MLB 2K11 Developer Insight #1 - Marketing Looks Back at MLB 2K10

[JayhawkerStL]

Again, 2K probably sees early info on MLB 2K11 as more harmful than good.

For one, I have been saying for months that it is unrealistic to expect this game to be anything more than a really huge patch on 2K10. The last game was actually pretty darn good, but had some significant areas that needed to be fixed, but they were not able to with a patch for various reasons. Despite many people really enjoying the game, it was savaged in the forums and sold horribly.

So the last game lost a ton of money, and it was unlikely that pouring a ton of cash into development was going to pay off for them. That means their smartest strategy is just to patch up the last game, and release this as primarily roster update. I don't think there is a lot more for the devs to say, and a bunch of early info will just annoy their market.

Second, for several years now, early info from 2K results in a ton of negative threads at OS. There is a decent size part of this community that is eagerly waiting to bash the holy heck out of this game. You have already seen it in the screenshot and trailer threads. there is far too little info provided for people to make any predictions about how bad the game might be, but that doesn't stop folks that have no intention of buying the game to salivate at the chance to bash it.

As I said earlier in the thread, I think this first dev diary was lame. I was bummed, because I am curious to see what they are doing. But I'm in their camp. All their early info can do is lose me. It's already a day one purchase for me. So I can't blame them for holding off.

I really don't see an upside for them releasing a lot of info early on this game, at all.

[Blzer]

Jayhawker, I'm not sure if you've ever read some of my responses around here, but my primary concern isn't about them releasing info late. It's that someone like Ronnie makes us believe that we are going to get some real info and then we don't get it. I can pretty much equate this to a strip tease from an average looking girl that doesn't really last that long.

If they don't want to release info yet, they shouldn't even come close to making us believe that they are going to. In fact, they might as well reveal their schedule to us now so we don't feel thrown out of the loop when those expectations aren't met.

[Saberq]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jayhawker

Again, 2K probably sees early info on MLB 2K11 as more harmful than good. For one, I have been saying for months that it is unrealistic to expect this game to be anything more than a really huge patch on 2K10. The last game was actually pretty darn good, but had some significant areas that needed to be fixed, but they were not able to with a patch for various reasons. Despite many people really enjoying the game, it was savaged in the forums and sold horribly. So the last game lost a ton of money, and it was unlikely that pouring a ton of cash into development was going to pay off for them. That means their smartest strategy is just to patch up the last game, and release this as primarily roster update. I don't think there is a lot more for the devs to say, and a bunch of early info will just annoy their market. Second, for several years now, early info from 2K results in a ton of negative threads at OS. There is a decent size part of this community that is eagerly waiting to bash the holy heck out of this game. You have already seen it in the screenshot and trailer threads. there is far too little info provided for people to make any predictions about how bad the game might be, but that doesn't stop folks that have no intention of buying the game to salivate at the chance to bash it. As I said earlier in the thread, I think this first dev diary was lame. I was bummed, because I am curious to see what they are doing. But I'm in their camp. All their early info can do is lose me. It's already a day one purchase for me. So I can't blame them for holding off. I really don't see an upside for them releasing a lot of info early on this game, at all.

I respect your opinion but I have to disagree.......2K never released next years game as just a patch or an update.....I really believe that they worked hard on 2K11 and that we shall see the same number of improvement that we saw from 2k9 to 2k10.....

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

Jayhawker, I'm not sure if you've ever read some of my responses around here, but my primary concern isn't about them releasing info late. It's that someone like Ronnie makes us believe that we are going to get some real info and then we don't get it. I can pretty much equate this to a strip tease from an average looking girl that doesn't really last that long. If they don't want to release info yet, they shouldn't even come close to making us believe that they are going to. In fact, they might as well reveal their schedule to us now so we don't feel thrown out of the loop when those expectations aren't met.

I will say that the entire Ronnie/2K info things is nothing short of a debacle. But it has gone on long enough now, that I just face palm myself when I see Ronnie announces something. I don't even need to wait to see how little, or how late the information is.

And I agree, the answer is to just stop teasing altogether. I think they struggle with the fact that their competition starts cranking out info so early, when they would prefer to wait until February. And they have handled it poorly, to say the least.

But the guys making all of these really poor decisions really have zero impact on game quality.

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jayhawker

So the last game lost a ton of money, and it was unlikely that pouring a ton of cash into development was going to pay off for them. That means their smartest strategy is just to patch up the last game, and release this as primarily roster update. I don't think there is a lot more for the devs to say, and a bunch of early info will just annoy their market.

There is no way I will believe that this next game will be a roster update and patch. I am expecting a big improvement in quite a few areas. I will be very disappointed if you are right.

As for Ronnie2K - I haven't followed him enough to realize he just disappoints people. I will learn to temper my expectations any time he opens his mouth from now on.

Overall you are right. Any info released doesn't really change how good the game will be in March. But people that believe in their game tend to market it more heavily. It's like a movie that doesn't let any critics review it ahead of time. That's usually a bad sign. I expect the demos to be out in late February. The game will have gone gold by the end of January. Nobody is adding any new features at this point. They are just fine-tuning things. They don't gain anything by holding on to information at this point so why not release info if it looks good? At this point I choose to believe their marketing department sucks and that the game will still be good.

[AtlBraves09]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jayhawker

I will say that the entire Ronnie/2K info things is nothing short of a debacle. But it has gone on long enough now, that I just face palm myself when I see Ronnie announces something. I don't even need to wait to see how little, or how late the information is. And I agree, the answer is to just stop teasing altogether. I think they struggle with the fact that their competition starts cranking out info so early, when they would prefer to wait until February. And they have handled it poorly, to say the least. But the guys making all of these really poor decisions really have zero impact on game quality.

- I agree that it is a debacle, and it is disappointing at times to say in the least, but, if Ronnie/2k, get on here and see what is being directed at him and the company, I would be weary about showing or communicating ANYTHING. I know that if the dev. of the competition were treated the same way it would get really ugly really fast. I understand there is a lot more confidence in them but it doesn't excuse the fact of the disrespect that has been shown when it was probably out of his hands in the first place. It is just my opinion that the back hand and blatant attacks at Ronnie/2k have lessened our chances of hearing anything pertaining to information until they are absolutely ready to share. Just my .02

[JayhawkerStL]

Quote: Originally Posted by rudyjuly2

There is no way I will believe that this next game will be a roster update and patch. I am expecting a big improvement in quite a few areas. I will be very disappointed if you are right.

That's fair. I'm not sure what you consider big improvements.

I think they have to:

-Improve the fielding by adding errors, and increasing the influence of the RS on throwing. I'd like to see this be modeled so that players' ratings will influence this appropriately.

I would not expect them to drastically change how fielding is handled in terms of using more dynamic camera angles, as you suggest in my blog post. It's a good idea, but would take far more time and $$$ than I expect them to throw at this game right now.

-Introduce a legitimate injury system that happens in-game, and not just during sim.

-Improve the in-game interface so that the user can access the opponent's roster so that we can easily see who is left on the bench, who is left in the bullpen. And for god's sake, we need to see the what handed each of those players are.

-Increase the variability of ball placement when pitching. Simply force us to center the pitches of worse pitchers, and let a pitcher's wildness rating affect just how close to center a pitch can land.

If they just do all of this, I'm going to enjoy the heck out of the game. I suspect we will only see a portion of this done, and probably it won't be tuned as well as it needs to be. So I will still enjoy it more than last year's, but no one is going to be talking game of the year.

I'd like to see an improved hitting model. But I really found a way to make last year's model work nearly perfectly for me. So they can leave it, as imperfect as choosing between power and contact is.

Actually, if they just reverted to the 2K8 model for hitting and pitching, it would be a plus. I think VC altered stuff that did not need to be fixed from that game. 2K8's primary flaw was frame rate and tuning. While many complained about how hard it was to pitch and hit, it was mostly due to the newness of the interface. The complaint now is how easy it is to pitch.

I would have even left the meatballs in. the two step hitting is more iffy. I think it is fair to call the current hitting model as nothing more than a glorified button press. But I do think the check swing on the stick was perfectly used in 2K9 and 2K10 (once it was patched in). There is no way that using button presses can simulate that.

But there is a real problem with the timing required to step into a pitch in way that feels right. It's an important part of hitting, but I just don't think it can be duplicated in a video game that makes its mastery feel like it is improving the game.

I would love to see the improved commentary that we see in NBA 2K11, but that is expensive, and I just don't think the game can afford that expense.

An improved franchise mode would be nice, and I know it is much higher on many folks' priority lists. But MLB Today became my way to play the game. All I want would be for the stats I put up in MLB Today to replace the stats from real life. That would create the ultimate season mode.

As a bonus, the ability to go back and play any previous game in MLB Today would be awesome.

But I just don't see this other stuff making the cut this year. I hope I am surprised. But 2K10 sold like Backbreaker. And that company has decided to no longer make console games. I don't see 2K investing too much in a baseball series until they can negotiate a better license. It's within the realm of possibility that when this deal is done, 2K baseball will go the direction of College Hoops.

If that happens, I will then be rooting for the return of EA to baseball. With the introduction of analog controls to The Show, I feel like we can count on EA Baseball of including them in their game.

I'd prefer to see EA and 2K battle it out.

[rudyjuly2]

Quote: Originally Posted by AtlBraves09

- I agree that it is a debacle, and it is disappointing at times to say in the least, but, if Ronnie/2k, get on here and see what is being directed at him and the company, I would be weary about showing or communicating ANYTHING. I know that if the dev. of the competition were treated the same way it would get really ugly really fast. I understand there is a lot more confidence in them but it doesn't excuse the fact of the disrespect that has been shown when it was probably out of his hands in the first place. It is just my opinion that the back hand and blatant attacks at Ronnie/2k have lessened our chances of hearing anything pertaining to information until they are absolutely ready to share. Just my .02

What makes to think they aren't reading this? Sucking up is not the answer to getting meaningful changes. I prefer the open dialogue in this forum, even if it does skew negative.