MLB 2k11 The Show

Stele wrote:

I finally tried both demos yesterday. I suck a lot.

On The Show, for 2 entire games I did not get a single hit. I realized near the end of the first game that the difficulty was all-star, so I turned it down to vet. Still no better the 2nd game. Of course it didn't help that the popup tips and the controls menu all talk about button pressing, but the game is defaulted to stick for everything. First inning of batting I never figured out how to swing, I kept bunting with the stick and the buttons wouldn't swing. The one run scored against me was in-the-park because I couldn't get my CF to throw to 2nd... or 3rd... or home... until it was too late.

Controls on 2k11 were a little easier. Maybe because I played it 2nd, but maybe because they actually had popup tips for the right controls right before. Think I like the pitching a lot better, with the different stick movements for different pitches. And of course the menus and stuff are all similar style to nba 2k that I'm used to as well. And the PC version is only $30... kinda tempting.

I agree. The Show is harder (especially hitting. A long, long, long topic in the forums for years.). But for ambiance and more fluid, natural movement of players and crowd, it is the best. Side things happen all the time that give it sooo much character. Player's chewing the fat with the Umps, or each other if one hasn't pitched the ball for awhile (or stretching etc.). During the game some dug out antics etc. Plus The Show no offers Motion control in Home Run Derby (on mod for The Move). Even tho' it seems a bit easier to hit, still fun and the other players reaction to the hits (although a bit tiresome after a bit).
Now I exclusively have played with The Show for that last few seasons, Swampyankee and Jay' got me to try out last years 2k with their new 'My Player'. I loved the hitting/pitching box for 2k so much more then The Show. And the new addition of 'My Player' seemed more enjoyable and not so tough or repetitive as The Show's my career.
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I'm just hoping the MLB 2k Baseball this year will have passable on-line play so we can have a league. I've tried for a couple years to play leagues for The Show, but lag became too much for folks and what started out with 6+ players, ended up stalling because of it. I figure tho' if it's not too bad, and happens to everyone, then level field of play (that and I really suck anyway, so I'm playing more the fun of it, then trying to crush everyone with exquisite style :> (oh, and I'm talking the 360 version of 2k)

Stele, if you're planning on getting the PC version of the 2K game, I'd wait. There's bound to be a sale sooner rather than later. I got 2k9 for $3 in June, and I got 2K10 on Steam in June or July for a song as well.

Oh yeah that Steam summer sale in June... right after the NBA Finals when I might actually muster up some baseball interest.

TheCounselor wrote:

I got 2k9 for $3 in June

You were robbed <,<

Against my better judgment I doubled dipped this year. The Show and MLB2k for the 360.

Just did some batting practice ("We talking 'bout Practice. Not the game. Practice"). I switched the batter view to HIGH. It helped a great deal with timing.

I'm thinking about picking up the Show for the PSP. Anyone try out either 2K or The Show on the PSP yet?

This is too funny. SCEA scores one:

http://www.youtube.com/MrOperationSp...

Jayhawker wrote:

I'm thinking about picking up the Show for the PSP. Anyone try out either 2K or The Show on the PSP yet?

I remember Swampy mentioning last yr that
He played a season with, The Show, and quite enjoyed it. He can probably chime in more about it. I played The Show a 2 seasons ago, but it was really hard to hit and such for me. But I only played for a short while and not too familiar with the PSP. So probably not a fair shake. You can get a demo for the PSP.

Donan wrote:

This is too funny. SCEA scores one:

http://www.youtube.com/MrOperationSp...

That was hilarious.

Okay peeps. Now that yall should have the actual games: The Show or 2K11?

I know the Show is a better simulation, but honestly, I'd rather play shorter games than what the Show allows for. And I keep reading that hitting is way too hard (harder than usual). I also hear that the AI pitching in 2K11 isn't very realistic in terms of throwing balls, and the AI hitters won't swing at balls (these two things seem somewhat gamebreaking for me).

So, this or 2K11? (Single player, btw.)

garion333 wrote:

Okay peeps. Now that yall should have the actual games: The Show or 2K11?

I know the Show is a better simulation, but honestly, I'd rather play shorter games than what the Show allows for. And I keep reading that hitting is way too hard (harder than usual). I also hear that the AI pitching in 2K11 isn't very realistic in terms of throwing balls, and the AI hitters won't swing at balls (these two things seem somewhat gamebreaking for me).

So, this or 2K11? (Single player, btw.)

I will tell you that the AI pitching in 2K11 is darn good. I dropped the strike zone tendency to 45 from 50, and I draw walks at a very realistic pace. More importantly, I draw more walks from average to below average guys than I do from above average guys. This part of the game is super well done.

And I have had no issues with AI hitters not swinging at balls. Again, it's done really well, so that you can set hitters up. If I am hitting the inside corner with a slider and come back with a fastball inside, I can get that swing. Same goes for setting guys up on balls away.

2K11 has its share of issues, but the two you mentioned are not issues, at all.

2K11 needs a patch to fix the fatigue bug in franchise play. When you play a game, instead of fatiguing your players, it resets them to 100%. If you sim the game, they fatigue properly.

Some guys have issues with freezing. I've had two freezes in the last month. I consider it livable, but not perfect.

The manger AI can be kind of wonky when it comes to pitching changes. I've seen a pitcher kept in the game to hit when the team was down a run or two in the 8th inning. Sometimes they just keep a guy in when he should really go. What I will do if it is easy is just pause the game, switch sides, make the move, and then switch back. Not elegant, but it works. This is also something that is very infrequent. Most of the time, the AI does a decent job.

I can't comment on The Show, as I am a 360 guy. But I can tell you that 99% of the time I'm playing 2K11, I'm loving the heck out of it. I play mostly MLB Today games, and it is just fantastic. the mode is so perfect that I think it had a lot to do with why I got bored with NHL 11. After MLB Today in 2K10, it just feels wrong not to have dynamic commentary and stats, updated lineups and rosters, and new for this year, dynamic ratings that account for how guys are playing in real life.

As far as speed of the game, you have three options. Real-time, in which you get all of the extras, which is very compelling and great. Then there is the 2K10 option, with is the real-time version from last year that abbreviates a lot of the actions (this really made a lot of gamers angry, as they loved the real time from 2K9, but the game were just too long). Then you have Hurry Up, which eliminates all of the fluff and gets right back the action quickly.

But really, baseball games are long. There is really only some much they can do. It's part of why it hasn't been a real good online game, even though we found some settings that make it great.

I think The Show is going to be a better simulation overall. But as someone that cut his teeth on text sims, and FPS BBPro, I don't find any console baseball games to be an acceptable simulation of the sport. As an action game, I find MLB 2K11 to be really, really good. It's the first baseball game I have ever played where I could draw 5 or six walks in a game, throw several walks, and really have pitch counts become a realistic factor. It's just really well done if you tweak the sliders to some degree.

Can you play a game in 2K11 in less than an hour?

garion333 wrote:

Can you play a game in 2K11 in less than an hour?

To be honest, I don't think that is a reasonable expectation. You have 18 half innings that would have to be done in an average of 3 minutes and 20 seconds a piece to get it done in an hour. Even on the hurry up mode, you are going to have longer innings, even if they are three up and three down.

So if we are taking 2-1 or 1-0 games, maybe. But if you are actually getting and giving up hits and walks, and generating pitch counts, I doubt it. And if you could, I think it would make for kind of a crappy game. It's just the nature of the beast. Baseball does not benefit from having a clock that can be sped up like football, basketball and hockey. There is a lot of stuff you can do to get the game to play quicker by merely speeding up the game as a whole

I think it is a huge reason why baseball games don't really sell that well. They are slow and methodical, and make terrible online games. Even with 2K11 being a great game to play online, getting time to play a game is pretty tough. Throw in that baseball is more about series of games and managing your roster, and it just doesn't translate as well as other games.

I get that playing a game in under an hour is a bit of a stretch, but The Show is plagued with problems related to not being able to skip ahead when you hit a fly ball and stuff like that. I hate that. If it's foul, and obviously so, let me hit a button and move on. I can respect that they give you the ability to play the game as if it's a real, live baseball game, but sometimes I just want the action to flow a bit more quick.

I think I'm leaning towards either picking up the Show or waiting until next year ... again. Just not sure what to do though I've been bit by the baseball bug a bit (in part because of the NFL nonsense), which I wasn't last year. I just don't know if I want to put the time into an arcade baseball game, or just stick with OOTP.

The Show, and for that matter, MLB 2K11 is about experiencing the flavor, ambiance and playing the game of baseball thru an electronic medium. Thats kind of why both have a, 'my player' option. If your just looking for statistics, you can sim a season in these games, or just play a game like OOTP.

Honestly, I just want another MLB Power Pros game...

I decided to test out the Hurry Up mode this morning, using a timer to see how long it took me. I won a blow-out over Arizona, as the Cards won 10-0. And despite the offense, it took me just 43 minutes and 50 seconds, according to the online stopwatch I used.

I was worried it would be a bad example, as I blistered Galarraga for six runs on six hits and three walks in the first inning. It was kind of nuts, asthe only slider change I made from yesterday was increasing the pitch speed from 75 to 80. Yesterday I lost against the Arizona 1-0 on walk-off ground rule double in the ninth. I struck out 13 times, and it just seemed like I was infront of everything. That game took at least and hour and half, as I played using the Real-Time mode.

Today, I struck out just four times to go along with four walks. I scored a run in the third, and then four more in the 4th. But then I was done. I finished the game with 18 hits.

But Carpenter was just insane. He gave up just five hits, including a triple, and one walk. He struck out nine.

Carp threw just 96 pitches, and Arizona threw 129. Honestly, I swinging away a lot more with the big lead, and I think I could have forced more pitches. Galarrage had thrown 59 after just three innings.

It was a good example of the dynamic commentary, as they talked about Berkman's two home runs last night, as well as Kelly Johnson stroking out three times. They discussed Galarraga's near miss perfect game last year, and how well he handled the umpire blowing it for him.

Anyway, I was mainly letting you know that I spoke too soon about the games inability to get done in an hour. Of course, it helped that Carp really mowed the other team down.

garion333 wrote:

Honestly, I just want another MLB Power Pros game...

I loved this game on the Wii. It's play and all(!) the stats one could think of was in this game. I found it to be a truly amazing baseball package, and became very addicted to it. (sry I guess were getting off topic for this thread).

Donan wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Honestly, I just want another MLB Power Pros game...

I loved this game on the Wii. It's play and all(!) the stats one could think of was in this game. I found it to be a truly amazing baseball package, and became very addicted to it. (sry I guess were getting off topic for this thread).

I should really check that game out. I know the guys over at Blog for the Sports Gamer are big fans of the game.

Jayhawker wrote:
Donan wrote:
garion333 wrote:

Honestly, I just want another MLB Power Pros game...

I loved this game on the Wii. It's play and all(!) the stats one could think of was in this game. I found it to be a truly amazing baseball package, and became very addicted to it. (sry I guess were getting off topic for this thread).

I should really check that game out. I know the guys over at Blog for the Sports Gamer are big fans of the game.

I loved the hitting system more than anything. And while it was so cartoony, it was still very much a baseball game.

Jayhawker wrote:

Anyway, I was mainly letting you know that I spoke too soon about the games inability to get done in an hour. Of course, it helped that Carp really mowed the other team down.

That sort of thing just does not happen in the Show. Well, it didn't use as I skipped last year's game. It's all kinda moot as the Show will be arriving tomorrow. The demo for 2K11 showed me that what I like about that game, I can get on the cheap with 2K10. I may do that if I get frustrated with the Show.

Vapid comment: Holy hell The Show looks better than I remember. One of the best looking games I own for the PS3. Wow.

And the analog pitching is phenomenal.

garion333 wrote:

Vapid comment: Holy hell The Show looks better than I remember.

Nothing wrong with a little graphics-ogling. Development studios, like ladies, love it when you notice the extra effort they put in.

The ambiance is just so superior to anything else. When batter comes to box; after a play; dug out. The game ' keeps going' after a play with little interactions. Player movement is just really smoothe and life like. I like replays of homers, or watching a pitchers motion to the plate etc. Just the best. BUT, IMHO, much harder to hit then MLB 2K's.

I love the feel of analog pitching but eventually had to switch back to buttons as I was giving up almost ZERO user walks with analog, for some reason.

Slumberland wrote:

I love the feel of analog pitching but eventually had to switch back to buttons as I was giving up almost ZERO user walks with analog, for some reason.

Did you try changing the pitching difficulty?

Increasing the pitching difficulty to, say, Legend (I play on HOF generally) doesn't result in more walks, it just means I get rocked.

The problem with analog pitching is that mistakes in the thumb motion trend towards unintentional centering instead of straying wide, so mistakes end up as meatballs rather than off the plate.

There are sliders for pitching control, but after all sorts of adventures in slider hell in the early 2000's I play games on default settings whenever possible. Classic pitching is quick and gives me great results for pitch count and user-given walks.

Slumberland wrote:

Increasing the pitching difficulty to, say, Legend (I play on HOF generally) doesn't result in more walks, it just means I get rocked.

The problem with analog pitching is that mistakes in the thumb motion trend towards unintentional centering instead of straying wide, so mistakes end up as meatballs rather than off the plate.

There are sliders for pitching control, but after all sorts of adventures in slider hell in the early 2000's I play games on default settings whenever possible. Classic pitching is quick and gives me great results for pitch count and user-given walks.

Hmmmm. Interesting. I may to think of giving Classic pitching a go. Although I've not had the 'meatball' problems when I miss, to the contrary they miss badly when going for corners or with types of curve balls, but if it's one that is suppose to hit middle and tail to corner, that can definitely be 'outta here':) Overall I too like the analog pitching. But I do find the opposing pitcher throwing allot of strikes, that of course I miss (or close (or not so close:), but outside the strike zone), and hardly any balls and just one or two walks in about 28 games.

My problem is hitting the long ball. I can pick 'power' all the time and I 'may' hit the fence, but ever over it. It could be my time on analog hitting. I tend to rear back as the pitcher releases and maybe I should delay more, but then it becomes much more harder for me. I did change the 'batter box eye' (or whatever it's called) to 'catcher 3), which for me gives me a better look at the ball (especially the low ball).

Does anyone know if you can play against another person on same box for season play? I know there is 'rivalry', and of course 'home run derby'. But anything else? And maybe even both just managing a team?

Thanks

I chose Catcher 9 and find that one works for me best.

And I think smoothing out your actions when swinging will net you some better hit balls, so, yes, you might want to delay pulling back. I am sticking with analog hitting because it's different, but I definitely prefer the 2K method where you don't have to pull back.

(on my knees, pleading for the unthinkable): Jayhawker, please, please...some how, some way, get a PS 3 and enjoy, hands down, the best baseball game out there: MLB The Show(!). I know I'm pleading to the wind, but I know how much you like baseball, and tears of joy and excitement come to my eyes in wanting to share the best baseball gaming experience with you. You my friend.

Since my 360 bit the dust, I was 'lucky' enough to turn to The Show. Yes, it's a bit harder to hit, but gawd, what ambiance, play, etc.etc it has. Yes, I have no clue how on-line plays and I know(!) how big a fan you are of on-line play. But beside this, the gaming experience is unparrallel(?huh). Players committing 'cool' errors; great catches and how other players respond; when they 'show-mo' (slow motion) a pitchers delivery or a great play. I even saw a player stealing for 2nd, tagged out, get up and turn toward the dug out and abruptly move out of the way of the 2nd baseman when he got up to go. Amazing. The feel, play, oh my oh my. (yes, I still see graphic overlay with players a few times) Overall, I weep to share this experience with you and others. But alas,this stone of frustrated joy and excitement I wish to share, will be a heavy stone around my neck ('course, my neck is breaking with all the other stones of frustration I have for this and that:)