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Dazraz's Blog
MLB 2K11 - SWITCHING ALLEGIANCE 
Posted on March 14, 2011 at 04:49 AM.
Having played both MLB demos I feel more & more that this year MLB 2K11 will be getting the bulk of my playing time when it comes to videogame baseball.

I've played both demos on the PS3 & although The Show looks alot better & has, what I feel to be, a superior analog pitching system, I find myself enjoying 2K11 so much more. Bearing in mind the demo of MLB 2K11 is without the commentary that takes the game to a whole new level & lacks the options of The Show's demo this is quite a statement.

I can't exactly pinpoint what it is I prefer. MLB 2K11 just seems more alive & more organic than it's counterpart. Behind the looks of The Show everything just feels tired. The commentary is obviously a big contributor to this lack of freshness.

Another concern I have for The Show, a growing feeling that I've had during a year of intensive playing of The Show 10, is that everything feels a little too scripted. It appears that Sony, in their effort to make the game as close to what you see in real life, script certain scenarios to occur at certain points irrespective of the input of the person playing the game. This will often generate a particular animation/commentary moment that at first looks & feels brilliant. However over time & with repeated playing you begin to feel that at times what happens within the game is completely out of your hands.

If you can look beyond the graphical glitches of 2K's effort there appears to be one hell of a game here. A couple of patches & some slider adjustments should iron out the issues that bit more.

As a PS3 owner I consider myself fortunate to have 2 quality baseball titles to choose to play this year.

Is anyone else having a change of allegiance to their baseball game of choice this year?
Comments
# 1 malachijohn666 @ Mar 14
No I am not changing, but I wanted to know what it was that you felt was scripted.
 
# 2 malachijohn666 @ Mar 14
My one critism, and it isn't really much of one is the pacing. At times it feels like I have been playing for hours in the Show and it is still the one game.

The one thing I don't like about the recent 2k games is the batting camera... it looks like the pitcher is a million miles away.

Plus on the commentary note. the rich, robust, anecdotal commentary is good... the first time you hear it. It is beyond iritating when you hear the same anecdotal commentary again and again. In NBA 2k11, for instance, I was playing Chicago, and every game I had to hear how Boozer grew up in Alaska. Every game! I ended up turing it off.

The Show repeats it's commentary, but they same common things, like ball, strike and similar things. Once in a while they share an anecdotal story and that too get iritating.
 
# 3 statum71 @ Mar 14
MLB 2K11 is improved. But to each his own.
 
# 4 Dazraz @ Mar 14
@malachijohn666

Scripted elements such as throwing a ball that was close but not quite a strike. Even if you attempt to throw the next pitch in a totally different area of the strike zone the game overides you, puts the pitch in a similar location as the first pitch, however the pitch will this time be called a strike. This generates a commentary moment where you get the usual 'if that's a strike he must be wondering how the first pitch wasn't'. There are many occasions when I am in a situtuation where I find myself predicting what I will happen next because I've seen the same scenario before.
Another thing that frustrates is the way a losing teams batting attributes seem to increase going into the last 2 or 3 innings in a bid to allow them to get back in the game. This is particularly evident if the team is trailing by a about 3 or 4 runs.

Don't get my wrong Ive really enjoyed The Show for the last couple of years, but having played a number of games on the demo I found myself already getting tired of it. If both games were released as brand new never before seen games this year then I along with most others would opt for The Show over 2K11. Having played more or less the same game for 2 years I'm finding that in it's present form the The Show has grown weary.
 
# 5 Dazraz @ Mar 14
@malachijohn666

P.S.

In response to your commentary regarding NBA 2K11. Once you've passed the mid point of the season the repetitive player anecdotes no longer play out. I think 2K realised how fed up people would get with hearing the same thing over & over so programmed the audio so it dropped the comments as the season progressed.
 
# 6 malachijohn666 @ Mar 14
See I have always run into the "walk before the bit hit" senario. This one irks me to no end. Essentially it runs like this (and it happens quite frequently in different games!) I am pitching to the #2 guy, or someone right before their heavy hitter comes up. No matter where I try to pitch I get ball 1, ball 2, ball 3, strike 1 and then ball 4. So he walks to first. Then the next guy comes up and blam home run. Now before anyone says, "Dude you suck!" understand that it happens only in the situation where it is a decent guy followed by a heavy hitter. AND it doesn't matter if I even through pitch 2, or 3, as a 4 seamer right down the middle, they will always soar out of the zone for a ball. Again it is Ball 1, 2, 3, Strike 1, and then ball 4.
 
# 7 malachijohn666 @ Mar 14
P.S. this happened in 09, 10, and 11.
 
# 8 dannyheck @ Mar 14
Ever turn off the commentators, and just have the sounds of the game? This way, you can do your own commentary. Try it, then post it on YouTube.
 
# 9 Dazraz @ Mar 14
@dannyheck

I've tried turning off commentators before. As much as videogame commentary struggles to stay varied I find the audio sounds empty without it.
Have you posted your own stuff on You Tube? I'd like to check it out.
 
# 10 Dazraz @ Mar 14
@malachijohn666

Yeah, I know the scenario you talk of. I hate playing any videogame where your oppositions abilities are artificially boosted at any point. It really takes away the sense of realism that most of these games are trying to create.
 
# 11 rudyjuly2 @ Mar 15
I felt the same way just one year earlier. After four straight years of the Show I'm just a little bored with it. It has grown stale for me. 2K11 has it's faults but it's a fresh change and a lot of fun. The good thing is there is a totally different feel to the game so people can have a distinct choice.
 
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