MLB 2K11 Demo Impressions Roundtable

[BlackBetty15]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryan36

It's a no -win for the development team. Release a 60 day old version of the game and hope people like it, or just hope people like it after full release. I think with the incredible lack of info 2k has released, that people wanted more from the demo. I think their marketing approach this year will mean a lot less Day 1 sales.

I completley agree with this post. 2K is and has been the worst in marketing, community interactment, and in overall decison making concerning thier baseball franchise. I mean, sean bailey and his staff really needs to read a john maxwell book. Either that or hire Lane Kiffin, at least he brings the bark, unfortunatley he lacks the bite. Anything is better than what is currentley there. ESPECIALLY ronnie...that kid has no idea how to interact with fans or represent a product. Ramone Russell....if your reading this, throw ronnie a life raft QUICK....that dude is drowning for real.

[BearClaw]

Quote: Originally Posted by CubFan23

But it's ok for 2k to copy RTTS and call it my player?

But it's okay for SCEA to copy Madden NFL Superstar and call it Road to the Show?

[jeffy777]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryan36

I'm a franchise guy. That's where I spend most of my time. The game with sliders PLAYED somewhat sim, but to say the entirety of the game was an accurate sim, was a stretch, IMO. I say this about The Show as well.

I'm not saying the entirety of 2K10 was an accurate sim. I'm saying a good portion of the gameplay was, specifically the parts I mentioned (hitting, AI pitching, plate battles, My Player fielding). The things that were lacking were the user pitching (too accurate), regular fielding (too automatic and no errors), and stealing (too random). All of those things have been addressed this year, plus the physics and hit variety has been improved, as well as more sliders have been added to give it even greater flexibility. Based on what I've experienced with the demo, and after setting the demo difficulty to "Hard" (with the 360 profile trick), 2K11 should play a pretty good game of sim baseball. I'm not saying "Hard" is the perfect setting, but it shows that fielding assist can be turned off, pitching can become a lot harder (which means the pitching accuracy slider should be quite effective), as well as hitting, if you need more of a challenge. Personally, I thought hitting and stealing were the two things that were too tricky on the "Hard" setting, so it seems with the right difficulty setting, (with some possible slider tweaks catered to each person's skill level), the game should play a nice game of baseball.

Now other than on-the-field gameplay, the heavier franchise stuff remains to be seen, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed there. So far, the dynamic player ratings, deeper hot/cold system, and reoccuring injury system all sound pretty nice in theory. Now we'll just have to see how well it all works with the supposedly updated progression system and simulation engine.

[Spanky]

Quote: Originally Posted by WAT

I played both demos with my brothers 18 year old friend who is not a big baseball fan or gamer at all. He was kinda like my guinea pig experiment to figure out which game he would consider better and have more fun with at the end of it all. (didnt tell him that though).

Outstanding test!

It's kind of like replacing someone's regular coffee with Folgers crystals.

[SDwinder]

I have to shake my head at the hopeful 2k11 comments and the comparisons its fans try to do to The Show. It still is apples and oranges. Just FYI, those who actually play the real game for a living, only play The Show, and have since 2k8 was an abortion. We liked 2K7, but the whole pitch stick was a joke from the beginning starting with the meatball problem. It certainly has gotten better, but when it is tougher to throw a curveball to a spot in the game than in real life, it just loses us. The system is just not consistent enough to get it right.

We all had XBoxes until 2008, then bought PS3s to play The Show starting with 08 and have not looked back. Every year we take a look just to see how much 2K has screwed up their baseball game, but it does appear finally they are putting out a decent option for XBox only players. If I had to grade the demos, The Show being an A and 2K being a B-.

Yes, there are times The Show does feel a little stale or boring, but that IS baseball! It can be very repetitive until those special matchups and moments happen. They may only happen a few times a game. This is represented in The Show. If you want more arcade excitement, get The Bigs. That seems to be more suited to most of the posts I have read here.

The Show does the very best job of any baseball game I have played in the last 25 years of replicating the true chess match of the pitcher/batter duel and being able to work deep counts, and benefit from it. High Heat PC modded was very good as well. MVP PC was a great game after it was modded, but out of the box it was lacking in many areas. People forget these things sometimes. My peers and I were big time MVP PC modded players, but became enamored with the presentation and graphics of 2k7 when it came out. The Show has far and away exceeded our expectations the last 4 years now adding to the gameplay and feel of the game as well as graphically doing the upgrades with animations and AI, and now the analog sticks. I like their analog stick better than 2ks for pitching. Not sure I am on board with the analog hitting though. More time is needed, but we will see.

If you like 2k11, great. Have fun and get your moneys worth. But make no mistake, The Show is head and shoulders above 2K at this point in simulating a real baseball experience. Not only the mental aspects, but how it is replicated on the field. Either way it looks like more people will be having a solid fun baseball experience this season than in quite a few years!

[Dazraz]

I think slamming 2K as being just a pick up & play game compared to The Show is a bit harsh. What The Show does so well is animate the many different scenarios baseball throws up in an unbelievably realistic way. The AI that goes behind the scenes to generate such scenarios however often appear to be pre scripted during a game as opposed to random events. In certain situations in a game you will throw a ball no matter how well you've attempted to locate a pitch just so the game can trigger a commentary moment. Another area with The Show that really pains me is when a team is losing by 3 or 4 runs going into the final 3 innings the losing teams batters seem to get an attribute boost & consistently rally to either tie or get within a run of the opposition.
The Show depicts the sport of baseball beautifully but after playing through many many games it becomes apparent the game is far more scripted & alot less realistic then it looks.
I plan on picking up both games this year. Although it's obvious which game is going to be the more visually appealing I feel it's time for a fresh baseball experience this year.

[Yeah...THAT Guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by CubFan23

But it's ok for 2k to copy RTTS and call it my player?

Personally, I've never even played The Show because I have an Xbox, so I have no opinion on which game is better or anything, but honestly dude? Like RTTS was the first career mode in sports... Madden, NCAA Football, and if we're not talking only team sports, games like Tiger Woods and Top Spin all had career modes before RTTS.

[rudyjuly2]

2K11 will be a MUCH better sim of baseball than 2K10. I can't call 2K10 a good sim because the pitch accuracy was way too high. I rarely walked anyone. It was too easy to hit HRs to the opposite field. The infield sucked up almost every ground ball. Hit variety was low (very few popups on the infield or around home plate). There were no injuries or errors. It was very fair to call 2K10 a poor sim for these reasons. All of this was fixed for 2K11 although I'm still not completely sure about the pull vs. push power.

I judge how sim a baseball game is based mostly on the results of the batter vs. pitcher duel (on offense and while in the field). For me, 2K11 will most likely be the best sim I have ever played. I love the improvements in hitting. The ability to slow down the pitch speed to my comfort zone allows me to pull the ball well and draw walks at a more normal rate (most teams average 3-4). This is huge for me and the customization that 2K allows here is great. With the new pitch accuracy slider I will walk more batters than the paltry few I did last year. Can't wait for Tuesday!