Which Baseball Game Should You Buy? (Pre-Release Edition) - RaychelSnr's Blog

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RaychelSnr's Blog

Which Baseball Game Should You Buy? (Pre-Release Edition) Stuck

Posted on March 6, 2011 at 12:27 PM.

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Tuesday is d-day baseball fans.

Well�at least for those of you who own a PS3. The question is simple: should you buy the perennial champion of Baseball, MLB: The Show or should you delve into the world of the feisty upstart MLB 2K11?

Well in the next few paragraphs, I'll try to explain the best choice for you. I must admit this is a nearly impossible task simply because there are more situations possible here than I could ever come up with, but I think my guide below should help you out a bit.

Please note that this guide is only meant to help you make a purchasing decision on launch day and are the result of a guy who has seen both games in action about as much as the rest of you guys at this point. We will have full and awesome coverage starting Tuesday of each game, leading to their reviews. If you can afford to wait a few days, I'd keep an eye out for that.

Who's got the realism?

This is the topic that has the entire community at odds with one another and the rhetoric seems to be more fit for political theater than baseball video games -- but this is an important consideration for a lot of baseball purists.

Trying to wade through this minefield is going to be difficult, and I'm sure someone from both sides are going to take what I say the wrong way -- but that's the breaks of writing here at OS.

Taking the track record combined with my impressions of the demos into account, the most realistic game this year will without a doubt be MLB: The Show. Few sports games can approach the things that The Show does, which I think is partially due to it being a platform specific title and also for having a great group of developers who understand that platform behind it.

The Show is a more deliberately paced game, just like the real game of baseball is, and it requires a bit more mental aptitude of the game to be able to succeed on many levels. Add in the thousands of little touches that just help to engross you which are the result of tweaking and adding items on top of a game which was solid several years ago, and you simply just have a much more complete version of baseball. For some players of The Show, this evolution (rather than revolution) has resulted in a feeling of staleness -- which might be a good argument for you to take a dip in 2K's title this year.

That's not to say MLB 2K11 won't be realistic in it's own right -- but it's a different kind of realism. The game is made for a different crowd that wants to sit down and play a game of baseball a bit faster and it's made to play more like a video game. You can and will get realistic results out of 2K11 this year, moreso than previous years. However, the game has had some serious flaws in several past editions -- enough so that you have to worry about this year's title having 'something' wrong with it. I'm sure there's a psychological term for that feeling of doom I can't just shake, as last year's title was particularly quality outside of the flaws.

Take away the flaws and 2K10 played a good game of hardball. So if you have played The Show for several years, and you feel you want something a bit faster and quicker to play through, along with something that just plays a different brand of baseball, 2K11 is your game. That's not to say 2K11 is arcadey, it's just that it doesn't play as close to the sport as The Show will in terms of pacing and whatnot. For some The Show's deliberate pace is a huge turn off, even though they're big baseball fans. I think 2K11 will suit baseball fans just fine -- but it's still not quite on the same level as The Show in terms of pure engrossing realism when it comes to the total experience put together.

�.But does more realism equal more fun?

Despite what I just said about 2K11, I think it might get more of my time this year moreso than The Show. It's fun: the pitching mechanics, the analog swing controls, it all just works for me. So long as the game's AI doesn't make absolutely terrible decisions that no manager would ever make in any setting of baseball (who valued their jobs at least), I like the pick up and play aspect of 2K11 a bit more right now. I'm a busy guy these days, and my gaming time has been getting stretched a bit more -- and The Show just plays slower compared to 2K.

That's not a knock against The Show either from a quality standpoint, it's more of a personal preference at this time. As I said before, The Show's pacing really lends itself to be a bit better experience for the complete baseball purist given the full effort there from gameplay, realism, graphics, and audio. But I'm sure if you sat down and timed it, MLB 2K's games would be significantly shorter -- which lends itself to be a more convenient title for busy people given that it already looks to put out pretty darned solid numbers statistically.

So you mean both games are good buys?

It seems baseball gamers have found themselves in a great position because that's exactly what I'm saying. Both games have differentiating aspects to them, and I think it's best to sum it up like this: The Show is more realistic, but it's pacing and whatnot might turn some off. 2K may lack some of the extremely polished touches of The Show when it comes to realism, but it's control scheme and general pacing make it a game which you could easily describe as more fun to play for some --especially people who aren't hardcore baseball purists who can forgive some AI flaws which have been present in the past.

So what game should you buy? That's the million dollar question which I think is a tough question to really answer for any one person. You cannot go wrong with either game -- and getting caught up on little issues as to whether you should buy one game or the other is the wrong approach. I think what game you should choose ultimately comes down to the time and energy you want to put into the game. The Show lends itself towards a more hardcore type of person investing a lot of time into statistics and the more cerebral parts of baseball while 2K11 is geared a bit more towards the baseball fan who wants an authentic experience that's more convenient to play.

However, I don't think it's possible you can go too wrong with either title this year -- and I'll have both titles in my gaming library when they hit store shelves Tuesday, a choice I'd recommend for anyone who can afford such a move.

Comments

# 1 CoreyMac @ Mar 6

Changing CPU pitch delay to Faster greatly increases the pace of the game as the pitcher won't wait for a pitch call, nod then set and fire. With that option changed the pace of the game can be whatever you want it to be.....so to say MLB The Show is just slow depends on the player. You can play at any pace you want.

# 2 stlstudios189 @ Mar 6

Finnally!......... BASEBALL has come back to the 360!!!!! Can you smell what 2k11 is cooking?

# 3 Eski33 @ Mar 6

Regardless of the game, it is all subjective. It truly depends on what you are looking for OR if you even have an option (for those that only own a 360).

I own both and The Show is the best console baseball game, in my opinion, by miles. Just playing both demos The Show looks and plays more realistic. Although the changes are subtle, they do make an impact. Still hoping the retail version of 2K11 is better than the demo.

# 4 Eski33 @ Mar 6

Kind of an odd blog since the only crowd this would really impact in regards to decisions is those that own a PS3 only.

# 5 CoreyMac @ Mar 6

There's millions of PS3 owners Eski.....It's not odd at all.

# 6 Dazraz @ Mar 6

If you have the option & the finances I would say pick up both games. I think they both have alot to offer in their own way.

# 7 RaychelSnr @ Mar 6

@Dazraz -- That's the option I'm definitely taking up -- it's the 'no chance of failing' option

# 8 rudyjuly2 @ Mar 6

As a PS3 owner I'm going with 2K11 and while I will probably be outnumbered 3:1 I have no doubt 2K11 will be more enjoyable FOR ME.

One: Gesture pitching. I loved it in 2K10 and with the pitch accuracy slider will love it even more in 2K11. I think the debate over pitching controls from the gesture pitching of 2K to the rock and fire analog system of the Show (as well as their classic and meter controls) goes a long way to determining which game you may prefer.

Two: Commentary. After four years of the Show the commentary team and delivery is stale for me. The commentary in 2K10 was great and it provides a lot to the atmosphere. The Show still has good presentation overall but I think even the Show supporter would agree that 2K is better in terms of commentary.

Three: Pitch speed. I've always found the Show's pitch speed to be too fast. I would set it to 0 every year and still struggle to average 0.5 walks per game. The slider doesn't work well and it frustrates me. While the Show is very polished and most people claim it's a great sim it fails as a sim for me because I can't draw anywhere close to a realistic walk rate. The Show devs have never really liked sliders and continue to ignore the small amount of gamers that struggle in this area. 2K's default pitch speed is much more suited to my style and I even bumped it down a notch in 2K10. At least I have that option and I once walked seven times in a game last year. Never, ever came close to doing that in any version of the Show. This is a very personal reason but it still affects my decision while this may not matter to others.

2K still has work to do on some animations and polish but with the right settings it can be a great sim setting for baseball. I think harping on the pacing of the game as a primary reason to say which is more realistic is wrong. Whether a game is realistic is really tied to the pitcher vs. batter duel and I think both games will do that equally well this year.

Lastly, I think the graphics in 2K11 are really good. The piling on of the PS3 version is a little ridiculous imo.

# 9 jmik58 @ Mar 6

I agree with the point about pitch speed from the most recent poster. I do, however; feel that the slider worked in the show to lower the pitch speed.

My biggest arguments were always about how much of a "blur" the pitch to home is in the game. In 2K11's demo, I love how easy it is to track the pitch to home. I also think this had to do with the batting camera in 2K11. I will be doing my best to create a custom batting camera in The Show that emulates 2K11's camera. The ball off the bat physics hasn't always been the greatest in The Show either. The hit variety has needed work. And those dang superhuman fielders. Every year we turn down those fielder reaction and speed sliders just to get a realistic variety of hits. These "gameplay" issues are things that 2K11 seems to handle rather decently. I also love how the batting camera tracks the ball off the bat before switching to another camera. Watching a ball fly away from the view of behind the plate is a thing of beauty.

I'll be picking up The Show on release day, but 2K11 will be on my radar as a used game. There will be undoubtedly several unsatisfied 2K11 gamers, and I'll be there to scoop up their "garbage."

# 10 bscbears99 @ Mar 6

I am still deciding. I agree the show is consistently the best but it does feel a little stale by this time. I like the fact that it seems we are finally getting a choice. Does anyone know with 2k are you able to shutoff the throw meters? I am not big into the analog controls i like the classic controls and dont like worrying about the throw meters. Too much of a tradionalist i guess dating back to my intellevision days

# 11 porkys8077 @ Mar 6

I have a PS3 and loved The Show 10,but I might end up getting 2K11 this year.

# 12 CoreyMac @ Mar 6

MLB The Show is just too authentic for a diehard baseball fanatic to pass up. It has all the little things we've come to appreciate about our favorite teams uniforms, stadiums, batting stances etc. With a few menu tweaks it becomes the best baseball experience I've ever had....

Hitting View: Catcher 4
Pitching View: Broadcast
Fielding View Offense & Defense: Broadcast
Analog Fielding: Veteran Difficulty
Analog Pitching & Hitting: All-Star
Balks: On
CPU Pitch Delay: Faster

# 13 leafs nation @ Mar 6

I think I'm going with the show. I bought a PS3 for it after owning 2K9 and my xbox got that red ring thing. I figured at least with the PS3 I could get whichever is better. One thing I think 2k is miles ahead in is commentary. Baseball is a beautiful game to those who enjoy it and I feel it looks and feels more "beautiful" in the show.

# 14 knicks69 @ Mar 6

I like The Show better because we get roster updates every week. I don't
know why 2k does not do this since they a direct liscense with MLB.