Here are baseball scores from OXM... (1 Viewer)

WSB 2K3 - 8.8
ASB 2004 - 7.7
HHB 2004 - 8.2
MVP Baseball - 8.4

I got these from another forum, I don't have the mag in front of me. World Series is looking good to me!

Just as I expected. From what i've read so far I had a feeling World Series would be the best followed by MVP Baseball. Right now i'm leaning towards MVP from what i've seen and heard so far. It just seems to have the most unique and innovative ideas. I also love the way it looks.



Dan.B

i'm getting hh and wsb since i didn't buy last years iterations of those titles. I am staying far, far away from any baseball game made by EA unti indepth impressions tell me otherwise.

I'm gonna hold out to see how Inside Pitch comes out. Being the only one with full Live support is a selling point but only if the game is any good. Otherwise I'll check them all out.

I'm waiting for Inside Pitch, as well. I don't have real high hopes for the game, but being the only XBL enabled baseball game this year makes it the only real viable option for me. I just won't play enough single player to make any of the others worthwhile for me. If IP doesn't pan out, quality-wise, then I guess I'll have to wait for next year... :frowning:

In depth review of HH for Xbox here

I tend to not like MS sports titls but...Inside Pitch hopefully changes my mind due to XBL...

Which of these games (or older titles) is good for just pick-up-and-play gaming? I have no interest in baseball stats or franchise or season modes, I just want to play the Red Sox versus the Orioles once in a while.

Anyone check out all the retro jerseys WSB2K3 is going to have? They look great.

http://www.sega.com/segasports/artic...ojerseys.jhtml

Am I wrong, or did I read somewhere that MVP didn't implement a functional bullpen? If so, that kills it for me, which is to bad.

I'm probably going to grab High Heat. WSB was fun last year, but its cursor based pitching/hitting system isn't baseball, at least to me. Unless its radically different from last year, you just don't see the walk/K ratios that are anything close to real life. Pitchers last to long, or don't fatigue accurately, which drove me nuts. High Heat has always done this very well, as well as the strategy.

Another positive for High Heat is that you can skip a lot of the meaningless animations, making for very short playing games. If I can squeeze more games into a season with HH, I'm happier. I think a lot of reviews mention that High Heats system is older. Fine in some ways, but its been the best, why change it? Cursor systems like WSB have been around longer, and are worse.

HH also has downloadable rosters, which I don't think WSB does.

WSB has the presentation nailed though.

Anyway, I'll most likely wait to see if Inside Pitch is halfway decent, otherwise I'll grab HH.

fyi... EGM liked HH the best (saying it was the obvious buy), as did GMR. I believe WSB was second choice in both mags though.

I personally think the cursor batting is more realistic. Wouldn't you think a real major league batter would try to put the head of the bat on the ball?

I don't think they pick a general vicinity(sp?) to swing at and let loose. That would be like a Barry Bonds thinking "Well, I think this fastball will be on the inside half of the plate, so I'll just swing there and hopefully I'll hit the ball."

Just my opinion, but I think the cursor batting is more realistic, which is why I'll be buying World Series 2k3. And hey, if you don't like the cursor batting, you can just simply turn it off and use the 'zone' batting. I'll definitely rent HH but I just don't think I will like it.

I disagree. One major problem with cursor pitching, how many pitchers do you know that can control the flight of the ball after it leaves their hands? Unless I'm missing something, Pedro can't steer the ball while in flight.

If you ignore that, the pitching is fairly similar. You aim at a zone, and the pitcher tries to hit it using ratings and fatigue. HH simulates fatigue better, so it wins there.

The cursor systems make you line up the ball a bit, as the ball comes in on a flatter trajectory then in HH. Otherwise, there'd be little challenge. You can still pull the ball in HH, hit it into the ground, etc., by swinging in the right zone.

Cursor hitting feels like pong/tennis to me. Lineup your paddle, and whack the ball. In HH, the pitches differ more. A changeup is a lot different then a fastball and curve. Its harder to get the timing down, and you'll really struggle if you are expecting one pitch.

Turning off the cursor really isn't the same. I did that last year. The problem, as mentioned above, is that pitches are to similar in WSB. I didn't feel the variety, so it was easier to time them, cursor system or not. I don't want to increase the difficulty by making the cursor smaller. I want to increase the difficulty by making a smarter pitcher, which HH has.

My other big complaint on WSB. The AI throws strikes, probably 90% of the time. Each at bat either results in a strikeout, or putting the ball in play. Walks are hard to come by. That's not realistic, and has more to do with the game then the cursor. WSB's cursor setup is by far the best of the bunch, but still lacking.

WSB play was basically timing pitches with a paddle, and hitting from good pitches (most were strikes). HH was watching pitches, determing if its a ball/strike, and then timing the swing. Quite a few balls are thrown in HH. Chase a lot of balls in HH, you get more. That's baseball to me.

I find it interesting that EA dropped the cursor system as well this year, for something better.

Give HH a try for a bit, you may be surprised, if you don't let the graphics influence (which Sega does better). HH also does a lot of little gameplay things better (bunts, double steals, pitcher management, etc.) I definitely think HH is the best baseball simulator. I think WSB has a better UI and menu setup though. WSB may have a better franchise. I spent a lot of playtime in the franchise mode last year, after I tired of WSB's baseball sim.

I've noticed a trend in the reviews. Reviews that talk more about the graphics and presentation like WSB. The reviews that talk more about baseball and its various strategies like HH more.

Actually, EGM had WSB #1 with MVP #2 and HH #3. The reviews were based on many different things including field control, presentation, batter/picture interface, franchise mode, etc... High Heat was rated only above ASB. Of course, since some people don't care as much about graphics and presentation, then you might have a different review. But that is how EGM rated them.

I'm with Scott on this one. I've tried tons of baseball games over the years, and only High Heat seems to come close to being a good baseball simulation.

Here's why (in JoshF's opinion):

• The computer actually walks you sometimes.
• Pitcher fatigue matters, and you have to get a pitcher up in the bullpen ahead of time.
• You can tweak the simulation settings on virtually everything (pitch speed, runner speed, human speed, variable umpiring), making this game the game YOU want it to be.
• Variable umpires. You know how it goes from being a baseball fan - one umpire's strike zone isn't another's.
• Hustle on slow-rollers. I love it when the runner furiously heads toward first on a slow roller, head down, arms in the air if he gets the call.
• Brushbacks. If your guy hit a home run the last time up, he just might get some chin music.
• Few home runs. When I tried ASB and Triple Play, every other at bat resulted in a home run.
• On and off days. Sometimes your guys are in the middle of a streak. Sometimes they're slumping. This goes for pitchers, too - sometimes they just lose the strikezone like in real baseball.
• Ejections. Argue with a call too much, and you're out of the game.
• Fieldable infield. ASB was so bad that I had to switch to computer-assisted infielding.

This is the first year that I really don't have any clue as to which game I'm buying....

In the beginning of gaming for me it was "RBI Baseball" and "Hardball" then it was on to "Triple Play". Finally I settled in with the "High Heat" series (after a buddy told me how good it was) and I haven't looked back.

I can't really decide at all...not only what game to buy but for what platform? XBOX or PC

I really like the look of WSB 2K3 from Sega...but why in the heck is this game not on XBOX Live???? (NFL is, NHL is, why no WSB???) This is a majot setback for XBOX live - I really think they could have sold alot of Live accounts with a good baseball title.

I like the dowloadable roster updates from HH via XBOX live - HH on the PC has always been alot of fun for me. Especially with all the downloads that are out there on the net (batter Walkups, etc)

So - I don't know what I'm going to do:frowning:

Are you sure High Heat has downloadable rosters on live? I was under the impression that only ASB 2004 and Inside Pitch were going to have that feature(though Inside Pitch will also have head to head play). It's really a tough choice for me. I think I'm gonna wait until Inside Pitch comes out. I'll be done with school by then so I can try them all out and see which one I prefer.

Straight from 3d0's website:

"Download new content on Xbox Live™ including team roster updates."

I still don't think I'll be buying HH though, I think I'm going with WSB2k3.

EGM gave High Heat a 9.0. I don't have the magazine with me, but I don't think MVP was even rated. What issue are you looking at, the one with Zelda on the cover? WSB was rated though.

Everything I've read says High Heat on the XBox has downloadable rosters. How well that works though, is up to debate, as nothing from Sega has impressed me so far.

If you've played and liked High Heat in the past, I think WSB will disappoint. It bothered me. WSB has a great franchise mode though, but High Heat's is a bit better with full minor leagues. WSB has more polish there.

Going from High Heat's pitching interface / AI to WSB is a big letdown. However, if you've never played High Heat, you may like WSB for its polish. Its a very good game in its own right, but doesn't come close to playing baseball like High Heat does.

MVP looks really cool as well, looks like the hitting/pitching interface one ups High Heat in some ways, and the fielding setup looks great. But, MVP may lack on some of the strategies of the game, like warming up relief pitchers, etc.

Rent them all, play a few games of each, then decide.

The current EGM (April 2003) rates High Heat a 9.0, WSB gets three 8's, with complaints about the batting cursor.

Were you talking about another magazine Keith?

GMR rates all 4:

High Heat 9
WSB 8
MVP 7
ASB 7

A couple more reasons after playing High Heat today that I love it:

• Passed balls on 3rd strike resulting in a man on first if you don't throw it to first in time.
• Realistic errors.
• Wild pitches.
• Infield popups with the infield fly rule.
• Slurves.