MLB 2K11 News Post

MLB 2K11 Demo Available Now, Post Your Impressions Here (PS3/360)

05:25 AM - March 1, 2011 by Rdogg1026

The MLB 2K11 demo is available now. Add it to your download queue right here.

Please play a few games and post your impressions here.

*UPDATE: PS3 demo is available now.

Quote:


	"Begin your quest for perfection on the baseball diamond with the Major League Baseball 2K11 demo, available now for download. Play a three inning game with the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers at AT&T Park and get an early taste of 2K11�s Revamped Fielding System and improved Total Control Pitching & Hitting. Perfect YOUR game with Major League Baseball 2K11, in stores March 8!"

Game: Major League Baseball 2K11Reader Score: 5.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: NDS / PC / PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 17 - View All

Major League Baseball 2K11 Videos

Member Comments

# 101 Ltrain44 @ 03/01/11 11:37 AM

I don't think we know what difficulty this is on so remember that also when giving impressions. If you think the AI swung at everything maybe it's because it is on "pro".

Impressions

Hitting:

I love the hitting although with the new camera when the ball is hit into play I lose the ball when it is hit into the air but overall I like the feel of it. Maybe that is due to me playing on an SD TV or maybe because its a day game and that is what happens. I also love the new batters view, it makes it a lot easier to determine balls and strikes. Bat sounds are great also.

Pitching:

Nothing to complain about here. I found it more difficult to throw the ball where I wanted to and it would be even more of a challenge in a higher difficulty setting. This is probably on pro. Love the variable strike zone. Pitching overall seems very smooth.

Fielding:

I like the new ball indicator for fly balls, nice touch. The new meter is something I will get used to because it seems to fill up faster than the older one. Also not everyone has a rocket arm, you can really tell they worked on the ball physics when you throw the ball from outfield to a base, it kind of has a sailing effect. Also I saw a nice jump animation that looked really cool and the new tags are great.

Player models are hit and miss. Some look great, some look bland like always. They have had plenty of time to get all the popular players faces correct. They should start working on everyone else. Unless they have to redo them every year, I don't know.

# 102 jeffy777 @ 03/01/11 11:38 AM

In three games, I've only seen 1 bobble, so they don't seem to be overdone, but I'm guessing there will also be games where the defense struggles more than others.

Choppers look nice and fresh.

# 103 panthers_freak @ 03/01/11 11:38 AM

One more thing, stealing is great this year...

The tagging animations I saw were top notch!

# 104 sroz39 @ 03/01/11 11:40 AM

I had two questions, and please excuse the ignorance

- how do I steal? I didn't steal a whole heck of alot in last year's game but I tried stealing in the demo and just couldn't do it. Looked at the controller screen too and it was of no help.

- for you veterans of the series, what is your contact/power swing ratio? I ask because I used Classic swing in last year's game but would like to use the analog in this year's. Is it a case of using power swing until 2 strikes then doing contact? Or is more like The Show where you mainly use contact until you get a hitter's count like 2-0 or 3-1 and then using power swing? Is it possible to hit homeruns with contact swing?

# 105 roadman @ 03/01/11 11:43 AM

Gameplay wise, this is the only two setbacks I've seen in one 3 inning game.

1. A pinch runner in the second inning of the game for the CPU.

2. Josh Hamilton laid down a bunt with no outs and a runner on 1st. Weird AI on that one I thought.

I agree about the hop throw from the outfield, it's an eyesore, but not even close to a deal breaker.

# 106 dodgerblue @ 03/01/11 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sroz39


	It's been brought up that this game reminds some people of MVP 2005 and I couldn't agree more. Not in the sense that it plays the same or anything like that. But in the fun factor. I find The Show is a sim game of baseball with some fun elements behind it, whereas I find this series to be a fun game with some sim elements behind it (not unlike MVP). For the first time in a while though, and this is assuming the final build comes together like the demo seems to show it will, you can talk about both The Show and the 2K baseball game in the same sentence without sounding silly. I very much enjoyed the demo and look forward to the 8th

Couldn't agree more. There is a lot to be said for the fun factor.

# 107 Yeah...THAT Guy @ 03/01/11 11:45 AM

Not feeling this demo. 3 games in and I get a E74 on my xbox

# 108 sroz39 @ 03/01/11 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	Gameplay wise, this is the only two setbacks I've seen in one 3 inning game. 1. A pinch runner in the second inning of the game for the CPU. 2. Josh Hamilton laid down a bunt with no outs and a runner on 1st. Weird AI on that one I thought.

I might be wrong here, but I've seen some weird subs in the demo as well and I can only attribute it being a 3 inning game and the A.I. takes this as the 7th, 8th and 9th innings of a game.

# 109 jeffy777 @ 03/01/11 11:45 AM

Rocket arms are definitely a thing of the past. Cody Ross just two-hopped a rainbow from the wall to 2nd

There does seem to be a fair amount of infield assist right after the ball is put in play, but nowhere near as bad as last year.

# 110 jeffy777 @ 03/01/11 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sroz39


	I might be wrong here, but I've seen some weird subs in the demo as well and I can only attribute it being a 3 inning game and the A.I. takes this as the 7th, 8th and 9th innings of a game.

Yes, the AI is managing as if the entire game is ending after 3. It does the same thing in 2K10 if you set your franchise to 3 innings (I've done this before as a test).

# 111 sroz39 @ 03/01/11 11:49 AM

Awesome, thanks for the responses Jayhawker and Redemption

# 112 Ltrain44 @ 03/01/11 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffy777


	Rocket arms are definitely a thing of the past. Cody Ross just two-hopped a rainbow from the wall to 2nd There does seem to be a fair amount of infield assist right after the ball is put in play, but nowhere near as bad as last year.

Totally agree Jeffy, I wrote this too. Feels great that rocket arms are no more

# 113 DirtyJerz32 @ 03/01/11 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	1. A pinch runner in the second inning of the game for the CPU.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sroz39


	I might be wrong here, but I've seen some weird subs in the demo as well and I can only attribute it being a 3 inning game and the A.I. takes this as the 7th, 8th and 9th innings of a game.

The cpu knows the game is over soon. (7,8 & 9 innings) so it's doing all it can to win. I think this is a good thing IMO.

# 114 DJ @ 03/01/11 12:10 PM

After spending a bit of time with the Demo, here's my impressions:

Positives
-Pitching. I just love the gesture controls. It was still fairly easy to throw the pitch where I wanted to, but that's b/c the Demo is on default PRO. If you give up a couple of hits, you do lose accuracy and once we have the retail version and can tune the Pitch Accuracy slider, I can see that making a big difference.

-A.I. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but the CPU will pitch guys in your lineup differently, depending on the situation. I had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs and Lewis (I was the Giants) pitched around my No. 8 hitter to get to Cain. Smart move by the CPU, as I grounded out to 2B. I also noticed that my own catcher will call for more pitches out of the zone with the No. 8 hitter up, knowing that the pitcher is on-deck. I like the implementation of sound baseball strategy.

-Batting camera. Man, I love this view! Couple that with an appropriate pitch speed (you'll still get fastballs blown by you if you are looking off-speed but you have time to react if you do guess fastball) and you can realistically work the count. I drew 2 walks in my first game and got Lewis to throw over 40 pitches in 3 innings.

-Fielding. Definitely less robotic than last year. I need to go back and look at the controls to figure out how to dive, though. I really like the new mechanic of catching flyballs in the outfield. It's not gimmicky, at least to me, and I think it will again make you bring more strategy into the game, which is a great thing. I like the throw meter as well. Very clean and easy to see where you need to let go of the R-stick to have a good throw. Rocket arms are definitely gone. Yay!

-Hit variety. This looks to be improved from last year. I've seen a couple of hot shots down the 1B line and a nice bloop single so far.

-New defensive strategy window. This will pop up at various times during the game, telling you how the defense is playing you, or how you are aligned to play a CPU batter. Nice addition.

-Variable strike zone. Very, very happy this is in. I saw close to 10 pitches that in 2K10 would've been a strike 100% of the time that were called either a ball or strike in the Demo.

-Graphics. I thought this last year, too, but I really like the look of day games in 2K. The player models are good (I'm not a huge graphics guy) and the faces are hit and miss. Some look spot-on, others not so much. Again, not a huge deal for me.

-CPU batters swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. Nice to see they will chase. They also don't swing at every pitch, which was an issue back in 2K9, so again, nice to see them mix in patience and aggressiveness.

Negatives
-Real-time presentation is cut way short. I would guess that is due to 2K cutting stuff out for the Demo.

-No audio. Again, this was for Demo purposes but I think it's a mistake not to put the commentary in there because that is a strong suit for 2K.

-No extra innings if the game ends tied. Not a huge deal since it's only a Demo, but still, it would be nice to play things out until there is a winner.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have to say I came away with a better feeling about 2K11 after playing the Demo and I will definitely be picking the game up Day 1. Good job, 2K, I think you've got a winner on your hands this year.

# 115 nils005 @ 03/01/11 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giants4Natic


	The hurry up function is no good in baseball games. Baseball is the one sport where patience is a virtue and in order to get cemented in the novelty of the sport you have to go through the little things that make it great.

What's important to me, even more than the spectacle of the game are the stats. And I can't rack 'em up if a single game takes an hour.

# 116 ChaseB @ 03/01/11 12:24 PM

DJ press RT to dive.

# 117 BlackBetty15 @ 03/01/11 12:25 PM

Can someone confirm if adrian beltre battign stance is back in the game after it was mysteriously missing in 2k10. (its not a big deal, just want to know if 2K at least shored up this small mishap with beltre, soriano, and cantu among others that were missing from last year.)

# 118 DJ @ 03/01/11 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseB


	DJ press RT to dive.

Gracias. Oh, forgot to mention that I didn't notice any framerate issues, except for foul balls that went over the backstop. I don't think that will be a problem with the retail version.

# 119 mike24forever @ 03/01/11 12:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sroz39


	Played two games, one as each team. Some thoughts (both negative and positive) not in any particular order. - impossible not to notice how much smoother the game is overall compared to last year. Just moving your guy in the field feels perfect. - graphics, though not world-beating, are improved and I especially noticed the improved lighting and player models. - stadium looked much better than last year's, though I would've liked to have seen some clouds instead of just the blue sky (may just be the default weather set for the demo, like the 18mph wind in The Show demo) - pitching, as expected, is a dream. I try to pitch to the catcher's recommendation 90% of the time (I also use API in The Show) and I had alot of 2-2 and 3-1 counts. Corners can definitely go either way. Not much else to say about the mechanic itself, I like The Show's analog pitching, I LOVE 2K's. Just awesome. - hitting is so much more improved and it's mainly because of the added frames of animation. In last year's game, it seemed like the large majority of the time you were either right on the ball or way too early or way too late. In the demo, there's alot of in-between stuff too, which leads to choppers and soft liners. Something about this hitting too that just feels...right. I hit a jack with Pat Burrell my first game and though it wasn't a no-doubter by the game's standards (didn't get any special camera) I just KNEW I hit it out based on timing, trajectory etc. Felt great. - absolutely love the camera after you hit the ball. Probably my favourite addition. - don't like the size of the numbers and font on the back of jerseys. (Still) way too big. - really like some of the presentation elements, despite no commentary. - it was mentioned earlier that in between pitches when you're up the batter steps away and steps back in but the computer doesn't. I found the A.I. batter to do this often, just not every time. Might be something to look for in the final buld. - I had zero frame rate issues at any point other than foul balls that went straight back into the screen. It was silky smooth. - transition animations definitely need work but they are better. - love the fielding and the throwing meter. This aspect of the game is just great all-around. One aspect I didn't like was a particular scenario when throwing. I like to pre-load all my throws when I field. It just makes everything look better. Problem is, if you pre-load any throws in this game where the play takes you away from the bag you're throwing too, it always triggers an off-balanced/spin and jump throw, regardless of how much time you have to get the runner. I would like for the game to determine if it's necessary or not to trigger those animation (like The Show does) and if you DO have enough time, to catch the ball, plant and throw instead of always making an unbalanced throw. - one other aspect that was also evident in the Phillies/Rockies video that is still in the demo is where there's a grounder that's low but the animation the fielder is doing causes the ball to morph up into the fielder's glove. I'm not going to say this is a fielding problem per se, as it's probably more of an animation issue. - one aspect about pitching that The Show does that I would like to see incorporated in this series is the breaking of pitches, particularly when it's thrown in a certain spot. I'll try to explain it as best I can. Say you have a righty pitcher and a righty batter. Say you want to throw a curveball. If you were to throw a curveball inside to the righty, the ball would break less than if you were to come across your body a little more and throw a curveball to the outside part of the plate. The Show has the pitches break less in those scenarios (also in scenarios where you throw a breaking pitch up), whereas in this game, the pitch breaks the same amount regardless of location. Small detail but one I'd like to see worked on for next year. It's been brought up that this game reminds some people of MVP 2005 and I couldn't agree more. Not in the sense that it plays the same or anything like that. But in the fun factor. I find The Show is a sim game of baseball with some fun elements behind it, whereas I find this series to be a fun game with some sim elements behind it (not unlike MVP). For the first time in a while though, and this is assuming the final build comes together like the demo seems to show it will, you can talk about both The Show and the 2K baseball game in the same sentence without sounding silly. I very much enjoyed the demo and look forward to the 8th

This is an opinion that I trust! Thanks sroz39!

# 120 NINJAK2 @ 03/01/11 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 15 Step


	I played 5 games this morning. It does seem like more of an updated version of 2k10 than what I was expecting. The hitting camera is pretty fun to watch, but it can make fly balls in the outfield difficult to judge, which is perhaps the point of it. I don't notice any serious framerate problems other than with foul balls, so it's not really a big deal. Also, it's good to see more foul balls in general. There seems to be a lot more variety in the hitting. One problem I noticed was that in one of the games I played (and mysteriously this problem wasn't in the other four I played), there was a problem with the pitching system. After I picked my pitch but before I could throw it, there was a little delay that caused me to throw each pitch improperly. For example, the basic fastball is just down and then up on the right joystick, which is simple enough. During this game, I would press A to pick fastball, and then I would press down and then up, only it wouldn't register the "down" part of the joystick movement so it only picked up me pushing up with the joystick, which obviously caused me to throw a poor-quality fastball. Anybody else have this problem?

I have had difficulty throwing the fastball as well resulting in wild pitches. I have not had any problems with the other pitches thus far.

I must say that I'm very impressed with this demo overall. I think the graphics and animations are great and a big improvement from 2k10. The big 3 (fielding, pitching, and hitting) are all done well imo. Having biggest problem hitting(this is usually the hardest thing for me to do in these current baseball games). The last baseball game I actually went out and paid full price for was 2k3. I've been renting ever since. I may change my thinking this year.

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