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[bdoughty]

Yes, for those who enjoyed that batting style in High Heat it is available in MVP 06.

From Operation Sports

Some VERY interesting info just came my way about MVP 06. According to Ben Brinkman from EA (he posted over at OS), they added Zone Hitting, ala High Heat, to NCAA Baseball! This is awesome news. I was never a big fan of the up for flyballs and down for groundballs mechanic. I am even more excited for this game now.

The thread for more info

http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=153674

 

[Musashi Wins!]

not to move your thread in the wrong direction...but I hear this game has 2 player vs. 2 player...is that true?!? Very cool.

 

[bdoughty]

Shawn (from OS) was there at EA Canada playing the game and played 2 player vs 2 player online. Unless they up and remove it then I would have to say that feature is in.

 

[bdoughty]

Some cliff notes for those not registered at OS.

The Dynasty mode looked really good - adding recruiting to a baseball game is a breath of fresh air, and it's handled very well. You'll really have to jump through hoops to land a top 100 prospect, and there are challenges mixed in through all of Dynasty mode to keep you interested - many more so than last year's MVP.
They really worked hard on it, and it shows. BYU will never play on Sunday, for example. All the conference tournaments are accurate; complete with their own unique oddities.

But the one thing that knocked my socks off was 2 vs. 2 mulitplayer games over Xbox Live. It's unfortunate that you can't play this mode on four separate consoles (you have to play 2 people on each), but nevertheless, it was the most fun I've had sports gaming in years - seriously.
On offense, one player will bat and the other will baserun.
On defense, one player will pitch and the other will take the field.
Tapping the Back button (on the Xbox - the only version I played) switches the roles, so you can alternate batters, innings, whatever you want.

But the amazing part of playing this mode is the fun/stress involved. When your teammate makes a good pitch and you blow the double-play, it hurts.
When your teammate cranks a double into the gap and you were sleeping at first instead of scoring, it's embarrassing.

You really have to play as a team - strategize together, and make sure that you do your job. I really couldn't rave enough about this mode, and hope it gets expanded in the future.

Load and Fire is fun and challenging - there is a distinct learning curve to all the right analog functionality, but I see that as a good thing.

There were innings that I'd be completely off with my timing, and then I'd hit a groove where I was raking everything. It felt very organic, and kept the game exciting, too.
Now, "zone hitting" zealots may be a bit disappointed at this: You don't swing "down" at a low pitch or "up" at a high one. Load and Fire functions along the X axis of the controller; be it left, right or up the middle. I actually find this to be a satisfactory compromise between game play and realism (when I played, I never worried about "up" or "down", as strike zones are really rather small); rather I worried about pulling, driving it back through the box, or slapping it to the opposite field.
Regardless, I would recommend that everyone should try Load and Fire batting, and give it at least half a dozen games before coming to a conclusion either way about it.

Personally, I really like it - and I liked it more each game I played.

***

Fielding is much more challenging, but it feels very nice. The animations seem to come into play more now. You really want a player to gather the ball and come set before you start throwing - more than ever. The players are much less talented then their MLB counterparts and it shows.
The mechanism works like a release point in a real throw (another nice touch) - release too early, and the throw will sail. Release too late, and your first baseman's going to need a shovel to pick it up.

I wasn't really "feeling it" at first, and I was unsure of how successful this part of the game would be - but like the hitting, players need to give it time.
It's very... organic, but it has an even higher learning curve than the hitting.
Again, for me - that's a good thing.

I think the physics is improved. I didn't see balls take crazy caroms of the walls (something that's irked me in past versions), the developers made certain that we noticed that homers were hit by righties and lefties (), and I thought the hit variety was not only good - but the vast majority of the times, it did exactly what I expected. When I popped up, I had expected to do so even before the swing animation was done.
I crushed two huge homers, and I knew that both of them were likely gone before the camera even showed the flight of the ball.

There are "power" (L trigger) and "contact" (R trigger) modifiers. Holding down "power" while you swing will increase power at a distinct sacrifice of contact ability (and a few humiliating animations if you swing and miss - think Reggie Jackson), while holding down "contact" will of course act in reverse.
I loved it - it didn't feel gimmicky at all, and the "boosts" are rather minor. I liked unloading on a favorable count, and squeezing the "contact" modifier felt just right with two strikes on me.
One of my two colossal dingers was achieved without the "power" modifier, and it was the biggest one of the two - so I don't think that's much of a concern at this point.

Just to note - drag bunts are handled very, very well - and they'll be a weapon during game play with a contact hitter or speedster.

In the field, you have a "hustle" option (the R trigger). However, it's a really short boost of speed, and after it's over, the fielder's gassed - and he'll run at barely half-speed afterwards. I found it to be realistic and it added more strategy in the outfield. You'll find yourself gambling a lot less and taking better angles (surrendering the single to save the double or triple) a lot more.
I was sure it was going to be a step back, but as it stands, it's another step forward.

***

Players do not collide. The dev team considered this, but the animations involved would reduce the gamer's ability to react, and so they decided to skip it entirely. I concur with that decision.

They added base coaches, however - they wave you around, tell you to slide, and get the heck out the way out of foul balls rather nicely.

***

College atmosphere: First, I live in a college baseball wasteland, so I'll freely admit that I'm not the best person to ask. The crowds are good, but the sounds are rather generic. If you're expecting the kind of audio experience you'll get in "The Big House" in NCAA Football, you'll be disappointed.

But it's baseball, not football, and while it would be nice to have more enthusiastic and team-specific crowds, I understand that acquiring such assets takes time. It didn't really bother me.

***

Is it a "keeper"? Abso-friggin-lutely.
If you like baseball games at all, this is up your alley - MLB license or no.
On top of that, I think EA has something of an opportunity to grow a new segment of fans, much like their NHL series in the early 90's created thousands of hockey aficionados.

 

[bdoughty]

d

You check your swing by releasing the stick or by stopping it before you reach the midpoint of the Y axis. It can be hard to do at times, and will take practice to really do it consistently.

As far as weather, it has a minor effect on the way balls travel on the ground, specifically in the outfield. It's there, but it's... minor.

As I mentioned earlier, teammates do not collide.
NCAA baseball rules do not allow "take-out" slides, so you won't see those either, unless you turn on "summer rules", which allow you to use wooden bats and spike shortstops to your evil little heart's content.

No clue on the Top 10. Texas is #1, and they're fast as all get-out.

I don't think recruiting is necessarily "reality-based" as far as location. At least I didn't get that impression. Quality players can found all over the map.

As I understood it, player's don't get drafted. If you think about it, that'd be pretty frustrating during recruiting - spend months recruiting a guy and then he goes pro. Ouch. If they're on the list of prospects - they're going to college.
There are JUCO's and transfers, and they'll have higher expectations of your programs. They'll want immediate playing time in most cases.

Schedules did not appear to be customizable, but they were always playing at least a two-game series with any opponent from what I saw. There are double-headers as well. I never saw a one-game series at any point.


Small ball - most definitely. Bunts work very well, and I played a lot of small ball. That's how a lot of NCAA hardball is played, and they captured it pretty darn well here. The CPU will kill you with the bunts if you keep playing back.

Baserunning's the same. However, I don't think it needed much improvement. Your AI runners seem a tad smarter, and the timing on plays at first was improved. I never saw a guy get thrown out at first by more then 2-3 steps unless he hit a comebacker to the pitcher.

Diving, jumping and sliding afield are also the same, however, it's not nearly as automatic.
First, it's just harder to pull off - I could tell both by playing and by watching other players' OFs flopping around like salmon while the ball scooted to the wall.
Second, these players aren't pros. On more than one occasion, I'd watch a diving player miss as it ticked off his glove or arm, making the situation much, much worse than it would've been had he taken it on a hop - although they botch those too.

I didn't see the CPU do anything out of the ordinary with those moves either. Willie Mays is apparently banished from MVP NCAA.

 

[bdoughty]

d

***

ESPN presentation - hoo-boy.
Much like Xbox Live as a whole, MVP is "persistently online".
You'll notice when ESPN Radio blares through your speakers - not a sim, "Tony Bruno Show" a la Madden - the real thing. We all learned that Javier Vazquez got traded to the White Sox, Ugie Urbina'a staying in jail, and Colorado was about to hire Boise State's Dan Hawkins as their football coach while playing.

The game hits an ESPN feed every 20 minutes and the radio broadcast comes up during game menus. Throughout the entire game, it'll basically look like you're watching ESPN 2 - the ticker will keep scrolling with real-time updates at all times. It's pretty impressive, and not distracting in the least.

Graphically, the player models are more lanky, and there are a lot of nice, team-centric cut-scenes. Beyond that, I'd say it's essentially the same game, appearance-wise, as last year's.

Skill level difference?
Basically, to use your example, if you're Air Force - you want no part of Texas. None. You'll get killed. Texas will have most players rated in the 90's and 80's, whereas Air Force may start four players rated in the 40's.
It's like playing the Yankees versus their Double-A team in last year's game.

Obviously, the amount of pitches a pitcher can throw varies, but it became rather difficult to hit my spots after 6-7 innings in general.
Bullpen fatigue seemed much improved. If a player pitched one game, he won't really be available for the next day. You could put him in, of course, but he'll probably have only 50% or less energy available.

You can also pitch a position player, a la Todd Helton when he was at Tennessee.
Some fielders have a secondary position of "P", and since they've been playing, they don't really need to be warmed up.
All the NCAA substitution rules regarding such a substitution apply.

Create-a-stadium: I did not see any options to change bleacher color or style. However, the wall creator is fantastic - you can make anything you imagine, or you can duplicate the fences from any pro baseball stadium.

Create-a-team: You're limited to the styles and colors on the uniforms provided. There are roughly 60 available, and there are 20-30 logos to choose from. It's a little more limited than I'd like - okay, a lot - and the dev team agreed, but they admitted and lamented that there simply wasn't enough time to put in everything they wanted.

I don't think playing MVP NCAA made me more interested in college baseball, but it may do so for some. EA sure hopes it will.
However, I think it's a heck of a game - and the fun of recruiting adds more entertaiment value than signing free agents, in my opinion.

and on and on.... Plenty of details on the game you wont find at IGN or Gamespot. Worth the time to register for the rest.

 

[DMczaf]

I cant wait to pick this game up this week, although it pisses me off EA pulled off a non-EA move and didnt do a quicky port to Xbox 360. Now I have to get it for PS2

 

[DMczaf]

http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=156856

Okay, this is very early but I tried out all three hitting systems on the batting mini game....

classic: identical to mvp2005
zone: looks good, animations are good when you swing through the wrong zone.

analog (load and fire)...cool but hard. I only tried one minigame with this and kept bunting the ball. You have to draw the bat back a bit earlier than I thought but if you go too early the controller shakes and I'd have a poor swing. I only had one good contact ball and it is a satisfying feeling when you do hit it. I can imagine hitting a digger using this system would be cool. For me it'll take a lot of practice, not sure I have the time to learn it yet.

I just finished my first game....VERY cool stuff. I won a classic 2-1 extra inning thriller. I was PSU vs Indiana. I love the new animations. I messed with a bunch of things...aluminum and wooden bats, the Load and Fire hitting and Zone hitting. Baserunning is different so that will take some getting used to. I turned off the analof throwing and went back to the old style with the buttons. I love the feel of the game. I did notice a CPU pitch ball slider in the sliders so that is very nice. Don't think MVP has had that in the past...should help with walks. Only one game under my belt and I like it alot.

Its different but not bad. If you over juice it you will throw it low...high if you under juice it. There are a number of nice little things added. All the player mannerisms are very nice...they scream college aged player...hustle type stuff. Guys will track the ball right into the catchers mitt, etc. Catcher actually throws the ball back to the mound (little thing but cool)...you can turn that off to speed things up if you like. The running animations are cleaned up. The stances are different but not wacky...as are the pitching motions. I brought in a sidewinder to end the game . Replays are simlar to what you would expect but more variety. Announcers seem fine. I like Mike Patrick so I cant complain. Like I said before, there is a CPU pitch ball slider so that is money for (possibly) getting realistic walks. Again, I dont want to sound over excited because I only played one game, but it plays super. BTW, I played on Varsity level. There are 2 levels above that i believe.

 

[Matrix]

Hopefully I'll get this game in a day or two,sounds awesome.

Damn it for not working on 360,PS2 here I come