Toad

Dying to buy a baseball game. I'm partial to all the old Sega Sports titles (so WSB 2k3 in this case), but is Slugfest or the EA game better?

Thanks!

JNielsen

Slugfest is better if you want an unrealistic arcade-style (like NFL Blitz) game that gets old quickly. Oterwise I would rent both MVP (EA) & WSB2K3. Both have very good features. I liked the gameplay in MVP a little better, but the franchise features in WSB were what made me go with them. I'm sure if you do a search, there are a couple of threads on the subject.

nickdawgy

I have WSB 2k3 for PS2 and MVP 2003 for PC. I am assuming the features of MVP are the same in both PC/PS2, so here is my take:

WSB 2K3: Awesome franchise mode, create a player, hall of fame, records, multiple team jerseys, good announcing team, very realistic.

MVP 2003: Very, very detailed players and stadiums, create a player, decent announcing team, very hard to hit homers (could be good or bad, depends on how you look at it), very cool pitching meter, throwing meter, team goals, cooler replays, only 10 year franchise mode.

I'd go with 2k3, but MVP is worth a look too. Like the previous poster said, rent both, and pick your favorite

Excelesor

really, i thought it was too easy to hit homers in mvp compared to wsb. all i did in mvp was push the analog upward diagonally and if i get hanging pitch or a off pitch and then i clobber it to deep left field.

I have decided to go with wsb after renting them both. everything everyone said is true about the game description and gameplay

nickdawgy

I have hit about 6 homers in 12 games in MVP. I am the Angels, and Glaus has 2, and Ersty, Fullmer, GA, and Salmon have 1 each.

I have also allowed only 1 homer, to Eric Chavez

Granted, I am on rookie mode (hey, it's my first time playing lol) but you'd think it'd be easier to hit them

any other tips for an MVP n00b like me?

Toad

Thanks, I appreciate the input.
I'm inclined to go with WSB2k3 just b/c I worship the Sega titles, but one problem: I can't find it anywhere around here.

Does Best Buy let you order stuff online and pay with a gift card, just like Circuit City does??

nickdawgy

dunno if BB let's you do that, I'd call and ask. There has to be a customer service number on their site somewhere.

elny3680

i only have mvp & i like it...the announcers get old though, they repeat the same thing every inning. computer AI is a little out of whack sometimes. by that i mean if a line drive is hit to an outfielder or infielder, sometimes it takes them a second to react, but by then the ball gets by them. i suggest taking control of fielders. stealing bases is pretty much exclusive to the quickest: soriano, ichiro, but for some reason i get caught all the time with jeter. the pitching meter is great, but the pitching system is unbalanced, i can strike out 18 batters with jeff weaver (23-2, 257k) but 2 with clemens (11-12, 86k). not too homer friendly though: giambi 32hr, 196rbi 18bb & soriano 18hr, 109 rbi, 82sb. all in all a great game with great visuals. wish i rented other games first to see what the other games are like.

TruGator

I have played all and MVP Baseball 2003 is the best, IMO.

dasmooth1

High Heat beaseball gets my nod..most realistic (stats wise) baseball game around, and if it's too hard or too easy, it lets you customize EVERYTHING to suit your ideal playing conditions...give it a whirl..

nickdawgy

lol, some inflated RBI numbers on Jason Giambi

How do you get that many k's? I have lots of trouble striking out the computer, almost as much as the homer thing. My top pitcher has like 6 k's in 3 games, and those were ALL (yes all, lol) called third strikes in the high inside right corner.

It seems like every hit I get is either a single, or double, and every out is either a fly out to center, or a ground out to short.

I gave up a homer to Juan Gone the other day

Pressing diagnally on the controller has given me a couple of close call homers, but they ended up either being caught, or turning into doubles.

nickdawgy

Almost forgot....I also recommend High Heat, probably the most realistic game in terms of stats out there. Wait, dasmooth already said that, lol.

Anyhow, I haven't played Slugfest, or ASB, so I dunno about those. I heard ASB has some cool jerseys, and a nice playground mode, tho.

darkside

High Heat is the best baseball game out there. Graphics wise it lags a little behind but no game is more of a complete baseball sim.

elny3680

i dont know who you use to pitch but this is how i approach the game with jeff weaver.

i usually start off with a low outside curveball to a lefthanded hitter. if i get 2 strikes, i throw an up & outside fastball that is just out of the box...sometimes they will swing at it. if not, i throw an low & inside 2 seamer which usually gets a k. i read on gamefaqs that anytime you get 2 strikes on them, throw a fastball up & away to either tease them into swinging or get the computer into "thinking" the next pitch will be up there somewhere. thats when you throw either an offspeed pitch or 2 seamer on the bottom corners.

for righthanders, i alternate locations for the curveball either low inside or up & away. teasing with an outside & away fastball or low outside 2 seamer. for some reason jeff weaver gets a lot of k's & grounders off weak hits. but they do get about 4-8 hits off him though.

dont use the fastball predominately though, itll get rocked.

as for hitting, work the counts, in pro mode, i get a lot of 2-0 counts. after that, its just waiting on the fastball or something easy to hit...i havent had much success with hr's though...still workin on it...

El Talon Del Monstruo

if you are looking for a solid Franchise Mode...then ASB2004 is what you are looking for, I just love the setup with trades/free agency/draft, etc sometimes it works in your advantage

I was playing as the Expos and Vlad Guerrero was on the last year of his contract, and I was not doing so good, so I traded Vlad to the Mariners for Jamie Moyer & Mark McLemore....I end up 3 games out of the playoffs, now Jamie & Mark have 2 year deals so I don't lose them to free agency, and Vlad was not resigned by the M's...so I end up 3 up and M's 0

I also like the commentary by Thom Brennerman & "Psycho" Steve Lyons, Steve tells very good stories and has very good insight into the game.

nickdawgy

I use the Angels starting five: Washburn, Appier, Lackey, Sele, and Ortiz. So far Wash has been my best pitcher, he's 5-0. Appier and Ortiz are 2-2, tho. My record is like 14-7 or something

I actually got a little bit better at hitting homers. The funny thing is I was playing the Rangers, and they brought it a reliever, who happened to be John Rocker, lol. GA hit a 2 run shot off him first pitch, then Glaus went deep right after that. The next inning, Fullmer took him yard. I thought it was funny, 3 homers on one pitcher when I hadn't hit that much more in like 12 games

It still sucks to see players like Dan Wilson have 4 homers, and Glaus is stuck on 3. Or Mike Cameron has 8 homers and 20 RBI to Salmon's 3 and 15. But I do like the fact that it's giving me a small challenge, even on rookie mode, which is very, very welcome. I usually dominate on any setting (not bragging, anyone could dominate, it's easy) but this is a bit harder.

I like how MVP has a random schedule after the first season. WSB 2k3 just reverses the home and away games every year, which becomes repetetive. The trade ticker is a nice touch too. MVP is growing on me, what can I say

nickdawgy

Okay, I found a few more things about MVP that I don't like, lol. Those announcers (especially the color commentator) drive me crazy. Typical conversation:

Announcer: He takes a called strike two.
Color commentator: You're supposed to swing at the ball, big boy. Meat.

WTF, lol. Too weird.

I still can't pitch worth a %#^@#

I give up like 18 hits a game sometimes. I hit ALOT of liners to short, and second. There are so many things I like yet so many I don't.

elny3680

i think they were trying to make the commentary colorful...theres a lot of baseball lingo in it like: "its a can of corn"

try throwing breaking balls away...they usually give a weak hack at it...it works if youre facing the same sided player ie: right vs right.

if youre facing the opposite side, you might want to try throwing a breaking ball up, it induces pop ups sometimes.

ive never played with those pitchers so sorry if i cant help much...but dont worry bout getting hit a lot...some pitchers give up insane hits...

clemens gets shelled regularly on my team (most hits i gave up with him i think were 13 in 3 innings). pettitte & wells fare easier with about 8 hits a game i think. weaver gets about the same hits but more strikeouts & mussina is the opposite...

if youre still having trouble i suggest visiting the boards at gamefaqs.com

Face/Off

The pitching/hitting in MVP is great, but the fielding is sorely lacking. Plus no bullpen warmup and the franchise mode isn't very well done (like superstars such as Randy Johnson asking for more than every team can afford and therefore never playing again).

World Series has been overall the best baseball package the last few years, but I'm not a fan of the hitting.

Avoid MLB at all costs.

nickdawgy

The number of over the shoulder acrobatic catches in this game is very unrealistic, lol.

I just found out the announcers do play by play for the Giants. I guess "meat" is the guys term for an opponent that does something stupid, such as "grab some pine, meat" when he strikes out.

It struck me as weird at first, I'd never been called meat before

effigy

ASB 2004, for reasons listed above.

nickdawgy

More pros and cons of MVP 2003, for those of you that can't decide

Pros:

Nice cool soundtrack. Mostly bands I have never heard of, with the exception of Sum 41, but these guys can really rock. I was surprised. Better then the constant repeating BB tonight theme of WSB 2k3.

Great interface. I like WSB's ESPN type of interface, but MVP's gets the nod by a slim margin.

As far as I know, bats can break, which is cool. WSB doesn't have this, I don't think.

The sliding. You can even slide at first, which is way cool. One button for headfirst, one for feetfirst. Sweet

Cons:

Too many lineouts. I can't stress this enough. I have never heard the phrase "They go down 1-2-3" more times in one game in my life.

Hideous crowd. WSB's is much better.

Pathetic Home Run Challenge. I hit 1 homer in the 4 games I played. Sure it's a distance contest, but it takes alot of fly balls to reach the mark.

Stupid base running. The computer often doubles you up from the liners you hit right to them. For some reason, your guy decides to run home instead of back to the base to avoid being tagged out.

Messed up stats. I look at the box score, and I see HR: Fullmer 2 (0). That means Fullmer hit 2 homers in the game, and now has 0 on the year. Amazing. Must be a rule change I hadn't heard of, taking away homers.

Pitcher never tries to pick you off. At least I haven't seen it yet.

Computer hardly tries to steal, and if they do I throw them out 4 out of 5 times. Even my right fielder (who somehow ended up playing catcher, lol) threw out a base runner. Very, very unrealistic.

Sometimes the replays end too quickly. I hit a mammoth homer the other day, and the ball didn't even have a chance to land. Granted, it's better then the short, short replays WSB has, but still, I'd like to see it land. I do like how it bounces off what it hits as opposed to magically going through it like in WSB.

Still too hard to hit homers and strikeout batters. For me at least, even following the tips people have given. Homers come easier now, but still not often enough. A strikeout is a rarity. One of my starters is 8-1, and has 11 k's to his name. My best hitter has struck out 4 times in 30 games.

You can't control when your players dive or jump for balls. This sucks big time. I can't tell you how many times I could have saved a run if my center fielder had dived instead pf trying to run to the ball. Absolutely retarded move by EA for doing this.

I am sure I'll think of more later. Anyone else have some pros and cons I didn't mention?

dasmooth1

Did I mention high heat already? Most true baseball fans enjoy this game very much, that should tell you something...

Mr. Cinema

Hands down, HIGH HEAT all the way. The main reason? There's no stupid BATTING CURSOR!!!

I don't want a box that I have to move around to hit the ball, as is the case in the 2K games. High Heat is real baseball, the ball comes in and you hit it with your bat, not a box. Plain and simple, just like the real game.

nickdawgy

no cursor in MVP, either. But I agree, it sucks. I'd rather do timed hitting anyway.