EA Sports releases MVP 2005 early

[kheidg-]

Any minor leaguers fit the profiles of current Reds besides Bailey and Encarnacion?

[BuckU]

Okay, I bought MVP for PS2 and I am trading it in tomorrow for ESPN. MVP is totally confusing me. I either hit a homerun or strike out. There seems to be no middle ground. After 10 games Griffey was batting .141 with 4 home runs and 4 RBI. D'Lo had one hit in 10 games. One HIT. same with Randa, one hit after 10 games.

And the pitching? Way too easy, and no easy way to adjust the sliders to make things eaiser.

The game is too unrealistic. It's too feast of famine (sp?). I'm going to try ESPN.

[Caseyfan21]

Wow, I'm not sure what everyone is talking about with MVP. I played the Nationals for my first game and ended up winning on a Casey walkoff double. I had 4 runs on 13 hits. I've played 2 or 3 other games and I've yet to hit a homerun. All I've been hitting is a lot of singles up the middle and other line drives. It seems to me when I'm hitting it's very realistic to a real game in terms of offense. I guess I'm in the minority.

One other question, where are the roster updates at? I bought the PC version and I have registered online and on the EA sports live part of the game or the rosters part, there is not link to update rosters. Is this something I have to pay for or how does it work? Forgive me if this is a stupid question as this is the first EA game I've bought.

[LvJ]

Don't knock the game because of your own inability.

[sjm]

Which Baseball game should I buy?

I guess it's out of ESPN and MVP. Are those the two best? Which one should I get?

[BuckU]

Don't knock the game because of your own inability.

Please, dude...

I was simply giving my opinon/review, as were many others.

Don't make meaningless posts, nobody cares.

[reds1869]

I have yet to play 2K5 but plan to buy it later in the summer when I inevitably get bored with MVP 2005. I will say that I disagree with the people who are trashing MVP; you simply have to tweak the game to your own abiltiy--there is no "magic formula" that will work for everybody. That being said, I feel that way about games in general: we all like different things and what works for me might not for you.

If you want a good true sim, download Out of the Park Baseball by SI Games. It is an incredibly addictive text based sim that any stat junkie will eat up; it is also totally customizable and has many great mods available for download all over the internet.

[LvJ]

Please, dude...

I was simply giving my opinon/review, as were many others.

Don't make meaningless posts, nobody cares.

That was a review?

I'm sorry you felt my post was "meaningless". You should care.

You've owned the game for less than a day and you're already giving up on it.

You call it "unrealistic" and "too feast of famine". I was simply stating, in a rather vague way, that is not a flaw of the game, but a flaw of your ability (or knowledge of how to play the game), which in my opinion, you gave little time to figure out/improve upon. I am having none of those "problems" you seem to be having. In fact, quite the opposite. The game is realistic as human control lets it be. I'm having loads of fun with my Reds dynasty, and have seen a variety of different hits. I play on All Star using Pared's sliders, and the 6/1 camera view.

I could honestly not care if you trade the game in. Whatever game you decide is none of my business. It's early in my playing process, but as far as non-text (meaning, excluding OOTP), this is the best sports game I've ever played. Of course, I'm biased towards baseball. I would currently suggest this to any baseball fan. Though, I haven't played ESPN's latest, so I can't compare it to that one - but I'm thrilled with my MVP experience so far.

[missionhockey21]

If you want a good true sim, download Out of the Park Baseball by SI Games. It is an incredibly addictive text based sim that any stat junkie will eat up; it is also totally customizable and has many great mods available for download all over the internet.

I can second OOTP. I've been playing for a few years now and I've become pretty addicted at times. I've been running my own league for about a year and right now I am in 4 online leagues (gone down a lot since I started college.) Anyway, it's a blast if you play in a league or just by yourself if you are really into stats and the managment aspect of the game itself. I do recommend trying several roster sets since some I've noticed have been pretty poor.

[BoydsOfSummer]

I'm finding it to play pretty darn good out of the box on Pro. I still can't hit like I want,but getting better. I'm not a thumb jockey by any stretch though. I hear the mini-games are great for honing your hitting skills,but I haven't tried them.

Between Diamond Mind,this, and the Prospectus book I'm in baseball nirvana. All I need now are some ST games on the radio for background ambience...heehee.

[ws1990reds]

Okay, I bought MVP for PS2 and I am trading it in tomorrow for ESPN. MVP is totally confusing me. I either hit a homerun or strike out. There seems to be no middle ground. After 10 games Griffey was batting .141 with 4 home runs and 4 RBI. D'Lo had one hit in 10 games. One HIT. same with Randa, one hit after 10 games.

And the pitching? Way too easy, and no easy way to adjust the sliders to make things eaiser.

The game is too unrealistic. It's too feast of famine (sp?). I'm going to try ESPN.

I'm afraid you'll get much the same with ESPN. ESPN hasn't really been changed (which it should have) under the core, it's mostly the presentation that was changed. The animations are a lot better, but still have that stinky feel from last year's game. You know, the fielders picking up the ball and standing like they have Cerebal Palsy as they throw it. Sorry, that's a bad example, but what I am getting is that their upper legs are pressed together like they have to pee or something. It just looks stupid. The outfielders, when they come charging after a ball will suddenly come to a screeching halt when they catch it, then throw. Not realistic, if you ask me. The foul ball animations are way too limited in number. The drives down the right field and left field lines are pretty much all the same in appearance. No bouncing off the poles or anything. The camera angles with foul balls are horrible. The KZone wasn't implemented well for 2-player. There may not be a way around it. They have it so that you can "trick" your opponent as to where you actually want to pitch it, but unless you just run scatter-brain with your pitching cursor within the strike zone, it will be obvious that the pitch is going to be a strike or a ball, and possibly where the pitch will go. So my wife and I just went to using the method of last year, where you pick the pitch, and can only go on the feel of the controller vibrations to tell you whether you're trying to throw a strike or a ball. Even that isn't done well. I will just say that I'm not impressed too much with either ESPN or MVP 2005 and it's looking likely that I'm going to trade in our XBox for a PS2 unit (where we'll suffer graphic-wise with games), but at least we'll be able to watch DVD movies that we rent or buy, and not have to put up with the "XBox region" bull**** that Microsoft tried to feed its customers.

[ws1990reds]

I have yet to play 2K5 but plan to buy it later in the summer when I inevitably get bored with MVP 2005. I will say that I disagree with the people who are trashing MVP; you simply have to tweak the game to your own abiltiy--there is no "magic formula" that will work for everybody. That being said, I feel that way about games in general: we all like different things and what works for me might not for you.

If you want a good true sim, download Out of the Park Baseball by SI Games. It is an incredibly addictive text based sim that any stat junkie will eat up; it is also totally customizable and has many great mods available for download all over the internet.

Um, OOTP is NOT a "true sim". There are MANY A.I. issues with that game, but only a true, hardcore baseball sports nut would spot them. Head on over to www.ootpdevelopments.com where you can browse the forums to your heart's content, and see the many problems the game has. The player development in that game stinks. The salary/contract models also have some big problems.

[Krusty]

Which Baseball game should I buy?

I guess it's out of ESPN and MVP. Are those the two best? Which one should I get?

I love ESPN's version of MLB 2k5.

[Praying Colonel]

Anyone know where you can download the instruction manual for MVP 2005? I rented the game at Blockbuster this weekend but the instruction booklet doesn't come with it, so I have to figure it out as I go. Since I've never played the game before, it makes it kinda tough.

I'm having an extremely difficult time hitting and pitching (I hope it's the lack of instructions ), but I find the game strangely addictive nonetheless.

[reds1869]

Um, OOTP is NOT a "true sim". There are MANY A.I. issues with that game, but only a true, hardcore baseball sports nut would spot them.

While I agree there are some problems with OOTP, I also think it is as close as you can get without running a team in real life. there are some player development issues, but I don't feel they detract all that much from the game. Admittedly, though I tend to not have lengthy carrers as I like to try different teams/eras and play every game rather than simming the seasons out.

If you like sports management games and have even the remotest interest in soccer, buy Football Manager 2005 by Sega and SI games (man, I'm sounding like a spokesman for SI)...make sure you order the UK version as there are problems with other regions for some reason. This game features things that should be in all sports sims: dealing with player emotions, meeting board and fan expectations, working within the constraints of a real financial model, playing mind games with players/managers/referees, and a decent amount of media interaction. Rumor has it that the next OOTP might incorporate more of Football Manager's features now that they are owned by the same company.