Hitting Feedback

[2K Admin Ron]

Please provide feedback using the following format -

PROS:


CONS:


SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:

[Cava256]

Too much contact, and not enough power. People hit for high average, but don't hit for power. And I use the influence stick up every swing. Also, you should more signature in the actual swings. And make the swing actually flow with where the ball is hit.

[jeffy777]

PROS:
- Hitting seems smoother overall

- Better ball to bat physics and hit variety than previous years

- Adding zone/cursor hitting was a big plus

- Sig styles are nice for the most part

- It's cool that we have so many camera options

CONS:
- I really miss the stats overlays from last year. It's a drag not being able to see the opposing pitcher's pitch count right from the batting screen, and your batter's stats as well.

- I would like to hit a scorching shot down the line for a single or double once in awhile in this game, but it never happens because the 1st and 3rd basemen make diving web gem plays every time. That definitely needs tweaked. Check out The Show for how it should be, or better yet, just watch a real MLB game as it happens often.

- When you are batting, certain pitchers have the ball come out of their hand in a really weird way. It almost seems like the ball goes in a different direction than it really should plus it looks like there are some frames missing at the end of their delivery. This doesn't happen for all pitchers. I notice it most with relievers.

- The cursor icon for Zone hitting is too ugly. It should be more like the one in MLB Power Pros are at least more transparent so it's not so bulky looking. Also, it should grow or shrink based on the contact rating of the hitter.

- The Swing feedback (late swing, etc.) should be able to be turned off as they look kind of cheesy

- Camera options can't be saved and must be reset every time you play :(

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- PLEASE bring back the stat overlays

- AI infielders shouldn't be able to snatch every ball hit down the line

- Improve the pitcher animations so the ball flies smoothly out of their hand (most pitcher's are fine in 2K9, but there are several relievers that have this problem)

- Improve the cursor for zone hitting. Make it look nicer and grow or shrink based on the batter's contact ratings.

- Allow us to turn off the Swing feedback messages.

- We REALLY need the option to save camera options

[buckyrocks]

I'll second everything jeffy said, first and hopefully last time ill agree with a cubs fan lol jk jk.

[kcxiv]

WE all know the pro's, i am going to go with cons

Cons- Not enough foul balls. Not enough just missing the ball even when timed correctly. If you time the ball, you will hit it. This results in pitchers hitting the ball way to much. Need more swing throughs. I mean i can swing through it, if my timing is off, but some batters even if the timing is there, will still miss, because well, they arent good hitters.

Suggestions, basically what i put in Cons, More foul balls and make the low rating for hitters mean something even if the timing is there. Pitchers swing and miss all the time even if the timing is perfect on their swing.

[crkluvit]

I think in the 2k10 game u should have more control with your hitters.

Pros - The left analog stick to hit in the direction you want

Cons - The right analog should swing plus swing at where you thing the ball is going to be

Suggestion- I think the right analog stick should not just be used to swing but also to swing in the direction of the ball. So if you are moving your right analog stick down and away and the pitch is high and inside, I don't think you should be able to hit the ball. It would be more realistic and that way people couldn't complain about to much contact, cause unless your swinging at where the pitch actually is then u shouldn't have a problem. Its too easy to make contact.

[jeffy777]

More Suggestions for Improvement:

There seems to be a distinct difference in power between Classic hitting and Total Control. For some reason, it is much harder to hit homeruns and extra base hits with Classic hitting, which is annoying for people that like Classic hitting. I'm not sure why there is this difference, but several people have noticed this over at the Operation Sports forum.

Also, the AI pitchers need more variety. They tend to nibble the outside a bit too much. This is fine for pitcher's that pitch this way in real life, but not all pitchers should be like this.

[Trevytrev11]

Pro's: Yay!!! 2K sports added a new hitting system this year!!!

Con's: Although it's called Zone hitting, it is infact cursor hitting and not zone hitting!!!

Suggestions: Add a Real Zone hitting system in which you have to select (press the direction of) the zone in which the ball will enter.

[Trevytrev11]

Suggestions:

Cursor hitting is great is the best thing to happen to hitting in the series since...well...it was taken away.

The bad thing about the system is the cursor is the same size for every player and there is nothing that seperates a guy who rarely strikes out or swings and misses (Jason Kendall) to a guy who strikes out a ton or swings and misses a ton (Ryan Howard). This is a huge oversight. Basically ALL human controlled player has the same contact ability, which is not realisitc.

You can either change the icon on the screen for different players based on their contact ability, the pitcher's ability, etc. Or you can leave the on screen icon the same and just have an invisable contact zone that changes based on these things.

The bottom line is that making contact with Jason Kendall should be much, much easier than making contact with Ryan Howard or Jack Cust. The only way I can see to accomplish this in a cursor system is to have the size of the cursor depend on the hitters abilities and the pitchers abilities (or a mix or average of the two).

Along these lines, players should also have different size sweet spots. While Kendall often puts the ball in play, he hits a lot of weak grounders and lazy pop ups and Howard, when he puts the ball in play, usually hits it hard. Within each cursor, there should also be a different size sweet spot for each players abilities.

[Nick15_19]

Cons - not many foul balls for AI, unless pitch is out of the zone
It seems almost impossible to hit homeruns with people who have 60 and under power.

[joker1231233]

PROS: Directional hitting

CONS: Too easy to hit a HR with directional hitting
Awful straight up and down batting stance!!!

SUGGESTIONS: Change the default batting stances.
Decrease hit direction influence

[Nick15_19]

PROS: good life-like hitting with swing stick.

CONS: too hard to hit homeruns with player of 60 or less power.
Really hard to hit homeruns to the opposite field unless you use a hitter with at least 80 power or the pitch is right in the middle.
Too hard to hit homeruns on legend difficulty.

Suggestions:
More variety in hits
Ex: High choppers that bounce about 30 feet in the air, ground balls should take different hops instead of every single ground ball just taking 3 small hops to a fielder, maybe if it hits the lip of the grass or something it should take a different hop, will make it harder to field.

[-Sonnenschein-]

PROs:
- it feels nice and the gestures are cool
- easy to pick up

CONS:
- all I do is swing at every pitch and with my power lineup that works pretty well against the AI
- AI only throws in the zone or just barely outside it where the umpires call it a strike: I have to swing at everything because they call everything a strike anyway
- pitches are often hard to recognize for beginners (see suggestion)
- too easy to hit homeruns with players who have bad contact but much power and too difficult to hit homeruns with players that have a weaker power skill: I haven't hit a single HR with Jacoby Ellsbury so far (or was it one??)

SUGGESTION:
- a Hitter's Eye feature like in MVP 2005 would be nice where you could see the type of pitch

[BigBlue922]

Suggestions:

It'd be nice to have the ability to do a practice swing while at the plate (measuring your swing while the pitcher is in the set position)

Also, batters do NOT RUN to the batters box with bat in hand (ala little leaguers) and then abruptly slow down to a walk. Not natural looking.

BigBlue922

[RabidMongoose_Xbox360]

PROS: Swing stick, check swings

CONS: Stat overlays are gone. Setting up steals controls suck.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT: Let us cue steals, none of this holding a button the releasing crap.

[Nick15_19]

When the AI is bunting for a hit, they go into bunting position like they are trying to sacrifice. (I know this because they do it to lead off the inning) They should bunt as the pitcher releases the ball.

[Trevytrev11]

When the AI is bunting for a hit, they go into bunting position like they are trying to sacrifice. (I know this because they do it to lead off the inning) They should bunt as the pitcher releases the ball.

Yeah, I see this too, but not all the time.

It's weird, but from my experience, guys that you expect to bunt for a hit (Jose Reyes, Elsbury, etc) show it way to early like you said.

But ocassionaly I'll get a guy who tries to lay one down for a hit that you wouldn't expect (Torii Hunter) and he'll do it the right way, but it seems he usually attempts and misses.

[BigBlue922]

I have one more MAJOR suggestion for hitting. I honestly felt that the Swing Stick was better and more forgiving in 2K8. Sometimes, in 2K9, I will pull back and up on the stick but my hitter does NOT respond. It is why I switched back to CLASSIC hitting.

I've tried different controllers and have gotten the same result. Can we get the swing stick to be a bit more flexible like 2K8?

Thanks!

BigBlue922

[Trevytrev11]

Fix the checkswings. It needs to have some correlation with the lenght of time the button is held or how far the bat is pushed forward. It seems random.

With the button, even the slightest touch end up with an umpire called "swing", while a longer hold can result in a checked swing.

Same with the stick. Sometimes, the softest and shortest motion forward will result in a strike and longer and lengthier one will be a ball.

For both, there definitely is a difference in feel between a quick tap and short hold and pause. The game should reward you for stopping early-not just making it random.

**Seriously, play MVP 2006 (NCAA). They nailed this mapping. You could feel it when you went to far and knew when you did not. It's the same with swinging a bat. You usually know when you held it, went too far or were borderline.

[Greg7]

Pros:
*Right stick swinging
*Left stick for influence

Cons:
*Step Timing - needs to be brought back, 2k9 is "dumbed-down." Getting your front foot down is important
*Contact Physics - Balls off the very end of the bat shouldn't go for HRs. Slicing and Hooking Balls.
*More foul balls
*Bat Speeds - Not every player swings at the same rate
*No pitch history
*Not enough swing and misses.
*Hitting Animation:
-Opposite Field Hitting - Everything looks as if it's pulled- check Ortiz going Oppo on a HR
-Homerun Animations - They should know if it's gone or hustle if it's going to be close
-Walk off hit Animations - Better ones

Suggestions:
*The step timing needs to be brought back. It added another element to the game that was realistic. I understand that some people didn't like the step timing, but there were a lot of people who loved it. I read that someone called the swing stick a "glorified button" for 2k9 and I couldn't agree more. The first step is what set it apart. I would at least like to have the option to use it, even if it's not the default setting for hitting.
*Contact physics needs some tweaking. I often see homeruns come off the very end of the bat. One - that will kill a player's hands. Two - those would never go for homeruns. You should have to hit the sweet spot on the barrel. I'd also like to see a ball come off the bat and slice or hook sometimes. It seems that everything goes perfectly straight when it comes off the bat, and that it just comes down to your timing as to where the ball is hit. The spin of the pitch could come into play as well as where the bat makes contact with the ball. One other biggie for me is that some times the ball won't even make contact with the bat and somehow the batter will get a hit out of it. I think this would add to the already improved hit distribution, as well as add another element to fielding (chasing down a ball that's slicing away from you).
*More foul balls - players with good contact chances should be able to spoil some pitcher's pitches and create long at bats to bring up the pitcher's pitch count. This point has already been mentioned several times so I'll just leave it at that.
*I'd like to see players have different bat speeds. Pretty self-explanatory.
*Pitch History - I'd like to know where and what the pitcher has thrown to me. Whether it's in my current at bat or from 2 previous at bats. If I could push in the LSB to bring up the history of pitches thrown to me, that would be great... maybe that would display the pitcher's pitch count too??!
*More swings and misses - if you time it right in 2k9, you're going to hit it (if it's hittable). That's not always the case in real life - sometimes they'll swing just under or just over it. That's why they say hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports.. especially well placed fastballs.

*Hitting Animations - On hits that go to the opposite field, it almost looks like the player thinks that the ball is pulled. They hit it and look (for a righty) to left field. This is less apparent than it was in 2k8 but better head tracking for opposite field hitting would be nice (watch Ortiz hit a HR to left field).
- I feel as though the swing mechanics could be touched up as well. Sometimes I see great swings and I watch the replay and say "that looked pretty nice," and other times I hit a ball that's low (still in the K zone) and the batter bends over to hit it. It just looks a little awkward, especially when it goes for a homerun. Maybe more of an uppercut approach needs to be added for lower pitches. Obviously if the ball's in the dirt then you'd probably have to bend over for that one. I don't know, just hit a HR where the player bends over and watch the replay and I think you'll agree that it could be tweaked a little.
- Additional animation - I'd like to see some players hit homeruns and just toss the bat and start jogging (for a HR that's no doubt). Some players will hustle out of the box and slow down once it's cleared the fence. Others will show off. If there was a "homerun package" for editing players, that would be cool. That way you could capture different player's personalities. Kind of like the dunk packages in basketball games. Just a thought.
- Walk off - More walk off animations. On HRs, the player needs to get mobbed at home. On base hits the player who hit the ball should be mobbed between first and second base.

[Nick15_19]

Also, I've seen that when players swing WAY too early on curveballs, they tend to go flying into the other batter's box. Players would not do that if they swing and miss. I have never seen someone do that in my life. Mainly if people swing early on pitches, they usually just lose their balance on their back foot and take a step back toward the plate with their backs to the plate.

[tackleb0x]

Pros: Hitting the ball feels good most of the time. Like the swing stick.

Cons: Baseballs dont just curve out of the pitchers hand. Smoking a ball right down the line is nearly impossible in real life. The angle of the hit puts spin on the ball and curves it. This is where triples come from. Complete ball physics is something this game really needs.

Suggestion: Make the ball of the bat more physically accurate. Take in account ball spin off the bat, the turf the balls landing/rolling on and wind.

Edit: Caught foul tips, easier check swings are also needed.

[wileydsp]

Pros to hitting:
The graphics for hitting are fantastic, there is good contact engines in place (whatever that means) but there are variety of different hits in the game. Its generally very simple and easy to grasp, so keep it that way.

Cons:
Hitting for power is very hard. Especially when someone masters one difficulty and moves to another. Its like the power is just absolutely gone. Also, in terms of hitting its impossible to work a walk. There are different types of walks, 4 pitch, 3-2 ball 4, but in this game you cant really experiance anything realistic in terms of hitting. You just swing at the first and second pitches and thats that.
Also, the directional hitting seems to not really matter at all. I've played around with it and I hit the exact same way as with the directional stick.

Along the lines of getting walks: I think its a really great idea to kind of cator pitching to the Walk Rating players have. They seem to be completely unused stats (walk ratings and strikeout ratings). It would be cool if say a player had a 70 walk rating that the pitcher would throw more balls to that hitter. That way the players in real life who walk alot are represented acurately in this game. Same goes for strike outs and so forth. If a player a hits a home run typically every 30 at bats, then every 30 at bats a hitter should pop one out at the least. If player B hits one out every 100 at bats then he should have at least 1 by ab 100. Hopefully this makes sense and thanks for the opportunity to try and help this franchise. After 2k9, 2k10 has to really impress, no offense but its true. I hope it happens.

[wileydsp]

Adding on to suggestions for improvment from my last post, I would like to add the whole notion of "late, very late swings" This is almost completely worthless in the way its used in this game. I can't remember which verison of 2k baseball it was, I think it may have bee 2k7, but you could simply hit start and right there in that screen it would tell you "perfect step" "perfect swing" something along those lines if you do it right. That helps the player figure out how to improve. Right now you can't really tell how your timing is. More often then not you think your making solid contact because its a line drive, but it may be that your not getting hits because your step is wrong, or your swing is a tad late. Bringing back that feature would be really nice.

[Wookie481512]

Pros
Great hitting mechanic. I love the the variety and challenge. This is sole reason I come to this game.

Cons
Not a whole lot just the swing motion itself for hitting. There needs to be about 50 new swing aniamtions for this in the following areas:
1. The actual follow through. It looks really abd and unrealistic. The wrist dosnt look like that when you follow through....EVER. PLease redon the swing folloow though.
2. Early swings
3. Late swings
4 Homerun Swings

[O'sfan93]

Pros:they have been mentioned


Cons:things like no doubles down the left field line


suggestions: I would really like to see some homeruns go off the foul pole, that would be nice (don't make it a feature that happens way too often)

[SAINT Wick]

Pros: None


Cons: All


Suggestions for improvement: Please review 2k7 for notes on improvements

[2kcubbies]

pros: its decent

cons: cant hit it down the line
2. the cpu needs to swing at balls and strikes make it realstic like that like francouer is a free swinger and will swing at most pitches not all but most. then people like derrek lee look at some pitches there patience is good but sometimes let the patience ones swing and the free swingers look at pitches make it fun.
sugggestions:
1.cant hit down line make
2. the cpu needs to swing at balls and strikes make it realstic like that like francouer is a free swinger and will swing at most pitches not all but most. then people like derrek lee look at some pitches there patience is good but sometimes let the patience ones swing and the free swingers look at pitches make it fun.

[YouGottaBeKiddin]

Pros to hitting:
The graphics for hitting are fantastic, there is good contact engines in place (whatever that means) but there are variety of different hits in the game.

Good contact engines ? Yea, OK - The ball and bat interact in strange ways. I've seen a batter swing - miss the ball - yet the game renders it as a solid base hit. I've seen a batter swing - and watch the ball sail clear through the bat. It should've been a solid hit, but the game rendered it a strike.

[NYElectrons]

Pros: None

Cons: The Swing Stick and Movement totally unrealistic. Lack of places the ball actually goes aka no randomization

Suggestion: 1 button, SWING. No Power/Contact swing.. there is no such thing in real life.. Let the ball be able to go anywhere on or off the field, thus being the first ball game to allow such a thing, and makes it not repetetive. Also make hit variations, bloopers, line drives, Shots down the line that rattle in the corner (that is non existant)...

[XELITEXV]

The overall hitting is good the only thing that ticks me off is that people can pull an outside fastball if you guys can change people pulling an outside fastball for a homerun and weaken the power a little bit this game could stand up top the show

[YouGottaBeKiddin]

PROS - none

CONS - swing animations, unrealistic hit physics, the bull ish ( I've seen the ball go directly through the bat. I've seen contact made when the ball was a foot away from the bat. ), contact is made much too easily, overall unrealistic

[Mr.Jumpman23]

lance berkman's stance needs lots of improve
chipper jones's stance needs lots of improve
ryan howard's stance needs lots of improve
ichiro's stance needs lots of improve
prince fielder's stance needs lots of improve
most of these signature things are from mlb 2k7 are they becoming lazy
no one is really going to want mlb 2k10 if you guys doing make these
changes people are really getting dispointed in these games you guys
are selling i mean i luv the mlb 2k series but you guys need to make
it better i luv to play baseball games but please make it better.

[thereelslim]

Pros:
• Swing Stick is still the best concept of hitting in a baseball game

Cons:
• The batter always knows if he hit a homerun, even when it just clears the fence
• Hard to recognize pitch out of pitcher’s hand
• The strike zone seems WAY too big
• Personally disagree with the “hit influence” system

Suggestions:
• Something similar to EA’s “Batter’s Eye”?
• Refine the strike zone
• Use right thumbstick for timing and left thumbstick for plate coverage (i.e. thumbstick to right- batter swings bat outside if right handed, etc.)

[naes0323]

Ok, so I own MLB 2K9 for the Nintendo Wii.

Basically my feedback is that the precision hitting is kind of annoying, I mean I know that it helps to be more accurate, but I would prefer if MLB 2K10 can at least let players have the choice between the precision hitting or the timing only hitting. Otherwise, it is a great game, a lot of fun.

[domjr8]

Developers...

Take a look at the Pro Yakyuu Spirits 6 Hitting Interface.... By Kanomi
its awesome...

[bear34]

2K sports should allow AA & A to be playable again. Also they should add teams like GCL and Rookie squads to the game but only a few games for the GCL and Rookie teams. 2K sports should also add scouting in francise mode you should be able to scout high schoolers, college, and international players. Instead of just picking them up in the draft without knowing about them.

[nyyph65]

Pros: swing stick

Cons: Bat-to-ball physics need to be improved

The hit variety needs to be improved. It seems like every hit is a home run, pop up, or a line drive up the middle. It would be nice to see some hits down the line for a double or some ground balls get through the infield for base hits without the fielders making diving plays.

[OriolesBaseball3]

One of the huge things is that any pitch that is in the zone, is hit. You always see guys swinging and missing at 95 mph fastballs in real life. This isn't little league anymore.

[mcmadbat]

I want to see better graphics. I mean it looks it a ps2 game! The grass sucks balls and the player model is medicore at best. The animation though is fantastic.

The game also needs to return to be more of a realistic baseball sim than an arcade baseball game. 2K already has The Bigs 2 for the arcade baseball genre. There's no sims on the 360 so hardcore baseball fans like me has to suffer. I know you can adjust the sliders but they need to make it harder to hit homeruns , less precision on pitching etc. Like in 09 the show , its hard to make the fastball go where you want to even on the easiest settings.

Lastly , the game modes are average. The runner mode needs to be back , as well as GM career and make a player career mode. The franchise mode is decent but where's the september call-up? How come you can make anyone go on your team but bribing them with cash? And worst of all , the stat tracking. I once got out at home but its still counted as a run.

I think im not asking too much , 2k took away the rights away from EA and i think mvp baseball series was the best. You owe us fans to make a better game. 2k9 was pretty good but i think it could be better.

[crkluvit]

The left stick should be used for what direction you want to hit the ball, up is straight up up left is flyball to left for righties and leftfield for lefties and etc.

The right stick should be used for where u want your batter to swing, so if a pitch is down and in, you should hit the right stick down and left for righties or down and right for lefties.

So for example if a pitch is high and inside and a right hand batter is up. The batter wants to hit a pull a flyball down the line he has his left stick up and left and his right stick up and left. But if the batter is trying to go the other way on a high and inside fastball he should get jammed.

[BrewCrew19]

How would you swing down the middle? If you go to Controller Setup, there's an option for zone hitting that basically works like you described (except you move a bat around onscreen as a target). If it was with no bat and simply Up is Up, left is inside, right is outside, wouldn't you just always pitch to the borderline quadrants so the ball would never be hit square?