While I do like IGN for some things, their reviews for some games, especially this year's sports games, have been peculiar. IIRC, they gave the EA offerings the edge in both the NFL and NBA games, despite the fact that the 2K games seemed to get the edge in other places. I think Gamespot and IGN were off by a full point in their NBA Live 2005 reviews (guess which site had the higher score). Going by the reader scores and the average scores, the 2K games seem to be a little better, except according to the IGN reviews. Plus, after a quick glance, I noticed that Hilary Goldstein is back once again to give a 2K game a "bad" score. So basically, it seems as though IGN seems to lean towards EA when two games are somewhat close in quality. I'm curious to see how Gamespot ranks ESPN (they have MVP at a 8.9). Of course, they may give the edge to MVP, which is certainly possible. MVP '04 was probably the only EA sports game I liked, so they may very well have this year's better game, perhaps even by a pretty good margin. The whole exclusivity thing does suck. I kind of wish the NFL/ESPN/MLB just refused to do all of this since it seems like a lot of 2K football fans and a lot of EA baseball fans will be a little pissed off for the next 5-15 years. Hopefully, these respective companies can make us forget about all of this by doing amazing things on next-gen hardware. Of course, I don't even know why I'm talking about this baseball topic considering I have just about no interest in getting either game due to my decreasing interest in baseball.
I like this game a whole lot. The new mini-games feature is a helluva lot of fun, especially the batting one where you try to put the ball in certain parts of the field. Pujols rules on that feature. I like the new hitting view for the most part. But the neatest touch to me is the way the screen looks grainy like an old film when you play in one of the classic ballparks (Polo Grounds, old Fenway Park, etc). Some things are off-putting. I was pretty pissed when I was just knicking the inside corner every pitch and Larry Walker and even Mark Mulder (pitcher who will never be confused with Mike Hampton in the hitting department) sent several jacks out of the park. Argggh!
How is everyone doing in there season so far. After a shaky start with the Astros playing .500 ball , I'm doing better now and is currently on a 6 game winning streak. My record is currently at 20-9 and leading the way is a surprising C.Biggio batting over .300 with 8 hrs and 22 rbis at the leadoff spot. Bagwell and Berkman has been dissapointing so far but luckily Burke,Lane and Ensberg is picking up the slack. The top 3 in my rotation has been great and Lidge is lights out so far with 13 ip, 20 k's, 0.00 era, and 12 saves. I'm having a blast so far, I just need to figure out how to make more money. I'm currently 3 mill in the hole at the moment.
The thing that bugged me about last years version is the same thing that bugs me about this years. No matter what i throw, the opposing team is going to put runs on the board. Even when i paint the corners i get burned. Under no circumstances should Mark Mulder be able to hit a Roger Clemens pitch out of the ballpark.
I have played through the first 2 homestands on owner mode. I am 4-1. I swept the cards and let the computer sim the Reds series. Backe lost. I traded Pete Munro for John Patterson(obviously) and he is currently my 5th starter. I started to play the Mets game but ended up having to quit mid game. I beaned Beltran in the first but it took 4 pitches because I couldn't get the FB to go far enough to the left to hit him. I had to use the slider. He didn't charge the mound but I bet when I play again and hit him more than once he charges. My goal is to bean him at every AB.
What level are you playing on. I'm playing on all star with adjusted sliders and my pitchers are doing great. Clemens, Oswalt, and Pettite are a combine 13-2 with era under 3. I get a fair amount of k's also. I think the key is to try to mix up speed and locations while trying to land the bar on green. Castor, you can bean batters by pressing L1+L3. I guess the game is program to where the batters take it personal if you intentially try to throw it that them, to where a missed slider wont get them that mad.
I traded Jeff Bagwel and his 17mill contract for Shea Hilldenbrand and some prospects. Yippee more cap room I also signed my franchise guys like Burke, Berkman, Oswalt, Backe, Hilldebrand, Lidge to long term contracts Some of them I got really good deals on. Right now I am 11-5
The hitting this year seems more realistic. If your a patient hitter then your gonna have a good at bat. Also I like the way you can draw walks this year. Another thing that can help with hitting is the new hitters eye. It'll be annoying and distracting at first, but once you get use to it it'll help to know what type of pitch is coming at you.
This game is great. I also like the new minigame feature, both the hitting and the timed pitching games. Good for warming up before a game. I alos brought up Willy Tavaras, he's kicking a$$ at the top of the lineup. Anyone play oon XBOX live? my tag is RalphFfirly -- that's right, two F's.
yeah, the hitting is much more realistic this year. Hell, for the first time ever I'm getting saves...Last year I was never in that situation since I could hit a HR virtually every at bat. Two things I love about this year's game: 1. drag bunts! you can actually get base hits on drag bunts this year. In fact, that is almost exclusively how I use Chris Burke because he is a horrible hitter in the game. 2. the CPU actually attempts steals without slider adjustments.
After preordering the game and then being told it was backordered, I finally got the game. It is really clean and amazing. The graphics are awesome. Lane and Burke have busted a couple of homers each for me in the first two games. I couldn't believe the Astros had a $91 million payroll. Sweet.
