I hope you guys enjoyed this video! It’s meant to be a brief overview of the MLB 2K series and its fall. If you want me to go more in depth on a specific title and its features & gameplay, let me know and I’ll add it to my list of retrospectives to work on!
What about Madden 10 Softdrink? Everyone talks about 12 being the the best one on the PS3 but I feel like 10 is the best gameplay and presentation wise and replay ability.
Sports gaming as a whole has gone completely down hill. I was starting to think I was just being negative. You should do a video on the rise and fall of Tiger Woods PGA tour games or golf games as a whole. I remember getting so excited about Rory McElroy PGA Tour and it was complete junk. EA has became a brand instead of making great games. Thanks for the good content!
It used to be perfectly possible to put out good games in a year like GTA3 to VC. Those days are long gone and good yearly releases from a single studio are impossible but sports games haven't evolved to deal with this fact.
I personally believe it’s because none of the big sports games have like any competition, Nfl only has madden, basketball only has 2k and the same with other sportd
MLB The Show was great at first, but like Madden they have failed to be innovative due to lack of competition. Now they too just trot out the same mess every year with minimal to no improvements. Downhill indeed
I'd love to see a retrospective on the short lived MLB Power Pros series. While cartoony and arcadey, it was a blast. I put so many hours into MLB Power Pros 2008 back in the day.
only the MLB version was short lived, the NPB version has been going since the Super Famicom and is still being released bi-yearly in Japan. I would also love to hear about Pawapuro/Power Pros, Konami's arcade-y, super-deformed baseball game franchise.
Success mode and MLB Life had one of the best created player modes in sports gaming history. You could buy a house, get a hobby, buy vehicles, befriend teammates, even get married and have kids in MLB Life.
I'd like to see an overall video on the 2003-2005 series of sports video games. When EA, 2K, Sony, and even others were all fiercely competing in NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL at once. It was a golden era.
I didn't play much of those games growing up as I'm brazilian, but I'm a soccer fan and this time was actually pretty great for soccer too. Fifa had fierce competition with Winning Eleven at the time and heck, people still play modded Winning Eleven 9/PES 5 to this day in Brazil. Original Fifa Street was great and followed the path of NBA Street, which was really fun. I've grown to love baseball and played most mlb the show since '15 (skipped '19 and '21) and the game really feels stagnated. For real, MVP 2005 is the pinnacle of baseball games and I have more fun with it than The Show, despite not having nostalgic attachments to it. I miss ps2 days and companies competing with good products.
I been stuck at home with Covid for over a week so whipped out the ole PS2 and fired up 2k5, so great!! And the nostalgia with those players from that era was the cherry on top!!
12:58 The team at Kush Games that developed MLB 2K7 was actually led by the lead developer of MVP Baseball 2005 (Ben Brinkman) for that release, which is why the game feels and plays different, and reviewed higher vs MLB 2K6, which was universally panned the year prior. MLB 2K7 was part of a planned three year overhaul for the series with Brinkman leading the team, but unfortunately Kush was no longer involved with the development of MLB 2K by the time 2K9 was released in favor of Visual Concepts, which is why 2K8 and 2K9 look and feel different. The series ended up being fully developed by a separate team at Visual Concepts (who makes the NBA 2K games) moving forward until MLB 2K13. I think Kush initially brought Ben on board after 2K made their deal with MLB to be the exclusive third party developer for MLB licensed titles, and EA was stuck with making NCAA Baseball 06 and 07. I'm of the firm belief that had Brinkman been able to fully realize his team's 3 year roadmap that he started with 2K7, the MLB 2K brand would have been saved. Brinkman now works at EA (full circle, right?) under Respawn working on Apex Legends.
@@judah_macabe normally those guys are just joke easter egg players but I remember in one of my MLB 2K8 saves Eric Ravenscroft broke out and became a genuinely useable 9-hole CF a-la Craig Gentry
@@poofpiff3195 it's 2022 now. I haven't made such a video since last year. I don't plan on making another until it feels necessary, which shouldn't be until Madden 23 releases at the earliest. .... also I thought my subs liked those videos. They get the most views! Pleasing an audience is confusing and hard man. I'm trying my best
@@SOFTDRINKTV i didn’t mean it in a mean way, i love the vids and have been subscribed for years, i just feel like sometimes you fall into the madden bad trope and some of your videos i find them repetitive. love your channel though, and think you’re really good at making videos i just would be interested in seeing more different sports games
Growing up with a 360 during those MLB games from 2k6-2k11 is pure nostalgia. One of the biggest turn offs I had with MLB 2k was in 2k9 big FAs would hit the market in franchise mode and would remain unsigned due to teams not having the cap space.
I still think 2005 had the best sports games. MVP baseball 05, espn 2k5, madden 05 and even allstar baseball are still my favorite sports games. World series baseball 96 was my favorite for a long time
And Kobe Bryant's basketball games I can't even remember the name now I still have a memory to this day from 6:00 or 7 years old of hitting a three-pointer to win the game with Shaq back when I recorded clips by my system yellow white blue cord being plugged in to the VCR and the VCR plugged into the cable to the TV and setting the second tape insertion in with a blank tape running a replay on the game and hitting a record on the VCR like I was going to record a movie Man wish I had some of those tapes I would literally have a player montage for Madden NCAA for a whole career college to pro way before anybody else was really doing it had a spike pass interception still might be the greatest play I've ever seen
Great video. I was a huge 2k fan. Also a finalist in the 2k12 perfect club show on Spike TV where 8 of us competed for a million dollars. Got to meet all the 2k big shots, media people, and developers as this was at the time the biggest purse for a video game contest. Love the video and agree with what you say about when you take competition away the games get worse. Also LOVED the old World Series baseball games!!
I won a Sega Genesis console and World Series Baseball in a contest in '94. Can't tell you how many hours I've spent on it as a young teen. I don't game anymore and I feel kinda bummed out to learn that such a great game went down the drain over the years...
Personally, I always liked 2k and the show for different reasons, it's a shame 2k pretty much gave up at the end. After MVP Baseball ended (05 is still my favorite baseball game ever), I tried mlb 2k5 and the show 06. The show had and has always had better gameplay. In my opinion though, 2k always had the better presentation and unlockables. The show made me feel like I was playing real baseball that had the MLB in it. 2k, especially early on, felt like a better MLB game even if the baseball gameplay was slightly more arcadey. Idk if that makes sense but I hope it does. Made me sad to see 2k go. I'm glad the show has improved so much since then, I don't miss it as much now, but I have so many memories on those ps2 2k games. I always preferred to play 2k on the ps2 even though the show was fun as well.
You should do “the fall of Mlb the show” while you’re at it. The game is following the Madden model with very limited improvement year over year. But some would argue that it’s just wonderful because there’s a few new trading cards with a cool design and 115 pwr/r
i grew up with the only baseball game i owned being world series baseball ‘95 on the genesis. played the hell out of that thing every summer break. then mlb 2k9 came out with tim lincecum on the cover and 9 year old me had to have it because he was my favorite player. finally got it on ps2 and me and my brother spent countless hours playing gm mode. eventually got the pc version which is the same as the ps3/360 version and yeah it was buggy as hell but again me and my brother played the hell out of it. a few years later mlb the show finally got my attention and i started really seeing how messy the last few 2k games were, but i’ll always have love for them just from all the memories. props to softdrink for another banger of a video as usual
Mlb 2k12 wasn’t too bad. I actually think it was pretty good and had great graphics for the time that still look good by today’s standards, also not to mention the great commentary team with a great game day atmosphere and presentation.
17:21 what's mind-blowing, and something I loved about the old 2k games is the fact that the animation after a P throws the ball, is complete with the catcher throwing it back to the pitcher. Not like current The show games when it happens rarely 🤔
Great video... best baseball game I ever played in my life is MVP Baseball 2003. That was basically the introduction of the modern baseball game . I still even change MLB the Shows controls to same ones introduced in MVP baseball.
I had World Series Baseball on the Genesis and loved it, I even had that goofy blue bat controller for it. Never knew that it had a direct lineage to the 2k games. Great content as always!
What about MLB Pennant Race? That preceded MLB 98 from 989 Studios. It was so hyped and got delayed numerous times. I just remember how slow it played and you could cheese a hit with a bunt every time.
This video reminded me we haven't had a sim baseball game on PC since 2K13 and that sucks. Good video though I like how you went all the way back to show the full history of the series
Agree with everything you say, especially about the show. The fact that a company has shown it is capable of greatness each year yet does not fully deliver on it without any competition says a lot. Even great developers need that motivation
Competition is what made and what killed Sport Games. Honestly, we loved it that there was a diverse selection of games, but companies wanted to one up each other so much that buying the license was the only true way to get ahead.
U make awesome videos.I appreciate how in depth, and all the footage, and history of the games. World Series on sega Saturn was amazing they had a farm system and by far my favorite baseball game I’ve ever played.
I remember loving 2K8. Not always for the gameplay but the atmosphere, commentary, deep rosters, soundtrack, and franchise. I would rename all the fake named prospects every time even if the save got halted halfway through. I continued that tradition on through 2K12 and had a good amount of fun with franchise. I remember it being interesting with the morale things in 2K8 and dynamic ratings/potential in 2K11 or so. But I always did wanna try The Show and it was clear by the end that us XBOX players were missing out. The graphics were OK for the time but always looked a little goofy or arcadey, and the sliding or ball into glove glitches were everywhere
MLB 2k 13 was one of my first video games, and as an Xbox user and baseball fan I will always see it positively with nostalgia. Tough to look back on it like this
I'm glad this video was made. I started playing 2K with 2K7 and you could see that steadily the quality began to falter and with The Show gaining more and more with each release. Stopped with 2K12 after playing MLB The Show for the first time. Couldn't be bothered with 2K and apparently neither could they.
_All-Star Baseball 2005_ was actually for the 2004 season, and the last in that series. By the time 2005 rolled around, Acclaim was already bankrupt and out of business. Speaking of Ben Brinkman, he was a (key) producer for EA's _MVP Baseball_ series. 2K Sports brought him in July 2006 as an executive producer for their baseball franchise. He, however, only lasted until March 2008, around the time _MLB 2K8_ was released. After a solid outing with _MLB 2K7_ and starting that 3 year plan off pretty well, _MLB 2K8_ lacked a consistent vision of what it wanted to accomplish and wasn't polished anywhere near the quality the previous game was. It was at that point, I think, 2K already had one of their feet out the door and just wanted their exclusive 3rd party license with MLB to end. _MLB 2K9_ was an unfinished, broken mess. (Kush Games was removed as developers for _2K9_ in favor of a team at Visual Concepts; and the final product reflected that.) The final 4 games, even if Visual Concepts cleaned up the game from the disaster that was the 2009 edition, were best remembered as the games that allowed someone to win a million dollars if they were the first to pitch a perfect game. Even _MLB 2K13_ was an "11th hour" decision. 2K renewed their license for one year, and released something less than a roster update; that game removed online leagues! Regardless, great video once again!
Personally I loved the all-star games, they weren't easy to get in the UK but worth it for the amount of detail, baseball history and love poured into them even if they were flawed they were close to virtual museums and dripping nostalgia and atmosphere.
@@jdevlin1910 I have been playing ASB 2003 regularly for the last year or so and would say that even despite years of playing 2K, MVP, the Show, etc nothing comes close for me. It goes well beyond the nostalgia of The Natural theme music, the stadium tours, and players of that timeframe - the reward when you master the hitting rivals few things I've ever experienced in video games. The hitting and pitching AI is excellent in terms of being able to pick up on pitchers and their patterns for pitch sequence, places they attack the zone, etc. Some small bugs in gameplay here and there on defense, but animations in terms of swings, windups, running etc are all so great compared to what I just watched above for a 2K game made 10 years later. You're also 100% right about the love they poured into their games - I think it's so cool how they provided so much info about the devs and producers behind the game via the special features section, so you knew just how passionate they were about both baseball and the project itself. It truly surprised me that it wasn't just nostalgia that fueled my love for that game when I fired it up again after all these years, and for a series that has largely been forgotten with time, was nice to see your comment and know someone else had an appreciation for it.
989 Sports had a bit of a weird naming convention with its MLB titles. The 2004 season's installment was called MLB 2005, while the 2005 season's installment was called MLB 2006. It wasn't until San Diego Studios took over and The Show moniker was adopted that the year in the title corresponded to the year of the season.
When you said there's no competition in sports games bruh I felt that I mean just to name a few NBA had NBA JAM, NBA STREET, NBA, BALLERS, NBA LIVE, NBA 2k while the NFL had Madden , NFL 2k, NFL Street , & NFL Blitz MLB had ASB, MLB 2k MLB series/ MLB The Show, MLB Slugfest and even The Bigs 1 & 2 so much variety now there's what 1 baseball game 1 football game 1 basketball game its stagnant and its led to lackluster products
When i bought MLB 2K11 nothing about NBA story mode was on my mind. Nor anything the series had previously done with MLB games. i was a first time MLB game buyer and Roy Halladay on cover put me over the top on it. For unbiased perspective and a real overview of the game, i loved it. It was an amazing game granted their was some things i wish i could have solved in My Career mode that couldnt. But overall GREAT.
I was ready to get a Dreamcast just for 2K1 until they announced no fielding and then noped out huge when they announced no fielding. Ended up going PS2 instead, so thanks? I guess to the morons who made that decision and saved me getting 2 consoles that generation.
It did take away a little bit from the game but that game was extremely fun for the time. Hitting and pitching were very sharp. One of the first baseball games I enjoyed
It was an arcade game called World Series 99 that got ported over.....most Dreamcast games were arcade ports......NBA 2K was known as Virtua NBA in the arcades.......Virtua Tennis was.....Virtua Tennis.....but it was definitely a system that excelled in arcade style games. I personally loved it, but many others craved something deeper.
I remember thinking at the time, “He’ll yeah 2K, take that MLB from EA after they screwed us from your football games!” Little did I know what the outcome would be 20 years later
I remember the first time I played the original World Series Baseball on the genesis. We'd gotten my grandmother the sega channel, not long after it launched. And WSB was one of the first games that it had. I played that game for hours. It was the first game to have both an MLB and MLBPA lisence. I didn't know who some of the players were, but looking back, it was amazing.
If you've ever played them, it'd be cool if you did a retrospective for "The Bigs" series. Was a refreshing brief return of great arcade style baseball that we unfortunately haven't seen since.
It's interesting because The Bigs series is what actually got me into the game of baseball. That and MLB Slugfest. Imagine a modern version of The Bigs or MLB Slugfest! That would bring in a lot more competition since MLB The Show is really all we have. If The Show is all we're gonna have for awhile in terms of actual gameplay, then it better improve soon because it's been getting more bland for awhile now. I'd love to see MLB2K and MVP Baseball make a comeback someday fr 💯🙏 Even All Star Baseball would be interesting to see make a comeback 💯🙏
I've been playing WSB 2k2 on my Dreamcast Emulator lately and it's been fucking fun playing a game back when they cared about the end result and not the profit margin
My friend and I used to go at it in mlb 2k. Specifically 2k10, 11, and 12. We would do fantasy drafts and use the first 25 option, which allowed user controlled teams to draft 25 players each before the computer could draft. Basically each of us had all star teams. And they would perform as such. We’d sim the whole season and play each other in the World Series every year. Things were really competitive until 2k12 when I guess I figured it all out. I had something like 24 titles compared to his one in 2k12. But that never stopped him from trying. Lefty pitchers were essentially useless in that game besides Chapman and his 105 mph fastball. And then I didn’t play another mlb game til the show came to Xbox. Good times regardless.
Great retrospective as always. It's nice to have a sports video game focused channel, even if the genre is in an overall rought spot right now. I'd like to see your take on a retrospective on soccers games/franchises.
I grew up playing the 2K games all the way up to 2K13, but once I got on the Show, there was no going back. That being said, even though MLB the Show does overly prioritize DD, the MUT equivalent, they still put out a good product despite having basically no competition.
And even with DD, it’s not even remotely close to being money hungry. DD gives you so many good cards for free, so many ways to earn card for free. That’s probably the biggest difference between all other MUTs
I remember when the Xbox 360 came out and I played 2k on it and as soon as I seen their Jerseys move in the wind I was hooked lol,but The Show is definitely the much smoother game,it's like watching a real ball game
With the current state of Pro Evolution Soccer (also known as Winning Eleven, though now known as eFootball), maybe a video on the fall of that series could be documented as well? Their recent release seemed to be the nail in the coffin for that series, with FIFA 22 seeming like a masterpiece compared to it.
Very sad that Konami won't be using their engine for their Pro Evolution Soccer games. I believe the same probably applies to their Pro Yakyuu Spirits baseball game which feel more better/realistic than any other current baseball game and the crowd is awesome too.
Not sure about The Show these days, as I haven't played in a few years, but when I did, I was disappointed in it for the simple fact they didn't have my favourite pitch, which 2K did unless the pitch was/is under a different name. That pitch is the Eephus.
I had trouble tracking pitches when batting in the mid-2000's 2K series games. The framerate just wasn't there compared to MVP. MLB The Show did finally catch up, but it took a while. But the funny thing is, most of the gameplay features from MVP are now in MLB The Show.
MLB 2K11 was the one for me - the only game in the series to be released on PAL territories, including and especially the UK. However, I got the NTSC version 'cause it was cheap. It was only later on that I began to obtain and appreciate MLB:The Show, thanks to the PS3's relatively hassle free region-free adaptability. What got me playing 2K11 was the fact that you could also play Triple -A and Double-A teams in the game, although regrettably you couldn't play a MLB team against a Triple-A team. It got me interested in minor league baseball too, if only to have a laugh at the team names.
MLB The Show USED to be great, but like Madden they have failed to be innovative due to lack of competition. Now they too just trot out the same mess every year with minimal to no improvements. Thanks to lemmings that accept whatever mess they give them
I'm in the UK....I had a X- box 360 first but then I ALSO got myself an PS3....Why ?....well not just for The Show but also for NCAA football which I could import from the States or Canada and which would play direct on my standard PS3....if I wanted to play American games on my X-box it meant having to buy an NTSC console (as we have the PAL format here in Europe )...so for myself the going forward the PS3 was the no brainer.... I'm back on Xbox Series S now though ...mainly because I knew it (The Show) was getting a release on that console too and I love the fact it has cross platform play! Prior to The Show my all time favourite baseball game had to be MVP baseball 2004 . Great video this...keep em coming 👍
Probably the best sports game I've ever played was MVP baseball 2004 or 2005 for PS2,it was the one with Manny Ramirez in the cover and Boston had just won the world series. Man what a great game that was and the soundtrack was amazing. Then a year or two later they stopped making those MLB games and started making college baseball games and they weren't nearly as good. MVP baseball 2004 is the best sports game I've ever played,some great memories.
The mid 2000s were a Golden Age of Baseball games. All Star Baseball was my favorite or the groups. The advanced gameplay these days for is pretty much identical to Acclaim's All Star Baseball stuff. They were the only ones doing Letter Grades. Most of the create a team options are from ASB 04 and 05. It was a great game. Sidenote. Triple Play Baseball 99 on the N64 was also great. Classic Game. When I was a kid I got beat so badly by my friend in it once that he swapped teams with me halfway through and still came back to win from being down 20 something runs. I learned why you shouldn't just play on easy mode that day.
Great video... Back in the 2000's my favorite baseball games was All Star Baseball 04&05... I played all of the other games but ASB was my favorite.. I spent hours on it.. Since I'm a Xbox guy I was super excited for The Show 21.. That all I played for a couple months... I probably will do the same when show 22 comes out in a couple months
Awesome video softdrink. Please consider an in depth discussion of all the market participants in 2005. I would love to see them compared and contrasted.
I remember playing World Series Baseball when I was about 10 years old with my dad several times a week and him letting me win. I remember picking the Mariners for Griffey, Rodriguez, Martinez, and Johnson every single game and we only played at fenway. It was such a fun game.
If 2k would have had better graphics and better motion capture for the players, the show would have had some serious competition. Now mlb the show is just releasing the same game year after year. 2k had better presentation and the world baseball classics.
Mlb 2k7 was my first baseball game ever. I had a blast with it and I still have a soft spot for it. I was so frustrated with how bad Mlb 2k13 was and when I got my first PlayStation to buy Mlb the show 18 I’ve been happy ever since
I hope you guys enjoyed this video! It’s meant to be a brief overview of the MLB 2K series and its fall. If you want me to go more in depth on a specific title and its features & gameplay, let me know and I’ll add it to my list of retrospectives to work on!
Please do one on the show
do a NHL 2k video
Do one on NASCAR Dirt to Daytona.
What about Madden 10 Softdrink? Everyone talks about 12 being the the best one on the PS3 but I feel like 10 is the best gameplay and presentation wise and replay ability.
How about All-Star Baseball? That was the series I played growing up before it was canceled.
I was a victim of being squeezed out by both EA and 2K. I played MVP Baseball and NFL 2K. Within months I lost both to exclusive deals.
Wat
Same here. I will say though I like mlb the show. I hate madden though
I’m so sorry
This. As a Gamer I lost 2 of my favorite games in different sports to petty bs.
I feel this
Sports gaming as a whole has gone completely down hill. I was starting to think I was just being negative. You should do a video on the rise and fall of Tiger Woods PGA tour games or golf games as a whole. I remember getting so excited about Rory McElroy PGA Tour and it was complete junk. EA has became a brand instead of making great games. Thanks for the good content!
What did you make of the 2K21 effort?
It used to be perfectly possible to put out good games in a year like GTA3 to VC. Those days are long gone and good yearly releases from a single studio are impossible but sports games haven't evolved to deal with this fact.
I personally believe it’s because none of the big sports games have like any competition, Nfl only has madden, basketball only has 2k and the same with other sportd
MLB The Show was great at first, but like Madden they have failed to be innovative due to lack of competition. Now they too just trot out the same mess every year with minimal to no improvements. Downhill indeed
Lol gang. EA has officially become all name, no game.
I'd love to see a retrospective on the short lived MLB Power Pros series. While cartoony and arcadey, it was a blast. I put so many hours into MLB Power Pros 2008 back in the day.
It’s a shame Konami has never opted to localize the Power Pro Yakuu games since, as they still are ongoing over in Japan.
only the MLB version was short lived, the NPB version has been going since the Super Famicom and is still being released bi-yearly in Japan.
I would also love to hear about Pawapuro/Power Pros, Konami's arcade-y, super-deformed baseball game franchise.
It was incredible
@@codyssmith73 The Pro Yakyuu Spirits games are also Konami’s more realistic baseball game, kinda like the show.
Success mode and MLB Life had one of the best created player modes in sports gaming history. You could buy a house, get a hobby, buy vehicles, befriend teammates, even get married and have kids in MLB Life.
I'd like to see an overall video on the 2003-2005 series of sports video games. When EA, 2K, Sony, and even others were all fiercely competing in NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL at once. It was a golden era.
Best era ever.!!
Though we would have gotten better.!
Still competition in all sports
Disagree, The Show trounced any baseball games from the era.
I didn't play much of those games growing up as I'm brazilian, but I'm a soccer fan and this time was actually pretty great for soccer too. Fifa had fierce competition with Winning Eleven at the time and heck, people still play modded Winning Eleven 9/PES 5 to this day in Brazil. Original Fifa Street was great and followed the path of NBA Street, which was really fun.
I've grown to love baseball and played most mlb the show since '15 (skipped '19 and '21) and the game really feels stagnated. For real, MVP 2005 is the pinnacle of baseball games and I have more fun with it than The Show, despite not having nostalgic attachments to it. I miss ps2 days and companies competing with good products.
I been stuck at home with Covid for over a week so whipped out the ole PS2 and fired up 2k5, so great!! And the nostalgia with those players from that era was the cherry on top!!
Love those kinda days
12:58 The team at Kush Games that developed MLB 2K7 was actually led by the lead developer of MVP Baseball 2005 (Ben Brinkman) for that release, which is why the game feels and plays different, and reviewed higher vs MLB 2K6, which was universally panned the year prior. MLB 2K7 was part of a planned three year overhaul for the series with Brinkman leading the team, but unfortunately Kush was no longer involved with the development of MLB 2K by the time 2K9 was released in favor of Visual Concepts, which is why 2K8 and 2K9 look and feel different. The series ended up being fully developed by a separate team at Visual Concepts (who makes the NBA 2K games) moving forward until MLB 2K13.
I think Kush initially brought Ben on board after 2K made their deal with MLB to be the exclusive third party developer for MLB licensed titles, and EA was stuck with making NCAA Baseball 06 and 07. I'm of the firm belief that had Brinkman been able to fully realize his team's 3 year roadmap that he started with 2K7, the MLB 2K brand would have been saved.
Brinkman now works at EA (full circle, right?) under Respawn working on Apex Legends.
brinkman got lucky with mvp, 2k7 proved it
Mvp 05 is the greatest baseball game ever. The show can never compare and never will
I feel like I went to school with Ben and his brother Adam. Both are listed as minor league players on one of the A's minor league teams in mvp 2005.
@@judah_macabe normally those guys are just joke easter egg players but I remember in one of my MLB 2K8 saves Eric Ravenscroft broke out and became a genuinely useable 9-hole CF a-la Craig Gentry
Softdrinktv is so underrated. The video quality and editing is amazing
only problem is he reverts to “madden bad” content where he repeats the same points over and over
@@poofpiff3195 it's 2022 now. I haven't made such a video since last year. I don't plan on making another until it feels necessary, which shouldn't be until Madden 23 releases at the earliest.
.... also I thought my subs liked those videos. They get the most views! Pleasing an audience is confusing and hard man. I'm trying my best
@@SOFTDRINKTV i didn’t mean it in a mean way, i love the vids and have been subscribed for years, i just feel like sometimes you fall into the madden bad trope and some of your videos i find them repetitive. love your channel though, and think you’re really good at making videos i just would be interested in seeing more different sports games
Well this was a video about MLB 2K so I think your wish is coming true
@@SOFTDRINKTV that is true, hopefully you continue to prove me wrong ! love the content man and keep it up
Awesome! Now you should do the NHL 2k series. But more of a retrospective because nhl 2k didn't necessarily take a downfall. Would love that!
It died before the true downfall
I’d argue it took a step back with 2K9 before 10 & 11 were a return to form but weren’t there graphically.
NHL 2K5 was legendary
I still play 2k10 with updated rosters. A bit outdated but still plays a decent game.
@@epatetta how?
Great Video! I hope we get an NHL2K retrospective next!
Growing up with a 360 during those MLB games from 2k6-2k11 is pure nostalgia. One of the biggest turn offs I had with MLB 2k was in 2k9 big FAs would hit the market in franchise mode and would remain unsigned due to teams not having the cap space.
That still happens in nba 2k24 lol, ya it kinda ruins the realness of doing seasons mode... teams will also sign 3 pf's and have no sg
which mlb 2k game is the best in your opinion?
Been waiting for this! Not even a minute in and I already LOVE IT
I still think 2005 had the best sports games. MVP baseball 05, espn 2k5, madden 05 and even allstar baseball are still my favorite sports games. World series baseball 96 was my favorite for a long time
This just makes me want a retrospective of Allstar Baseball and Quarterback Club series.
Came here to say the exact same thing
Quarterback club was a great series, I miss that game
Quarterback club was always my favorite football game
And Kobe Bryant's basketball games I can't even remember the name now I still have a memory to this day from 6:00 or 7 years old of hitting a three-pointer to win the game with Shaq back when I recorded clips by my system yellow white blue cord being plugged in to the VCR and the VCR plugged into the cable to the TV and setting the second tape insertion in with a blank tape running a replay on the game and hitting a record on the VCR like I was going to record a movie Man wish I had some of those tapes I would literally have a player montage for Madden NCAA for a whole career college to pro way before anybody else was really doing it had a spike pass interception still might be the greatest play I've ever seen
The man, the myth, the legend Jon Dowd at 2:08. The Flashpoint Barry Bonds.
Great job as always! Also dig the new soundtracks.
Great video. I was a huge 2k fan. Also a finalist in the 2k12 perfect club show on Spike TV where 8 of us competed for a million dollars. Got to meet all the 2k big shots, media people, and developers as this was at the time the biggest purse for a video game contest. Love the video and agree with what you say about when you take competition away the games get worse. Also LOVED the old World Series baseball games!!
I won a Sega Genesis console and World Series Baseball in a contest in '94. Can't tell you how many hours I've spent on it as a young teen. I don't game anymore and I feel kinda bummed out to learn that such a great game went down the drain over the years...
Personally, I always liked 2k and the show for different reasons, it's a shame 2k pretty much gave up at the end. After MVP Baseball ended (05 is still my favorite baseball game ever), I tried mlb 2k5 and the show 06. The show had and has always had better gameplay. In my opinion though, 2k always had the better presentation and unlockables. The show made me feel like I was playing real baseball that had the MLB in it. 2k, especially early on, felt like a better MLB game even if the baseball gameplay was slightly more arcadey. Idk if that makes sense but I hope it does. Made me sad to see 2k go. I'm glad the show has improved so much since then, I don't miss it as much now, but I have so many memories on those ps2 2k games. I always preferred to play 2k on the ps2 even though the show was fun as well.
You should do “the fall of Mlb the show” while you’re at it. The game is following the Madden model with very limited improvement year over year. But some would argue that it’s just wonderful because there’s a few new trading cards with a cool design and 115 pwr/r
I’m convinced they pay for ppl to say that because it’s literally last gen since any improvements to franchise
Loved playing World Series Baseball I and II on my Dad's Sega Saturn growing up, appreciate the nostalgia trip with this video!
i grew up with the only baseball game i owned being world series baseball ‘95 on the genesis. played the hell out of that thing every summer break. then mlb 2k9 came out with tim lincecum on the cover and 9 year old me had to have it because he was my favorite player. finally got it on ps2 and me and my brother spent countless hours playing gm mode. eventually got the pc version which is the same as the ps3/360 version and yeah it was buggy as hell but again me and my brother played the hell out of it. a few years later mlb the show finally got my attention and i started really seeing how messy the last few 2k games were, but i’ll always have love for them just from all the memories. props to softdrink for another banger of a video as usual
Love the new logo and Opening keep up the good work👍🏾👍🏾
Mvp 2004 and 05 were my childhood man. Loved those games.
Mlb 2k12 wasn’t too bad. I actually think it was pretty good and had great graphics for the time that still look good by today’s standards, also not to mention the great commentary team with a great game day atmosphere and presentation.
2K11 was even better I think. Less buggy overall, and I personally liked the rosters and interface more
17:21 what's mind-blowing, and something I loved about the old 2k games is the fact that the animation after a P throws the ball, is complete with the catcher throwing it back to the pitcher. Not like current The show games when it happens rarely 🤔
Great video... best baseball game I ever played in my life is MVP Baseball 2003. That was basically the introduction of the modern baseball game . I still even change MLB the Shows controls to same ones introduced in MVP baseball.
A retrospective about the midway sports games can be good
Those were so hilarious that maybe could be a good video for april 1st
And Acclaim sports,too will a retrospective story join in.
I had World Series Baseball on the Genesis and loved it, I even had that goofy blue bat controller for it. Never knew that it had a direct lineage to the 2k games. Great content as always!
What about MLB Pennant Race? That preceded MLB 98 from 989 Studios. It was so hyped and got delayed numerous times. I just remember how slow it played and you could cheese a hit with a bunt every time.
This video reminded me we haven't had a sim baseball game on PC since 2K13 and that sucks. Good video though I like how you went all the way back to show the full history of the series
Since 2k12- 2k13 was console exclusive. Also nowadays there is also the RBI and OOTP series of games for PC I think
Agree with everything you say, especially about the show. The fact that a company has shown it is capable of greatness each year yet does not fully deliver on it without any competition says a lot. Even great developers need that motivation
Competition is what made and what killed Sport Games. Honestly, we loved it that there was a diverse selection of games, but companies wanted to one up each other so much that buying the license was the only true way to get ahead.
THANK YOU SO MUCH MR DRINK. IVE BEEN WANTING THIS VID FOREVER. THANK YOU
U make awesome videos.I appreciate how in depth, and all the footage, and history of the games. World Series on sega Saturn was amazing they had a farm system and by far my favorite baseball game I’ve ever played.
I remember loving 2K8. Not always for the gameplay but the atmosphere, commentary, deep rosters, soundtrack, and franchise. I would rename all the fake named prospects every time even if the save got halted halfway through. I continued that tradition on through 2K12 and had a good amount of fun with franchise. I remember it being interesting with the morale things in 2K8 and dynamic ratings/potential in 2K11 or so. But I always did wanna try The Show and it was clear by the end that us XBOX players were missing out. The graphics were OK for the time but always looked a little goofy or arcadey, and the sliding or ball into glove glitches were everywhere
MLB 2k 13 was one of my first video games, and as an Xbox user and baseball fan I will always see it positively with nostalgia. Tough to look back on it like this
I'm glad this video was made. I started playing 2K with 2K7 and you could see that steadily the quality began to falter and with The Show gaining more and more with each release. Stopped with 2K12 after playing MLB The Show for the first time. Couldn't be bothered with 2K and apparently neither could they.
I love your looks back at the history of these franchises. As far as modern games go, have you ever considered giving Super Mega Baseball a shot?
Next do a video on The Bigs 1 and 2
I hope 2K makes their football game like those instead of like battlegrounds
Yes! Bigs is still fun. If the new football is like Battlegrounds I won't buy.
A return to form. Best video in quite some time.
That production value man softdrimk you outdid yourself
I would love to see a video on the High Heat and All Star Baseball series.
_All-Star Baseball 2005_ was actually for the 2004 season, and the last in that series. By the time 2005 rolled around, Acclaim was already bankrupt and out of business.
Speaking of Ben Brinkman, he was a (key) producer for EA's _MVP Baseball_ series. 2K Sports brought him in July 2006 as an executive producer for their baseball franchise. He, however, only lasted until March 2008, around the time _MLB 2K8_ was released.
After a solid outing with _MLB 2K7_ and starting that 3 year plan off pretty well, _MLB 2K8_ lacked a consistent vision of what it wanted to accomplish and wasn't polished anywhere near the quality the previous game was. It was at that point, I think, 2K already had one of their feet out the door and just wanted their exclusive 3rd party license with MLB to end. _MLB 2K9_ was an unfinished, broken mess. (Kush Games was removed as developers for _2K9_ in favor of a team at Visual Concepts; and the final product reflected that.)
The final 4 games, even if Visual Concepts cleaned up the game from the disaster that was the 2009 edition, were best remembered as the games that allowed someone to win a million dollars if they were the first to pitch a perfect game. Even _MLB 2K13_ was an "11th hour" decision. 2K renewed their license for one year, and released something less than a roster update; that game removed online leagues!
Regardless, great video once again!
Personally I loved the all-star games, they weren't easy to get in the UK but worth it for the amount of detail, baseball history and love poured into them even if they were flawed they were close to virtual museums and dripping nostalgia and atmosphere.
@@jdevlin1910 I have been playing ASB 2003 regularly for the last year or so and would say that even despite years of playing 2K, MVP, the Show, etc nothing comes close for me. It goes well beyond the nostalgia of The Natural theme music, the stadium tours, and players of that timeframe - the reward when you master the hitting rivals few things I've ever experienced in video games. The hitting and pitching AI is excellent in terms of being able to pick up on pitchers and their patterns for pitch sequence, places they attack the zone, etc. Some small bugs in gameplay here and there on defense, but animations in terms of swings, windups, running etc are all so great compared to what I just watched above for a 2K game made 10 years later.
You're also 100% right about the love they poured into their games - I think it's so cool how they provided so much info about the devs and producers behind the game via the special features section, so you knew just how passionate they were about both baseball and the project itself. It truly surprised me that it wasn't just nostalgia that fueled my love for that game when I fired it up again after all these years, and for a series that has largely been forgotten with time, was nice to see your comment and know someone else had an appreciation for it.
@@hitemup92 Had Acclaim Not Gone Under We Could've Had More Of Them
989 Sports had a bit of a weird naming convention with its MLB titles. The 2004 season's installment was called MLB 2005, while the 2005 season's installment was called MLB 2006. It wasn't until San Diego Studios took over and The Show moniker was adopted that the year in the title corresponded to the year of the season.
Your vids are so good
When you said there's no competition in sports games bruh I felt that I mean just to name a few
NBA had NBA JAM, NBA STREET, NBA, BALLERS, NBA LIVE, NBA 2k while the NFL had Madden , NFL 2k, NFL Street , & NFL Blitz
MLB had ASB, MLB 2k MLB series/ MLB The Show, MLB Slugfest and even The Bigs 1 & 2 so much variety now there's what 1 baseball game 1 football game 1 basketball game its stagnant and its led to lackluster products
Really enjoyed this. Glad you're making content again my man!
When i bought MLB 2K11 nothing about NBA story mode was on my mind. Nor anything the series had previously done with MLB games. i was a first time MLB game buyer and Roy Halladay on cover put me over the top on it. For unbiased perspective and a real overview of the game, i loved it. It was an amazing game granted their was some things i wish i could have solved in My Career mode that couldnt. But overall GREAT.
Hyped right now, new vid let’s go
World Series 2k1 also didnt have manual fielding. The CPU would do the fielding for you. That was a huge disappointment
I was ready to get a Dreamcast just for 2K1 until they announced no fielding and then noped out huge when they announced no fielding. Ended up going PS2 instead, so thanks? I guess to the morons who made that decision and saved me getting 2 consoles that generation.
It did take away a little bit from the game but that game was extremely fun for the time. Hitting and pitching were very sharp. One of the first baseball games I enjoyed
@@chasep86 I agree, game was very fun for that time. I really enjoyed 2k1.
It was an arcade game called World Series 99 that got ported over.....most Dreamcast games were arcade ports......NBA 2K was known as Virtua NBA in the arcades.......Virtua Tennis was.....Virtua Tennis.....but it was definitely a system that excelled in arcade style games. I personally loved it, but many others craved something deeper.
I remember thinking at the time, “He’ll yeah 2K, take that MLB from EA after they screwed us from your football games!” Little did I know what the outcome would be 20 years later
yessssssssss. Baseball on this awesome channel !
I remember the first time I played the original World Series Baseball on the genesis. We'd gotten my grandmother the sega channel, not long after it launched. And WSB was one of the first games that it had. I played that game for hours. It was the first game to have both an MLB and MLBPA lisence. I didn't know who some of the players were, but looking back, it was amazing.
If you've ever played them, it'd be cool if you did a retrospective for "The Bigs" series. Was a refreshing brief return of great arcade style baseball that we unfortunately haven't seen since.
It's interesting because The Bigs series is what actually got me into the game of baseball. That and MLB Slugfest. Imagine a modern version of The Bigs or MLB Slugfest! That would bring in a lot more competition since MLB The Show is really all we have. If The Show is all we're gonna have for awhile in terms of actual gameplay, then it better improve soon because it's been getting more bland for awhile now. I'd love to see MLB2K and MVP Baseball make a comeback someday fr 💯🙏 Even All Star Baseball would be interesting to see make a comeback 💯🙏
I've been playing WSB 2k2 on my Dreamcast Emulator lately and it's been fucking fun playing a game back when they cared about the end result and not the profit margin
How Do You Navigate Through The Menus
MVP Baseball 05 is still the best baseball game ever made. I'd be happy playing it w updated rosters & graphics.
My friend and I used to go at it in mlb 2k. Specifically 2k10, 11, and 12. We would do fantasy drafts and use the first 25 option, which allowed user controlled teams to draft 25 players each before the computer could draft. Basically each of us had all star teams. And they would perform as such. We’d sim the whole season and play each other in the World Series every year. Things were really competitive until 2k12 when I guess I figured it all out. I had something like 24 titles compared to his one in 2k12. But that never stopped him from trying. Lefty pitchers were essentially useless in that game besides Chapman and his 105 mph fastball. And then I didn’t play another mlb game til the show came to Xbox. Good times regardless.
So dope dude thank your for the content!
This game was my childhood, up until The Show came out on Xbox I’d still play MLB 2k12
That Intro was the best youve ever had
no offense
Love ya videos bro don’t stop
Great retrospective as always. It's nice to have a sports video game focused channel, even if the genre is in an overall rought spot right now. I'd like to see your take on a retrospective on soccers games/franchises.
2K10 on the Wii was my childhood. That soundtrack was 🔥
I grew up playing the 2K games all the way up to 2K13, but once I got on the Show, there was no going back.
That being said, even though MLB the Show does overly prioritize DD, the MUT equivalent, they still put out a good product despite having basically no competition.
MLB The Show Focuses On Other Things Namely Their Gameplay
And even with DD, it’s not even remotely close to being money hungry. DD gives you so many good cards for free, so many ways to earn card for free. That’s probably the biggest difference between all other MUTs
nice channel i liked the one about MVP baseball 05, subbed up gonna binge a lot lol
Love it man. I’d love to see a tiger woods history
I remember when the Xbox 360 came out and I played 2k on it and as soon as I seen their Jerseys move in the wind I was hooked lol,but The Show is definitely the much smoother game,it's like watching a real ball game
That intro is SWEET!
I really enjoyed 2K8 & 2K10, but 2K12 was pretty hard for me to enjoy, ....if i remember correctly
With the current state of Pro Evolution Soccer (also known as Winning Eleven, though now known as eFootball), maybe a video on the fall of that series could be documented as well? Their recent release seemed to be the nail in the coffin for that series, with FIFA 22 seeming like a masterpiece compared to it.
No one cares about soccer.
@@mccalejk2 it’s literally the biggest sport in the entire world lmao, i’m not a fan, but i ain’t gonna act stupid
@@mccalejk2 lmao
It'd be dope to have a vid on Konami as a whole
Very sad that Konami won't be using their engine for their Pro Evolution Soccer games. I believe the same probably applies to their Pro Yakyuu Spirits baseball game which feel more better/realistic than any other current baseball game and the crowd is awesome too.
The MLB 2K series used to be GOATed back in the day, especially in the 2000s.
Not sure about The Show these days, as I haven't played in a few years, but when I did, I was disappointed in it for the simple fact they didn't have my favourite pitch, which 2K did unless the pitch was/is under a different name. That pitch is the Eephus.
With gran turismo 7 coming out soon a retrospective on the series would be so dope
I had trouble tracking pitches when batting in the mid-2000's 2K series games. The framerate just wasn't there compared to MVP. MLB The Show did finally catch up, but it took a while. But the funny thing is, most of the gameplay features from MVP are now in MLB The Show.
Acclaim's All Star Baseball series was the very best MLB game of it's era early-mid 2000's
MLB 2K11 was the one for me - the only game in the series to be released on PAL territories, including and especially the UK. However, I got the NTSC version 'cause it was cheap. It was only later on that I began to obtain and appreciate MLB:The Show, thanks to the PS3's relatively hassle free region-free adaptability.
What got me playing 2K11 was the fact that you could also play Triple -A and Double-A teams in the game, although regrettably you couldn't play a MLB team against a Triple-A team. It got me interested in minor league baseball too, if only to have a laugh at the team names.
MLB the show is just so good. Best sports game out there.
MLB The Show USED to be great, but like Madden they have failed to be innovative due to lack of competition. Now they too just trot out the same mess every year with minimal to no improvements. Thanks to lemmings that accept whatever mess they give them
Does this mean we could see 2K’s other baseball series they helped make in collaboration with Konami, MLB PowerPros, get talked about at some point?
I'm in the UK....I had a X- box 360 first but then I ALSO got myself an PS3....Why ?....well not just for The Show but also for NCAA football which I could import from the States or Canada and which would play direct on my standard PS3....if I wanted to play American games on my X-box it meant having to buy an NTSC console (as we have the PAL format here in Europe )...so for myself the going forward the PS3 was the no brainer.... I'm back on Xbox Series S now though ...mainly because I knew it (The Show) was getting a release on that console too and I love the fact it has cross platform play! Prior to The Show my all time favourite baseball game had to be MVP baseball 2004 .
Great video this...keep em coming 👍
I can still hear John Miller from MLB 2k7 "He hits a home run, they add another one to their tally. This guys are having a big, big day!" :D
Great video as always 🙏🏼
Probably the best sports game I've ever played was MVP baseball 2004 or 2005 for PS2,it was the one with Manny Ramirez in the cover and Boston had just won the world series. Man what a great game that was and the soundtrack was amazing. Then a year or two later they stopped making those MLB games and started making college baseball games and they weren't nearly as good. MVP baseball 2004 is the best sports game I've ever played,some great memories.
As someone who didn’t end up getting a PlayStation until 2017, MLB 2K 12 for the Wii was my baseball game for 6 years. Such great, clunky memories.
The mid 2000s were a Golden Age of Baseball games. All Star Baseball was my favorite or the groups. The advanced gameplay these days for is pretty much identical to Acclaim's All Star Baseball stuff. They were the only ones doing Letter Grades. Most of the create a team options are from ASB 04 and 05. It was a great game.
Sidenote. Triple Play Baseball 99 on the N64 was also great. Classic Game. When I was a kid I got beat so badly by my friend in it once that he swapped teams with me halfway through and still came back to win from being down 20 something runs. I learned why you shouldn't just play on easy mode that day.
2k7 was amazing
Love your content man keep it up!
Great video... Back in the 2000's my favorite baseball games was All Star Baseball 04&05... I played all of the other games but ASB was my favorite.. I spent hours on it.. Since I'm a Xbox guy I was super excited for The Show 21.. That all I played for a couple months... I probably will do the same when show 22 comes out in a couple months
Awesome video softdrink. Please consider an in depth discussion of all the market participants in 2005. I would love to see them compared and contrasted.
I remember playing World Series Baseball when I was about 10 years old with my dad several times a week and him letting me win. I remember picking the Mariners for Griffey, Rodriguez, Martinez, and Johnson every single game and we only played at fenway. It was such a fun game.
Good points fam!! Love the games! Especially pre 2006. I actually love all the ncaa college baseball games!
MLB 2k12 will forever be my favorite
MVP Baseball from EA sports was hands down the best baseball game. Totally agree! It's amazing to think what that game could be if it was still around
Thanks again for doing another game started on my favorite system! (Dreamcast)
Question, is MLB 2k6 the only game to feature the WBC?
Yes
Great video! I was hoping you would say something about the bigs and the bigs 2 tho. My friends and I always loved them so much
If 2k would have had better graphics and better motion capture for the players, the show would have had some serious competition. Now mlb the show is just releasing the same game year after year. 2k had better presentation and the world baseball classics.
Amazing vid as always. 👍
Damb brotha, been watching a bunch of your videos lately, subbed !!
I've never even played baseball but I remember playing mlb2k12 with my dad like it was yesterday 🥲
That intro is beautiful
Mlb 2k7 was my first baseball game ever. I had a blast with it and I still have a soft spot for it. I was so frustrated with how bad Mlb 2k13 was and when I got my first PlayStation to buy Mlb the show 18 I’ve been happy ever since