Two words: OUT!

I grabbed it when I was at BB tonight but luckily played the demo before I opened it.

Please correct me if I'm missing some option or anything.

Fielding is a mess, and to make it worse, it doesn't have to be. There's just too much shit going on on the screen for me to find the friggin ball. You have the ball trail (I know this can go, but you need it for fly balls) then there's the whole baserunning overlay that moves at the same time as the ball's hit (makes sense) but with the stupid camera angle it looks like the screen is exploding every time the ball is hit. There's the switch to the fielding cam, the ball trail and the baserunning overlay that are all shooting out from the plate at the same time. WTF!?!

It could have been good if they toned everything down (just like MVP!).

On the other hand - I hit back to back, to back HRs off Wagner and Endy Chavez made ANOTHER wall scaling catch.

jb - I would keep it and try to get the most out of it IF there wasn't another baseball game on the horizon.

MLB:The Show was outstanding last year and unless the completely screw it up, there's no reason to keep a lesser game.

It's not even an NHL '07 v. NHL 2K7 thing where you had good and bad points with both and they played different enough to warrant doubling up.

MLB: The Show, hit every target, and I'm betting on it doing the same this year.

If I keep 2K7 (which I guess I still could) T2 will never learn their lesson. Think of me as sacraficing for the better of mankind. 

If Ron shoots it to me for a review, I'll run it through it's full paces, but at this point, I see no reason to.

Thanks for the impressies jblank.  I went and picked up a copy - my will is weak...so weak. 

God... if I could just get a release date for The Show I wouldn't at all be tempted by this.  But yet... I can't, so I am.

gellar

Yeah I knew it would be this time where I'd regret not having a PSP anymore... that would totally tide me over and not overlap at all.

That being said, I wouldn't really want to start a franchise without opening day rosters anyway, so I suppose the prudent thing to do would be to wait for the PS3 Show to release.  ITS JUST SO HARD TO WAIT.

gellar

Are you ready for this?

Expect the unexpected...  (Someone's is going to wring my neck)

Last night, around 7:00pm, my buddy shoots over to my place and pulls out the game.  He is a baseball nut, and couldn't wait for The Show.  We sit down and play two complete games head to head on my 360.  When you play that way on the same 360, there is no Inside Edge (at least I couldn't find it) nor Payoff Pitching (I think).  So what you're left with is basically the standard game.  As a comparison, this is the same guy I played MLB 06:The Show with almost on a weekly basis head to head over the past year.  We play A LOT of video baseball together.  Anyway...

I think I'm going to end up buying this game.   

Here are the things about the game I do not like:  The Fielding and the at-times-assinine Camera. 

That's about it.  Everything else is so well done, so well presented, so fun, so easy to pick up, and so cool, I just can't help myself.  A very important note that should not be taken lightly is this:  There are sliders for just about everything.  It's really amazing.  Assuming for a moment that they all actually work...  You can tailor-make this game to play just about anyway you want.  (with the caveat being I don't see a way to fix the fielding camera).  This is very important to me, as having accurate walks and balls thrown outside the strike zone are super important to me when playing my seasons. 

About the fielding:  I am actually starting to get used to it.  That doesn't mean I like it... but I am beginning to adjust to it's wonkyness, and can see myself dealing with it.  Unlike last year's version of the game, which just absolutely blew enormous chunks in every conceivable way, this game is not even in the same ballpark.  (that was kinda funny right there.)  That being said, I'm not prepared to say the game is on the same level as The Show, cause frankly, I'm guessing it isn't.  Time will tell.  But... it does bring a lot to the party, and it does so with a fantastic presentation and nice, clean graphics.

Some stuff I really like that probably won't get alot of attention:

My buddy likes the K-zone pitching method.  I like the newer Payoff Pitching circle method.  No problem.  We set up the method we both like at the beginning of the game.  He likes to be zoomed in close to the plate when batting, I like being zoomed back a bit.  No problem, adjust it for each person.  He likes classic batting, I want to learn swing-stick... no problem.  Etc.. etc...

The menus are so very clean and laid out efficiently.  (Yep, one of those so "not important" things that irk me if messed up). 

I could go on, but suffice to say I will probably buy two games this year again, only this time both will get play time, as opposed to last year where one was a total joke. 

Now, if the rumor that there IS slowdown on the ps2 version of The Show is true, I am extremely glad this game is acceptable to me.

More stuff as I play more, as usual.

Edit:  Thanks for the impressions jblank.  I appreciate the effort to report the good and bad.  I hope you continue to do so as you play and discover more.

I don't think you will be disappointed. A sports game is its worst in the first week, after that time, people develop good sliders, your skills get better, and the game is more enjoyable. This game is so improved over last years version, that I think with some tuning, it might rival the best Baseball games of the last 5 years or so, it can be that good.

Does anyone know what resolutions the PS3 versions of MLB and The Show support?

Hey, thanks for the impressions guys - I appreciate it.

I picked up 2K7 and The Show for the PSP.  I'll play tonight and get some comparisons up (though I'm pretty sure I know how they'll compare).

I'm confused about peoples' issues with fielding.  There is a marker on the ground where the ball will land.  Don't you guys just run to the marker? Why do you have to see the ball right away?

The way I've always is played defense is to let the computer make the actual catch in the infield or outfield and then I pick which base to throw to (in Earl Weaver Baseball and then in High Heat). Does 2K7 let you play this way?

I've found the fielding to be the low point so far.  Not game breaking by any means, but mildly annoying especially on harder hit balls to the outfield.  It may lessen as I play more, hopefully.  I don't understand why they only included one fielding view.  Weird.

I'm glad that Kush finally got their act together.  This feels more like the game last year's should have been.

I'll be amazed if you find it "enjoyable", to be honest.

I just finished game 1 of my franchise.  Won the game 5-4, with Carlos Lee hitting a walk-off homerun to win the game at home.  That part was great.

Here's the disturbing thing:  Out of the 4 runs Oswalt gave up, 3 of them were due to fielding errors on my part due to the shitty camera angles mixed with the ball flat-out getting to places too fast off the bat.  These must be turbo-balls or something, cause they ain't Major League issued balls, that's for certain.

VERY frustrating part of an otherwise stellar game. 

Franchise is a very deep, well organized, fun-as-hell experience in 2k7 (despite it's apparent screwups, like any bb game franchise mode).  But the fielding is driving me up a wall.  Just when I think things are going o.k., turbo-ball or camera-from-hell strikes again.

What a shame.

I just watched a video on YOUTUBE  of MLB 07 The Show in action, and watching the fielding camera and overall speed of the game just makes me cry that 2k7 couldn't have copied it.

Hey Arkon.

I'm not thinking the ballspeed off the bat can be changed.  The more I play, the more I think it's just a product of the in-game physics, and how it all works internally.  I think it's a product (result) of the way the game is coded.   It's probably especially noticable to those of us who played a lot of MVP or The Show, and got accustomed to the ball speed of those games, but who knows. 

As far as getting used to it goes, I'm not sure.  I thought I was for awhile, but then this happens every so often.  And to be clear, sometimes it's just the trajectory of the ball, as someone just hits a really flat shot into the gaps.  That is not a problem, as that happens in real life, of course.  Judging those can be a bear sometimes though, due to the low camera angles.  It's hard to explain unless you experience it.  As far as infield stuff goes... again, 80% of the time, I do not have issues.  But about 15-20% of the time, the ball just isn't where I think it is.  I've been playing video baseball games for a long time now, so it's not an issue of not understanding how balls react off the bat or when they take bad hops off the ground.  It's more a matter of the ball speed combined with the camera angles.  If I had to guess, I'd say a person could get used it, but I'm certainly not positive that is the case.

 

Hmm...  I have changed that option at least 10 times back and forth, trying to decide if there is a difference worth mentioning/noticing.  But I honestly don't know where it was set for my first franchise game.  I will look when I get home.

As far as your other suggestions go, heck, I'll try anything at this point.  I'll stand on my head and eat cooked cabbage if you think that will help.   

People seem to be having some really good results with these sliders...

http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=199687

NP, I'll be picking the game up this coming week so I'm curious to see what you think of them .

+1

This is a great game marred by a horrible fielding camera. I don't know how many times now I have lost a game due to not being able to see where the ball was. I LOVE everything else about this game though. It does so many other things right and the franchise mode is stellar. It's a shame that this game is so degraded with the camera issue.

I am eagerly awaiting MLB 07: The Show for the PS3 in April, cause this fielding camera is frustrating beyond belief!

Abner is fine, but honestly, I think he's being too harsh. He is right on with the price, but it's easy to understand why they charged $60, but with regards to some of the other issues, I think he is being a bit, just a bit, too critical. This might be phase one of a 3 year plan, but for the most part, I am happy with the game and think they are this close (holds fingers 2 inches apart) from really having a terrific title.

Any chance of something like this being addressed in a patch or is that too extensive a change to download?


What are the major complaints about the franchise mode so far? I haven't gotten into it yet (only playing a couple of exhibition matches so far).