Major League Baseball 2K10 Interview (ESPN)

[Steve_OS]

ESPN's Jon Robinson has posted an interview with Ben Bishop, Producer of Major League Baseball 2K10.

Quote:

John: "MLB 2K9 was pretty much panned across the board. What did you think of the final product when it shipped and how did the failure of last year's game help shape the direction of '2K10?'" Ben: "MLB 2K9 was certainly a challenging project for us because of the fact that we switched developers and the game came to us (Visual Concepts) a little later than we expected and it was a new code base. There was a big period of adjustment as we just tried to get our heads wrapped around what was there and what we could do in the time that we had. In a lot of ways, there were things that we just had to leave on the table and know that we had to get the game ready by a certain period of time, and we really feel that with '2K10' we were able to go back and get to all these things that were left on the table and start fresh with a code base that we were now familiar with. When you look at it, '2K10' is a lot of what we wanted '2K9' to be, but we just weren't ready to get it there. The game has really evolved a lot this year, everything from the visuals to the gameplay mechanics to being able to add things like My Player, as that was certainly a big weakness for us last year, not being able to play through a player's career. I really think we've turned things around this year and now we can continue to move in the direction we want for the series."

[Jamin23]

Thanks, Steve

[Jamin23]

After reading that it really does seem like they are trying to get this game back on track to a level where it plays a realistic game of baseball.

[EnigmaNemesis]

I wish check swings was addressed. But all he would talk about is defensive swings for working the count. Disappointing.

I also firmly believe that you don't need to have a separate defensive swing feature to work the count if the hitting engine was robust enough and sim.

But time will tell.

[SoxFan01605]

No tooo much to take from this (which is becoming a trend...lol), but I didn't really think too much of this:

Quote:

Robinson: Is it true that the better your player performs in clutch moments and helps your team win, that it will even increase your team's budget and help them sign free agents? Bishop: Eventually, yeah, that's one of the longer term effects. As your player gets better and is more successful in these clutch moments, your team will eventually build up around you. You even start to have a little bit of influence on the team's direction. You can start to influence which free agents should be signed and things like that where you'll be able to help your team get better. So again, it's not just all about you and your stats. You're also trying to help your team win.

This sounds way too gimmicky IMO. I find it amusing how the developer acts as though this gives them an edge over SCEA's RTTS. I'm skeptical to say the least.

I'm hoping ( though not sure if I really believe it) the reason we aren't seeing any depth of info is because a TON of time was spent making 2K10 play right. We'll see.

[Jamin23]

Quote: Originally Posted by EnigmaNemesis

I wish check swings was addressed. But all he would talk about is defensive swings for working the count. Disappointing. I also firmly believe that you don't need to have a separate defensive swing feature to work the count if the hitting engine was robust enough and sim. But time will tell.

I was hoping to read something about the check swings, but there was nothing about them, which it makes me feel like they aren't going to be in this year.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jamin23

I was hoping to read something about the check swings, but there was nothing about them, which it makes me feel like they aren't going to be in this year.

Nope, the "defensive swings" is your count worker. Not cool. Not realistic. Will be redundant very fast IMO.

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by EnigmaNemesis

Nope, the "defensive swings" is your count worker. Not cool. Not realistic. Will be redundant very fast IMO.

I am starting to think they are forcing you to use the feature by removing the check swing. That is what I am starting to gather.

This interview was like a political discussion. A lot was said but you walked away with nothing, lol!