can definitely see 2K continue making a baseball game, certainly on the 360. Unless EA jumps back into baseball gaming, which is certainly a possibility, 2K still has a stranglehold on 360 baseball gaming and should be able to make money if their license fees drop.

Quality control WAS a major issue and after two years of 2K baseball where I've generally had a good time but annoyed at some obvious problems and bugs I doubt I will be getting 2K12 unless the previews are great.

EA is making a baseball game 2013. And isn't it funny they guy leaves the Show to work on Madden. Wait and see he'll be working on baseball game soon enough.

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

EA is making a baseball game 2013. And isn't it funny they guy leaves the Show to work on Madden. Wait and see he'll be working on baseball game soon enough.

I totally believe this is the case also.

[peigone]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

I don't think 2K has thrown the towel in either. If they did they wouldn't have offered the $1 million dollar perfect game competition the last two years

That's an interesting point. Although one could also see that as 2K realizing they need some kind of extravagant marketing ploy, knowing the game wouldn't sell on its own merits otherwise. Honestly, which other game companies feel the need to entice people to buy their games by offering someone a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become a millionaire?

Here's how I see it: it's great that VC has been able to fix Kush's mess and put together a playable game (2K11) for the first time in half a decade. But they've done it entirely by subtraction. They removed features, removed sliders, and removed editing options. Meanwhile, they've added nothing new to the series over the past three years. All they've done is gotten the game back to where it should have been in 2008 or so. Which is fine.

But let's face it: from a graphics, animations and gameplay POV, the 2K series is still a good three or four years behind most other sports games out there. And VC has shown zero inclination to bring something brand new and innovative to the table with this series. IMO the article is spot on: the series appears to be in a kind of development limbo. And given all that, it seems unlikely as the article says that anything is suddenly going to change for 2K12. If that weren't the case, then surely we would have heard something by now about all the great stuff VC is working on. Once again their silence speaks volumes, just as it does every year at this time.

[bigfnjoe96]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

That's an interesting point. Although one could also see that as 2K realizing they need some kind of extravagant marketing ploy, knowing the game wouldn't sell on its own merits otherwise. Honestly, which other game companies feel the need to entice people to buy their games by offering someone a once-in-a-lifetime chance to become a millionaire?

Here's how I see it: it's great that VC has been able to fix Kush's mess and put together a playable game (2K11) for the first time in half a decade. But they've done it entirely by subtraction. They removed features, removed sliders, and removed editing options. Meanwhile, they've added nothing new to the series over the past three years. All they've done is gotten the game back to where it should have been in 2008 or so. Which is fine.

But let's face it: from a graphics, animations and gameplay POV, the 2K series is still a good three or four years behind most other sports games out there. And VC has shown zero inclination to bring something brand new and innovative to the table with this series. IMO the article is spot on: the series appears to be in a kind of development limbo. And given all that, it seems unlikely as the article says that anything is suddenly going to change for 2K12. If that weren't the case, then surely we would have heard something by now about all the great stuff VC is working on. Once again their silence speaks volumes, just as it does every year at this time.

C'mon man, to say VC hasn't brought nothing new to the series is not true. Though MLB Today, Living Roster's, Custom Camera's & Broadcast Presentation, are more of an NBA staple, bringing those features over to the MLB side has made this game the last 2 years much more enjoyable.

The game play is also much better. What 2k hasn't done well since taking over has been fixing/polishing the AI Code, & Animations. Graphically it is what is, as this game uses the same Graphics Engine as NBA 2k does.

What really bugs me is that VC still can't get this game to run @ 60fps with out a hitch. So annoying & takes away from the game.

Lastly, not hearing anything yet about the game is not unusual. Info doesn't trickle in until mid-Jan. This is how they do things. Not sure how that practice means VC is doing nothing & setting people up for failure

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

C'mon man, to say VC hasn't brought nothing new to the series is not true. Though MLB Today, Living Roster's, Custom Camera's & Broadcast Presentation, are more of an NBA staple, bringing those features over to the MLB side has made this game the last 2 years much more enjoyable.

The game play is also much better. What 2k hasn't done well since taking over has been fixing/polishing the AI Code, & Animations. Graphically it is what is, as this game uses the same Graphics Engine as NBA 2k does.

What really bugs me is that VC still can't get this game to run @ 60fps with out a hitch. So annoying & takes away from the game.

Lastly, not hearing anything yet about the game is not unusual. Info doesn't trickle in until mid-Jan. This is how they do things. Not sure how that practice means VC is doing nothing & setting people up for failure

Joe is right. It's not true at all to say VC has added nothing new to the series. In addition to the stuff Joe mentioned, VC added My Player Mode, Postseason Mode, Practice Modes, much better Stealing Controls (actually being able to time your jump), they added seven new sliders last year including the Pitch Control slider (which is HUGE in terms of gameplay), plus they totally revamped the commentary (getting rid of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, thank God!), and IMO this series now has the best commentary in any sports game.....then there's other things like the additions to Franchise mode (Trade Finder, Sabermetrics, etc.).....they made online play the smoothest we've ever seen in a baseball game (which is also huge)....plus they put out A PC VERSION....etc.

I could go on, but it's pretty clear that VC has added to and improved this series quite a bit since they've taken over.

And as Joe said, the lack of news means nothing. People said the same the last couple years, but yet 2K11 was a nice improvement over 2K10, and 2K10 was a big improvement over 2K9. It's been said a billion times before: 2K's marketing sucks....but VC has been putting out an improved game each year now for the past couple years, so all signs point to 2K12 being an even better game.....just don't expect perfection, lol.

[ILurk]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

I don't know why some people can't just face the truth about the MLB 2K series. It hasn't been handled correctly for the past 5 or so years. It's been passed from one set of developers to another set of developers and now it's just a shell of what it was supposed to be.

The gameplay has very little depth to it. The mechanics of hitting the ball are way too simple to capture what a batter thinks/feels at the plate because all the user does to swing is either press a button or move the analog stick up. There's nothing more to it, which is one main reason why I stopped playing MLB 2K11.

The analog hitting is essentially pressing a button. There's no punishment for bad timing the weight shift, so the user can just hold back well before the pitcher's windup, then tee off on a pitch without worrying. That's lame. I really don't consider that any way to represent batting in a licensed simulation MLB game that claims it delivers " the Major Leagues down to the minor details ".

The hitting overall did get better in 2011 though. They finally made the batted balls go the correct direction based on the timing of the swing, but that's 101 stuff. It's not something worth actual praise in a baseball video game released in 2011.

I'm not saying the game is horrible, but it isn't where it should be by now. I'd like to see MLB 2K12 pull a 180, but how or why would it now ? We're all aware this is the last year 2K will have the exclusive MLB license and they are losing money on the MLB 2K series. Why would they invest time, money, and effort into the game at this point ?

[bigfnjoe96]

I don't know why some people can't just face the truth about the MLB 2K series. It hasn't been handled correctly for the past 5 or so years. It's been passed from one set of developers to another set of developers and now it's just a shell of what it was supposed to be.

The gameplay has very little depth to it. The mechanics of hitting the ball are way too simple to capture what a batter thinks/feels at the plate because all the user does to swing is either press a button or move the analog stick up. There's nothing more to it, which is one main reason why I stopped playing MLB 2K11.

The analog hitting is essentially pressing a button. There's no punishment for bad timing the weight shift, so the user can just hold back well before the pitcher's windup, then tee off on a pitch without worrying. That's lame. I really don't consider that any way to represent batting in a licensed simulation MLB game that claims it delivers " the Major Leagues down to the minor details ".

The hitting overall did get better in 2011 though. They finally made the batted balls go the correct direction based on the timing of the swing, but that's 101 stuff. It's not something worth actual praise in a baseball video game released in 2011.

I'm not saying the game is horrible, but it isn't where it should be by now. I'd like to see MLB 2K12 pull a 180, but how or why would it now ? We're all aware this is the last year 2K will have the exclusive MLB license and they are losing money on the MLB 2K series. Why would they invest time, money, and effort into the game at this point ?

Obviously this series isn't for you. Might be time to move on

Sent from Awesome Phone

[jeffy777]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

I don't know why some people can't just face the truth about the MLB 2K series. It hasn't been handled correctly for the past 5 or so years. It's been passed from one set of developers to another set of developers and now it's just a shell of what it was supposed to be.

And I don't know why you can't accept the fact that some people happen to enjoy playing 2K11. Sure, it could be better, but just because we enjoy it doesn't mean we need to "just face the truth" and accept your opinion about it....lol...

[authentic]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

I played this game (2k11) for about 15 minutes and took it back because I bought it used at GameStop. The game has potential in the fact that the presentation is pretty darn good. The commentary I thought was pretty good in the 2 innings I played. I just think they have dug themselves too deep with the bugs and glitches in recent years. We have seen crazier things though. I remember back when EA made Triple Play Baseball I think it was called? Then they switched to MVP and the game suddenly is still being said to be one of the best baseball sim's of all time.

If this games good in 2012, I'll probably buy it. I'll play the best game available.

[mkharsh33]

Re: MLB 2K12’s Cover Is Everything The Game Should Be, But Likely Won’t (StickSkills)

I felt 2K11 was a strong step forward in this series... Not sure what the author's point is. There is much to build on based upon the fun / simulation like experience I had. I got a set of sliders tweaked that game me EVERYTHING I've wanted in a baseball game since I played Tony LaRussa baseball back in my college days 20 years ago. Though not perfect, 2K11 was a great baseball gaming experience...