PDA

View Full Version : MLB 2K11 Thread



cdj
01-06-2011, 06:42 PM
Trailer:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH-6tTGiuYQ

- Bunch of screenshots available here (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=272845&id=89397568958)

Rudy
01-07-2011, 05:56 AM
The video looked good. Definitely interested in this and the Show but I'll only get one. The $1 million dollar perfect game offer is back but you can't win it until the regular season begins.

More info is supposed to come today.

cdj
01-19-2011, 06:31 PM
First features announced.


Dynamic Player Ratings: Watch your favorite MLB pitcher strike out the side in a real game, then watch his stats improve in your game. Dynamic Player Ratings update in real-time through ALL game modes, including MLB Today, Franchise and My Player.

Revamped Fielding System: Completely revamped fielding system, featuring improved AI, throwing meters and landing indicators to give you more control to run down a fly ball or make the play at the plate.

My Player Mode: Guide your player through the Minor Leagues and into the history books with an improved My Player mode.

MLB Today: Stay up-to-date on the latest happenings in Major League Baseball, with timely play-by-play commentary and stat overlays pulled from real life news and box scores.

Total Control Pitching and Hitting: The battle at the plate comes to life in the palms of your hands. Paint the corners with pinpoint accuracy on the mound, and then fight off nasty sliders until you get the pitch you’re looking for at the plate.

New Player Models: Amazing attention to detail captures every intricacy of the game. Enjoy completely rebuilt player models for Major League authenticity like never before.

Courtesy: PastaPadre (http://www.pastapadre.com/2011/01/19/mlb-2k11-features-list)

Rudy
01-19-2011, 08:10 PM
Love the dynamic player ratings apply to franchise mode.

Rudy
01-24-2011, 05:06 AM
Really nice preview in Kotaku. He's also the writer that came up with the right camera option to make every stadium angle possible in the game last year. Now 2K11 is including those as presets this year. The Show is doing this too as they finally expanded their batting and pitching camera options in MLB 11 The Show.

http://kotaku.com/5741177/a-comeback-player-takes-to-the-field-in-mlb-2k11?skyline=true&s=i

UGA14
01-24-2011, 06:06 AM
I'm excited as ever about the baseball games. I'll be getting The Show, but I hope for you XBox guys that 2k is finally a good game. I bought last year's game on my XBox and it just couldn't hold a candle to anything. The analog controls were cool, but the rest of the game just seemed.. I don't know, odd.

cdj
02-03-2011, 10:47 PM
Here's an absolutely huge blog on Dynamic Player Ratings in MLB 2K11 (http://www.facebook.com/notes/mlb-2k/mlb-2k11-developer-diary-dynamic-player-ratings/10150092826993194).

Hi all, my name is Mark Little. I am the senior producer for Major League Baseball 2K11 and I’m going to run through one of our new features for MLB 2K11: Dynamic Player Ratings.

Please also take a second to WATCH EVAN LONGORIA DISCUSS THE DYNAMIC RATINGS FEATURE (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3 DaEfbh4jjP1M&h=4f466). Before we get into the details, I wanted to share why we believe Dynamic Player Ratings is an important addition to MLB 2K11 and what inspired us to build this feature.

Introduction
Like many people, our entire design team loves to play MLB Today games. Thanks to the MLB Today feature in MLB 2K10 (http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fcommunity.2ksports.com%2Fcomm unity%2Finsights%2Findex.cfm%3Faid%3D1272296%26l%3 D12&h=4f466), for the first time, we were participating in the real MLB season with our favorite teams and players, but something still didn’t feel quite right. As last year’s MLB season progressed we quickly came to realize that, while the MLB Today was doing a great job of keeping us up to date with the standings and stats for all the teams and players, the players themselves didn’t really change. We watched last year as June rolled around and Derek Jeter started his epic slump. Jeter’s batting average was down almost 50 points, but when I loaded into a game against the Yankees he was close to the same Derek Jeter that I played against the month before. That’s not what we wanted to see, we wanted to play against the Yankees with Jeter struggling through his slump. That would have been closer to the real MLB Today.

We really wanted the players in our game to play like they are currently playing in the real world. Baseball players don’t bat their average 162 games a year; sometimes they are on a hot steak and sometimes they are cold and struggle at the plate. Each new season is a continually changing landscape of player performance. This is what causes lineups to change and how teams discover that unexpected bat which helps lift them into the Postseason. We wanted to play the Postseason with the Giants, a team not known for their bats, and come up to bat with a hot Cody Ross and Buster Posey as they were in the 2010 Postseason. We wanted to play with the unlikely heroes and struggling greats. That’s baseball.

http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs278.snc6/180690_10150097583933959_89397568958_6103760_14416 67_n.jpg

This became our new inspiration: make the players in our game play like their real-life counterparts are currently playing. We also wanted to extend this notion into our Franchise and My Player modes to make those seasons more dynamic and interesting to play through. So let’s get into the details of the Dynamic Player Rating system and look at how the system made our desire become reality.

How it works
To describe the system in one sentence: the Dynamic Player Rating system (DPRS for short) dynamically adjusts player ratings to represent recent performance. It is simple to say but it is a little more complicated to do. I’m going to walk through the basics of how we do this.

To begin with, the only way to make a player play better or worse than normal is to adjust up or down the ratings for the player. Albert Pujols is a beast at the plate because his contact and power ratings make him amazing. So, when we adjust player ratings, we adjust how the game will play with that player. The end goal of the DPRS is to determine how and when to adjust player ratings to represent their recent performance.

The first step is to determine how well a player is currently performing. Obviously, you can’t get a reliable gauge of player performance if you look at just the last few games. So we look back across the last four weeks of performance, putting more emphasis on the most recent weeks and less on the oldest. This rolling four week view of performance ensures that a few bad games don’t impact their ratings; players need to consistently perform below or above expectations before their ratings are adjusted. We also verify that the player has a minimum number of at bats or innings pitched to ensure that there is enough data to make a good determination of their performance.

Based on these parameters on their performance, we evaluate what sort of rating their performance deserves. For batters, we correlate different statistics to different player ratings. Batting average affects the Contact rating, slugging percentage impacts the Power rating and on base percentage changes the Eye rating. When this process is done, we have created a performance rating for contact, power and eye based on the player’s actual performance in batting average, slugging percentage and on base percentage. For pitchers we look at their WHIP (walks + hits / innings pitched) and calculate the appropriate performance based on control and movement ratings for their pitches.

Finally, we compare the performance rating to the player’s base rating to determine if the performance warrants a change to the appropriate player rating and, if so, how much of a change. There is a lot of math involved in this determination but, in simple terms, if the performance rating is close to the base rating, then there is no change. The further the performance rating deviates from the base rating, the more we either increase or decrease the base rating. To ensure integrity in the game, we do impose limits to how much we will adjust player ratings. A 70 rated contact hitter will not be adjusted up to a 99 rated contact hitter, even if they are batting .500, but they will be adjusted up to the mid 80’s which is a significant change that is noticeable when playing. The amount of the adjustment is varied based on size of difference between the performance rating and the player’s rating. The way we do the math allows for a nice progression of adjustment that is not too abrupt but makes a big enough difference for you to notice.

So what does this mean?
Now let’s talk about how this impacts the different game modes and what you should watch for while you are playing MLB Today games or managing your franchise.

MLB Today
For MLB Today, we use the real life results from the previous four weeks of play to drive the DPRS and determine rating adjustments. This means that, while playing MLB Today games, the players are adjusting based on their real world performance. We don’t know who is going to slump or who is going to get hot but the DPRS takes care of this for everyone as the season unfolds. Each series between teams is going to have a different feel and landscape of player ratings. Who is hot and cold will reflect the real world MLB players. If next season, the Oakland Athletics are on fire as they roll into a series against division rival Los Angeles Angels, it will be a very different matchup between the teams.

No one can predict what the upcoming season is going bring to us. But now when you play MLB Today, you will experience the most accurate representation of how the players and teams are currently playing. You are going to be able to participate in the MLB season in a new way that brings you even closer to the real MLB.

Franchise and My Player
In Franchise and My Player modes, the DPRS uses the player results generated by playing or simulating games in your season. Both Franchise and My Player are designed and intended to allow you to play multiple seasons which is why we use the results generated within your Franchise or My Player. When you call up a rookie in his second year after the draft, and he starts lighting up the league, we want you to see him go into a hot streak and get the benefit of playing above expectations. As some of your veteran players age and struggle at the plate, we want them to go cold and for you to decide if you want to bench them or keep them in the lineup. In the next section I’ll show examples of how the DPRS works within franchise mode.

How will I need to change my MLB 2K11 strategy?
With DPRS operational, you need to pay a little more attention to your lineups before games to make decisions about whether or not you want to sit players that are on a cold streak. This creates an important new decision process that adds another dimension to team management. Do you stick with your proven player that is slumping or do you bring in a lesser player that may put up better numbers? I started a new franchise playing as the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants (yes, a little hometown favoritism) so I could walk through some examples of the system in progress. I simulated the games until a late May series between the Brewers and the Giants. Let’s see how the players are doing.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs074.snc6/168414_10150097583283959_89397568958_6103750_13179 38_n.jpg

We identify players as being on either a hot or cold streak by placing an icon beside their name on the Roster, Lineups, etc screens. Looking at the screenshot above, you can see that the Giants are doing well right now with four players that are hot and only one that is cold. The hot and cold icons are indicators that the player is either well above or well below what we expect based on their ratings, but they don’t tell the full story. When you bring up the player card, you can see how their streak is impacting their ratings. Remember that the adjustments to the ratings are not a fixed amount of increase or decrease; it depends on the player performance so they may just be a little hot or completely on fire.

Bringing up the player cards for the Giants players that are hot or cold shows variation in how the ratings have been adjusted to match each player’s recent performance. You can see the original ratings and then beside in the brackets are the adjusted rating; GREEN if it is up, RED if it is down and WHITE if they are unchanged. This makes it really easy to see the impact of the DPRS.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs071.snc6/168170_10150097583493959_89397568958_6103752_16316 35_n.jpg

Examining Andres Torres, we can clearly see that he is significantly up in both his power and contact ratings. This means that his batting average and slugging percentage are significantly over expectation for his base ratings; a quick look at Torres’ recent game statistics show that he is 11 for 24 (.458) over the last 5 games with 2 doubles and a HR for a .667 slugging percentage. We actually use the last 4 weeks of performance for the determination but this quick look shows that he has definitely been on fire in the most recent week.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs884.ash1/179206_10150097583698959_89397568958_6103755_55434 19_n.jpg

Looking at Aubrey Huff, you can see that his power ratings have been reduced quite a bit but his contact ratings remain unchanged. This indicates that Huff’s batting average is close to expectation for his contact rating. But he is not hitting for extra bases and his slugging percentage is below expectation for his power ratings, so his power is down.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs262.snc6/179010_10150097584043959_89397568958_6103762_34289 80_n.jpg

At first glance it seems wrong that Freddy Sanchez, who is a career .300 hitter, is batting .255 and somehow hot at the same time. Looking back over his stats for the year, Sanchez is currently pulling himself out of a horrible start to the season. Sanchez was batting .178 at the beginning of May but has been lighting it up in May to pull his average up to .255. So for the first month of the year Sanchez would have been stone cold but now he is hot. What a difference a month can make. A quick look around the league and I found another interesting example of the DPRS at work.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs882.ash1/179026_10150097584158959_89397568958_6103765_26339 60_n.jpg

Right now in my franchise, Chris Coghlan, center fielder for the Marlins, is down in his contact ratings and up in his power ratings. You may think this is strange, but it actually is quite realistic. The system is showing us that Coghlan’s batting average is below normal so his contact ratings have been decreased, but he is generating more extra base hits so his slugging percentage is driving up his power ratings. We reviewed a lot of real world statistics for players and we found many examples of this exact type of shift in player performance. It’s easy to imagine that a contact hitter, trying to generate more power, could cause his batting average to suffer. It looks like that’s what is happening here with Chris Coghlan. We also see examples of the opposite scenario as well, where a power hitter is hitting to contact so he is down on extra base hits but up in average. This is a great subtlety that the DPRS generates. It is not simply deciding if a player is hot or cold; the system actually differentiates how they are hot, cold, or both at the same time.

Getting back to the Giants, I took a look at my next game against the Brewers, who are normally a hard hitting team that I frequently give up quite a few runs to. Loading into the game, I brought up the lineup screen so we can see both teams’ starting lineups side by side. We already know that quite a few of the Giants batters are up in their ratings and now we can see that the Brewers’ five leading batters, including Prince Fielder, are playing below their expected level of performance and have reduced ratings. The hot Giants are about to face off against the mostly cold Brewers. This is a great example of how the DPRS can really impact the composition of a team and is likely to impact the outcomes of games. The Giants ended up sweeping this 3 game series against the Brewers.

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs280.snc6/180842_10150097584238959_89397568958_6103766_70651 35_n.jpg

Just to see what would happen, I simulated to the next series between the Giants and Brewers in late July, almost 2 months later. Looking at the lineup screen loading into that game, you can clearly see that this is going to be a very different matchup between the same two teams. Some of the Giants’ best hitters are down and the Brewers are playing closer to normal with Prince Fielder on a hot streak. The ebbs and flows of player performance made for new player ratings and a new experience playing with the same two teams in the same season. The Giants did take the series 2-1 but the games were close and in the final game, the Brewers blew the Giants out 10 to 4. The Brewers were missing a solid contributor, Corey Hart, from the lineup. Hart is currently out on the 60 day DL.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs045.snc6/167546_10150097584433959_89397568958_6103768_54023 15_n.jpg

So far we looked at examples of the DPRS adjusting players based on their current performance and how it impacts players and teams. Most people interpret this as a temporary change to players based on a hot or a cold streak but it is more than that. The DPRS also adjusts players that are experiencing a breakout season. This could be a rookie that finds his bat or perhaps a seasoned veteran that gets back into his groove. Historically these players would play the same the entire year, but now with the DPRS, if they play well above their norm all year they can be hot all year. The same is true for a player that has an off year: a player’s bad performance can impact their ratings in a meaningful way. As long as a player continues at the same level of performance, they can be hot or cold for the entire year.

Another quick look through the league and I found that Gaby Sanchez, first baseman for the Marlins, is batting .331 and slugging .561 for the year. Sanchez’s ratings in both power and contact are way up and his overall rating has jumped from an 81 to a 93. Checking back through the months, Gaby has been on a streak almost the entire year. That’s a big new found bat for the Marlins.

In game presentation
Now let’s jump into a game and take a look at how you will see the change in gameplay. To keep with the goal of being the best baseball simulator out there and not simply an arcade baseball game, we decided that we wanted the presentation to be elegant and clearly convey the appropriate information. So don’t worry, there are not going to be any flames overhead or bats on fire. Although, we did have a few fun brainstorming sessions that had our batters looking a lot like a buffed character in WoW...

Like last year, we show the batter’s power and contact rating versus the pitcher on the mound at the start of every at bat. This served as a great reminder of player ratings for both your own team and the opposing lineup. We now show the adjusted ratings for the batter instead of their base ratings. If the adjusted power or contact rating is up or down they will be colored GREEN or RED. We also added some callout text to let you know the batter is hot or cold. Below is a screenshot from my first matchup with the Brewers where Prince Fielder was cold and a second screen shot from the current matchup in July when Prince Fielder was hot. Which version of Prince Fielder would you want to pitch to?

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs077.snc6/168782_10150097584583959_89397568958_6103769_79579 68_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs018.snc6/166798_10150097584678959_89397568958_6103770_82113 05_n.jpg

The real difference is in how the players play based on the adjusted ratings. It is a great feeling to be on the mound and see a batter who is normally strong come to the plate on a cold streak with greatly reduced ratings.

Number crunching
I know that many people are probably wondering how we are able to tune such a system. That would have been a difficult task if we hadn’t already built MLB Today. Through MLB Today, we were able to load all the real world data from last season into our game and review the impact of the DPRS. Through this process, we were able to tune the results to be believable based on what really happened last year. This was the best possible way for us to validate the results of the DPRS.

Through this process, we also discovered that player performance varies even more drastically than we initially believed. A very large percentage of the players in the league are frequently playing well above or well below their established averages. This discovery further fueled our excitement about this system because it means that for the first time, we are going to be able to feel and see how player performance changes throughout a season. We were so excited by the results that we went even further and started comparing the real world player performance numbers to the results generated by our simulation engine. Very quickly, we were able to adjust and tune our simulation engine to create the same types and variety of player performance that we saw in the real world data. At the end of all this work, we confirmed that our system works with real world data and that our simulator creates data that is very believable based on our real world comparison. Success!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

We are very excited about the Dynamic Player Rating system. It has changed the way we look at the players and the games we play.

In Franchise and My Player mode, we now get to see the results of players having breakout years, rookies playing beyond their years, seasoned vets finding their groove again and players faltering and playing poorly. These changes and updates happen automatically on a daily basis so the players in our franchise are playing like their stats suggest.

Having players that hit cold streaks, also, adds new levels of nuance and subtlety to decisions before and during games. Do we keep our normal starting center fielder in the lineup even though he is slumping and our backup’s base ratings are better than our starter’s adjusted ratings? Or do we make the swap to the hot backup and get our starter some rest?

As for MLB Today games, only time will tell what is going to happen in the league this year. We are anxiously waiting for the season to start so we can see who is hot, cold or both and watch as teams with amazing lineups seem weakened and teams not known for their bats become hot and light up the scoreboards. Who is going to have a breakout year? Is Jason Heyward going to put up crazy numbers? Will Mark Teixeira get off to his typical slow start? Who will be this season’s Jose Bautista? Did someone we don’t suspect find some new power in the offseason? With Dynamic Player Ratings and MLB Today we can now play every streak and slump that develops in the MLB. No subjectivity, no hype, we are going to let each player’s performance do the talking.

Personally, this adds a whole new level of excitement for me as I look forward to the season ahead. It’s amazing knowing that each time I pick up the controller and load a MLB Today game, it is going to be a new experience with the players playing like they are in the real world. April can’t get here soon enough.

- Mark Little
Senior Producer

P.S. I’m sure that many of you noticed other changes to some of the screens shown. We’ll go over all those goodies in an upcoming Franchise Insight. There is a lot to share and we are eager to share it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEfbh4jjP1M

Rudy
02-04-2011, 04:09 AM
I have a feeling these dynamic player ratings are going to be overdone. A crappy guy gets hot at the beginning of the year and has a great year the whole time. Same goes for a good hitter who starts cold and sucks all year. These things do happen in real life but I have a feeling they may happen too much. That blog hinted at some really big ratings changes. You get natural cold and hot streaks with guys when their ratings don't change at all. We'll have to see how this plays out.

cdj
02-13-2011, 12:16 PM
Two new blogs:

Developer blog on graphical improvements (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150096693908194)
My Player and Franchise info from ESPN Video Games (http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/videogames/blog/_/name/thegamer/id/6113083/mlb-2k11-goes-deep-my-player-franchise-improvements?readmore=fullstory)

cdj
02-15-2011, 12:18 PM
MLB 2K11 devs flattered but not impressed by MLB 11 adopting analog control (http://www.destructoid.com/mlb-2k11-devs-flattered-but-not-impressed-by-mlb-11-adopting-analog-controls-194128.phtml)s


For a few years now, 2K Sports' MLB 2K games have featured analog-stick controls for pitching, hitting, and fielding. But Sony's MLB The Show franchise has stuck with simple button presses until this year; MLB 11 The Show will be the first entry in the series to ship with analog controls. I saw MLB 2K11 for the second time last week, and during the session, I asked Sean Bailey, a designer on the game at Visual Concepts, for his thoughts on The Show finally adopting analog controls.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with taking what other people do [well]," he told me, acknowledging that the pitch and swing analyzers with ball trails in MLB 2K10 originated from EA Sports' previous-generation classic, MVP Baseball 2005. The folks at Visual Concepts felt reassured to see The Show -- a franchise that has long been viewed as superior to MLB 2K -- taking after a 2K Sports innovation.

But Bailey pointed out that analog controls aren't inherently good or bad; "it's how it's done, not what you do." From what he's heard of MLB 11, he doesn't think too much of its analog pitching:

"Every single one of their pitches is going to be down-up. Well, you know, as a 2K player, that's going to get boring to me, because that's a four-seam fastball -- that's the easiest pitch in our game."

[Editor's note: The analog pitching in MLB 2K requires right-stick gestures that are specific to each pitch type. I recently had a hands-on demo of MLB 11, and I'll post a full preview -- including my thoughts on its new analog-stick controls -- after I spend some more time with it today. In my time with MLB 11, I didn't find its analog pitching to be quite as cut-and-dry as the way Bailey put it, but he's correct in that you pull the stick down and then push it upward to throw every pitch in the game. In a nutshell: if you're throwing to the left side of the strike zone, you'll have to push up and left, and vice versa; it's challenging in its own way.]

The battle for baseball supremacy between the two franchises is really heating up now that both series will offer analog controls. Bailey understandably prefers his own game; which one will you favor come March 8th, when both MLB 11 The Show and MLB 2K11 launch? (In addition to an MLB 11 preview, I'll soon have more details on the improvements that Visual Concepts is making to the game modes in MLB 2K11.)

CLW
02-15-2011, 02:38 PM
LMAO I can see the retort:

MLB The Show flattered but not impressed with 2K's attempt at a baseball game (in general).

I mean seriously the sales on the PS3 have got to be 10 to 1 ratio. It's NOT EVEN CLOSE to who produces a better product on the PS3.

EDIT: Ok I was curious and checked. According to VGChartz MLB2K10 on PS3 140,000 units MLB 10 The Show 620,000 units (a 4.43 ratio).

steelerfan
02-15-2011, 02:57 PM
LMAO I can see the retort:

MLB The Show flattered but not impressed with 2K's attempt at a baseball game (in general).

LMAO.

I hereby pass the TGT Post of the Day Trophy back to CLW. :D

Rudy
02-16-2011, 05:24 AM
I understand why people love the Show. MVP 05 and then the Show series from 06 on brought me back into baseball gaming. But as a PS3 user I went with 2K10 last year and will most likely be going with 2K11 this year. It has a lot more flaws but the gesture pitching is just a lot of fun for me. The Show felt stale last year after playing 2K10 and the new analog pitching scheme from the Show doesn't sound as good.

Just because the 2K devs took a shot at the analog pitching from Show 11 doesn't mean they are trashing the whole game. But pitching is a huge part of a baseball game and if I like the 2K system better it has a huge effect on me. I also have disliked the fast pitch speed in the Show. I wish the slider worked better because I could never take walks in the Show. I'd only average about 0.50 walks per game (real numbers are around 3.5). I was able to take 7 walks in one game with 2K10 (probably averaged 1 to 1.5 walks a game - I'm still a free swinger) and their camera angles for batting and pitching were fantastic last year. The Show added those angles in this year which will be a huge improvement for Show fans imo. I love the straight behind the pitcher cam (like Minnesota) when batting.

cdj
02-18-2011, 05:08 PM
Here's some gameplay video (along with some of Top Spin 4):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcehj3GQ3so

Rudy
02-19-2011, 07:38 AM
Tremendous blog on pitching and hitting. Pitching sliders, less opposite field HRs and tons of goodness.

http://www.operationsports.com/features/1227/mlb-2k11-developer-diary-3-pitching-and-hitting/

cdj
02-19-2011, 09:51 AM
Rudy - which game are you leaning towards this year? I know you have played The Show in the past and switched to 2K last year.

steelerfan
02-19-2011, 10:29 AM
That was a nice blog, Rudy. Thanks for sharing.

I'm still leaning towards The Show, if I get an MLB game at all.

Rudy
02-20-2011, 06:03 AM
I'm definitely leaning toward MLB 2K11. It's not that the Show isn't an excellent game (it is) and I firmly believe the Show will be the better baseball sim as they do so many things right. But I expect 2K11 to be the most fun for me. I absolutely love the gesture pitching in 2K baseball. That's a huge feature for me. If you don't like gesture pitching then I would strongly suggest sticking with the Show. The Show has added analog controls for pitching and I'll give the demo a shot but they don't appear to be as fun. The commentary is great in 2K as well and they have made a lot of improvements this year. I think fans of MLB 2K11 should still expect some major flaws and that it won't be as smooth or polished as the Show. The Show will win the sales battle on the PS3 this year but I expect it to be a lot closer than last year.

I will be doing a Tigers season but a Cubs or Brewers season interests me.

UGA14
02-20-2011, 10:10 AM
2K is fun. The announcing is good. But the game just doesn't hold it for me. It's way too arcade style. There's hardly anything sim about it. The gesture pitching is fun, I will give it that. I like the new analog controls The Show has. The Show added another announcer in booth, so I'm curious what that will sound like. The ability to edit cameras, analog controls, stadiums are incredibly authentic. The entire game is just a very authentic experience.

2K is fun for a while, with some friends. Franchise mode or whatever is pretty bad. I'll probably do what I normally do, buy The Show, then get 2K when it's on sale later.

cdj
02-22-2011, 12:34 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBU061luAIs

Rudy
02-22-2011, 06:43 PM
Only 1/2 an inning, only offense and I don't like that new camera after you hit the ball at all. Maybe I will get used to it but first impression is poor. Camera options people!

Ronnie2k did say that they will be releasing a fielding/defense video (why not do it all at once guys?) and that the fielding camera is different.

2K's marketing stinks. Still no word on the demo either. They better have one ready next week for both the 360 and PS3. If they don't have one ready for the PS3 they deserve to fail. A ton of sales occur in the first week. If you don't give any Show supporters a demo to try before they run out and buy the new game then you will lose the battle without any fight.

CLW
02-23-2011, 10:31 AM
That's a good point Rudy. After playing The Show the past several years there is ZERO chance I'm picking up 2K11 w/o playing the demo first and liking it allot more than The Show.

And that is from a consumer who loved their 2K College Hoops series and still plays 2K8 College Hoops.

Rudy
02-28-2011, 04:41 AM
Demo out this Tuesday!

Some videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpaKUAOEoBE


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J29tziicUEg


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhvnbLnjMks


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5yfdTp5AZY

SmoothPancakes
03-01-2011, 10:01 AM
The demo has arrived. Downloading it right now.

CLW
03-01-2011, 10:56 AM
Going to download this one tonight. However, it is going to have to be LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than The Show for me to even re-think my MLB The Show pre-order.

steelerfan
03-01-2011, 11:55 AM
Going to download this one tonight. However, it is going to have to be LEAPS AND BOUNDS better than The Show for me to even re-think my MLB The Show pre-order.

Agreed, only I didn't pre-order. Not trying to be a dick, but why pre-order anything? Unless you live in the sticks, of course.

SmoothPancakes
03-01-2011, 12:04 PM
Agreed, only I didn't pre-order. Not trying to be a dick, but why pre-order anything? Unless you live in the sticks, of course.

I'll preorder major games (since area stores will sell out of the major games real damn fast around here), and if there is actually a preorder bonus worth a damn attached with the game. If it's a shit bonus, I won't bother for that reason, but if it's a pretty good bonus that comes with the game, I'll probably preorder it specifically for the bonus.

steelerfan
03-01-2011, 12:10 PM
I'll preorder major games (since area stores will sell out of the major games real damn fast around here), and if there is actually a preorder bonus worth a damn attached with the game. If it's a shit bonus, I won't bother for that reason, but if it's a pretty good bonus that comes with the game, I'll probably preorder it specifically for the bonus.

Gotcha. I just never have had that problem in Houston. The only pre-orders I've done were for games I wanted to pick up at midnight (NCAA) and for NHL since even the Gamestops only get 1 or 2 copies (this way I don't have to drive 5 minutes to the next store, lol).

CLW
03-01-2011, 12:26 PM
Agreed, only I didn't pre-order. Not trying to be a dick, but why pre-order anything? Unless you live in the sticks, of course.

The wife did it for my birthday. I normally don't pre-order either. However, The Show has pretty much become a guaranteed release day purchase. I know its going to be a quality title so I have no qualms with just going ahead and paying for it ahead of time.

steelerfan
03-01-2011, 12:35 PM
The wife did it for my birthday. I normally don't pre-order either. However, The Show has pretty much become a guaranteed release day purchase. I know its going to be a quality title so I have no qualms with just going ahead and paying for it ahead of time.

Makes sense to me. I wish it came out today. :)

CLW
03-01-2011, 12:41 PM
Makes sense to me. I wish it came out today. :)

lol Nah I need to do some trophy whoring in You Don't Know Jack 1st.

back on-topic: anyone played the demo yet PS3 any comparisons?

steelerfan
03-01-2011, 01:18 PM
lol Nah I need to do some trophy whoring in You Don't Know Jack 1st.

back on-topic: anyone played the demo yet PS3 any comparisons?

Should get to it this afternoon.

CLW
03-01-2011, 05:54 PM
Downloading the demo now.

CLW
03-01-2011, 07:31 PM
O.K. I have now downloaded and played both demos.

#1 The Show's Demo had better graphics. Who knows if that will be the case at retail but I suspect it will.

#2 No commentary during the 2K demo. I assume this was done to save file size?

#3 The pitch speeds are NIGHT AND DAY. 2K's pitches are MUCH slower than The Show. This is a matter of preference. It is definitely easier to see balls/strikes on 2K than The Show but I found my timing way off (mostly due to being used to The Show)

#4 The pitching in 2K is interesting but I don't understand it completely. I kept getting "overthrow" and "poor form" (or something like that) on almost every pitch. I found controlling pitches in 2K to be much harder than The Show.

#5 I liked The Show's analog hitting better. I like having to go :Down: :Up: with the right stick every pitch. IMHO its more like real life. I know you can in 2K but that was only for power swings. I also didn't like 2K telling me what every pitch the CPU was throwing. I would rather have to guess the pitch correctly before hand like The Show.

Overall I thought 2K was solid/decent but I think The Show is just a more polished game. I may rent 2K when if/when I get the itch for something a little different.

steelerfan
03-01-2011, 09:11 PM
O.K. I have now downloaded and played both demos.

#1 The Show's Demo had better graphics. Who knows if that will be the case at retail but I suspect it will.

#2 No commentary during the 2K demo. I assume this was done to save file size?

#3 The pitch speeds are NIGHT AND DAY. 2K's pitches are MUCH slower than The Show. This is a matter of preference. It is definitely easier to see balls/strikes on 2K than The Show but I found my timing way off (mostly due to being used to The Show)

#4 The pitching in 2K is interesting but I don't understand it completely. I kept getting "overthrow" and "poor form" (or something like that) on almost every pitch. I found controlling pitches in 2K to be much harder than The Show.

#5 I liked The Show's analog hitting better. I like having to go :Down: :Up: with the right stick every pitch. IMHO its more like real life. I know you can in 2K but that was only for power swings. I also didn't like 2K telling me what every pitch the CPU was throwing. I would rather have to guess the pitch correctly before hand like The Show.

Overall I thought 2K was solid/decent but I think The Show is just a more polished game. I may rent 2K when if/when I get the itch for something a little different.

1. Agree 100%. 2K is not even close.

2. I'd assume you're right. It made the demo kind of awkwardly boring.

3. I put the ball in play with every batter and it never took more than 3 pitches. I can't imagine that I'd ever walk or K without serious adjustments.

4. I liked the gesture pitching, but I don't think it's leaps and bounds better than The Show.

5. I would fear that in 2K I'd never struggle at the plate without slider/CPU cheese.

Overall, the demo wasn't bad. There were elements that I enjoyed for sure. I just can't see 2K being fun or challenging for the long haul. If I purchase a baseball game it will be to try and play a full season which I haven't done since, I believe, 2K7 or so. I own MLB 09, but only used it for RttS and some simming. If I get a baseball game this year, it will be MLB 11 The Show.

Rudy
03-01-2011, 10:16 PM
It’s disappointing that 2K Sports released such a limited demo. This is what they usually do but releasing a demo without difficulty options, camera options, slider options and no commentary doesn’t allow you to get a true feel for how the game will be. The commentary is one of the best things about the game (based on 2K10) and yet people aren’t able to experience it. At least I knew that going into the demo. Overall I’m happy with my demo experience although how I really feel about the game won’t be known until I have the full copy and can adjust things the way I like. The demo is just too easy on the default settings. I played 5 games and won 4 (blew one totally with some bad defensive decisions in the 3rd) and hit 8 HRs while giving up no HRs while pitching.

The game looks pretty good to me although it looks very similar to 2K10 as well. The colours and lighting both look very good. The two things that seem better are that the game is smoother and the player models are better, the legs specifically. I didn’t think the player models were that much different from the videos but playing the game they do look significantly better.

I did notice the frame rate hiccup at times and it wasn’t a big deal. It probably won’t be in the retail version so I don’t think it’s a big deal. I also noticed the HR glitch where I hit a 407 foot HR with Josh Hamilton to dead CF and it was ruled a HR and an out. I hope that isn’t something we’ll see in the retail copy.

PITCHING
This was the strength of 2K10. I loved gesture pitching but as fun as it was, it was too easy to hit your spots and that hurt the long term value of the game as you rarely walked anyone. The demo on Pro seemed about the same as 2K10 with pitching made as difficult as I could make it (still too easy to hit your spots). But with the pitch control slider in 2K11 I really think pitching will be fantastic this year. I did notice that the pitch speed seemed slow compared to the batting camera for some reason but I adjusted quickly (I have played some 2K10 lately and it’s slow compared to that as well). The cpu didn’t seem overly swing happy and I did strike out two guys looking. The variable strike zone is a refreshing change from the huge strike zone in 2K10.

BATTING
This was an area I considered below average in 2K10 and quite frankly needed quite a bit of work. I see the biggest improvement in 2K11 here. The bat off the ball physics is great and maybe the best I’ve seen. The hit variety is much improved as you see pop ups around home, balls finding their way between infielders (rare in 2K10) and the feel is just really good. I see significant improvement here. I’m not a huge fan of the camera angle following the hit. I think it makes for a smooth transition to the fielders after the hit and it also seems realistic as though you were actually at the plate. But the camera doesn’t follow the height of the ball on hits to the outfield and it can make it hard to see exactly where the ball is. When you hit a HR the beauty of following the ball out of the ballpark is lost. While I have grown to like the camera more I would most likely switch back to the normal angle of 2K10 if I could.

The developers said they toned down the opposite field power but I really didn’t see that. I hit eight HRs with two of them pulled, three to CF and three to the opposite field. The jury is still out on this.

The cpu never hit a single HR against me. It was on pro but there was too big a gap between a contact swing and power swing last year. I played with cpu power at 100 last year to help the cpu hit for more power and I can only hope that the cpu isn’t a singles machine in 2K11. Again, the jury is still out for me in this area.


FIELDING
I was stunned when initially executing a simple throw to first base. The meter moved quicker than I expected and if that meter reaches the red zone look out! The ball will be in the dirt (saw a couple nice scoops by the 1B) or off the mark. I was disappointed that two of my throws early on pulled the first basement off the bag and neither play was recorded as an error. In five games I never saw a booted ball until my final game when I smoked a line drive at Aubrey Huff who muffed it and I was safe (they did give him an error). I consider that a good thing as I was worried the new emphasis on bobbles might be overdone but sliders can fix this anyways. I really felt Josh Hamilton being slow in the OF and you can see the difference between the fielders. I would have liked if the fielding camera was still zoomed out some more like 2K9’s camera but I can live with it.

Rocket arms are gone but did it go too far? I think the arm strength relative to the base running speed is fine. I saw double plays and no overall concerns. However some infield throws can look too slow depending on how you execute the meter and the arc on the ball can look weird since most throws in MLB don’t have an arc to first base. This may just be related to user error with the throwing meter in the field.

OVERALL
I am happy with the demo. It is an upgraded version of 2K10 where the changes made should significantly upgrade it for 2K11. Unfortunately without any options to play with we won’t know exactly how upgraded 2K11 will be but I’m buying it day one anyways.

steelerfan
03-01-2011, 10:48 PM
Thanks for that, Rudy. Like I said, I haven't played 2K in a few years so it's nice to get some perspective.

Rudy
03-02-2011, 04:35 AM
It just sucks that the demo is so freaking limited. 2K invested a ton of money in an RV so they can drive around the country and advertise the game. Why not spend more effort on your demo and really showcase the game to people that are willing to try it? Not having commentary and at least being able to adjust the difficultly level really hurts it. Plus some people don't like the batting camera angle (I love it). 2K had a great set of angles last year along with a lot of options to adjust them. It was a huge positive that people have no clue about.

tko27
03-07-2011, 05:00 PM
I've been reading on different forums that 2K11 will have online play available, more specifically online seasons a la online dynasty mode in NCAA. Can anyone confirm this? I will buy 2K11 over The Show if it has the ability to play an online season with others. Thanks in advance

Rudy
03-09-2011, 07:05 PM
I don't know about the online seasons. I'll try to check later tonight.

I wrote up some stuff finally this morning and then had to fix a sump pump this afternoon. Why is life getting in the way of 2K11 lol? These are my early impressions after roughly three games. I'm still searching for the right level between Pro and All Star but I'm having a lot of fun.


In many ways the retail version is very similar to the 2K11 demo. It also comes off as a much more polished version of 2K10 with a greater set of options. I really need to play more to get a better idea of how the game will play long term. I’ve played about 3 full games so far (2.5 last night and another 0.5) this morning. While I was kicking the computer’s butt in the demo, I’ve been getting my butt kicked by the cpu on All-Star. I’m in the middle of adjusting tons of sliders to get the game to play suited to my skill set and I don’t think I’m too far away but until I can play a string of balanced games in a row it’s hard to say anything definitive about the game. I tend to comment more on areas I don’t like (sort of like only noticing an OL or umpire when they screw up) so keep that in mind if you think I sound grumpy.

EMOTION/GRAPHICS/AUDIO/INTANGIBLES

One thing I want to comment on is the emotion of the game. The dev team really did try to create scenarios where it shows a worried or frustrated pitcher on the mound after giving up some hits and runs. I got a chuckle out of popping up with Joey Votto last night and he slammed his bat into the ground in frustration. I felt the same way with runners in scoring position and Votto failing me.

The commentary is excellent once again. The amount of dialogue for seemingly every player in the game is very impressive. This will make for great stuff in MLB Today and the first season of a franchise. I have no clue how this sounds in year two. There are a few audio gaffs though. When you pinch hit for a pitcher Steve Phillips comments on strategy as though your pitcher is still at the plate. Sometimes the umpire’s balls and strikes get messed up. I drew a walk and he yells “3-2” and then “Ball 4!”. Twice last night I hit a fly ball but the sound of the bat was that of a chopper. I don’t think I was hearing things although it’s normally good. One cool sound effect is the fastball popping the glove. The sound goes up with the speed. I was pitching with Chapman from the Reds and I threw all my fastballs over 100 mph and hit 105 once. The glove sound was very loud.

I personally think the graphics are good on the game. The shadows may be a little overdone but I’m happy with it. The player faces are still poor and some animations are still rough. The player models are quite a bit better than last year, particularly the legs. Dev team, please make the players rounding the bases smoother next year! It’s the most obvious issue in the animations department imo. The frame rate hiccup on fly balls is still in the game. I don’t see it often and I may have even tuned it out now but that does need to be smoothed out. I don’t consider this a big deal.
When I was checking out the Tigers’ roster I noticed Guillen and Zumuya had injury icons so that was cool.

PITCHING

I still love the gesture pitching and with the control slider you can really play with this to create a situation where you walk the cpu which was very rare in 2K10. Walking the cpu isn’t just about control though as it is a two part issue. One, you need to make pitch control realistic so you can’t paint corners. Two, you have to have the cpu offense dangerous enough so that you won’t give in when you fall behind as most gamers do. Then you try to balance that out with strikeouts and extra base hits and it’s something that can be difficult to balance. After playing more I think was wrong about my initial fears of a single happy cpu offense like 2K10. They definitely hit more extra base hits this year and the gap between contact and power swings, while still fairly big, is not as big as last year. I think this area will be a real strength once I get my sliders right. I do love the fact I can change the user pitch speed to make the pitch look faster when I’m throwing it.

One thing I’m a bit annoyed with is the custom stretch animations. It seems to me that a guy like Verlander has a custom animation for pitching out of the stretch. This is cool in theory but it also forces me to wait a couple extra seconds before I pitch every time. I have to wait for the animation to play out and he comes to a rest before pitching (the baseball purist just cursed me). In one game last night the cpu pounded me 13-6 and it took an hour and 20 minutes to finish. I’d like to keep the games under an hour and this delay isn’t helping. I don’t notice this for everyone so I think it has something to do with custom pitch animations. Anyone else seeing this?

One area that I would love to see is individual pitch confidence rather than just an overall confidence meter. Plus I still don’t like the fact that a mound visit automatically calms a rattled pitcher. It’s not a bad mechanic but I think it could use some work.

BATTING
I love the batting camera and how it allows me to read pitches. I love the bat off the ball in this game and I do think this area is the biggest improvement from 2K10 to 2K11. It does appear that opposite field power has been toned down which makes me happy. I see a lot of hit variety, tons more than 2K10. Some are complaining about an abundance of soft liners to the infield. I haven’t really seen this too much. Overall the game does play a bit on the slower side compared to real MLB so I can see some complaints but the speed of the game makes it more playable imo.

The cpu has been kicking my *** in the first few games. I’m glad to report they have homered quite a few times off me with power in the 80-90 range. The power outage of 2K10 has been fixed. I’ve also seen the cpu check swing a few times and I’ve even been successful a couple times. I think the cpu contact slider is tied to aggressiveness like last year. As it gets raised they become more of a hacker (not 100% sure). By keeping it in the 40-50 range I think you may see a more patient cpu take balls both inside and outside of the zone. I don’t have complaints with the cpu’s approach to hitting myself and you do see batters approach the game the way they do in real life. Youkilis has a good eye up there and will work you. I do think they need to add a cpu aggressiveness slider for when they bat in case we do have issues.

I see a lot of foul pop ups by the plate and infield pops as well. This was completely absent from last year and also seems to be tied to the power swing. Not completely sure on that though but it is a nice improvement as well.

FIELDING

This is an area that has some strengths but still has issues despite it being a point of emphasis this year. First, the fielding isn’t really analog as the controls work exactly the same as buttons. How hard you push the stick or what direction you hold it doesn’t really matter. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as I don’t push the stick in perfect angles but it’s something that should be noted and some may not like.

I love the difference in the outfielders and I love the zoomed out 2K9 fielding camera (you have three options plus some zoom edits now) when tracking deep fly balls. Austin Jackson made two great catches for me already. Then when I was playing with Johnny Gomes of the Reds, his fly ball indicator made me nervous when tracking down balls. He sucks out there and the game really does showcase the defensive ability of outfielders unlike the past.

I am concerned about the errors though. I haven’t seen any throwing errors by either side yet (the slider should help) and I’m not sure if the user will have any throwing errors unless he’s in the red which is unrealistic. A bigger concern is the gathering errors slider. I started out on All-Star which has this at 60 for the user. Peralta dropped a line drive and Ordonez dropped a routine fly ball in the outfield. I do think we need to see more of these than we saw in the past but I’ve seen too many in my time with the demo and this game, particularly when compared to the few bobbles I’ve seen (zero in the retail version so far). I would think you should see probably see about 15 to 20 bobbled or booted ground balls before you see someone drop a hard liner and especially a routine fly ball. But I have a feeling the ratio in this game is nowhere close to that – maybe 5:1 or even less. It’s too early to make any strong complaints but this is definitely an area of concern I will be watching.

Infield defense is still automated as Inge made a great diving stab at a ball before I knew what happened. I think this is realistic as those hard shots are instinctive and you can’t expect a gamer to make that play completely on his own but some may not like this.

BASE RUNNING
This has been improved since the demo. On line drives to the infield base runners don’t get doubled off so easily. I saw a few situations like this and the runner got back in time properly unlike the demo. Also, the cpu will make you pay for bad throwing decisions unlike 2K10. If you try to nail the lead runner at home the other runners will advance and make you pay for not hitting the cutoff.

I actually stole a base last night with the help of lowering the cpu arm strength. I normally suck hard at stealing bases but the new sliders will give me a chance. I think I’m going to play with the cpu throw accuracy more as I go.

There is only one camera for base running after you hit the ball. I have adjusted and now enjoy the new angle on the default settings. You can play a little with the zoom and height if you want but a traditional camera is not available. This was a mistake and some may be annoyed.

OVERALL

I’m very happy with the game. It’s got some issues here and there but the pitching, batting and fielding have all improved significantly from 2K10. This game isn’t perfect but it is a lot of fun and it can be as sim a game of baseball as you want. I think the knocks that the game is arcade like are unjustified imo.