MLB 2K6 [XBOX 360] review follow-up
A rough diamond, or a diamond in the rough?
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Thanks for reading that note
A few weeks back, I posted a review of the game MLB 2K6, relatively recently published by 2KSports, developed (at least in part) by their partner Kush Games.
At the time I posted that review, there was a known issue where many gamers were experiencing a bad freeze problem that would preclude gamers from completing a game. Since that time, after what seemed to be forever, 2KSports published what they term as a 'title update' -- in normal terms "a patch" -- that was supposed to have fixed the problem. Unfortunately for the folks at 2KSports, the 'title update' missed the mark, and the problems that most gamers had continued.
Thankfully, some of the gamers that frequent the forums at http://www.2KSports.com/forums are better testers and trouble shooters than the folks at 2KSports are. Within a day or two of the release of the 'title update', and with a raft of problems still reported (and many complaints that the patch didn't do anything), a work around was found that fixed the problem for most users. It seems that the testers/developers at 2KSports missed testing/fixing the problem for gamers that use the Zones pitching interface instead of the default Payoff Pitch interface.
That work-around came out literally a week ago (or close to it). Since that time, the developers at 2KSports, the forum operators/moderators at the support web site, nor any other individuals officially associated with 2KSports have even acknowledged that the problem continues to exist, or that a work around that actually does work is available.
This is the part that makes a reviewer like me go back and put a serious slam on 2KSports. Unlike the great folks at StarDock Corporation -- who go well out of their way to make sure that their customers have a great gaming experience, or get a great product from their Windows customizations programs -- the folks at 2KSports have been very slow to acknowledge problems, slower to fix them, and worse yet on notifying customers about potential fixes.
To be fair, I know that 2KSports is somewhat at the mercy of Microsoft when it comes to distributing fixes for their games on the Xbox platform. They are also at Microsoft's mercy for APIs and operations on the Xbox or Xbox 360 platform. If Microsoft has provided them with bad or faulty equipment, or if they have bad or faulty development tools, then it reflects poorly upon them first, and Microsoft much farther down the list. I feel sorry for 2KSports in that regard, but that doesn't excuse their culpability here. Far from it.
2KSports owes their customers a working product. A completely working product. If there are features that won't work, then perhaps those features should be removed via a similar 'title update' so that the game will function properly when used normally.
And here is where I can slide straight over into additional comment about the game, and more problems that become apparent over time.
There are a batch of other issues that could and should be fixed within the game. Check the 2KSports.com forum and you'd find a long list in the various messages there. I'll include a few here, a few very annoying problems:
Again, a host of problems that are crying out for a fix, but apparently without a fix in sight.
With all of these issues continuing to this day, I find myself going back to the original review and changing the marks that I originally gave the game. While the game itself shows much promise, it's very much a rough diamond at this point. More like a lump of coal given that so many people wound up returning the game because of the freeze problems and the amount of time that it took to publish a fix. My original mark for the game was a respectable 7.5 (out of 10).
My new marks for the game, given the continued issues and the lack of communication from 2KSports: 5.0 (out of 10). If you love baseball and have to have the game on your shiny Xbox 360, you have no choice, but I would (at least presently) consider other options, up to and including buying another platform -- such as a PS2 -- and a different game -- such as Sony's MLB 06: The Show -- to get your baseball fix from.
Good luck gamers, hope you all avoid the crap that serves as a minefield in the gaming environment out there. The best recommendation I can give you is to keep supporting great developers like the people at StarDock Corp. When you find developers that care that much about taking care of their customers, you really have to support them and hope they aren't run out of the business. They're far too few and far between.
Thanks for reading that note
A few weeks back, I posted a review of the game MLB 2K6, relatively recently published by 2KSports, developed (at least in part) by their partner Kush Games.
At the time I posted that review, there was a known issue where many gamers were experiencing a bad freeze problem that would preclude gamers from completing a game. Since that time, after what seemed to be forever, 2KSports published what they term as a 'title update' -- in normal terms "a patch" -- that was supposed to have fixed the problem. Unfortunately for the folks at 2KSports, the 'title update' missed the mark, and the problems that most gamers had continued.
Thankfully, some of the gamers that frequent the forums at http://www.2KSports.com/forums are better testers and trouble shooters than the folks at 2KSports are. Within a day or two of the release of the 'title update', and with a raft of problems still reported (and many complaints that the patch didn't do anything), a work around was found that fixed the problem for most users. It seems that the testers/developers at 2KSports missed testing/fixing the problem for gamers that use the Zones pitching interface instead of the default Payoff Pitch interface.
That work-around came out literally a week ago (or close to it). Since that time, the developers at 2KSports, the forum operators/moderators at the support web site, nor any other individuals officially associated with 2KSports have even acknowledged that the problem continues to exist, or that a work around that actually does work is available.
This is the part that makes a reviewer like me go back and put a serious slam on 2KSports. Unlike the great folks at StarDock Corporation -- who go well out of their way to make sure that their customers have a great gaming experience, or get a great product from their Windows customizations programs -- the folks at 2KSports have been very slow to acknowledge problems, slower to fix them, and worse yet on notifying customers about potential fixes.
To be fair, I know that 2KSports is somewhat at the mercy of Microsoft when it comes to distributing fixes for their games on the Xbox platform. They are also at Microsoft's mercy for APIs and operations on the Xbox or Xbox 360 platform. If Microsoft has provided them with bad or faulty equipment, or if they have bad or faulty development tools, then it reflects poorly upon them first, and Microsoft much farther down the list. I feel sorry for 2KSports in that regard, but that doesn't excuse their culpability here. Far from it.
2KSports owes their customers a working product. A completely working product. If there are features that won't work, then perhaps those features should be removed via a similar 'title update' so that the game will function properly when used normally.
And here is where I can slide straight over into additional comment about the game, and more problems that become apparent over time.
There are a batch of other issues that could and should be fixed within the game. Check the 2KSports.com forum and you'd find a long list in the various messages there. I'll include a few here, a few very annoying problems:
- when you save a season and then load it later to continue the season, you'll find that the game settings have reset to defaults for the batting style. Quite annoying since you can't change the swing style in the middle of an at-bat, so you have to catch the problem immediately and fix it before a pitch is thrown in the next game. It can't be fixed from the menus before you start the game, so again, even more annoying.
- fielders will quite often be completely oblivious to the ball. This could partly be by design, but if so, it's a poor design.
- runners that hit the long ball will quite often appear to be running out a strike/foul ball, and will make the turn towards second, then start jogging off the field. After that you'll see the animation of the home run jaunt.
- various animations show players 'backwards' when fielding/running bases.
- the Zones pitching interface is broken and your game will lock-up if you use that interface and achieve a strike-out to record the 3rd out in an inning.
- the announcers will repeatedly talk about last years performances for players that come up to bat and say that the batters recorded 0 home runs last season, 0 Runs batted-in, etc.
Again, a host of problems that are crying out for a fix, but apparently without a fix in sight.
With all of these issues continuing to this day, I find myself going back to the original review and changing the marks that I originally gave the game. While the game itself shows much promise, it's very much a rough diamond at this point. More like a lump of coal given that so many people wound up returning the game because of the freeze problems and the amount of time that it took to publish a fix. My original mark for the game was a respectable 7.5 (out of 10).
My new marks for the game, given the continued issues and the lack of communication from 2KSports: 5.0 (out of 10). If you love baseball and have to have the game on your shiny Xbox 360, you have no choice, but I would (at least presently) consider other options, up to and including buying another platform -- such as a PS2 -- and a different game -- such as Sony's MLB 06: The Show -- to get your baseball fix from.
Good luck gamers, hope you all avoid the crap that serves as a minefield in the gaming environment out there. The best recommendation I can give you is to keep supporting great developers like the people at StarDock Corp. When you find developers that care that much about taking care of their customers, you really have to support them and hope they aren't run out of the business. They're far too few and far between.