The Bigs - Gen. Discussion

[LinkinPrime]

I just attended a Conference Call with 2K sports about their new arcade baseball title ‘The Bigs” which is coming to Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, and PSP. During the Conference call one of the developers on “The Bigs” said that a demo is slated for release next week for the Xbox 360. No date was given but it will be a three inning demo for every 360 gamer to try out.

“The Bigs” is a over-the-top arcade baseball title which was developed by Blue Castle and published by 2K sports. The Conference Call did get me excited for this game but 2K sports wanted to make clear that this is not the next-generation version of Midway’s Slugfest (http://www.midway.com/page/Game_MLBSlugFest2006.html)
-Michael “Thrills Killa” Pacheco-
http://thexboxdomain.net/2007/06/21/the-bigs-demo-coming-next-week/

I don't usually ever play Baseball games, I might try it out. I know some of you have been waiting for this.

[richierich]

reminds me of that one Midway arcadey baseball game.

[I AM WILLIAM H. MACY]

Eh, any demo is cool, I'll take what I can get

[Cyb3-rr]

I'm not sure which version I'd get. The 360 for graphics or Wii for controls. That is assuming that they don't botch this and it controls similar to Wii Sports.

[Weedy649]

Thanks for making the thread Linkin, ive been searching for The Bigs official thread and couldnt find any/didnt want to make one.

Im interested to see how this turns out. I already own MLB2k7 so the reviews will have to win me over but its been a while since i played an arcade baseball game.

Btw i think the title you speak of rich is Slug Fest.

[LinkinPrime]

Thanks for making the thread Linkin, ive been searching for The Bigs official thread and couldnt find any/didnt want to make one.

Im interested to see how this turns out. I already own MLB2k7 so the reviews will have to win me over but its been a while since i played an arcade baseball game.

Btw i think the title you speak of rich is Slug Fest.
I didn't want to create it either...Just didn't see it posted and I know some of you were looking forward to the game. I don't follow sport games so I won't be updating this as I usually do.

[hhhdx4]

The lack of coverage this game is getting has me worried, but ill try the demo out.

[Weedy649]

First review is a good one

1up gives it an 8.5 (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3160561)

Now I'm interested :D

[mr ryles]

reminds me of that one Midway arcadey baseball game.

That my friend would be slugfest. Either way I should hopefully have this from gamefly by the end of the week, no need for a demo for me I know I am going to love it. I've always been a fan of NFL BLitz (except the newest one, bleh) NHL Hitz, MLB SLugfest, and there was also a soccer one but I forget what it was called. I think Red card or something along those lines.

Can't wait to play this.

[gamefan1686]

First review is a good one

1up gives it an 8.5 (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3160561)

Now I'm interested :D


That review got me interested as well, I cant wait for the demo.

[Weedy649]

Gamespot 8.0
1up.com 8.5
IGN 8.3

This game is batting 3/3 now :D

Im picking it up for sure now.

[dserafin1986]

Any CAG's pick this up yet???

[mr ryles]

Any CAG's pick this up yet???

is this the official thread?

I got it today and AM enjoying it so far. Haven't tried the rookie challenge yet, which is supposed to be the main attraction to this game I guess. So far I've only played 1 game and got my ass kicked.

I've been mesmerized by this pinball homerun mode. It seemed a little cheesy at first, but damn it is addicting. You are standing in time square, don't worry there is no moving traffic. The pitcher just starts out throwing fastballs, fairly easy stuff. As you go on he starts throwing in curves and sliders and change ups. Then for the different signs/lights/cars/windows you hit you get points. Then just like in pinball if you hit a certain set of objects you can get a bonus (for example on the right side there is a sign that says parking, hit all the letters in the sign and you get a bonus). Bonus is sometimes an extra ball, 2x or sometimes a 3x multiplier.

You are given 3 balls at first. You have to swing at everything, you miss you lose a ball or if you don't swing you lose it. But every 50,000 points you get another ball.

My high score right now is around 350,000. The #1 guy right now is somewhere around 1.5 million.

[mr ryles]

After another day with it, I have to say it is pretty bleh. I don't know how it got the high ratings. As of now I would give it a 7 at the highest. I'm sure it is pretty fun multiplayer or over xbox live. I'll probably give xbox live a shot tomorrow.

[Graystone]

After another day with it, I have to say it is pretty bleh. I don't know how it got the high ratings. As of now I would give it a 7 at the highest. I'm sure it is pretty fun multiplayer or over xbox live. I'll probably give xbox live a shot tomorrow.

Whats made you change your mind?

is it the difficulty. I love a challenge. Nothing like screaming fuck you! at your tv.

[jkam]

I liked slugfest so I'll try out the demo.

[LinkinPrime]

Hmm...no demo announcement..wonder if the guy I quoted lied...

[Zurezo]

I hope not. I really want to demo this game. I want to buy it, but need to make sure its worth the $60

[mr ryles]

Whats made you change your mind?

is it the difficulty. I love a challenge. Nothing like screaming fuck you! at your tv.

The base running controls are horrible and ya the CPU does to some crazy wack shit that just makes you yell "Bull shit!!" at your TV. For instance the very first game I played. I was pitching the hitter lines the ball right back up at me. It bounces of the pitcher and goes flying into the stands for a ground rule double. Happened to me 3 times in the first game I played.
And as of now I have only hit one clean HR and that was with my power meter racked all the way so it is an instant HR as long as you make contact. But every time I hit a long ball the should be a HR the outfielder climbs the wall jumps 20 feet in the air, and he either catches it, or it bounces off his glove into the stands, or, this has happened a few times. He jumps to catch it, the ball bounces off his glove then back into play where another outfielder will catch it. Bull shit.

But again that homerun pinball mode is pretty sweet.

I've been playing on medium so I'm gonna turn it down to easy when I play next time see if it makes a difference.

[doubledown]

The base running controls are horrible and ya the CPU does to some crazy wack shit that just makes you yell "Bull shit!!" at your TV. For instance the very first game I played. I was pitching the hitter lines the ball right back up at me. It bounces of the pitcher and goes flying into the stands for a ground rule double. Happened to me 3 times in the first game I played.
And as of now I have only hit one clean HR and that was with my power meter racked all the way so it is an instant HR as long as you make contact. But every time I hit a long ball the should be a HR the outfielder climbs the wall jumps 20 feet in the air, and he either catches it, or it bounces off his glove into the stands, or, this has happened a few times. He jumps to catch it, the ball bounces off his glove then back into play where another outfielder will catch it. Bull shit.

But again that homerun pinball mode is pretty sweet.

I've been playing on medium so I'm gonna turn it down to easy when I play next time see if it makes a difference.

So, it's just like MLB 2K7 where the outfielders ROB all the HR's in that game also.....2K needs to get their baseball act together.

[tidwell]

Wow, it seems like a lot of you hate this game. I think it's pretty damn fun.

It was hard at first, but now most games are fairly tight.

BTW, anybody else have Justin Morneau on the cover, instead of Pujols?
(oh, and bonus points to having Okajima part of the roster update!!!)

[Weedy649]

I played the demo the day after i ordered it...it was ok.

Then i played it with a friend....outstanding! This game is so much fun to play! I think we must have played like 20 3 inning games in a row lol.

I cant wait to get my copy in now :)

edit: lmao i said 3 round innings...sorry we watched a lot of hajime no ippo after

[lordwow]

I loved this demo.

[mannysgoldglove]

I liked the demo but I hate Jim Edmonds even more now...

[Weedy649]

Also some impressions to how the game works...

first of all, i love the point meter that fills up as you strike out people or get base hits(double plays and stuff too). Its like the NBA Street trick meter but works A TON better in baseball

The best thing is that games dont have to be about home run derby. Getting base hits will work out better for you by raising your meter so it doesnt feel like any base hit is wasted. I like to think of it as momentum in a game by players getting on base makes you play better.

Another thing about the meter is that it doesnt make things too uneven like a gamebreaker can in NBA street(imo of course). It greatly increases your chances at a home run, which will give you some major offense and can also help you strike out a batter/steal some points on defense(no points stolen on offense though).

Next point- turbo. Turbo makes this game but doesnt break it. Using turbo is sort of hax but it goes away so fast that you need to use it strategically adding more depth to the game. You can use it to gun a runner out easily from the outfield, or oppositely to make sure a run beats the throw to the plate. You can speed up the pitch greatly as a pitcher or slow the ball down like the matrix when hitting. You gain turbo from doing things like throwing successful strikes, or can gain them batting by taking a ball.

It encourages batters to try to have a good eye, and discourages pitchers from throwing too many blatant balls. One time i was down to two strikes, pitcher threw a ball but i took it and it gave me enough turbo to use on the next pitch...next pitch was a home run :)

This game was done really well for a fun game to play with others, ill save my thoughts for single player but imo the whole point of playing arcade type sports games is to have a ton of laughs and a ton of fun with the person your playing against. I feel The Bigs has done an excellent job at that so far.

[shinryuu]

Played the demo, really fun. I don't think I would pay for a full game though, IMO its only worth a rental. It would be fun playing it at an arcade though.

[Logg]

I liked the demo and if and when this game is cheap I will buy it for sure.

[mr ryles]

After getting the hang of how the game operates it gets more fun. It's not really as hard now and knowing how to do all the tricks helps out.

[thamaster24]

Man, this is sick the last few times I played, I was playing HRP, and I got scores of 923,000; 955,000; and 988,000.

I almost punched the TV

[dserafin1986]

I wouldn't pay 10 dollars for this piece of shit.

Agreed...I'm really dissappointed with this game...I played the demo for 10 minutes...It's officially poop...Still waiting for Baseball Stars 2 on the VC to cure my baseball videogame fix...

[elwood731]

I found the demo to be incredibly fun and deep. I'd imagine most of those reacting negatively either 1) went in looking for a sim, which this obviously is not, or 2) simply don't understand how to play the game. I was frustrated at first too, but after a couple of games I got the hang of it and it's actually very, very good. Well worth at least a $30 buy.

[mr ryles]

Man, this is sick the last few times I played, I was playing HRP, and I got scores of 923,000; 955,000; and 988,000.

I almost punched the TV

I need to go back to that and work on getting 1 mil. I haven't tried it since the first day I bought it.

[thamaster24]

I need to go back to that and work on getting 1 mil. I haven't tried it since the first day I bought it.
Yeah I'll probably try and get the 1 mil again soon, the thing is on the two lower scores, he started throwing big heat, which the pitcher does eventually if you last long enough. But in the highest score I just kept missing regular pitches at the end, and I had 12,000 pts to go when big heat came, but only 3 pitches.

Damn changeup

[Jimbo Slice]

Yeah I'll probably try and get the 1 mil again soon, the thing is on the two lower scores, he started throwing big heat, which the pitcher does eventually if you last long enough. But in the highest score I just kept missing regular pitches at the end, and I had 12,000 pts to go when big heat came, but only 3 pitches.

Damn changeup

Yeah man, that damn Change-Up tricks me up. Earlier I was going for 500,000 and I got to like 430,000 with 6 pitches left and then I choked harder than Phil Mickelson. shit sucked so bad.

Got this game from Gamefly yesterday afternoon though, and it's pretty fun. Anyone still playing this? I really enjoy the Rookie Challenge mode, although I freakin hate the Stat Challenge / Scenario Thing "Steal a Base". That shit is seriously impossible.

[Ace!]

Yeah man, that damn Change-Up tricks me up. Earlier I was going for 500,000 and I got to like 430,000 with 6 pitches left and then I choked harder than Phil Mickelson. shit sucked so bad.

Got this game from Gamefly yesterday afternoon though, and it's pretty fun. Anyone still playing this? I really enjoy the Rookie Challenge mode, although I freakin hate the Stat Challenge / Scenario Thing "Steal a Base". That shit is seriously impossible.


Build up your turbo...and steal with your turbo boost...make sure they dont have turbo though :O

[ahou]

I recently just finished all the achievements on this one. Getting that 1 million on home run pinball quite the pain in the ass, once the big heat pitches started coming I only looked for changeups or curves but mainly changeups as the cpu usually uses that pitch more. My last 40,000 or so points just came from hitting the off speed stuff.

For the base stealing on the rookie challenge, its best to have at least a 4 star rating for running. As soon as the pitcher makes his motion to the plate start the runner, I usually have the LT held and spamed the Y button, never been picked off doing that. As ace said use turbo but if your ooponent has turbo your gonna be out every time.

[thamaster24]

Yeah man, that damn Change-Up tricks me up. Earlier I was going for 500,000 and I got to like 430,000 with 6 pitches left and then I choked harder than Phil Mickelson. shit sucked so bad.

Got this game from Gamefly yesterday afternoon though, and it's pretty fun. Anyone still playing this? I really enjoy the Rookie Challenge mode, although I freakin hate the Stat Challenge / Scenario Thing "Steal a Base". That shit is seriously impossible.
After a friend basically beat the AL season for me, I decided to try HRP again, now that to complete the game I only need the HRP and 15 perfect pitches achievement... of course after I get the hang of it a while, I score 976,000 ridiculous... If I get that close without getting 1 million again, I'm taking the game and lighting it on fire. Even though I wait on the offspeed stuff, the faster fastball he starts throwing kills me.

[thamaster24]

Also if anyone is still playing this and you want a monster team, (Even though I hate them) Get the Yankees. Everyone on my team had at least 4 and 5 stars in everything, except a few in power.

[lordwow]

I have this out from Gamefly. I'm a pretty big baseball fan and really enjoy the concept of The Bigs (arcade baseball), but there are some seriously lacking parts to the game:

First off, the lack of a true season mode kills any replay value. I played seasons and seasons of MVP Baseball 2005, but I'm glad I just rented this, after you play it through once (or twice if you want all the achievements), it's pretty bland. Why is there no roster management, contracts, trading, etc?

Probably my biggest aggravation is the ridiculous "great plays." I mean, every ground ball hit to the 2nd basemen suddenly turns into some magnificent play for the CPU. Though I can never seem to get it to work. The same with the wall grabs. Even the worst of the OFs seemingly always makes these ridiculous grabs. I'm all for those moves with some of the superb OFs (like the 5 star fielders), but 1 star fielders shouldn't be making those plays.

While stealing a player was pretty neat. I wish there was either more consequence or something to it. Maybe the computer would steal a player of yours if you lost, or you would play that team again later. It pretty much is just a team-stacking tool like trading all the good players to your teams in the roster management settings in a normal baseball game.

All and all, it's fun for about 10-15 hours, but I don't know if I'd ever play it again. A definite rental. Maybe purchase it if you have friends who want to play this with you a lot.