2K Sports Returns to the Ballpark
At A Glance
- 2K Sports talks about next-
gen Major League Baseball 2K6 on Xbox 360.
2K Sports is making the most of its exclusive third-party license with Major League Baseball. Visual Concepts has brought its best-selling Major League Baseball® 2K6 game to Xbox 360™ with breathtaking new visuals and enhanced sound. Chien Yu, project manager for the new game, stepped up to the plate to discuss the new features that baseball fans will find this year.
Derek Jeter has his eyes on the prize.
"The one element we really wanted to show off for Xbox 360 was the atmosphere and the fans," says Yu. "We now have realistic shadows that change as the inning goes on, so shadows and light play a role when batting. Picking up the ball while batting can get somewhat more difficult. Also, all the fans in every baseball stadium are full polygonal characters that will actually react and try to catch foul balls. It's a pretty cool scene to see a bunch of fans reaching out to grab a foul ball."
American fans will get the chance to erase the heartbreak that Team USA caused at the inaugural World Baseball Classic by first losing to Team Canada and then being eliminated in the first round of play. All 16 teams and rosters from the World Baseball Classic are in this game. Now it's up to gamers to change history virtually and bring their favorite team to victory. Team Japan won the real Classic this year, but it's up for grabs again in 2K Sports' video game.
"Although Team USA got ousted before the semifinals, the tournament has been exciting and it's a true testament of how baseball is much more than just America's pastime—it's an international sport," says Yu.
"We've added some new fielding animations that are specific
to the Xbox 360 version, and there are also some other new
elements to atmosphere and some gameplay tuning."
Visual Concepts has created a Payoff Pitching mechanic that adds a level of authenticity on how pitchers spot their pitches, explained Yu. In the Majors, pitchers locate and spot their pitches according to how their pitches break. So, if a pitcher has a slider that breaks a lot to the right, the pitcher has to adjust his spot to account for this break.
"In Major League Baseball 2K6, the more effort you put into a pitch, the more movement the ball will have and, therefore, you really have to be precise if you're going to put monster effort into a single pitch," says Yu. "Obviously, fatigue plays into pitching so it becomes harder to be precise when you put major effort into a pitch in the late innings. The mantra that we use with our pitching is 'big risk, big reward.'"
The new baseball game also improves the batting aspect of the virtual sport. Yu says that the team examined what other 2K Sports teams were doing for their games. One of the revolutionary things they really enjoyed came from the use of the Shot Stick in NBA 2K6. It was intuitive, felt great, and allowed for a huge amount of control when shooting, and the team felt that they could apply the same control philosophy to batting.
"What we have is something called the Swing Stick where the gamer uses the right analog stick to swing the bat," says Yu. "As a pitcher releases the baseball in the pitch, a gamer simply pulls back on the right analog stick to begin the 'step-in,' and, as the ball approaches the plate, releases the stick to connect for a hit.
Xbox 360 puts you in the ballpark.
"Players can also push forward while swinging on the right analog stick for a power swing that has a greater chance of flying out of the park. The mechanic is simple in its implementation and the challenge comes from looking for a good pitch to hit, which immediately immerses the gamer into an authentic batting situation. You really start thinking and planning your at-bats when using the Swing Stick in Major League Baseball 2K6."
The most important player on the field in baseball after the pitcher is the catcher, says Wu. The catcher plays a huge role in a baseball game, as he not only manages each pitch but also helps the pitcher determine the best pitch to throw.
"When a catcher has the scouting information on a specific batter, the catcher will indicate to the player what pitch to throw and the area that it should be located," explained Wu. "As the pitcher, the gamer can shake off any signal and assign a new location to the catcher using the right analog stick. We've also captured a bunch of catcher-specific animations when catching the ball, including blocking the plate and sliding-grab animations."
One of the biggest additions Visual Concepts has made is in the area of A.I., thanks to a new deal with the premier MLB scouting service Inside Edge™. Inside Edge has been around since 1984, and through their innovative tools and meticulous analysis, the team has incorporated three years of scouting information on every MLB player and integrated it into this game.
"So players will exhibit their real-world hitting and pitching tendencies in the game," says Wu. "For example, Randy Johnson will likely throw a slider down and outside of the strike zone on a 2-2 pitch against a left-handed batter when ahead in the game. All this data can be seen in the Inside Edge scouting reports. The Unit's pitching tendencies—as well as any pitcher's tendencies from the past three years—will be replicated by each pitcher in Major League Baseball 2K6."
Fans watch Chipper Jones at bat.
Major League Baseball 2K6 sports some exclusive features on Xbox 360. Gamers will definitely see an upgrade to the visuals of the game, as there are a lot of cool details like officially licensed Rawlings gear that players use. Busch Stadium, the new St. Louis Cardinals ballpark, is new to the Xbox 360 version and it looks great.
"We've added some new fielding animations that are specific to the Xbox 360 version, and there are also some other new elements to atmosphere and some gameplay tuning we've done that we think gamers will appreciate," adds Wu.
Wu also says there have been no major features left out of the Xbox 360 version, so all the goodness of the Xbox® version plus some nice additions will be waiting for Xbox 360 consumers.The online experience is mostly identical between Xbox and Xbox 360.
"All of our great online features, such as leagues and online tournaments, are in both versions of the game," says Wu.
Article by John Gaudiosi
