Major League Baseball 2K9 Video: Cardinals @ Cubs Top 1st

[sask3m]

is one of the videos missing, all i see is the bottom of the first with the cubs batting and the intro video wher eshumaker is left standing at the plate waiting for zambranos first pitch, where is the video with the cards batting?

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by brendanrfoley

Why are people complaining about the Cardinals' double, and how quickly the center fielder reached the ball? Not only was the center fielder playing deep, but he was shaded heavily to left center. Oh, and the throw to second? Used the cut off man. Looked like a bang-bang baseball play to me.

Fielder speed is extremely quick in this early-going of videos, something that I would instantly turn down on the slider set as soon as I get my hands on this game. The same goes for baserunning speed.

Now there's no throwing speed slider, correct? I just wish it were at least adjustable, because everything feels very fast.

Also, putting the ball in play seems awkward for two reasons: 1) obviously, the sound of the bat hitting the ball; 2) the ball seems to be jumping off the end of the bat quite well. If it were on the barrel with a proper sound, I think this game would instantly feel much better.

I think 2K10 is the VC gem that we're all waiting for, but this is a good first step.

[mike360]

Quote: Originally Posted by brendanrfoley

The vids are encoded at 30fps, the game is 60fps -- hence the lost frames

Do you really lose chunks of animation from that though ? i thought the encoder wouldn't drop animation.

[jagsfan82]

didn't I read that the pitches were going to be colored when they left the pitcher's hand, not after the ball is in the catchers glove?

[ericjwm]

Quote: Originally Posted by Renegade44

wow, im very unimpressed with the videos. the presentation seems to have taken a step back, the pregame intro is ridiculous. gameplay looks to be about on par with last years and the bat sound will get annoying after, well it already is annoying.

Yup, the gameplay doesn't look to have changed much unfortunately. This is the same engine though, so I guess thats all they could do. The animations still aren't completely fluid, yet some of the signature animations I've seen look ok. It must be a hell of a task to program different sounds of the bat making contact. That's the same sound effect they've been using for 3+ yrs.

After watching the videos a few more times. The only real bright spots IMO are the new camera angles & the real time world. Some dire changes are surely on the way for 2K10.

[Blzer]

Quote: Originally Posted by krazzed

I only agree with you on one thing, which is the bat sound, which I can deal with. I'm just curious, what was so bad about the presentation? I thought it was amazing. The gameplay looked better than last years, and I hope that it plays better as well.

I'm sure this isn't what he's talking about, but I wish they would keep the score overlay up at all times, especially during cut scenes. I understand why they would have to move it out of the way when the ball is put in play just for the sake of being able to see what's going on, but when it goes away for the cut scenes it takes you out of that TV broadcast even for a second. It would be much better if it could stay up.

Also, all of the visual aids aren't so stunning. The swing feedback graphic is something right out of an arcade game, and if we can't turn off the names under the players, the pitching cursor, or the pitch analysis (a post-pitch effect of where the ball ended up), then it takes away from making it look like you're watching a game live.

[scott4171]

Now I know why they didn't put out game vidz until now. The sound of the crack of the bat is horrible, they still haven't changed it. The animation is not fliud, its all herky jerky. The pitching overlay on the left side is way to big and it takes up most of the left side of the screen when pitching. The announcing is not good but better then last year. Lastly, the crowd id still non existant, what a shame..

[JBucc]

Nice vids.

+I really like how the game looks. It's not full of fancy bloom or other effects, just looks really "plain" in a good way.
+Commentary sounds good
+The crowd looks nice
+I'm glad they changed the motion for 2 seam fastball. I could not throw that pitch last year to save my life. It always came out as a poor 4 seam.

-It did seem like some frames were missing between transitions
-Outfielders looked too fast, but sliders should fix this
-The little effects like the firework explosion thing after a ball crossed the plate look out of place
-On the foul ball in the first vid you can see how the pitcher still goes into that slow-mo running after the ball goes foul
-This one is kind of subjective, but the vids just didn't seem exciting. All the presentation stuff is done well, but it just sort of seems like they're going through the motions, with no passion.


? Maybe this has been answered somewhere but with the right stick controlling baserunning can you control your slide still? It looked weird when he went for a steal and just strolled past the defender instead of sliding.