Fielding: Always a problem?

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I have been playing baseball games since I was a teenager, largely because American propaganda really is that effective [insert relevant jokes that would get you banned and vilified here].

However, a problem I have been encountering constantly since that fateful 8-bit outing that kickstarted this whole thing for me is the fact that fielding was always horrible in games up to the PS2 era (unless you handed control of that aspect over to the computer).

Has this been your experience as well? Because mine certainly was...

It didn't matter if I was playing Major League Baseball on the NES, RBI Baseball '94 on the Mega Drive, or anything not called MLB 2K10 on the PS2 — my problems with balls reaching the outfield were so bad that I always had to out-pitch and out-gun the other team in order to win matches.

A fun concept for sure, but not one that was feasible or sustainable in the long run.

And hey, maybe that's how those games were MEANT to be played, but I kinda prefer my baseball games to resemble actual baseball — if we are both scoring a ton of runs, I'd like them to be earned rather than the result of a comedy of errors playing out all around the field (unless I'm playing with a friend, then the circus is welcome).

 

[MrSoFarAway]

I'm not a connoisseur of old baseball games. I jumped on this bandwagon a bit late; the oldest I played was Backyard Baseball '97 and/or '01, but I sympathize with the feeling. If the ball goes to my outfielders, it's like they are running in wet jeans. They are slow, they don't have the strength to throw a ball, and if they jump and don't catch the ball (panic state on), it's a safe passage to second base, sometimes 3rd. But I guess the old games prioritized batting more than pitching and fielding — and pitching a lot more than fielding.

 

[SamanthaSamantha's icon]

I'm not a connoisseur of old baseball games. I jumped on this bandwagon a bit late; the oldest I played was Backyard Baseball '97 and/or '01, but I sympathize with the feeling. If the ball goes to my outfielders, it's like they are running in wet jeans. They are slow, they don't have the strength to throw a ball, and if they jump and don't catch the ball (panic state on), it's a safe passage to second base, sometimes 3rd. But I guess the old games prioritized batting more than pitching and fielding — and pitching a lot more than fielding.

Thanks for replying man — was feeling a bit lonely here xD

I had completely forgotten about throwing strength, but that's its own circle of hell — some games had SEVERAL hoppers between the outfield and second and would hand you the ultimate humiliation: unearned inside-the-parkers -.-!

Old baseball games are amazing xD