2005: What's the Best Baseball Videogame This Year?

[digitalpress]

Last year I got into MVP and I thought it was head and shoulders above the rest. This year with the ESPN "rebuilt" MLB 2005 at just $19.99 it looks like there's another very serious contender, if not a flat out winner.

Who's playing, what have you played, and what is your assessment?

[GobopopRevisited]

I'm not much of a sports game player, last traditional one I bought was on Saturn. But I'm kind of looking forward to Nintendo's Baseball game (...and Mario Baseball :P ) thats being developed by the people who did WSB 2k3. Its being called more of an arcadey game so thats deffinately a plus... I guess you'll have to wait till May to hear my answer

[Lady Jaye]

I'm so torn about baseball games this year that it's not funny. Do I sit out the new games and refuse to touch them (out of respect for the loss of my team) and play the 3 modern baseball games I own (especially MVP 2004) or do I nevertheless bite the bullet and just refuse to call my team by its new name (and somehow pretend that they're wearing blue instead of red)?

Tough call. Heck, my heart was torn yesterday morning when I saw the images from the first spring training game (the Expos won 5-3 against the Mets) followed by images of Rick Mahler as a Montreal Expo in 1991, who just passed away 2 days ago, in the subway (2 stations now have giant TV screens set on a local news channel).

Anyway, can either MVP 2005 or ESPN 2k5 be played online via the PS2?

[SoulBlazer]

I was wondering this same question. :)

Which baseball game is the better one this year? I've seen both in stores and they LOOK snazzy, but I'm interested in gameplay, realsim, and franchise mode.

[Lady Jaye]

Realism? When they'll start making the players look like themselves, when they'll make sure to capture properly each stadium as it really is (instead of an approximation with tons of erroneous details), then it'll be a factor to consider. Until then, it's laughable.

[Lothars]

I took the plung and picked up MVP baseball 2005
and when i find a use copy of ESPN MLB 2k5 I will pick that up.

but I heard for singleplayer MVP is better
and for online I heard ESPN is better

[Lothars]

hey here's a link for on ign comparing MVP baseball and ESPN MLB 2k5
http://xbox.ign.com/articles/592/592537p1.html

[Simply Dave]

Hell, I'll probably just play through yet another season of High Heat 2004. :)

[shai hulud]

Hell, I'll probably just play through yet another season of High Heat 2004. :)

i loved High Heat, it seems to be the only game with just the right amount of simplicity and complexity


this year i like MVP better and the Owner mode is pretty cool if you are into the simulation aspect at all. I still dont think i will ever play an entire 162 game season

[GarrettCRW]

Apparently, buying 2K5 is a vote for the Evil Empire. :D

[Rogmeister]

Since I loved MVP 2004 so much, I chose MVP again this year...especially since it's the last year for MVP. MVP is priced at $29.95 this year so it's only $10 more than the ESPN game for what that's worth. I'm enjoying MVP a lot...not a lot of differences from last year except for the owner's mode. You do control 4 teams now...your major league team and 3 minor league teams (MVP 2004 had you control 2 minor league teams). I can't comment on online play with the PS2 since I bought the XBox version, however.

[goatdan]

After having had MLB 2K5 for a while now, I've finally decided to weigh in...

I haven't played MVP 2005, so I'm not comparing the two. Just making a few statements on MLB 2K5. Basically...

It's a very solid game, but it has some serious problems too. Once in a while, there will be a high fly ball hit just past the infield. Easily, an infielder could walk back a few steps and catch it, but on occasion the computer will give you control of an outfielder that has no chance of getting to the ball in time. Other times, the game will switch which player you are controlling mid-play. The ball is hit to the gap between center and right field. You get the right fielder and run quickly to get the ball. It bounces -- suddenly, you're the centerfielder running in the wrong direction.

It's very annoying, and rather disappointing to say the least.

The graphics are great at times and laughable at others. When you are batting or fielding, it looks great. Whenever they cut away though, all of the players look horrid. Like badly drawn cartoon characters, at best. I keep laughing whenever I see players like that.

The animations are rather odd sometimes too. When the computer is fielding in the outfield, high pop flies usually get the outfielder to walk... run... walk... run... walk to where they are going in a strange display. The end of the innings is odd too, as the player usually flips the ball into the stands and immediately is running home with no animation to show the change to the running position. Also, some animations seem to be missing. Umpires and base running coaches do nearly nothing for instance.

The gameplay is good, but I don't feel it is stellar. In the 10 or so games I've played so far, I haven't walked anyone. And the computer has never walked me. Granted, I'm playing on easy right now and perhaps it is harder to pitch later on, but it seems to be tough to miss the strike zone. While this makes the games go by pretty fast, it isn't exactly realistic.

The graphics of the non-players are pretty nice, but aren't accurate. Miller Park (the home of the Milwaukee Brewers) has rotating banners near the large screen in center field. Those are all permanent, not rotating. Also, with all retractable roof stadiums, they are either opened or closed. Miller Park is especially odd - the roof is open, but the back 'windows' are closed in a configuration that they would never do in real life. (The windows can be opened or closed depending on how cool it is outside when the roof is closed... but they are always open when the roof is open.)

The commentary is great, but doesn't always make sense. I have a pitcher on my team that somehow managed to get three hits in a game. EVERY time he got a hit, the announcer would say, "Wow! Look at that! That is his first major league hit ever! Good for him!" or something. And to top all of this off, he had gotten his first hit in an earlier game. Why I needed to hear that three more times was goofy and annoying.

Lastly, baserunning -- which they tout as you having perfect control over -- is very tough to control. Pressing the left trigger makes your runner move to the next base. Pressing the right trigger makes your runner stop or go back bases. This is all great... while you have one runner. If you have two runners and you get a soft hit, it can be nearly impossible to tell them all to go to the right place. The computer AI doesn't exactly help either. More than once, a great rally inning has been ended by me sending three guys to second at the same time, or making the wrong guy run off the bag. I like the concept of total runner control, but I wish that they would've given you the option of having the computer do a little so you couldn't end up with three guys racing to second without the computer complaining.

After all of these gripes... I can't stop playing the damn game. I don't know what it is, but I haven't enjoyed playing a baseball game like this one since World Series Baseball for the Saturn. It might be the fact that it is well balanced, it might be the INSANELY nice presentation, the fact I can listen to my own music while playing, the great commentary or whatever, but I just can't put it down. So far, I've managed to play 11 games on it as well as taking about 100 swings through the Home Run Derby. I can't wait to play it again.

It's odd. Something about it, even with all the problems, is really really fun. I was thinking about picking up MVP after the first game, but now I can't imagine I would play it even if all the other things were fixed. The balance just is there, and I am having a LOT of fun with it.

So take it for what you will -- a game with a ton of problems, but one which I think outshines all of them.

[SoulBlazer]

Well, as I said in another thread, I got both games, but I have'nt been able to get near my XBox due to my roomnmates using it. LOL

I'll post my notes later.

[digitalpress]

Well, as I said in another thread, I got both games, but I have'nt been able to get near my XBox due to my roomnmates using it. LOL

I'll post my notes later.

Now that I've played them both for a few nights, I'm ready to share my opinion. I did not play either game online, so these impressions are based on the single-player mode.

I bought MVP first, based on a) having enjoyed last year's version and b) having read the ign.com comparison where it squeaked out the win over ESPN.

My impressions: they didn't change the game at all, really. I wasn't thrilled with the fantasy draft process last year and this year is exactly the same. You can't sort by any of the fields, so if you need a speedy role-player or a home-run hitting 3B you have to scan through the list. It's especially difficult when you don't care about position because the list of "all batters" or "all pitchers" is huge. The process isn't much fun beyond the first ten or so players who you just know.

The gameplay is much like last year as well. There's a new "batters' eye" feature which is pretty cool and adds a bit of an edge back to the batting screen. The pitcher-batter is terrific with hot and cold zones.

The player animations are outstanding. Guys stumble as they round bases, throw from their knees, climb up the wall to catch balls, etc etc etc. It looks great.

HOWEVER.

After renting ESPN the other night, I haven't been able to put it down. The fantasy draft is a DREAM, you can sort by attributes or last years' stats on any position or all positions at once. You draft extra players, who are assigned to the minors. ESPN has a farm system but it's not as deep as MVP. That's fine by me - I'd prefer watching ten top minor league prospects than having to oversee three leagues worth of guys.

The player animations in ESPN are not nearly as good as MVP, but they're adequate. Player faces generally don't look so hot either.

The presentation of ESPN blows away MVP, though. Like all of the ESPN titles of late, it really looks like you're watching the game on TV, with accurate in-game graphics, on-the-fly stats, and commentary.

The pitcher-batter screen is every bit as good as MVP, and there are some features I like better on ESPN. The piitching AND the batting feel more natural here, and I like both the control system for the pitcher and the guessing system for the batter.

Winner by a large margin is ESPN in my opinion, and that doesn't even include the $10 you save by buying ESPN instead. It's very well done, perfect for those who are really into fantasy stats style gaming.

[Rogmeister]

Uh oh...with such a high recommendation from the big guy, I may actually have to pick up ESPN as well...and I was only going to buy one baseball title this year.

[norkusa]

I dunno, I'm really torn here. I know I said I wouldn't buy another *new* EA game for as long as I live, but I loved last years MVP and am tempted to buy it again. I bought MVP because I played the 2k4 demo and thought the control and gameplay felt very sloppy. After reading Joe's review though, I'm going with ESPN this year. Sounds like they fixed allot of things from last year and with a few exceptions, MVP sounds basically the same as last years version.

FYI, Circuit City has ESPN 2k5 on sale this week for $14.99

[boatofcar]

$14.99? Wow. Hoever, I got All-Star Baseball 2004 for the PS2, and the only thing that keeps me from just playing that again is the awful baserunning, which is a lot like goatdan described. It's so frustrating to have a great inning ruined by not being able to control the runners correctly. Joe and everyone else, can you please weigh in on how you feel about the baserunning in MLB 2k5?

[digitalpress]

Sorry John, I haven't played MLB 2005, or ASB 2004 or 2005.

[Lothars]

Well since dp recommended getting ESPN 2k5 on thursday im going to go and pick it up,

I picked up MVP and really enjoy it mostly the ign head to head was what made me choose mvp but now i also want MLB 2k5 so i might as well get it to.

thanks for the post dp.

[Chunky]

i was all about Allstar 2005 lst year, but again don't forget they named it 2005 last year for this title, they are always a year ahead in names, don't get screwed.


i picked up espn for my neighbor and I and i honestly love this game, its equal to ASB in having it look like a real game playing, it just lacks a little on the graphics but what a wonderful $20 title.

Online play is great we pick each other out and play away. comentary is not repetitively boring like ASB and the little crowd heckling/ stadium announcements/ and organ in sourround sound make it great.

[boatofcar]

Sorry John, I haven't played MLB 2005, or ASB 2004 or 2005.


That's ok, I was just asking if you found it difficult or confusing to control multiple baserunners at once.

[SoulBlazer]

I agree with most of what Joe said.

ESPN has better pitching and batting controls, IMHO. I prefer the 'zone' as opposed to the 'meter' system. The graphics are good and the interface is flawless with ESPN, and the comentary is great. Controls are also quite easy to pick up and the crowd acts like a real one.

MVP has a lot going for it also. The players actually LOOK like the players as opposed to ESPN, and the stadiums are a little sharper in detail. Comentary is'nt as good but still good enough, the franchise modes are MUCH deeper in this one as opposed to ESPN. Plus there's more mini games and hidden stuff, like teams, players, uniforms, etc.

I do think ESPN is a little bit more realisic on baseball presentation, though, and MVP is slightly more arcady.

It's really hard for me to say which game is 'better'. If you want a quick baseball game, I think ESPN is a little better. If you want franchise or season modes for deep game play, though, MVP gets the nod.

I think the true baseball fan will want both, and they are only $50 total. :D

Oh, and kuods for the intros for both games! The opening for MVP shows graphical respersentations of games, while ESPN uses actuall baseball photage. Both of them pay homage to my favorite baseball team, the Red Sox. :D MVP starts by saying 'History was made in 2004' while showing a Red Sox player smacking in a home run aganist the Yankee's and New York looking disgusted in the dugout. :evil:

And ESPN shows scenes from the amazing ALCS last year between the teams, including Ortiz's game winning home run in game 5 and the crowd in Fenway going nuts behind him. I love it! 8-)

Both team's fans should be happy, though -- Derek Jeter is on the cover of ESPN while Manny Ramieriz is on MVP 2005.

[Rogmeister]

Tonight, both of these baseball games (MVP & Sega's) were reviewed on G4's Judgment Day. Both were given very good scores but they did give the edge to the Sega ESPN game or whatever it's called now. I nearly bought the Sega game a couple of times today so I may just go ahead and get it tomorrow.

[pacmanhat]

I'm with Joe in pretty much every respect...MVP had its great subtleties, but ESPN just has the complete package. I hear people complain a lot about the pitching in ESPN, but I think it's a great system. "The Hitter's Eye" doesn't do much for me either...an interesting idea, but it just doesn't do enough in the scope of the game. ESPN also has the trivia mini-game as well as others in the 'arcade'.

When it comes down to it, the intangibles and little things in ESPN (along with its incredible presentation) make it the better game in my opinion (and incidentally, in the opinion of several other gamers in this thread).

[slip81]

I played both ESPN and MVP, and I have to say that I like ESPN just slightly better only because it's controlls are much simpler. I'm not a big fan of slider bars fro throwing so right away that aspect of MVP put me off.

But I do like MVP's fielding better, the fielding in ESPN can be pretty wonky, especially on the higher difficult levels, but that is really the only major gripe I have with it.

Also I like the unlockables a little bit more in MVP. ESPN has a nice selection of old teams and fields, but I like the legendary players in MVP better.

If I had to suggest one to buy I would say ESPN right now, if someone asked me 4 months from now when they are both the same price I'd probably reccomend MVP, unless they already had last years version.

[goatdan]

I have still been hopelessly addicted to MLB 2K5 like no other game I've played in a long time. I'm through about 60 games now in my 81 game season. A few other oddities I've noticed:

When the computer is fielding and has to make a great play such as a sliding, jumping or climbing-the-back-wall-to-rob-a-homer play, they *always* make the play. There hasn't been once that I have seen them miss a play like this that in real life, you would expect that they wouldn't make every single time.

Speaking of the climbing-the-back-wall-to-rob-a-homer play, when you are on All*Star mode, this seems to happen an unrealistic amount. In my last five games, I have hit three homers total and had seven robbed.

When you turbo the fielders, they move WAY faster than they should. The pitcher can make it to first base in about the same time as it takes for the baserunner to take two or three steps. The outfielders can run about 100 feet in about five seconds.

I don't know what it is though, but I really can't put down this game. For all of the games that I bought in the last six months, this has been the first that has kept me playing *constantly* since putting it in. I haven't purchased another Xbox or GameCube game because I want to complete my season here. I really love the game, even with all its problems. In my 60ish games, I have probably have glitches that have negatively affected the outcomes in 3 of them, so expect that 5% of the games that you play you'll lose for cheap reasons... but the other 95% of them sure are fun and worthwhile.

[Nature Boy]

perfect for those who are really into fantasy stats style gaming.

Speaking of which: does anybody else here play "Out of the Park" or "Strat-o-Matic" or the like instead?

One of my favourite Atari 8-bit games was "Micro League Baseball" - and I've been hunting for something similar for the last year or so. The newer stuff seems so overly complex though - I don't want to simulate 162 game seasons - I want to create a 64 team "Final Four" style tournament and have teams playing against each other in a one game elimination! I need to see the '27 Yankees play the '01 Mariners, and to be honest I don't really care if the numbers are adjusted or not!

Anybody?

[digitalpress]

Tonight, both of these baseball games (MVP & Sega's) were reviewed on G4's Judgment Day. Both were given very good scores but they did give the edge to the Sega ESPN game or whatever it's called now. I nearly bought the Sega game a couple of times today so I may just go ahead and get it tomorrow.

GET IT.

It's the first baseball game I've played an entire season on since Triple Play Gold for the GENESIS!

Granted, I simulated a lot of the games, stepping back just to be the GM for weeks at a time, but I played about a quarter of all the games, was there to play all of the games against the nefarious Red Sox (who came in third in my season, HA), and the gameplay is very quick and easy to get into.

I don't know how many more seasons I'll play in this mode, but I'm hooked. Between this and Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath, I haven't done much of anything else gaming-wise.

[Rogmeister]

I did go and buy this today at my local Wal-Mart. It doesn't hurt that MVP and MLB (ESPN) cost $50 together...the same price most single games cost. I'm having a bite to eat right now so I'll open it up and test it out in about a half hour to 45 minutes from now...

[Rogmeister]

Well, I just played my first game of Major League Baseball 2K5...a very exciting game in which my Pirates beat the Colorado Rockies in the bottom of the inning to win 4-3. Oliver Perez of the Pirates fanned 11 and my first hit in this game was a home run by SS Jack Wilson. I did notice they still had Chris Stynes on the roster and they let him go after last season.

While I do like the game, I have a question...are there any special tricks in hitting? For instance, if my pitcher makes a mistake, it goes all slow-motion and the other team gets a big hit. Is there any way to make that happen for my team when they're at bat?

Never mind about the above paragraph. I found the in-game tutorial which explained what I needed to know.

[ECWSandmanECW]

MVP Baseball '05, it's been the only game I played for almost the past month.

[Rogmeister]

Well, as I probably mentioned, I already have MVP Baseball 2005 as well. As much as I love video game baseball, I'm sure I'll be plenty both plenty.

[SoulBlazer]

Yeah, update the rosters if you have XBox Live or the modem for the PS2.

And Joe, MY Red Sox spanked the living daylight out of your Yankees in this season -- winning 75 percent of their games. :P

[Nature Boy]

... the nefarious Red Sox (who came in third in my season, HA),

As a fan of another AL East team, I'm wondering who came in second? Toronto? Or Baltimore? :D

[Rogmeister]

I'm a Pittsburgh Pirates fan and, hard as it is to believe, this season they seem to be even worse than ever. In the last two games against the Cardinals, they were outscored 18-2. Is that pathetic or what?

I'm using the default rosters on 2K5 except for a few players. I released Chris Stynes and J.R. House and signed a few free agents to replace them, the big one being Maggliio Ordonez...

[goatdan]

I did notice they still had Chris Stynes on the roster and they let him go after last season.

The rosters in MLB2K5 are a little wonky. It seems like they didn't care to update a lot of stuff since probably December. I play as the Brewers, and it seems like most of the non-major players they had on there was somehow screwed up. Brooks Kiesknik (sp?) is my "closer" although he was cut from the team a while ago.

Ah well. I traded and signed a bunch of free agents too, and because of that I actually have the first competitive Milwaukee team since probably 1982!

[Rogmeister]

I have my game set for moderate budgets. If I was playing with official budgets in the MVP game, I'd never have been able to afford Magglio. As it is, I don't have a lot of money left for more free agents.

[Gamereviewgod]

Though I haven't played any of the console versions, I'm stunned by the quality of MLB on the PSP. I'm not a baseball person (so rosters and such don't bother me), but this game just freakin' rocks. It's very customizable to make it how you want to play it; no need for all sorts of meters and such if you odn't want them. Some of the best commentary I've ever heard too (except for the color).

[Rogmeister]

Has anyone had any particularly notable games this season? I just had a game of MLB 2K5 where my pitcher only needed 76 pitches to strike out 14 in a 3-hit shut-out. The weird thing is the pitcher, Dave Williams of the Pirates, isn't really that good in real-life. Perhaps it's time to up the difficulty level? I've only lost once out of about 8 or 9 games so far...

[SKVermin]

I fully expect to get tons of gameplay for my buck with MVP Baseball 2005. I got pretty disillusioned with video baseball over the years, unable to complete a full season since Tony La Russa Baseball.

Until I picked up MVP Baseball 2004. I found that EA finally got baseball right (though not without some minor flaws). Not only did I get through a full season, but I also played all of my AAA and AA games. Took home a World Series and a Southern League Championship. (Unfortunately my Iowa Cubs didn't make the playoffs.)

With the new features and fixes for what was wrong in 2004, I expect the 2005 edition to carry me for some time. My great experience with 2004 made picking up 2005 an easy choice.

[retroman]

i have Espn 2K5 for the XBox and MLB from sony for the PsP. I think that both are fun games to play...so..its up to you

[Rogmeister]

If you'll go back, you'll see that I also bought MVP Baseball 2005 (I have all 3 editions, getting 2003 last year for about $7). I now have two of this year's games after getting the Sega game and won't be surprised if I also get Mario Baseball when it comes out. I also won't be surprised if I play those well into next year since I'm not exactly sure what baseball games will be available in 2006...