Major League Baseball 2K9 Review

[allBthere]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

That's exactly my point, and why I put it in quotes. How can you review a game, expecting the reviewer to be level in how reviews this game compared to other sports games, and expect them to factor in that sliders can "fix" a game for them? Does that make sense?

I don't really get it. I'm saying to people it isn't broken, and that if sliders can make the game more to your preference - that should be factored in.
We are talking about videogame baseball, and your idea of what bliss is like will differ than mine.
I feel like the point of the review was to dock major points for the game not simulating real life baseball extremely closely - right out of the box.
I think your argument against mine is that the game is fundamentally 'broken' in certain aspects - is that right? And that sliders can band-aid those aspects and that the consumer shouldn't be expected to have to fix those issues himself..at least I think that's where you're going.
I'm just saying this is all very subjective and I'm not convinced that the game has to be extremely sim right out of the box to get a good score.
I think it's a great 'fusion' of sim, especially with my current sliders and I'm very happy w/ how it's playing now. I could list stats like my team BA or pitch count and things like this. I'll have lower walks (taken and given) and pitch counts - but everything else is very believable and my games only take 40-45 minutes.

[Trevytrev11]

I still don't understand the 3 hour game comments. Real baseball games are three hours mostly due to stuff that happens when the ball isn't even live.

Baseball games are slow because coaches take 2 minute mound visits, pitchers take several minutes to walk to the mound, talk to the coach and warm up. In a nine inning game there are 17 times times the teams have to switch sides (excludes the top of the 1st). This alone is a 2-3 minute process each time. Hitters step out of the box between every pitch. Pitchers gather themselves between tough pitches or when they get into tough jams. Catchers calm down pitchers. Coaches argue with umpires. Players argue with umpires. etc. etc.

All of this stuff is the reason games take forever in real life...in a video game all of this stuff takes seconds or no time at all.

Of course higher pitch counts are going to increase game length, but more so is whether or not you want to see every replay, every cut scene, etc. If you hit a in between pitches, you can throw pitch after pitch after pitch with almost no time in between and get through games with realistic walk and pitch counts in not a whole lot of time.

My average 2K8 game length is about 40-45 minutes or so and I works counts every chance I get and get the AI to throw 120+ pitches a game.

[shy1011]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

That's fair enough... but don't you think it's unfair not to hold the developer to task for not making these "necessary" adjustments in the first place? If someone has to buy the game, then out of the box, up the power to get proper stats for HR's... why can't you hold the developer responsible for not doing the same?

Every one is different as far as how they want to play with sliders. Not everyone is going to agree no mater what sliders the development puts as default.

[kicker]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlyGilmore

IMO you can't review games based on what sliders may or may not do. Not everybody wants to sit there for hours fiddling with sliders trying to figure out what works - and IMO they shouldn't be expected to. Besides, sliders should be for tweaking game play. IMO gamers shouldn't be counting on sliders to fix game play. You should be getting at least decent game play right out of the box.

Hmmm..took me exactly 1 minute to download and load sliders off of 2kshare that makes this game play a great brand of Baseball.

2k games ALWAYS need slider adjustments, why this isn't factored into a review is beyond me.

[Pared]

Quote: Originally Posted by allBthere

I don't really get it. I'm saying to people it isn't broken, and that if sliders can make the game more to your preference - that should be factored in. We are talking about videogame baseball, and your idea of what bliss is like will differ than mine. I feel like the point of the review was to dock major points for the game not simulating real life baseball extremely closely - right out of the box. I think your argument against mine is that the game is fundamentally 'broken' in certain aspects - is that right? And that sliders can band-aid those aspects and that the consumer shouldn't be expected to have to fix those issues himself..at least I think that's where you're going. I'm just saying this is all very subjective and I'm not convinced that the game has to be extremely sim right out of the box to get a good score. I think it's a great 'fusion' of sim, especially with my current sliders and I'm very happy w/ how it's playing now. I could list stats like my team BA or pitch count and things like this. I'll have lower walks (taken and given) and pitch counts - but everything else is very believable and my games only take 40-45 minutes.

Yes, that's exactly my point. Even so, compare it to other games released in the past. Graphics and presentation withstanding, the core depiction of baseball warrants the comments in the review.

Quote: Originally Posted by shy1011

Every one is different as far as how they want to play with sliders. Not everyone is going to agree no mater what sliders the development puts as default.

That's my point. Not sure if you were agreeing with me or what.

[Trevytrev11]

Quote: Originally Posted by kicker

Hmmm..took me exactly 1 minute to download and load sliders off of 2kshare that makes this game play a great brand of Baseball. 2k games ALWAYS need slider adjustments, why this isn't factored into a review is beyond me.

I just don't see it as the reviews responsibility to make the game playable, it's the developers. What about last year when 2K share was unavailable? How much time should he spend tweaking until he actually reviewed the game? Slider threads are already started and they will continue to be tweaked for weeks and/or months to come.

I wouldn't expect Consumer Reports or JD Power to take a brand new car and then tweak parts of the engine, etc. before the review the car...they review what they get from the manufacturer.

Sliders are meant to tweak the game so that people can tweak the game based on their preferences and abilities not to overhaul the way the game plays...if this becomes the case, it is the fault of the developer and no one else.

[BlyGilmore]

Quote: Originally Posted by kicker

Hmmm..took me exactly 1 minute to download and load sliders off of 2kshare that makes this game play a great brand of Baseball. 2k games ALWAYS need slider adjustments, why this isn't factored into a review is beyond me.

Point blank, gamers should not need to put the extra time and effort into going out and finding sliders, or playing with sliders themselves, to get a passable game of baseball.

I stand by my statement - sliders are for tweaking and perfecting. They are not for fixing flaws the developers should have fixed on their own.

I cannot think of another product people can spend their hard earned dollars on where people make excuses for it being broken just - because you have the option of fixing it yourself.

Would you tell somebody who opened up a brand new Dell to crack open the case, grab a their soldering iron (yeah i spelled that wrong sliz) and fix it themselves?

"Come on! That loose chip isn't Dell's fault! Just spend the next hour putting it back in place and you'll be fine! Crybaby!"

[Muskrat]

I am not a sim fanatic, just a baseball fan...and I am having fun with the game on the Pro setting "stock" sliders. As I get better and destroy the computer, I will start moving the sliders until I am ready to move up to the next difficulty level.

From a "casual baseball gamer" perspective, the only glaring issue is the 1b leaving the bag...which I have eliminated by letting the meter move into the red when throwing to first..not a singe problem unless the meter goes full red..

Personally, I find the menus more cumbersome and confusing than any of the gameplay.

I see where the "sim crowd" is coming from...but to the best of my recollection with regards to most baseball games, they are set out of the box for casual gamers and provide the sliders for tweaking by the hardcore fans. To me, this is what 2k9 does...