MLB 2K9 News Post

Major League Baseball 2K9 Hands-On Preview

10:51 AM - February 16, 2009 by Steve_OS

I have played quite a bit of our beta copy of Major League Baseball 2K9, so I will give my impressions of what I have seen so far. Just keep in mind, some of the issues I have witnessed will not be in the final retail version, according to the developers of the game.

Some Unanswered Questions

The biggest question has to be the frame rate and the A.I. swinging at anything remotely close to the strike zone. After multiple games, I can definitely tell you there are some issues with the frame rate, but those issues are not consistently popping up. For example, here are some instances where I have seen hiccups in animations one time, and then a few innings later, seen the exact type of play and not seen any hiccups.

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Member Comments

# 61 Alai @ 02/16/09 08:02 PM

Last year it was similar about CPU never taking strikes. After using SFGiant's slider settings, they started taking strikes by the bunches. Even getting struck out looking. Same thing with CPU pitchers giving up walks. So I'm pretty hopeful that sliders will take care of that problem.

# 62 BlackRome @ 02/16/09 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brendanrfoley


	More in-depth thoughts on my end... The lack of consistency is a good thing. There are times the game runs smoothly, and the code likely just needs optimization. This is my biggest concern, and many people here. This could actually be a "deal breaker" for me. Wonderful news, though it leads to more questions... why would the developers create a sim experience on the hitting end, but not the pitching. The CPU swinging at everything must be early code. I hope. More great news. Having the commentary this finely tuned more than a month before release is another great sign. Awesome. More awesome. I'm tired of saying awesome, but that's awesome. Fingers crossed!

"I have seen slowdown and loss of frames during certain cut scenes and foul ball situations. Obviously, these instances will not affect the gameplay at all, but there are some that do."

I would have expected those things to be fixed 4 months into NBA2k9 but they haven't. If you are experiencing slowdown now offline I can only imagine how it will be online. I'm willing to bet there will be more of a slowdown online. They have yet to resolve the problem with NBA2k.

# 63 dmbfan1970 @ 02/16/09 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boomhauertjs


	I wonder if installing the game to the hard drive will eliminate what few framerate issues there appear to be.

Wonderful suggestion. This could really help it out.

# 64 lnin0 @ 02/17/09 12:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackRome


	"I have seen slowdown and loss of frames during certain cut scenes and foul ball situations. Obviously, these instances will not affect the gameplay at all, but there are some that do." I would have expected those things to be fixed 4 months into NBA2k9 but they haven't. If you are experiencing slowdown now offline I can only imagine how it will be online. I'm willing to bet there will be more of a slowdown online. They have yet to resolve the problem with NBA2k.

So has 2k released any updates/patches for NBA2K9? My major concern is 2K no longer cares about quality - just the cheapest way to the biggest bottom line. 2K went from a company that used to tweak and patch gameplay to near perfection (or at least as close as they could get with that years code), to a company that never patches games and when they do it is long in coming and only to address game breaking technical issues - not to improve gameplay.

# 65 NumberOneRB @ 02/17/09 02:15 AM

Steve, if you could answer this question it would be great. If not, no hard feelings

. I was wondering if you knew anything about the Living Rosters feature and if it would be exactly like the NBA 2K9 version? That goes for not only the ratings, but also the possibility to implement/fix new animations via download? I was also wondering if the 2K Insider would be utilized in this game as well?

# 66 Salhus @ 02/17/09 04:16 AM

Looks like VC did a great job of "ironing" out the wrinkles from last years version

# 67 boomhauertjs @ 02/17/09 10:15 AM

Thanks for the impressions Steve. Unless there is some game-killing bug that is revealed in OS impressions after release, I'm probably going to pick this game up. I would like to play a demo first.

# 68 BigBlue @ 02/17/09 10:22 AM

Anyone know if there'll be a way to turn off the exploding starburst when the ball hits the catcher's mitt while you are in pitching mode? It's pretty distracting, imho.

BigBlue

# 69 bigfnjoe96 @ 02/17/09 10:41 AM

Steve, now that you've noticed the ability to use the Triggers during throwing, is there something in the Menu that talks about this:

Quote:


	Turning double plays using the new "Quick Throw" controls

EDIT: Found the screen..

I wonder if this triggers different throwing animations from different position players? If so this would be sweet

# 70 brendanrfoley @ 02/17/09 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96


	Steve, now that you've noticed the ability to use the Triggers during throwing, is there something in the Menu that talks about this: EDIT: Found the screen.. I wonder if this triggers different throwing animations from different position players? If so this would be sweet

I'm curious about this as well.

# 71 ehh @ 02/17/09 11:36 AM

Thanks for the honest review so far Steve. The two big issues mentioned in the article are pretty serious concerns, it will be interesting to see how the retail is.

# 72 Jistic @ 02/17/09 12:06 PM

Great stuff Steve, thanks. Please let us know when 2K gets back to you about the issues being fixed in the retail version.

# 73 Speaklogic @ 02/17/09 01:10 PM

Im sorry, I just can't forgive 2K for putting out such a HORRENDOUS & FLAWED baseball game last year. I'd rather go out and buy a PS3 and play the other sim game.

# 74 NumberOneRB @ 02/17/09 01:18 PM

I guess all defensive dives/jumps have been delegated to the "X" button now? Maybe I'm mistaken and this was actually how it was done in 2K8, but I use to love being able to do certain dives and jumps defensively with the right stick. I suppose that would interfere with the base throwing though.

# 75 BadKermit @ 02/17/09 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NumberOneRB


	I guess all defensive dives/jumps have been delegated to the "X" button now? Maybe I'm mistaken and this was actually how it was done in 2K8, but I use to love being able to do certain dives and jumps defensively with the right stick. I suppose that would interfere with the base throwing though.

Not really, though. MVP NCAA 2006 had the dives and the throws mapped to the right thumbstick, and I never had a problem with it.

# 76 Qb @ 02/17/09 02:52 PM

Late to the party... Steve's impressions are encouraging in some ways and discouraging in others. I watched most of the videos and things look OK, but I'm left with some basic issues/questions regarding the game:

1. Framerate -- No need to elaborate, hopefully it will be ironed out. I'll be really disappointed if online is unplayable again...

2. AI Pitching Logic -- I didn't see any mention of this by Steve, but will the AI still throw illogical pitches? All the high breaking & offspeed stuff grew very tiresome after a month or two in 2K8, especially since it was overly effective.

3. AI Baserunning -- Another issue that wore on me over time last year. It takes so much away from the strategy of the game when you never have to worry about the running game. Hopefully we'll see steals and hit & runs in appropriate situations...

4. AI Batting -- I was able to get the AI batters to behave somewhat realistically via sliders in 2K8, but it sounds like it could be an issue. If they removed the AI Batting tendency sliders, that would be a bummer...

5. AI Fielding -- The overdone diving and uber-range of CPU fielders was as big a drag on hit variety as any bat/ball physics issues.

A few positives -- As I said before, things look good... Commentary sounds passable, but repetition is inevitable and I guess must be accepted... I really like the 'dead-center' pitching camera that ESPN & other networks use occasionally, so it was awesome that it's there or can be made with customization... Pitch trajectories/movement look good and it was nice to see batters fooled by speed... NO MEATBALLS! (right?

)

And a question for Steve if he can answer it -- can we turn off the pitching cursor? I always found that this upped the difficulty and lead to more balls/walks by the user when pitching...

# 77 bigfnjoe96 @ 02/17/09 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsu_gb23


	Why is there never any info on the PS3 version? Is this cause for concern?

It's a port from the 360 version. So most info out right now should pertain also to the PS3

# 78 fistofrage @ 02/17/09 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsu_gb23


	Why is there never any info on the PS3 version? Is this cause for concern?

Probably because if you had a PS3 you wouldn't be considering this as an option.

# 79 JoshCA916 @ 02/17/09 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fistofrage


	Probably because if you had a PS3 you wouldn't be considering this as an option.

wow how i grow tired of reading this statement, just because somebody owns a ps3 means they can't prefer 2k over the show, i chose to go with a ps3 over 360 because i had a ps2 and liked it, i played 2k baseball on my ps2 and it was the same on the xbox and ps2 so since i upgraded to next gen and chose the ps3 that means i can't like 2k baseball and if they were just as good on both systems then doesnt mean that 2k should not try to make a good game for the ps3 vs. the 360 now, there is no excuse for the game not to be the same, i am sorry but the show wasn't a good game until 07 i played it in 06 vs. 2k6 and the show was a sad game then, it has come along way now and i think is a good game, but i prefer 2k baseball as it gives me more of a next gen feel

# 80 K_GUN @ 02/17/09 04:15 PM

have player sunglasses been removed?

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