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

[Shakedowncapo]

Tomba, Im sorry but that Blog post was terrible. Nothing there was valid, period. If I have another response, I'll be sure to PM you.

[bodhiball]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChubbyBanana

Pros: Pitching is working like it should. Very fun to pitch -CB

Hey bro...can you let me know how you are pitching? I am really wanting to get a feel for the game, but so far I dont see any challenge in the pitching....you can put the ball exactly where you want every time and dont even need to do the full motion. Are you missing your spots at all? throwing balls? Have you figured out what the yellow fill is?
thanks!

[Glenn33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Shakedowncapo

Tomba, Im sorry but that Blog post was terrible. Nothing there was valid, period. If I have another response, I'll be sure to PM you.

Co - sign.

[redsox0717]

anyone notice that the CPU sucks at hitting curve balls?

[myghty]

Quote: Originally Posted by mlblover15

why no PS3 Demo... this is pathetic... ive searched every avenue on psn and havent found crap... what a waste!!

So PSN is pathetic cause you can't wait 2 days? If that?

[LAKE4742]

Noooooooooooo!!!!! WTF happened between 2K7 and now?! Okay, well, 2K7 is STILL better looking than 2K8 AND 2K9. The art direction (in 2K9) seems weird. Detail seems to be getting less and less. The runner icons are too big, and there's sooooo much clipping. And the framerate does seem a bit off. The ball just doesn't seem to flow as fast as it should.

The next thing I noticed right away was all of the new mechanics and gameplay adds. I welcome some of them, but, it's taking away a feeling of baseball, and I feel like I'm in math class, because every action has a it's own mini-game, or puzzle. Just doesn't feel too natural. The game played sort of lazy, and almost too easy-like. Perhaps it's on the Rookie difficulty.

Looking beyond the clipping, 2K9 actually feels solid. I didn't notice any big gameplay issues on my first playthrough. But, it also feels (and looks) like a 1997 PSone game, not a 2009 360 game.

[CarryTheWeight]

I am very, very impressed. I just came off playing some 2K7 last night and compared to that title, I've found that the 2K9 gameplay is much more responsive and polished. And compared to 2K8, I'd say this is a major improvement. Things still need to be ironed out though.

-Mound Visits are a big question mark. Since when do mound visits involve the manager staying in the dugout? I received a cutscene of a pretty peeved-off Charlie M. simply waiting in the dugout with his arm around a Gatorade jug. This should be fixed in the version we play next week...if not, what's the point of including it in the first place?

-Hit variety exists. I've seen every type of hit (grounders, line drives, foul tips, fly balls, one-hops in the infield) in the few games I've played. Although I'd say line drives dominate that list...hopefully sliders or simply increasing the difficulty (or even some last-minute fine-tuning in the final build) will help it out.

-Commentary is some of the best I've ever heard. Pat Burrell went up to bat in the first inning of my first go-around with the demo, and Thorne announced, "...listen to the reception for the former hometown player." If this happens after a traded player faces his former team during franchise, wow. Simply awesome. The "conversations" Thorne and Phillips have GREATLY enhance the presentation of the game. Tons of variety here.

-Anyone else notice that auto replays don't exist in the demo?

-Animations during the "real-time cut scenes" aren't that impressive, especially after a homerun. It seems the homerun hitter has a limp while running the bases for some reason.

-Like other posters have said, animations range from excellent to horrid. After scoring a run to tie the game, Shane Victorino pumped his fist as he crossed home plate. Not sure if this plays in with the "clutch factor" of the moment but it was very well done. HOWEVER, the transition animations between the walkup and the batting stance still look awkward. Here's hoping they get fixed before the final game.

All in all, I'm really impressed. It's an IMMENSE improvement. That doesn't mean it's perfect. But the big issues in this demo should be ironed out either by patches or by fine-tuning. I'm proud to say VC is definitely on the right track.

[wickedbadman]

Demo is pretty good, but am I the only one who has trouble pulling the ball? I can hit the outside pitches, but even when I preemptively have the left stick pushed left with a right handed hitter on an inside pitch it seems to always be a grounder to the SS.