Major League Baseball 2K11 Hands-On Preview

[TimeBombTown]

One thing I am incredibly curious to see if it has been fixed is pitcher substitutions. I think all 2k10 players know how ridiculously clunky the process was last year. For example, I would take Cain out of the game and sub in Nate Schierholtz to hit for him. Then, the next inning, there's Nate standing on the pitcher's mound with a prompt telling me to do something about it...which would never, ever happen in a real game. I'm sincerely hoping there is a way to pre-determine what pitcher will replace the hitter or if there will be a double switch and make things much more streamlined and realistic, because every time that happens in 2k10 it pulls me right out of the realism and is a hassle to boot.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by XBox_Roughneck

Why doesn't anyone ever mention any commentary improvements? The announcing was one of the things 2K clearly had over it's competition. Listening to each game felt like a listening to a real ballgame.

Sound was rather low on the games I played. Generally speaking, you're talking to a developer while playing during most of these things so sound takes a backseat much of the time.

Quote: Originally Posted by therizing02

Thanks for the impressions Chase. Sounds like like some substantial improvements were made in this dev cycle. I'd really like to get your thoughts on the CPU manager. How do they handle pitching changes? Did the use pinch hitters at the right time? Do they use the lefty/righty factor? Do they hit and run? Do they make late game defensive subs? Lastly, do a lot of the CPU hitters who have no business swinging at 3-0 pitches in the wrong situations still do it? IMO, these are the things that are missing in video game baseball. The chess match that goes on in every game is the soul of baseball. With the exception of the majority of the text sims, I have yet to see this reproduced effectively in a video game. There is just way too much emphasis on graphics and animations Lastly, do you think the Inside Edge part of the game has been improved on? Thanks again.

I know nothing about any of that since just saw half of two games, no late-inning stuff.

As for Inside Edge, not sure what you want improved on. You can see hot and cold zones before each pitch if you want.

[tvman]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

Sound was rather low on the games I played. Generally speaking, you're talking to a developer while playing during most of these things so sound takes a backseat much of the time. I know nothing about any of that since just saw half of two games, no late-inning stuff. As for Inside Edge, not sure what you want improved on. You can see hot and cold zones before each pitch if you want.

I haven't played 2k ball game for a few years now so can you tell me if the hot cold zones change at all depending on the count? I really like that feature in PYS.

[stlstudios189]

so glad that I pre ordered this

[statum71]

I'm a Show fan. But after reading this (and seeing the impressive presentation in the video) I really gotta check out the demo.

MLB 2K11 is at least creating a little buzz for me.

[bonannogiovanni]

Chase, how does the crowd look in fielding view? Last year developers made it change abruply from 3d to 2d in some portions of the screen to keep the frame rate constant I guess. That was really annoying to me, I wouldn't like to see it again this year.

Thanks for answering our questions.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by tvman

I haven't played 2k ball game for a few years now so can you tell me if the hot cold zones change at all depending on the count? I really like that feature in PYS.

I don't believe they have in the past.

Quote: Originally Posted by bonannogiovanni

Chase, how does the crowd look in fielding view? Last year developers made it change abruply from 3d to 2d in some portions of the screen to keep the frame rate constant I guess. That was really annoying to me, I wouldn't like to see it again this year. Thanks for answering our questions.

You know I wasn't really looking out for the crowd much while fielding since I was really just focused on not embarrassing myself.

[bonannogiovanni]

Quote: Originally Posted by ChaseB

You know I wasn't really looking out for the crowd much while fielding since I was really just focused on not embarrassing myself.

Lol, that's ok, we'll find out tomorrow with the demo...

[SPTO]

Nice preview, it really does seem they've made improvements by leaps and bounds this year. I can't wait to get my hands on this game!

[Metroalex]

Does anyone know if 2K finally updated the player mugshots? They have been horribly outdated the last two years.