MLB 2K9

[Philberto]

For some reason, I've been infatuated with MLB 09 The Show even though I don't own a PS3.  PastaPadre has a first inning video of the game's demo here:  (http://www.pastapadre.com/6202/mlb-09-the-show-demo-video).  The video isn't of great visual quality, but it runs smooth and you can tell just how good of a game The Show is.

Solid gameplay make baseball games good at the core, but little nuances make them a unique experience.  Like, at about the 2:15 mark when Ryan Howard is pulled off the bag for Hamels' pick off.  Howard then takes a few steps away from first and the runner, then tosses Hamels the ball back.  It's all fluid and "natural" feeling.

Longoria hits a bomb at 3:40 and you could tell as soon as he hit it that it was gone.  The subsequent replay was outstanding.

The pitch interface looked really interesting.  It's basically a three button meter, sort of like in a golf game.  It looks like it makes it harder for you to hit your spots.  REALISM!

Rollins' foul ball at 7:00 was a nice animation and so was Howard's HR finish.

The lighting, the batting stances, the motions of the players and the stadiums all look top-knotch.  And, wow the commentary is really good.  I'm jealous.

You told me to check this out and I did. I played 3 times with each being a 4 inning demo. All 3 times I was the Phillies. Results were 0-2, 0-2, and 1-0 with me winning that last one because of a Chase Utley homerun. I have to say this is far and away better than MLB 2K8. Much more fluid. Announcing is better. While I might be wrong, it sure seemed like the announcers were actually responding to what was going on in the game as opposed to just talking from a script.

I enjoyed the actual gameplay. The pitching seems pretty good. I noticed that whenever Hamels would give up a couple of hits, the pitch meter would increase it's speed. Sometimes, the second target to hit would disappear if you were that rattled. Once you're in a groove, however, you that same target would get larger.

Hitting was a little bit harder for me. I don't have good vision for pitches when they come in so I often swing at balls. The thing that saves me is check swings but that was tough enough that I could only pull of around 2 in the 15-20 bad pitches I swung at. I do wish it would tell me how I'm timing pitches. It mentioned an ability to do that in the "Tips" but it wouldn't work when I hit the button. I speculate that it is a feature that will be in the game only, but why tell me to hit L3 to use something in a demo when it doesn't work?

The baserunning seems like it'll be similar to 2K8 with a couple tweaks. I was unable to fully figure out the buttons for it though, which actually cost me a run or two in the first game I played.

The crowds are pretty responsive. In the second game, I gave up the 2 runs in the first inning and the crowd was on me fast. The first batter after the second run was up and I threw a shitty first pitch and the crowd got worse. In tense situations, like bases loaded, they get a little restless and you can feel it as the controller vibrates. At the end of the 3rd game, they knew it was almost over and cheering pretty loudly on when the count was 2-2 to possibly end the game.

Overall, I found this to be pretty damn good. I will have to hopefully be able to download 2K9's demo and test them and compare them but right now, The Show looks like the shit.

[Slaky]

Jesus - if you have a PS3 it shouldn't even be a question of The Show or 2k9. I don't think anyone expects 2K9 to be anywhere near as good as the The Show - we just don't want to shell out out the price of a round trip ticket to somewhere warm for a new PS3.

[*In a Nutsack]

Is 2K9 releasing a demo soon?

[Kermit, B.]

Jesus - if you have a PS3 it shouldn't even be a question of The Show or 2k9. I don't think anyone expects 2K9 to be anywhere near as good as the The Show - we just don't want to shell out out the price of a round trip ticket to somewhere warm for a new PS3.

Yeah, The Show is worlds ahead of 2K right now, although the controls are getting pretty dated.  I'm just hoping 2K is close to being fun this year.

IAN, 2K is awful at marketing.  I think the demo last year came out the same day the game came out.  Maybe even a day or two after the game came out.  And the demo was significantly worse than the actual game.  If anything, it probably cost them sales.

[Kermit, B.]

The 2K9 Developer Diary is up at O.S.  They're sure saying all the right things.  Hit Influence sounds exactly like MVP 2005's hitting system, but I'm very intrigued by Zone Hitting.  I haven't played a cursor-based hitting game since All-Star Baseball.  Baserunning sounds much improved.

[*In a Nutsack]

The 2K9 Developer Diary is up at O.S.  They're sure saying all the right things.  Hit Influence sounds exactly like MVP 2005's hitting system, but I'm very intrigued by Zone Hitting.  I haven't played a cursor-based hitting game since All-Star Baseball.  Baserunning sounds much improved.

From the second teaser with Longoria hitting the HR, I saw a lot of what I was expecting to get changed with the stadiums.  Tropicana, for what it is, looked pretty darn good.  The crowd actually looked decent and them going after the HR ball as it reached the stands was a nice touch.  I just hope it's better than last year's, which I managed to get half a season out of.

[Pre]

I haven't played a cursor-based hitting game since All-Star Baseball.

I love cursor based hitting systems sooooooooo much.  If they just stole the ASB system (maybe with
a slider to change the average cursor zone sizes so as you get better you can make it harder to hit)
I would be happy.

[Kermit, B.]

I haven't played a cursor-based hitting game since All-Star Baseball.

I love cursor based hitting systems sooooooooo much.  If they just stole the ASB system (maybe with
a slider to change the average cursor zone sizes so as you get better you can make it harder to hit)
I would be happy.

I can't wait to see how it plays.  It sounds like if you get the cursor in the right zone, you're going to at least make contact.  If you get it in the right zone AND in the sweet spot, you're going to make great contact.  Very intriguing.

[TDubbs]

Is this game even out yet?  Do you guys sit here and talk about games that aren't even available to be played?

[*In a Nutsack]

I haven't played a cursor-based hitting game since All-Star Baseball.

I love cursor based hitting systems sooooooooo much.  If they just stole the ASB system (maybe with
a slider to change the average cursor zone sizes so as you get better you can make it harder to hit)
I would be happy.

I can't wait to see how it plays.  It sounds like if you get the cursor in the right zone, you're going to at least make contact.  If you get it in the right zone AND in the sweet spot, you're going to make great contact.  Very intriguing.

What's so beneficial about this sort of hitting mechanic is that it gives the player control in situational hitting...er, situations.  Runner on second and none out with your eight hitter up and down in the count?  Fine, place the cursor low and away and tilt it down and slightly to the right (for a grounder to second) to move him over.  Control is a beautiful thing and the cursor-based mechanic worked well for ASB.  I hope it works well for 2K9 as well.

[Kermit, B.]

Is this game even out yet?  Do you guys sit here and talk about games that aren't even available to be played?

Yeah, isn't that weird?  We say things like, "It's going to be so good," and "I would rub my wienis all over this game."

It's not annoying and unfunny at all.

[TDubbs]

Is this game even out yet?  Do you guys sit here and talk about games that aren't even available to be played?

Yeah, isn't that weird?  We say things like, "It's going to be so good," and "I would rub my wienis all over this game."

It's not annoying and unfunny at all.

10 pages of non-annoying and non-unfunny posts seems pretty un-nerdy to me.

[Kermit, B.]

Is this game even out yet?  Do you guys sit here and talk about games that aren't even available to be played?

Yeah, isn't that weird?  We say things like, "It's going to be so good," and "I would rub my wienis all over this game."

It's not annoying and unfunny at all.

10 pages of non-annoying and non-unfunny posts seems pretty un-nerdy to me.

There are 9 categories on this board.  If you hate this one so much, can't you just stick to ruining the other 8?  Or growing out your bangs or something?

[ChuckD]

The 2K9 Developer Diary is up at O.S.  They're sure saying all the right things.  Hit Influence sounds exactly like MVP 2005's hitting system, but I'm very intrigued by Zone Hitting.  I haven't played a cursor-based hitting game since All-Star Baseball.  Baserunning sounds much improved.

Does that mean the ball is going to flash a different color to indicate the type of pitch?

[*In a Nutsack]

The 2K9 Developer Diary is up at O.S.  They're sure saying all the right things.  Hit Influence sounds exactly like MVP 2005's hitting system, but I'm very intrigued by Zone Hitting.  I haven't played a cursor-based hitting game since All-Star Baseball.  Baserunning sounds much improved.

Does that mean the ball is going to flash a different color to indicate the type of pitch?

That's not REALISTIC at all.