MLB 2K9

[Philberto]

I'm enjoying my MLB The Show 09 purchase more and more with every post I read.

[Andy]

I enjoyed the online game Kermit and I played yesterday.  Especially the part where I nearly killed Shin Soo Choo when I ran him into the wall in right field, he had to come out and we spent the next hour mocking David Dellucci's pathetic attempts to field flyballs in his absence.

Kermit won 22-10, I had 27 hits to his 23  (I probably should have learned how the baserunning thing worked before I played.) and I only made five errors.

And yes, it actually was fun.

[Kermit, B.]

I enjoyed the online game Kermit and I played yesterday.  Especially the part where I nearly killed Shin Soo Choo when I ran him into the wall in right field, he had to come out and we spent the next hour mocking David Dellucci's pathetic attempts to field flyballs in his absence.

Kermit won 22-10, I had 27 hits to his 23  (I probably should have learned how the baserunning thing worked before I played.) and I only made five errors.

And yes, it actually was fun.

It was actually a blast, despite the quirks we saw.  There was a bit of slowdown, and the timing is still definitely off for hitting.  You really have to start your swing before you can actually recognize whether the pitch is going to be a ball or a strike.  The only pitch that we didn't swing at was when Dolan threw at my head.  And I would have swung if I'd been able to get the bat around quickly enough.

[Timmy B]

Did you try cursor hitting yet?

I did, and while it's not the gameplay abortion that All-Star Baseball was on the N64, I think I need to play with it more to get a feel for it.

I'm also noticing that the CPU doesn't take pitches. Fucking ever.

I don't know. I'm not immediately regretting the purchase, because this is a significant improvement on 2K8, but with 2K baseball games, it always feels like one step forwards, two steps back. It's like the company takes Tiburon's approach to the Madden series, and each year selects one area to be really, really good (in this case, the pitching), and then lets everything else go to shit until the next iteration.

[dbal]

I bought this for PC.  I'm really enjoying it, now that I finally figured out how to hit.  I had to turn off total control, because I couldn't do crap.

My virtual Cubs team was godawful their first game, losing 1-0 to Roy Oswalt, with  13 k's.  I can't wait to get a roster update so I can get Hill and Wuertz off my team.

[Kermit, B.]

Did you try cursor hitting yet?

I did, and while it's not the gameplay abortion that All-Star Baseball was on the N64, I think I need to play with it more to get a feel for it.

I'm also noticing that the CPU doesn't take pitches. Fucking ever.

I don't know. I'm not immediately regretting the purchase, because this is a significant improvement on 2K8, but with 2K baseball games, it always feels like one step forwards, two steps back. It's like the company takes Tiburon's approach to the Madden series, and each year selects one area to be really, really good (in this case, the pitching), and then lets everything else go to shit until the next iteration.

A fix for the CPU over-aggression is apparently in the works.  I hope the low review scores shock VC into trying to fix some of the issues people are complaining about.

[Kermit, B.]

DPD.  I played another game and a half last night using the R-stick to throw, and the first baseman didn't get pulled off the bag a single time.  Probably 3-4 of my throws were rushed and in the red, too.

[Andy]

Wait, you mean I have to learn a new way to throw to the bases?  Nobody said there'd be any fucking learning involved!

Screw this, I'm just going to use electrical tape and hack an old Atari 2600 joystick to my console and use that.  That controller will never be improved on.

I played games in both new Yankee Stadium and CitiField last night, and far be it from me to ever say anything nice about the Mets, but the 2K9 version of that new stadium kicks ass.  New Yankee stadium looks an awful lot like old Yankee Stadium, except with a big fucking skybox in center instead of those dumb painted black bleacher seats.  (I'm sure in real life New Yankee Stadium is much better than CitiField.)

[Pre]

The r-stick throwing actually works right, so that's nice.

I find if I throw an unreasonably ridiculous amount of sliders and curveballs, the AI doesn't slaughter every pitch.

Also, I don't care about the cards you can unlock, but the general bug filled nature of the game was highlighted
for me when Alex Rios hit a two run double off the right field fence against me and I unlocked his card.  Maybe it
was for not giving up a grandslam...

[Quality Start Machine]

  (I'm sure in real life New Yankee Stadium is much better than CitiField.)

Early reports indicate otherwise.

[Andy]

I have found that with most of my pitchers, my catcher will call an inordinate amount of fastballs.  But if I shake him off the fastball a couple of times he stops calling it as often.  So I think it actually does "learn" during a game how you want to approach the hitters.  Even if you're wrong.

[Kermit, B.]

I still haven't won a game yet.  Except the one against Dolan.  Another game and a half played, though, and I didn't see the first baseman glitch once.

[*In a Nutsack]

I still haven't won a game yet.  Except the one against Dolan.  Another game and a half played, though, and I didn't see the first baseman glitch once.

How do you "shake the catcher off" when he calls for a pitch?  I usually just press A to reset him, but he calls another pitch.  I guess that's the answer to my question.

I haven't had all that much time with the game, but I haven't enjoyed the little time with it I've had.  I envy you, Yeti.

[Philberto]

I still haven't won a game yet.  Except the one against Dolan.  Another game and a half played, though, and I didn't see the first baseman glitch once.

How do you "shake the catcher off" when he calls for a pitch?  I usually just press A to reset him, but he calls another pitch.  I guess that's the answer to my question.

I haven't had all that much time with the game, but I haven't enjoyed the little time with it I've had.  I envy you, Yeti and Slaky.

Truth'd

*or something. I suck at that " 'd " game

[Slaky]

I still haven't won a game yet.  Except the one against Dolan.  Another game and a half played, though, and I didn't see the first baseman glitch once.

How do you "shake the catcher off" when he calls for a pitch?  I usually just press A to reset him, but he calls another pitch.  I guess that's the answer to my question.

I haven't had all that much time with the game, but I haven't enjoyed the little time with it I've had.  I envy you, Yeti and Slaky.

Truth'd

*or something. I suck at that " 'd " game

But yeah, keep celebrating that you can throw to first base without the game exploding.