Major League Baseball 2K12 Video - Chris Snyder Interview, First Glimpses of Gameplay

[dodgerblue]

I agree with some of the posts here that it's only 1 video and we don't get to see a lot. But what we are seeing looks like the same product we got last year. Last year's game was fun, I owned it for PC and 360; But I am looking for improvement. There should be a list of things improved, not a vague reference to the game playing more like the "real thing". When the marketing guy says they improved on the little things and I don't see them it makes me wonder. I am not a ***** but a fan of the series. I sincerely want 2 great baseball games to play (yes I play the other game too.)

[CarryTheWeight]

I don't think I'll be able to judge this game at a glance. A demo or the actual game will likely show us just how much changed under the hood.

Apart from the game looking a bit rough on console (it looked extremely good on the PC by comparsion), and the fact that I'm not much of a fan of the default "wide angle lens" batting cam --- I usually take advantage of the customization options in that regard --- I don't have much to complain about graphically. Just need a competent game of baseball above anything else.

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96

VC has a graphical style that differs from other developers. If you've played their other games you will see that. They ain't changing that art style, so people either deal with it or move on. Maybe when the next systems hit market we'll see a graphical change. As for the video. It is what it is. A. Snippet of 1 inning of gameplay. Nothing more & Nothing less Sent from Awesome Phone

To be fair, I don't think the issue is with "style" as much as quality. For example, you can recognize the same overall style of graphics in NBA 2K, but the quality is far superior (I'm talking more for players than environments, as some of the parks in MLB 2K look absolutely stunning).

Things like rubber looking gear, flat and static cloth, etc are small things that could improve visuals and take away some of that "cartoon" vibe people gripe about. Obviously 2K acknoweldges this to a degree, since they supposedly fixed their gloves (thank God!) for 2K12.

The other issue is the color palette, which is consistent across their games...but consistently bad. I will never understand how a developer can have such a hard time finding the correct colors to use for a sports team. This is made more exasperating when I can mod correct colors for a given uniform on the PC in a relatively short time. So, in terms of coloring, it doesn't fall into a "programming can be complicated..." issue, like so many other things.

All that said, however, I agree with the main point. It makes no sense to come to any conclusion about how much or how little of these things were addressed/improved for 2K12 based on a few pictures and a few minutes of game play that we can't be sure are 100% from 2K12 to begin with. Even if they are, there's no telling what stage it's in, etc. We're better off waiting for actual game play footage and the demo on that front.

[tmac55]

I agree with several other posters here. On the surface it does look improved from 2k11, which i really enjoyed, so let's hope we see some more videos.

[peigone]

Quote: Originally Posted by dodgerblue

I agree with some of the posts here that it's only 1 video and we don't get to see a lot. But what we are seeing looks like the same product we got last year.

But do we need to see more? Some of us have been waiting around since MLB 2K5 for 2K to put out a true next-gen baseball game. And every year it's essentially the same game with the same stiff, stilted animations, the same meh graphics, the same baserunners rounding second on a single just as the ball is picked up in the outfield, the same infielders' rocket throws from their knees...

It's now 2012. It's seven years later. And once again here we all are, having waited yet another ten and a half months to see if maybe, just maybe, this is the year 2K finally comes through and delivers a sports title worthy of other next-gen games out on the market. And what do we see in the first vid? Same old, same old. It's obvious there's no next-gen leap in graphics, or animations, or lighting, or player models, or textures. That's all pretty clear from that video. We've been waiting all this time, again, and now we know.

I vividly remember my initial impression of both the PES and FIFA vids when they came out this year. I was blown away in the first couple of seconds of each, it was unclear for a moment if I was watching a video or a TV broadcast. Whereas I spent all my time watching this 2K12 gameplay clip trying to pick out the parts that somewhat resembled a real baseball game in progress. Because not a lot of it does really, especially once the ball is put into play. And I don't see how watching another dozen 2K12 videos is going to change any of that.

[tmac55]

Quote: Originally Posted by peigone

But do we need to see more? Some of us have been waiting around since MLB 2K5 for 2K to put out a true next-gen baseball game. And every year it's essentially the same game with the same stiff, stilted animations, the same meh graphics, the same baserunners rounding second on a single just as the ball is picked up in the outfield, the same infielders' rocket throws from their knees... It's now 2012. It's seven years later. And once again here we all are, having waited yet another ten and a half months to see if maybe, just maybe, this is the year 2K finally comes through and delivers a sports title worthy of other next-gen games out on the market. And what do we see in the first vid? Same old, same old. It's obvious there's no next-gen leap in graphics, or animations, or lighting, or player models, or textures. That's all pretty clear from that video. We've been waiting all this time, again, and now we know. I vividly remember my initial impression of both the PES and FIFA vids when they came out this year. I was blown away in the first couple of seconds of each, it was unclear for a moment if I was watching a video or a TV broadcast. Whereas I spent all my time watching this 2K12 gameplay clip trying to pick out the parts that somewhat resembled a real baseball game in progress. Because not a lot of it does really, especially once the ball is put into play. And I don't see how watching another dozen 2K12 videos is going to change any of that.

I would say the same about 2K11 and 2K12 for NBA. I still liked both games just as much. I think your problem is that you are expecting VC to develop something that is not in their style and really the animations and player models in both games are not that far off.

I am not defending them, as I know it could be better, but contextually, it is what it is.

[bosnian19]

Quote: Originally Posted by peigone

But do we need to see more? Some of us have been waiting around since MLB 2K5 for 2K to put out a true next-gen baseball game. And every year it's essentially the same game with the same stiff, stilted animations, the same meh graphics, the same baserunners rounding second on a single just as the ball is picked up in the outfield, the same infielders' rocket throws from their knees... It's now 2012. It's seven years later. And once again here we all are, having waited yet another ten and a half months to see if maybe, just maybe, this is the year 2K finally comes through and delivers a sports title worthy of other next-gen games out on the market. And what do we see in the first vid? Same old, same old. It's obvious there's no next-gen leap in graphics, or animations, or lighting, or player models, or textures. That's all pretty clear from that video. We've been waiting all this time, again, and now we know. I vividly remember my initial impression of both the PES and FIFA vids when they came out this year. I was blown away in the first couple of seconds of each, it was unclear for a moment if I was watching a video or a TV broadcast. Whereas I spent all my time watching this 2K12 gameplay clip trying to pick out the parts that somewhat resembled a real baseball game in progress. Because not a lot of it does really, especially once the ball is put into play. And I don't see how watching another dozen 2K12 videos is going to change any of that.

i see some good improvements but of course we need to see a demo some 2-3min gameplay at least

[bigfnjoe96]

Quote: Originally Posted by peigone

But do we need to see more? Some of us have been waiting around since MLB 2K5 for 2K to put out a true next-gen baseball game. And every year it's essentially the same game with the same stiff, stilted animations, the same meh graphics, the same baserunners rounding second on a single just as the ball is picked up in the outfield, the same infielders' rocket throws from their knees... It's now 2012. It's seven years later. And once again here we all are, having waited yet another ten and a half months to see if maybe, just maybe, this is the year 2K finally comes through and delivers a sports title worthy of other next-gen games out on the market. And what do we see in the first vid? Same old, same old. It's obvious there's no next-gen leap in graphics, or animations, or lighting, or player models, or textures. That's all pretty clear from that video. We've been waiting all this time, again, and now we know. I vividly remember my initial impression of both the PES and FIFA vids when they came out this year. I was blown away in the first couple of seconds of each, it was unclear for a moment if I was watching a video or a TV broadcast. Whereas I spent all my time watching this 2K12 gameplay clip trying to pick out the parts that somewhat resembled a real baseball game in progress. Because not a lot of it does really, especially once the ball is put into play. And I don't see how watching another dozen 2K12 videos is going to change any of that.

I'll just point-1 thing in that video that has been added. Watch the catcher after he throws the ball back to Verlander @ the 2:30 mark. He adjust his Chest Protector as he's getting ready for the next pitch. Something that wasn't in the series before.

You mention you see the stiff animations, yet the replay of the OF throwing it back to cut-off man shows a much better OF throwing animation than in the past. In the past almost all OF Throws had the OF taking a hop step before throwing, the animation in the video was all done in 1 motion. Could it have been made with more sense of urgency from the OF of course, but to say it looked stiff is unfair IMO.

Also Delvin Young swing animation looks really good. It looks fluid & very life like. As did Napoli's swing

Base running Animation looks 100x better than before. Yes Delvin Young 1/2 way to 2nd before the OF get's the ball shouldn't be, but we don't know if settings have something to do with that.

Are there things in that video that still bug me hell yes. The way the lighting causes the crowd to go from Dark to Light when Delvin Young hit's his triple. That transition is really annoying & takes away from the realism. I really hope they've done something to fix that