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[JoseOle5990]

Nice. So do you have any tips on batting? Are you good at getting homers or is the key to almost never miss? I feel that it's seems random if I get a homer or not. I mean, I can understand hitting it early or late but is there anything the controls the elevation?

Hmm, it's kinda tough to put into words. Honestly, it's a mix of both getting homers and hardly missing. There's a definite sweet spot and timing for solid home runs. The "sweet spot" of the bat is the area located around the midpoint of the barrel. That's where you want to make contact with the ball. I'd recommend practicing finding that sweet spot on early batting challenges just to get used to the feel of hitting home runs. There's a certain rhythm to it, but beware falling into a lull because the challenges like to gradually speed up over time and you have to react ever so slightly as well (especially as you reach more difficult challenges).

So, yeah, for the batting challenges I'd recommend trying to get a +3 on all the early pitches. It's one part rhythm game, one part reaction game. For the Derbys, it's all about stringing together a bunch of (semi-)successful hits. But that's the ultimate challenge in terms of speed batting, so I wouldn't worry about it until I felt comfortable hitting in the other modes.

The greatest feeling is hearing the crraaackkkk of the bat on consecutive pitches. It's really satisfying! Good luck!

 

[n64coder]

The "sweet spot" of the bat is the area located around the midpoint of the barrel. That's where you want to make contact with the ball.

But what determines the elevation of the ball? I mean, you can hit right back at the pitcher or anywhere along the vertical axis? Is it still timing? I understand hitting it too early cause you to pull the ball more and hitting it later causes you to slice the ball (hit it more to the left).

 

[JoseOle5990]

But what determines the elevation of the ball? I mean, you can hit right back at the pitcher or anywhere along the vertical axis? Is it still timing? I understand hitting it too early cause you to pull the ball more and hitting it later causes you to slice the ball (hit it more to the left).

Elevation isn't a factor except in the UFO challenges. In this mode, the ball "falls" vertically through your swing cross-section. There, instead of trying to find the sweet spot on the bat, you should focus on hitting a certain section of the ball. A (relatively) early swing contacts the lower half of the ball and results in a highly elevated hit. Hitting it in the center gives it a medium elevation and delaying your swing to hit the top hemisphere of the ball results in a low line drive. The more difficult UFO challenges require a bit more finesse instead of simply defaulting to one of these three elevated hits. To put it simply, yes, elevation is all about timing your contact on the baseball -- unlike the other modes where timing affects your bat's swing power.

Does that answer your question? Outside of the UFO mode, I don't think elevation is a factor in hitting. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're asking.

 

[Tom_Cody]

10 days in (or so) and I'm still perfectly content with playing the first two games. I haven't played every single day, but I've played quite a bit. I'm just continuing to chip away at all of the various games/levels and working to improve my high scores on the title-screen games.

To those of you have played more of the content, what are some of the other standout games? Early on people seemed to say that Bat and Switch was the best. Has this consensus shifted over time? I'm hoping that I have more fun content to look forward to for once I finally clear these two out.

 

[rpmurphy]

10 days in (or so) and I'm still perfectly content with playing the first two games. I haven't played every single day, but I've played quite a bit. I'm just continuing to chip away at all of the various games/levels and working to improve my high scores on the title-screen games.

To those of you have played more of the content, what are some of the other standout games? Early on people seemed to say that Bat and Switch was the best. Has this consensus shifted over time? I'm hoping that I have more fun content to look forward to for once I finally clear these two out.

My favor would go to Cage Match over Bat & Switch. The challenges are more satisfying, especially the last one which is like a "final boss" of sorts. Hitting the crack of the bat is relaxing in Bat & Switch, while in Cage Match, it's also the ball hitting the cage and you get a satisfaction of hitting the launchers, which results in some funny moments.

The other ones I'm liking as well, but I don't think I've spent enough time with them yet to form a full opinion. These things take time!

 

[Formless]

Wow this game is great.

The second catcher's game is trash though.

 

[Hale-XF11]

I'm not sure what qualifies for gold in Gear Games, Advanced, Stage 1. Do you have to spin the football around on its edge a bunch of times or something? That stage confuses me. I'm so close to getting gold on everything else in that game.

 

[Tom_Cody]

My favor would go to Cage Match over Bat & Switch. The challenges are more satisfying, especially the last one which is like a "final boss" of sorts. Hitting the crack of the bat is relaxing in Bat & Switch, while in Cage Match, it's also the ball hitting the cage and you get a satisfaction of hitting the launchers, which results in some funny moments.

The other ones I'm liking as well, but I don't think I've spent enough time with them yet to form a full opinion. These things take time!

Thanks

 

[rjc571]

10 days in (or so) and I'm still perfectly content with playing the first two games. I haven't played every single day, but I've played quite a bit. I'm just continuing to chip away at all of the various games/levels and working to improve my high scores on the title-screen games.

To those of you have played more of the content, what are some of the other standout games? Early on people seemed to say that Bat and Switch was the best. Has this consensus shifted over time? I'm hoping that I have more fun content to look forward to for once I finally clear these two out.

Bat and Switch is absolute garbage, the worst game of the lot by far. The first three basic challenges are merely uninteresting, but the last two basic challenges and Hi-Score Derby B are complete affronts to good game design. They're frustrating, unfair, unfun, and rely entirely on luck.

In the 4th challenge and Hi-Score Derby B, the pitcher standing five feet from you tosses the ball a lot quicker than the earlier challenges, and he speeds up over the course of each minigame, so it quickly becomes impossible to judge the proper timing for each pitch. He also randomly changes speeds slightly with each pitch, making it impossible to get into a rhythm with hitting his pitches. The only thing you can do when playing these challenges is swing as soon as he tosses the ball and hope for the best.

In the 5th challenge, the pitches are slower, but you have to hit UFOs by swinging with the proper timing (early to hit the ball high, late to hit it low). Sounds easy, but the timing needed to hit the UFOs is EXTREMELY particular. Like, the window needed to hit the ball to the exact spot it needs to be is literally two or three frames. You will have stretches in the 5th challenge where you hit dozens of balls in a row that end up barely missing their target.

I didn't buy Bat & Switch until I was near the end of the game, but these few challenges alone have really sullied my opinion on the overall game. Given that most people seem to have bought Bat & Switch first, I'm actually surprised that they even gave the other minigames (every single one of which is a million times better than Bat & Switch) a look after being subjected to those horrible few minigames.

[/rant]

 

[Joe Shlabotnik]

Bat and Switch is absolute garbage, the worst game of the lot by far. The first three basic challenges are merely uninteresting, but the last two basic challenges and Hi-Score Derby B are complete affronts to good game design. They're frustrating, unfair, unfun, and rely entirely on luck.

In the 4th challenge and Hi-Score Derby B, the pitcher standing five feet from you tosses the ball a lot quicker than the earlier challenges, and he speeds up over the course of each minigame, so it quickly becomes impossible to judge the proper timing for each pitch. He also randomly changes speeds slightly with each pitch, making it impossible to get into a rhythm with hitting his pitches. The only thing you can do when playing these challenges is swing as soon as he tosses the ball and hope for the best.

In the 5th challenge, the pitches are slower, but you have to hit UFOs by swinging with the proper timing (early to hit the ball high, late to hit it low). Sounds easy, but the timing needed to hit the UFOs is EXTREMELY particular. Like, the window needed to hit the ball to the exact spot it needs to be is literally two or three frames. You will have stretches in the 5th challenge where you hit dozens of balls in a row that end up barely missing their target.

I didn't buy Bat & Switch until I was near the end of the game, but these few challenges alone have really sullied my opinion on the overall game. Given that most people seem to have bought Bat & Switch first, I'm actually surprised that they even gave the other minigames (every single one of which is a million times better than Bat & Switch) a look after being subjected to those horrible few minigames.

[/rant]

No idea what you're talking about. They're.. mildly tricky, maybe? I thought the bomb challenge was the real bitch of the bunch in Bat And Switch. And I am pretty sure I am never ever going to finish the last advanced fourth challenge in Quick Catch.

 

[Shikamaru Ninja]

Has anyone seen an "end" or "staff roll" in the game?

 

[rekameohs]

Five games in and I'm still loving them. I did think that the first fielding game controlled by the circle pad was really easy: got all 50 golds on pretty much the first runthrough, and the second is quite hard, controlled through the gyroscope. Still very fun games, well worth the < $2 each,

 

[maxcriden]

Has anyone seen an "end" or "staff roll" in the game?

I haven't seen anyone mention one. I imagine once you complete all of the core episodes you see it, though.

 

[rjc571]

I haven't seen anyone mention one. I imagine once you complete all of the core episodes you see it, though.

There's no staff roll after you complete the final episode. When you go back to Rusty's shop after completing the game, you can speak with him, and the conversations seem to be building up a post-game storyline (that you have no involvement with), but I don't know how long this storyline will continue as I've only gone back a few times since I finished the main storyline.

 

[jlevel13]

Bat and Switch is absolute garbage [...] the last two basic challenges and Hi-Score Derby B are complete affronts to good game design. They're frustrating, unfair, unfun, and rely entirely on luck.

Completely disagree with this (and most of the rest of what you wrote). Personally I've had a lot of fun with Bat & Switch, and looking at some of the high scores posted on the previous page by JoseOle5990, I think it would be hard to argue that there's much luck involved. My high scores aren't that great, but they're definitely getting better (and it wasn't too much trouble to 100% the basic challenges). I mean, there's a challenge there, but that's what makes it fun. My advice would be to pay attention to the pitcher's arm, the sounds and try to learn the patterns (in the High Score Derby B it just speeds up a bit each pitch until around 70, when it starts getting a little more tricky).

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Game of the forever , you can rest now Nintendo, you job is done

 

[maxcriden]

There's no staff roll after you complete the final episode. When you go back to Rusty's shop after completing the game, you can speak with him, and the conversations seem to be building up a post-game storyline (that you have no involvement with), but I don't know how long this storyline will continue as I've only gone back a few times since I finished the main storyline.

That is surprising to hear. I wonder if the staff credits would occur thereafter. Thanks for the info!

 

[rjc571]

Completely disagree with this (and most of the rest of what you wrote). Personally I've had a lot of fun with Bat & Switch, and looking at some of the high scores posted on the previous page by JoseOle5990, I think it would be hard to argue that there's much luck involved. My high scores aren't that great, but they're definitely getting better (and it wasn't too much trouble to 100% the basic challenges). I mean, there's a challenge there, but that's what makes it fun. My advice would be to pay attention to the pitcher's arm, the sounds and try to learn the patterns (in the High Score Derby B it just speeds up a bit each pitch until around 70, when it starts getting a little more tricky).

Getting a high score doesn't prove that the game doesn't rely on luck. Can you break 100 on High Score Derby B with any degree of consistency? Probably not, because the tosses are too fast for you to react to from such a short distance, and their speed varies unpredictably.

From the regular distance of 60 ft 6 inches from the mound, a 95 mph fastball takes about 0.45 seconds to reach home plate. By comparison, how fast do the short tosses in 4-4, 4-5 and High Score Derby B take to cross the plate? Anywhere from 0.25 to 0.5 seconds, by my guestimation? (Not counting the windup pitches in 4-5, which probably take around a tenth of a second or less.) So you're effectively facing the equivalent of a pitcher throwing fastballs that vary in speed from 90 to 180 miles per hour. I don't care who you are, you're not going to be able to react to those pitches fast enough to determine the exact time you need to swing the bat to make perfect contact.

The timing is lenient enough that it isn't overwhelmingly difficult to complete the challenges or to get a decent derby score, but that's not the point. The point is that it feels completely arbitrary when you miss, or whether you get 3 points, 2 points or 1 point on the 4th set of challenges. Your performance is tied more into luck/random chance than your ability to read the pitches.

 

[Velcro Fly]

Challenges on Bat & Switch are only bad if you are going for all golds. The UFO one took some finesse but the hardest part for me was the sound of the ball hitting one and the screen shake. I'd say 95% of my misses came from that and once I turned the sound down I completed them fairly easily. Getting gold is going to be something I grind but I at least know the timing to hit them wherever they are.

 

[Tom_Cody]

Getting a high score doesn't prove that the game doesn't rely on luck. Can you break 100 on High Score Derby B with any degree of consistency? Probably not, because the tosses are too fast for you to react to from such a short distance, and their speed varies unpredictably.

From the regular distance of 60 ft 6 inches from the mound, a 95 mph fastball takes about 0.45 seconds to reach home plate. By comparison, how fast do the short tosses in 4-4, 4-5 and High Score Derby B take to cross the plate? Anywhere from 0.25 to 0.5 seconds, by my guestimation? (Not counting the windup pitches in 4-5, which probably take around a tenth of a second or less.) So you're effectively facing the equivalent of a pitcher throwing fastballs that vary in speed from 90 to 180 miles per hour. I don't care who you are, you're not going to be able to react to those pitches fast enough to determine the exact time you need to swing the bat to make perfect contact.

The timing is lenient enough that it isn't overwhelmingly difficult to complete the challenges or to get a decent derby score, but that's not the point. The point is that it feels completely arbitrary when you miss, or whether you get 3 points, 2 points or 1 point on the 4th set of challenges. Your performance is tied more into luck/random chance than your ability to read the pitches.

Yes.

I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Just play more and your scores will improve.

 

[jlevel13]

I'm still slowly working / buying my way through the games. I'm playing Quick Catch now, but finding it a little extra difficult to accurately place the glove, especially in the upper corners and center top. The circle pad is just a little too loose for me to quickly and accurately place the glove up there as much as I would like...

 

[TunaMarshmallow]

I've unlocked and played the living fuck out most of the games. The three I still haven't done: the two fielding games, and the one with the picture of the different-colored stacked circles/tires (I forget the name). Any point in getting any of these three?

Also, has anyone gotten deep into the one that involves turning around like a madman while you bounce the ball on your bat? I did the first two stages of the first game, and I had to restrain myself. Felt horrible. Does it get better?

 

[NeoRausch]

Game of the forever , you can rest now Nintendo, you job is done

that smells like 8-4. did they do the localization?

 

[n64coder]

Still working to complete all of the challenges in cage match. I have gold for all of the basic challenges except for the last one (banshee) and half of the advanced ones. Wow, they're hard, especially the change ups. Still very much enjoying the games.

 

[Adam Prime]

I've unlocked and played the living fuck out most of the games. The three I still haven't done: the two fielding games, and the one with the picture of the different-colored stacked circles/tires (I forget the name). Any point in getting any of these three?

Also, has anyone gotten deep into the one that involves turning around like a madman while you bounce the ball on your bat? I did the first two stages of the first game, and I had to restrain myself. Felt horrible. Does it get better?

I really enjoyed the reflex tire stacking game. But I love twitch style games like that, where you push buttons real fast that appear on screen,a la any type of rhythm game. That's basically what it is if that's your cup of tea.

Then two fielding games are alright. The gyro controls are neat but kind of hard to do if you play while lying down or sitting on a couch.

 

[daydream]

The fact that this has not seen a EU release doesn't stop me from listening to 'Make the Call'! Getting some serious Daytona vibes from it, and it also reminds me of something else, but I can't quite put my finger on it.

 

[n64coder]

I'm still working my way through the Cage Match game, trying to get gold for every objective. Wow, the advanced challenges are tough. I think the Lightning/Shocking one is my least favorite.

I'm starting to like Triple Threat a lot. I think I'm on level 3 where you have to score 100. It was a surprise the first time the pitching machine spectator threw a pitch high above at you. Man, that caught me off guard. I have not been able to hit it yet.

Sometimes, I get in a real rhythm and can hit just about everything. Then my timing is messed up and I can't hit for shit. Still loving this game a lot.

 

[n64coder]

I was so close to completing level 3 of Triple Threat of Cage Match. You need 100 and I got 98. Damn. Had to put the game down and go back to Picross e4.

Just got to keep playing to get better. I can only play the game in 15-20mins spurt.

 

[maxcriden]

I was so close to completing level 3 of Triple Threat of Cage Match. You need 100 and I got 98. Damn. Had to put the game down and go back to Picross e4.

Just got to keep playing to get better. I can only play the game in 15-20mins spurt.

We're all rooting for you!

 

[n64coder]

We're all rooting for you!

Ha ha. I appreciate it.

I got home from work and after 3 attempts of trying to play while my wife blabbed chatted with me about her day at work, I was able to achieve the silver rank, finally clearing the 100 points version of Triple Threat. Woo hoo. Then I played another game and got the bronze on the 150 points version. Missed all of the shocking/lightning balls. Need to work on that part of my game.

 

[Zonic]

Decided to pick up a few more games, Feel The Glove - Fielding, Drop & Pop - Reflexes, & The Aim Game - Vision. Drop & Pop was rather fun and almost had a rhythm to hitting the tires. Feel The Glove is easily the least enjoyable game I've bought so far (still need to try Aim Game & buy Gear Games & Volley Bats). I don't mind the motion controls, but it feels so strict on the timing/zone to which it counts, ESPECIALLY the ones focused on the ball being in the center to catch it. I pretty much only get +2s and +1s, can barely get +3 for my score. I just hope the derbys aren't hard.

 

[n64coder]

Decided to pick up a few more games, Feel The Glove - Fielding, Drop & Pop - Reflexes, & The Aim Game - Vision. Drop & Pop was rather fun and almost had a rhythm to hitting the tires. Feel The Glove is easily the least enjoyable game I've bought so far (still need to try Aim Game & buy Gear Games & Volley Bats). I don't mind the motion controls, but it feels so strict on the timing/zone to which it counts, ESPECIALLY the ones focused on the ball being in the center to catch it. I pretty much only get +2s and +1s, can barely get +3 for my score. I just hope the derbys aren't hard.

I had a lot of trouble with Feel The Glove as well. It could be the way I'm playing it where I'm lying down. Have you picked up You Make the Call (umpiring game)? I started playing it recently and I'm enjoying it. It seems a bit too easy to me. In fact, my first time doing the A derby, I got a score somewhere around 270, good for an A+. This is probably my second favorite game after Cage Match. I still love facing Triple Threat but I'm taking a little break from it.

 

[Zonic]

Make The Call was rather decent. I only need to buy Gear Games & Volley Bats (might buy them next week once I finish playing the others I just bought). Feel The Glove actually gets more fun when it switches to controlling your character & moving around to catch balls.

 

[n64coder]

So far I have put in about 16 hours into the game and only Cage Match & You Make the Call are pretty close to being completed. Wow, that's a lot of value for $16 when there are still 8 other games to play/master.

I remember being skeptical when the game was announced so I'm very pleased with it. I keep recommending to everyone, even my daughters who seem to rather play Fire Emblem or do the Street Pass games.

 

[Zonic]

Oh hey, you get a new title screen & theme if you buy all the main games. That's a nice touch.

Starting to get a bit better at Fielding. Just hope that the advance challenges are doable...

 

[donny2112]

Oh hey, you get a new title screen & theme if you buy all the main games. That's a nice touch.

Starting to get a bit better at Fielding. Just hope that the advance challenges are doable...

I did all the Advanced there, as I enjoyed the regular fielding so much. Just have to say that men on clouds shouldn't hit baseballs. :lol

On the "lowest price possible" front, you apparently get an additional $1, $0.50, and half off coupon for Streetpassing certain numbers of people. I had already bought all the games by the time I got any Streetpasses, so I couldn't use it. Has anyone else gotten the Streetpass discount tickets and tried using them for additonal discounts beyond the current $16 minimum?

 

[maxcriden]

I did all the Advanced there, as I enjoyed the regular fielding so much. Just have to say that men on clouds shouldn't hit baseballs. :lol

On the "lowest price possible" front, you apparently get an additional $1, $0.50, and half off coupon for Streetpassing certain numbers of people. I had already bought all the games by the time I got any Streetpasses, so I couldn't use it. Has anyone else gotten the Streetpass discount tickets and tried using them for additonal discounts beyond the current $16 minimum?

That's awesome about Streetpass. I get no SPs regularly here in VT so maybe I'll set up the relay thing and let you know how it goes. I still haven't bought any games!

 

[donny2112]

That's awesome about Streetpass. I get no SPs regularly here in VT so maybe I'll set up the relay thing and let you know how it goes. I still haven't bought any games!

Thanks! Would be good to know. Don't get any Streetpasses here for the game, either, so mine have all been through Homepass, as well! :lol

 

[maxcriden]

Thanks! Would be good to know. Don't get any Streetpasses here for the game, either, so mine have all been through Homepass, as well! :lol

Sweet, my pleasure man, I'll see what I can do!

 

[NervousXtian]

This game is surprisingly fun and addictive. My 6yr old daughter got told about it in Animal Crossing.. and made me download it.

We've been passing it between my wife, myself and her all afternoon.

 

[maxcriden]

This game is surprisingly fun and addictive. My 6yr old daughter got told about it in Animal Crossing.. and made me download it.

We've been passing it between my wife, myself and her all afternoon.

Wow, that's really neat. Nintendo's in-game word of mouth advertising is kind of brilliant. I love hearing things like this.

 

[Adam Prime]

Man... the last Bomb challenge in the advanced hitting mini game is brutal. I've gotten to high 40s twice, and missed it both times.

 

[n64coder]

so maybe I'll set up the relay thing and let you know how it goes. I still haven't bought any games!

I recommend setting up the relay thing. I have an old Linksys WRT54G router that used to be my DS hotspot because it was configured to use WEP encryption. Now that the Nintendo Network is dead, I'm using it as a StreetPass relay and installed DD-WRT on it.

I haven't gotten any RRDBB streetpasses yet. Maybe we should pick a MAC id and use it for those who are interested in getting streetpasses? Anyone else interested?

 

[Adam Prime]

I recommend setting up the relay thing. I have an old Linksys WRT54G router that used to be my DS hotspot because it was configured to use WEP encryption. Now that the Nintendo Network is dead, I'm using it as a StreetPass relay and installed DD-WRT on it.

I haven't gotten any RRDBB streetpasses yet. Maybe we should pick a MAC id and use it for those who are interested in getting streetpasses? Anyone else interested?

I've gotten five Streetpasses in this game, and I don't know what they do. I see there a Streetpass Ranking section under the Arcade section, but I don't see anyone's rankings. I guess its possible that all five people that I've Streetpassed haven't played the Arcade mode games at all, but that doesn't seem likely.

Has anyone seen people show up under their Streetpass Rankings?

 

[Zonic]

I got someone & it shows the scores for the Derbys if the person has it. If you hit R while highlighting one of the hi-score derbys, you can see the Streetpass Ranking of where you rank among the people you passed.

 

[Adam Prime]

I got someone & it shows the scores for the Derbys if the person has it. If you hit R while highlighting one of the hi-score derbys, you can see the Streetpass Ranking of where you rank among the people you passed.

Yeah, that's the thing. I don't see anyone's scores. I've Streetpassed five people and none of them have any Derby records. I guess that's bad luck, or something is not working.

 

[Deleted member 20415]

I'm still really loving this game... my commute happens in fits and starts as I go between trains, so I don't have more than 20 continuous minutes to focus on a game... this has been so great to just pick up and play.

 

[popyea]

Has it even been suggested that this might come to Europe/Australia? I really wanted to play it.

 

[maxcriden]

I'm still really loving this game... my commute happens in fits and starts as I go between trains, so I don't have more than 20 continuous minutes to focus on a game... this has been so great to just pick up and play.

(Tigro, I've got a GBA for you...check your PMs!)

 

[n64coder]

I've gotten five Streetpasses in this game, and I don't know what they do. I see there a Streetpass Ranking section under the Arcade section, but I don't see anyone's rankings. I guess its possible that all five people that I've Streetpassed haven't played the Arcade mode games at all, but that doesn't seem likely.

Has anyone seen people show up under their Streetpass Rankings?

I have two people in my rankings and only for a couple of the arcade games. I guess the others haven't played them yet.