Major League Baseball 2K10 Interview (ESPN)

[Juiceman]

A couple takeaways for me: 1) They sound confident that with a couple last tweaks they’ll get up to 60 fps. That’s good news. 2) Basically redesigning the programming for fielding. That’s good news as well. 3) It doesn’t sound like My Player will be of much interest to me. 4) Still no gameplay.

Regarding defensive swinging, here’s how I picture it assuming pushing up on the right stick is a normal swing (RH batter at bat and up and out is swinging at the outside of the plate and up and in is trying to pull) or if that push/pull is done on the left analog stick that’s fine too… for my explanation it doesn’t matter. You wait for a pitch and as it’s coming in and you have a split second to react. You can go up to bat and just swing away or you can go up to bat and actually watch the count and know the pitcher tendencies and place your bet on what pitch you’ll get. By 'place your bet' I just mean you’re thinking you know what to expect for the next pitch. If you have a 2-2 count and maybe expect and outside fastball and plan to swing at that and all the sudden you get an inside slider that you (in that split second) think will hit the inside edge of the plate, well you have to swing or you’ll strike out, so you push left on the right stick to fight it off at the last second and hope for a foul – although the way I understand it is that just because you swung defensively by pushing left or right doesn’t mean you won’t miss completely and strike out, or pop up, or hit a slow dribbler on the ground. It’s simply a way to fight off that pitch you were not expecting and stay alive. Now, this all potentially works for me if the pitch speed is fast enough and that’s a big ‘if’ I suppose. Does it make sense to implement this? Too hard to say without trying it out. I’d have to see how it feels.

A.J. Pierzynski is a really good example of a guy who will just work the count until he gets something he likes. I am not saying he purposely hit fouls or anything (maybe he does and maybe not), I’m just saying he fights off pitches really well and it makes for some long at-bats. Does that mean he just makes a lot of bad contact with the ball if he's hitting a lot of fouls? I don’t think so. I do think batters know they just need to get a piece of it to stay alive in some at-bats. Whether that’s defensive swinging or not I don’t think it matters. It’s more about how you play the pitch you’re getting. If pushing to the left or right feels good and natural, then I don’t care what it's called. As long as it plays out accurately.

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

I just hope there aren't less foul balls with the standard swing as a result of having the defensive swing as an option. Because some people here are saying "you don't need to use it if you don't have to," but I disagree in that it may be necessary if you want to hit a borderline outside pitch foul or in play.

I wonder how they are going to pull this off visually? Is a defensive going to be a flat footed swing attempt or look like a contact swing? Can you even make solid contact on a defensive swing in this game?

[bigfnjoe96]

I'm not sure why people keep saying Ben claims the best Feature in Franchise is Super-Sim. He was asked:

What's the biggest new addition to Franchise mode?
His answer was:

There are a lot of little things, but I think the biggest feature people will enjoy the most is SuperSim.

Not sure what's wrong with this statement. This is his opinion. For many people the addition of 40 man rosters & Call-Ups is the biggest NEW addition.

Am I missing something

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

I'm not sure why people keep saying Ben claims the best Feature in Franchise is Super-Sim. He was asked: What's the biggest new addition to Franchise mode? His answer was: There are a lot of little things, but I think the biggest feature people will enjoy the most is SuperSim. Not sure what's wrong with this statement. This is his opinion. For many people the addition of 40 man rosters & Call-Ups is the biggest NEW addition. Am I missing something

I think because people who enjoy franchise like to tinker and spend the time with it. He was touting a feature that kind of rushes you through it so to speak. Some are finding it ironic maybe.

[jerm21]

Franchise Insight will be coming shortly. (from Ronnie's twitter)


That mean another week? haha no i'm pumped, should be coming out today!

[DaveDQ]

One of the dilemmas that always pop up during these months before a game's release is jumpin to conclusions. With 2K's history of letting some down, I think maybe some tend to default to the negative.

This article is not supposed to be substance. You can't blame 2K for that. Blame Robinson for not digging into the guts of the issue. If he knew 2K9 had glitches, why not address some of those and ask what they did to resolve them? No, you can't do that. That would threaten the possibility of future interviews.

[nemesis04]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveDQ

One of the dilemmas that always pop up during these months before a game's release is jumpin to conclusions. With 2K's history of letting some down, I think maybe some tend to default to the negative. This article is not supposed to be substance. You can't blame 2K for that. Blame Robinson for not digging into the guts of the issue. If he knew 2K9 had glitches, why not address some of those and ask what they did to resolve them? No, you can't do that. That would threaten the possibility of future interviews.

Marketing rules the roost!

[500Feet]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveDQ

One of the dilemmas that always pop up during these months before a game's release is jumpin to conclusions. With 2K's history of letting some down, I think maybe some tend to default to the negative.

I'd say most people lean towards the negative. Can you blame 'em ? I'm not tryin' to start anything with you. I'm seriously asking you that.