MLB 2K10 Producer Q&A

ESPN has posted up a lengthy interview with MLB 2K10 producer Ben Bishop which offers a solid overview of the upcoming game. The topics discussed include reaction to 2K9, new features and the focus for this year, and some good info on the new My Player mode.

Our key goal on the gameplay side was really to bring out that intensity and that drama of the hitter versus pitcher battle. That battle is key to us and we really wanted to bring back the simulation aspect of it. We wanted to make it accessible to any type of player, but we really want to play up how whether you’re the hitter at the plate or the pitcher on the mound, you’re working for any little advantage you can get.

Later he goes on to talk about how they’re trying to encourage people to work the count more. This all sounds good in theory except to anyone who knows they took out the ability to check swing. “Working for any little advantage” is severely hampered when a batter can’t hold up on a swing. That is a big part of strategy based on quick and instinctual reaction in baseball and in video game representations.

For the most part everything else in the interview is encouraging from the admission that 2K9 was a mess to the way My Player mode is structured and progresses. It’s just stunning to have so much talk about the pitcher vs hitter battle and how they want to change the tendency of many to swing all the time when they have removed such a critical element of the sport from the game.