Major League Baseball 2K9 Tim Lincecum Interview

[CMH]

I agree. I don't mean ratings only. I just mean that ratings should be a part of the system.

I'm thinking of control. Ratings should be a part of the result. You can be 100% accurate with whatever meter is being used, but if the guy is a terrible control pitcher then it shouldn't be automatic that you hit your spot.

If it's Greg Maddux, different story.

[kubankaos]

Oh oh. It sounds like the lowest common denominator won again. I still for the life of me can't figure out why people couldn't just choose classic pitching in their settings if they didn't like the new controls? Now they might be getting rid of it because it was too hard for some? Wow!!!

If anything, make classic/meter pitching the default for the idiots that can't seem to grasp the concept of changing an option. I'm talking about the people that don't like, you are entitled to your opinion, but what is wrong with having options?

If they make it just a simple meter based system, then I guess it will be a rental for me this year. I will buy the Show first.

Sucks, I really liked the controls of 2K8. A little tweaking and you would have an extremely addictive system.

[Blzer]

What makes me sad is the time they wasted on 2K8 with those pitching controls if they weren't planning on sticking to them. It's like them spending a bunch of time and money on some major CGI shot for a movie, and then BAM! Scrapped. Does it make a difference in the movie? Not in the movie that you see, but behind the scenes, it meant a lot for them not to have those finances and resources and time readily available for something else greater in the movie.

A slightly more OT example, but this is the biggest problem I had with Saw IV being made... they spend so much time and effort closing out the trilogy with Saw III that when they broke the barrier, it demoralized the importance of Saw III and made it an inferior movie as it was not set up for another set of sequels.

In this case, they could have done so many other things in 2K8 that was not so revolved around pitching. Every God damn interview was about the new (and actually pretty cool) pitching controls, then BAM! Tea-bagged.

In a way, it disgusts me... but to be honest, give me options for an invisible cursor and a variable location slider, and I'm set. Just like the good ol' days of 2K3 and 2K4.

[CMH]

I had no problem with the new pitching controls. I enjoyed them as well.

But, it needs a lot of tweaking and a lot of work.

To better understand me you just need to know that the only pitching system I ever really liked was High Heats ball/strike system. Still to this day the most realistic in gaming.

[Trevytrev11]

Quote: Originally Posted by YankeePride

I agree. I don't mean ratings only. I just mean that ratings should be a part of the system. I'm thinking of control. Ratings should be a part of the result. You can be 100% accurate with whatever meter is being used, but if the guy is a terrible control pitcher then it shouldn't be automatic that you hit your spot. If it's Greg Maddux, different story.

Now this I agree 100% with.

I've posted this idea a few times before, but they could solve this with any system by just making the circle that you use to aim the pitch different sizes for different pitchers. And then the outcome of the pitch would be anywhere in this circle. The Maddux's would have a circle maybe the size of a softball and the Zito's would have them the size of a basketball or beach ball.

And then as you stated, the players ratings/stats would determine the size of the circle for each player and ideally for each pitch (as you would expect a fastball to have better location than a curveball).

[Stroehms]

Meter pitching?

[Trevytrev11]

Quote: Originally Posted by stroehmerbasebal

Meter pitching?

My complaint is that then it's only about timing and once you get that down, pitching becomes automatic. The one benefit of the new system is that it requires timing and movement.

Away to make the meter system more difficult is to have the speed of the meter move at different speeds. A great pitcher would have a much more constant speed and a guy who typically struggles would have a different meter speed on almost every pitch making it hard to get into a rythem.

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trevytrev11

My complaint is that then it's only about timing and once you get that down, pitching becomes automatic. The one benefit of the new system is that it requires timing and movement. Away to make the meter system more difficult is to have the speed of the meter move at different speeds. A great pitcher would have a much more constant speed and a guy who typically struggles would have a different meter speed on almost every pitch making it hard to get into a rythem.

The Show does this, based on both the wind-up itself (longer wind-ups have slower meters) and situation based on pitcher (runners in scoring position leads to faster meter). It's a decent idea in theory, but you can get the timing down for anything once you play a game enough. I thought the R Stick pitching was a good concept, just in need of tuning. I would like to see it based on pitch rating and just be variable as well

One thing I love about The Show's pitching is how your individual pitch confidence comes into play. with Beckett, for example, there are days when I was killing guys with my curve and used it to set up my fastball. Other games, I couldn't get it working and had to use my fastball more. It's these subtle things that help a mechanic along.

Meter pitching is becoming archaic for many people, yet The Show manages to make it work with these types of nuances. Imagine what could be done with the R Stick function if your were to add these details.