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

[CujoMatty]

Demos pretty good I'd say. Big big worry for me is the hitting. It's way to easy. I know it's prob on default difficulty but for people who have played alot of 2k baseball(like me) this is scary easy. As far as people saying it seems stale and the same old same I totally disagree. If anything I think the other baseball is. One button baseball is so done. I'll be getting both but if the hitting is better on a harder difficulty judging by the demo I think 2k will be more fun.now if they could just steal the shows graphic designers we'd be all good.

[dlasp66]

Quote: Originally Posted by Heelfan71

are you supposed to stop the green circle (when pitching) when it is large as possible? Does that dictate how hard the ball is thrown?

Yes, and if u stop it on the optimal size, it will say MAX and ur fastball will be ur fastest, and ur breaking balls will be nastier

[~Guru~]

game is fun and that is all we can ask for after last year i will get the show and this for my 360


the fielding is much smoother if you mobe the fielding stick slightly the animations are tied into how well you handle the stick field a balll by gently moving the stick and see how smooth it look

[dlasp66]

Quote: Originally Posted by cujomatty

Demos pretty good I'd say. Big big worry for me is the hitting. It's way to easy. I know it's prob on default difficulty but for people who have played alot of 2k baseball(like me) this is scary easy. As far as people saying it seems stale and the same old same I totally disagree. If anything I think the other baseball is. One button baseball is so done. I'll be getting both but if the hitting is better on a harder difficulty judging by the demo I think 2k will be more fun.now if they could just steal the shows graphic designers we'd be all good.

I feel like true 2k fans find the gameplay much more challenging than previous baseball games because of the use of the joysticks, and from what i read it seems like you are one of them

[ExtremeGamer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Blzer

As a PS3 gamer, I'm having second thoughts about downloading the demo for this game so I can reserve all judgment for the final version when it comes to playing it at the Best Buy Kisok. I don't want to be too disappointed to rent it, and I am fully ready to justify my eight hours spent regardless of the game's quality.

Fixed

[TheTruth]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveDQ

A few control questions, if someone could answer. How do you call off a ball? How do you call off a pitch and switch location? I'm hitting A and it selects a new pitch, but how do you position the catcher's mit? How do you steal? thanks!

You press Y to call off the other fielder. Not sure on the other questions.

Has anyone noticed the catcher calls for the pitch to be up in the zone the majority of the time?

[thornie]

Alright, after battling with Xbox LIVE for a good hour I was able to download the demo and get in 2 quick games. Here are my initial impressions...

1. This game is rock solid. Everything from the presentation and the user interface is just excellent. Major kudos to VC for completely revamping this title and raising it from the dead.

2. Gameplay is smooth and controls have been finely tuned and tightened. Everything feels so responsive, the hitting, the fielding and pitching just flow and move so fluidly. One thing I love about the controls is how much in control of the action they make you feel. Nothing seems canned and nothing seems pre determined.

3. Graphics and lighting are really nice. HUGE upgrade over 2k8 and on par with 2k7 IMO. 2k7 had awkward player models (giant lower torso/legs) but great graphics, and I feel 2k9 finds a comfortable medium between the two. Player faces are bad, but on occasion they are really good (Cole Hamels for instance). I get the feeling they had a few different guys making cyber faces, one guy was awesome and the other two were horrendous.

4. Small framerate hitches here and there. It's exactly as Steve described it, completely random. Sometimes it's there and your all like "what the...?" and then it's gone for a while and the game is as smooth as butter. It's really no big deal, but it's kind of confusing. I hope this was something that they ironed out for the retail version.

5. New hitting and pitching controls seemed fun but I couldn't really get a hang of either. I lost both games I played, managed to get a few hits here and there but I definitely did'nt feel comfortable up there hitting. I will say that the new "hit influence" stick is responsive and works well, just need to get more games in. Oh, and I couldn't hit a HR to save my life. The entire second game I played I held up on the influence stick the whole time and managed only to fly out to different parts of the outfield. So I'm not sure if I agree with this game being called a HR fest.

I'm not crazy about the new pitching control. I NEED the third gesture. It's hard for me to tell if I'm nailing my pitch or not. Either it seemed too easy or too hard, I don't know. I will definitely be going back to last years pitching controls once I get the game.

6. The game is just fun. So fun. I wish I could have played some more games, but alas I had to goto work. I'm really looking forward to getting this game, starting a franchise and playing in throughout the summer. Can't wait.

[Qb]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaveDQ

How do you call off a pitch and switch location? I'm hitting A and it selects a new pitch, but how do you position the catcher's mit?

I haven't played the demo yet, but if you wanted to tell the catcher where to set up in 2K8, you moved your pitch cursor to the desired location with the L-stick, then pressed A. (I think, it's been a while)

Quote: Originally Posted by kGinGreen

called strikes are definately tied to how well you throw the pitch. you throw a perfect pitch and you will get a lot more called strikes and swinging misses. I've also had batters chase balls out of the zone this way.

This was true last year. If you threw pitches with little effectiveness you would get shelled; if you nailed your pitches they would be more likely to swing & miss or take them. Placement and execution were the key...