Major League Gameplay

Published April 10, 2009

Baseball's innate beauty reveals itself in the small moments: an infielder backhand-spearing a sharply hit grounder, a slugger's intricate batter's box ritual, the cat and mouse tactics between a pitcher and a would-be base-stealer, and the stadium-wide eruption following the thunderous arc of a purely struck ball.

The boys of summer are back.

It is these moments, along with game mechanics designed to replicate the "feel" of the game, that help Major League Baseball® 2K9 create a truly authentic virtual national pastime. It's the game's controls that steal the show, imbuing each moment of baseball action with the same jolt of instant energy and subtle strategy that enthralls fans of the sport.

Grab your virtual glove and bat and take the field for your own trek through the fresh start of spring, the dog days of summer, and the glory of the fall classic.

Momentum and Timing—Batting
When a batter hits a ball "on the screws," it is because their reflexes, timing, and momentum have worked in perfect concert, and it's precisely this three step process MLB 2K9 looks to simulate.

First, pull the Right Thumbstick down to load your batter's kick-step, and then press forward to swing the bat. Ideally, the whole motion should be smooth, so your momentum coils backward just before the ball leaves the pitcher's hand and explodes forward a moment later at impact. By fusing the entire swing into a full motion, rather than a simple button press, the challenge becomes both more authentic and much more satisfying.

Of course, it's not enough to just make contact with the ball. Depending on the situation, you may want to pull the ball, crack it to the opposite field, skitter it across the ground, or send it skyward. Enter the Left Thumbstick. Once the pitcher has released the ball, use the Left Thumbstick to guide the ball where you see fit.

Good form.

Hold and Gesture—Pitching
The pitching mechanic works much the same as the batting controls, with a full Right Thumbstick motion. Naturally, different pitches require different motions, so while the basic fastball requires nothing more than pressing down and flicking up, the more complex curve ball will find you circling the thumbstick around from bottom-right all the way around to upper-right.

Completing the pitch is also a two-step process, as you hold the initial movement to build the power of your pitch, and then complete the gesture to nail down your pitch's accuracy.

It's also worth noting that the catcher plays a much more prominent role in pitching this year. Much as in real life, the catchers "call" the game, suggesting both the pitch and its desired location. You can wave them off for another suggestion, but ignoring them completely can cross them up, ending in a passed ball or wild pitch.

Catch and Throw
Fielding also uses the Right Thumbstick, assigning each base to the cardinal points. And now, momentum and positioning come into play when determining the strength or accuracy of each throw.

For example, if your shortstop has to range out far to the right to backhand a ball, they must first come set, and gather their feet underneath them in order to put a little mustard on their throw to catch the runner. You can do precisely that by holding the Right Thumbstick in the direction of the base, and waiting until you hit green on the throw meter before releasing your toss.

The game delivers on all the subtler fielding mechanics as well. You can call off other players during a fly ball to avoid collisions, hit or bypass the cut-off man on a throw to the infield, and block the plate as a catcher.

Strike a pose and watch it fly.

Running the Bases
They say good base running is a lost art, but not in MLB 2K9. With separate mechanics for controlling all your runners (LB, RB) and individual runners (LT, RT), the game simultaneously simplifies the mechanics while allowing for more complex base running decisions.

While you can advance an individual one base at a time with the triggers, you can also preload exactly which base you want your base runner to try for. For example, if you knock out a base hit with a runner on second, you can instantly send that runner scurrying for home by selecting him, and pressing down on the Right Thumbstick.

Living Rosters
While not precisely a game mechanic, the Living Rosters feature goes a long way toward informing how you play the game. Essentially, Living Rosters updates each player's statistics and status constantly throughout the season, so if say, the Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. returns to mid-career form out of the gate, his stats will reflect that courtesy of the dynamic updates.

A player's tendencies are affected just as much as their raw statistics. If a natural pull hitter starts hitting effectively to the opposite field, you can use that to your advantage.

Major League Baseball 2K9 has gone a long way toward simulating the flow of the game, the "feel" of baseball, and the subtleties of the sport. Now it's time to grab your virtual glove and bat and take the field for your own trek through the fresh start of spring, the dog days of summer, and the glory of the fall classic.

Article by Ryan Treit