Major League Baseball 2K9 Demo Available, Post Your Impressions Here

[MizzouRah]

Only 1 game and already I can tell 2k9 has finally put baseball back on the map for us 360 owners... framerate, perfect.. pitching/hitting.. excellent.. fielding, good.... the whole presentation and commentary, unreal...

Seriously.. I just felt like I played an NCAA 09 football game.. what an experience that was!!!

[therizing02]

I've spent some quality time with the demo today and I must say that I'm very optimistic about how the final product will turn out.

Yes, it's too easy to hit, but relax people, it's a demo and there are sliders. I have seen great hit variety! Bloops, gap shots, choppers in front of the plate, errors, line drives, tower homers, line drive homers, you get the idea.

I have been able to strike out a batter here and there, but again, I think we'll be able solve this small challenge with slider tweaks. I also think the CPU tends to lay off more pitches when you hit the "max" on the pitching meter. A few slider tweaks and some practice and we should be good to go.

I love the graphics. Faces aren't perfect, but I don't know what every player in the league looks like anyway. I also haven't noticed any frame rate issues.

I have played a night game and a day game and they both look great. Will there be overcast days? Can't remember if this was in 08.

The behind the pitcher camera is perfect IMO. If it looks like a game on TV, then I like it. It does. The default pitch speed also seems pretty good and I was able to notice a difference when I brought Lidge in for Hamels.

If there was a bit of a complaint, I would say the slow moving fielders were a little annoying. That will probably be fixed with sliders as well.

Does anyone remember if there was an assisted fielding option last year? This will be helpful to me because when I'm using the LS for the pitch direction and the batter makes contact, my fielder is always moving in the direction that I was pushing the LS for the pitch. Often times this has him moving away from the ball.

[~Guru~]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

The one... and only thing that keeps ringing in my mind is there is some sort of charm that is there with the game. I can't put my finger on what it is... but there's something there. This, going by 2k's track record, should have a fantastic online setup and thus allow for some decent online baseball on the 360. I would say this game is going to look very disappointing on the PS3.

Gotta agree with you here bud....but it should not given the power of the ps3


Does anyone know if there is a speed button for fielding....

I gotta say that the pitching cam and pitching mechanic is next to none in terms of fun....love it...

game has a few kinks that need fixing next season...but it should satisfy those that dont have another choice

Huge improvement over last year for sure...that is about all you can ask for in one year with a new team.

[knuckles0324]

the ratings are up two on each player..and its different from the ones from the screen shot. which ones are right? also price only throws 91...come on now.

[~Guru~]

Quote: Originally Posted by dave_sz

That's because according to xbox360,com it's actually a native 1080p game, unlike the show, so yes it should look better at 1080p. Dammit, I might have to move my 360 to the big TV...

this game is not native 1080p...it dont matter what the box says or xbox says

they put it like that to sell it better as a 1080p game

all xbxo games in the back of the box say 1080p and 1080i and 720p

native for about 98% of xbox games and most games are native 720p or even less

the game should be played on 720p for maximum results...

[RogueHominid]

Played the demo today, and I really like several things about this game.

First off, I like the pacing of the game. I love that it's all in-world activity, so letting the time elapse between pitches is much more enjoyable in this game than with the pre-rendered cut scene approach. The commentary is very well tuned to the pace and situation of the game.

I LOVE the pitching camera angle. I would like a different hitting angle, but this one's okay.

A couple of things I'm not so hot on or don't understand:
--the pitching: can someone please break down for me when you're supposed to complete the gesture relative to the circles on screen? sorry, but I'm new to this franchise
--slow fielding response
--fielder arm strength seems juiced

Other than that, I like it. It does seem that the CPU pitcher always throws a strike on the first pitch, and doesn't throw many balls overall, but I assume that can be addressed with sliders. I can live with the player faces, and even the bat sound. I just really enjoy the atmosphere they've created. If the shortcomings are addressable with sliders, then I'm sold

To those with experience with this franchise: of the issues I listed, or of the most generally noticed issues, what do you reasonably expect can be adjusted using sliders?

Thanks!

[dave_sz]

Quote: Originally Posted by pjv31

WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my 360 just RROD'd

Boooooooooooo! I hope mine doesn't go, it is second hand. But with the hours I'll be putting into 2k9, I wouldn't be surprised...

[StatMan79]

Quote: Originally Posted by pjv31

I just fired it up again.....Its a night game!! Anyone else seeing this?

I played at about 7 o'clock ET tonight and it was a night start. Clearly it was basing the start time of the game off of the system clock. Very nice touch.