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Major League Baseball 2K8 Beta Impressions

Yes, these quick blurb impressions are all over the place, as I just typed some things down over the days I played the game.

I'm not working w/ retail here, just beta. I'm not sure how "complete" it is. But there are times where the game doesn't run 60FPS. During pitching/hitting, no problems, but there are occasional hiccups when throwing across the diamond. A few herky jerky animations here and there as well. Again, these may just be issues w/ my Beta.

Yankees stadium has roll call.

Runners are somewhat aggressive on pitches in the dirt.

Got A-Rod on an inside changeup on a 3-2 count. He jumped back as the pitch got closer and headed towards first, ump pumped his fist and A-Rob looked a bit pissed.

Fans do not go after homeruns or foul balls. The fans in general are not fun to look at. They sound pretty good, reacting to situations, etc. But they just look horrible.

Bat sounds are MUCH better than last year.

Ump throws the ball to the pitcher, after a foul ball, most of the time.

Matsui homerun swing/trot looks amazing. Same w/ Manny, Griffey, Beltre to name a few.

On pop ups behind the catcher, you can see the frustration from the batter, as he looks up at it, throws his bat down and jogs to first base, waiting for the catcher to make the grab. Happens w/ pop ups in the infield on occasion as well.

Funny moment. Pop up to the pitcher Wang, A-Rod comes over as Wong settles under it. He runs right into Wang and he falls on his face. Ball drops in play.

I'm actually impressed w/ the pitching interface. It has taken me a few games to get used to it, but wow. It is FUN to pitch!

Seeing a ton of variety in hits, liners, bloopers, hits sprayed all over. I do have an issue w/ the players in the outfield, kinda lazily getting under a fly ball, instead of getting in position, they sort of are in range of catching it...then as it gets closer, they race to actually catch it. Mind you, it doesn't happen all the time, but noticable enough to mention.

Baserunning is extremely easy and to me, feels like second nature.

Benches react on at bats, getting up off the benches to see how far the ball travels on homeruns.

If the AI has someone warming up in the bullpen, you'll see it flash at the bottom of the screen, then a few pitches later, show him warming up.

Jeter made a sick play from short, backhanding a ball to his right, taking 2 steps, then jumping, turning his body and firing to first....bang bang. SICK!

Saw a boneheaded AI play, where the 2nd basemen, instead of throwing to the SS at second for the force, tried to run the runner down going to second. He was safe and no play at first. Only saw this happen once, so far.

Very slick 1st baseman flip to the pitcher, who was on the run. Pitcher makes the catch and heads to the bench, as it was the 3rd out of the inning.

Announcer issues....I'm hearing quite a bit of repeating and a few things that don't make sense. For example, Joe Morgan says it's 3-2, the runners will be running on the pitch, then right after the pitch, screams out, the runner is stealing!

After the 7th inning, they show one of the big plays from the game. Jeanne Zelasko talks about what it's going to take for a team to win, lose, etc.

AI robbed me of a homerun. Nothing spectalar, but a pretty animation nonetheless.

Collision detection....players will run through players...haven't seen any during gameplay, but after a play is made, you will see some players running right through each other.

Runners will advance to home, more often than not, on singles hit to the outfield. Not seeing the third base coach waving the runner home.

Very cool to see a runner go by first and sometimes turn around, real quick after a bang bang play to see what the ump called. Looks very nice...

At the end of the game, Jeanie zolasko mentions the Chevy player of the game.  Showing highlights from the player of the game, then highlights from the game itself.


Member Comments
# 21 Skyboxer @ 03/02/08 01:49 AM
Thanks for the write up Steve! Do you see much stuttering when the game is in motion? Lastly is it better in terms of being able to judge the pitches when at bat?

Thanks
 
# 22 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 01:49 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by vernond
I also meant to ask is there still a problem with the day night progression messing up during a game like in 2k7?
Messing up at what point? I'm sorry, I never noticed it in 2K7, so please explain.
 
# 23 SFGiantsPBA @ 03/02/08 01:51 AM
Hey Brother, how long it take for you to get the pitching down?
 
# 24 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 01:51 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Skyboxer
Thanks for the write up Steve! Do you see much stuttering when the game is in motion? Lastly is it better in terms of being able to judge the pitches when at bat?

Thanks
For the most part, there is no stutter. But I'm definitely seeing some here and there. During the pitching/batting, I don't see any at all. But I've seen 3rd to 1st throws with a little hitch, every once and a while. I've also seen a few jerky animations, on occasion. With my beta copy at least, it's not always 60FPS. Of course, that can change w/ retail. We'll have to wait and find out, as I'm not sure how complete my beta copy is.
 
# 25 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 01:53 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by SFGiantsPBA
Hey Brother, how long it take for you to get the pitching down?
I still don't have it down, as I'm walking my fair share of batters. It was frustrating at first, but now I simply love it and I'm still walking batters.
 
# 26 gleditts @ 03/02/08 01:54 AM
Do retractable roofs work? Like Minute Maid Park?
 
# 27 soxnut1018 @ 03/02/08 01:55 AM
With the new swing stick were you able to hit sacrafice flies when you need them.
 
# 28 vernond @ 03/02/08 01:58 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve_OS
Messing up at what point? I'm sorry, I never noticed it in 2K7, so please explain.
Well i believe last year it would happen after they would show a replay during the game. It would be light out and then the replay would show then it would be dark, then another replay might show a couple of innings later and when it came back to the game it would be light or dusk. It would do this a few times a game. The only way i found to work around this was to turn off the replays. I was curious to see if 2k adressed this for 2k8.
 
# 29 bowlerguy92 @ 03/02/08 02:02 AM
Very nice, thanks for the impressions!
 
# 30 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 02:17 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by vernond
Well i believe last year it would happen after they would show a replay during the game. It would be light out and then the replay would show then it would be dark, then another replay might show a couple of innings later and when it came back to the game it would be light or dusk. It would do this a few times a game. The only way i found to work around this was to turn off the replays. I was curious to see if 2k adressed this for 2k8.
Interesting bug.

Just confirmed it's not a bug this year. At least not from my quick testing.
 
# 31 bowlerguy92 @ 03/02/08 02:22 AM
Do the players feel like they actually have some "weight" to them, and aren't just 100% agile cutouts? The show does this well.
 
# 32 vernond @ 03/02/08 02:22 AM
Awesome that really p'd me off when that would happen last year. Thanks for the info.
 
# 33 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 02:24 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by SPTO
My only question: does it still rain in domed stadiums?
SPTO, now that I know where to set this...

I have confirmed, it doesn't rain in domes.

Well, there isn't an option to select for rain in domes. If a team has a dome, rain isn't an option under the "Weather" option. All teams that play outside w/o domes have the "Rainy" option.
 
# 34 rock85 @ 03/02/08 02:26 AM
How are the graphics compared to last year
 
# 35 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 02:30 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by rock85
How are the graphics compared to last year
Come on Rock. Read the second post!
 
# 36 blackngoldfan @ 03/02/08 02:37 AM
Thanks for the impressions Steve.

How are the new batting/fielding cameras?

Were away alternate uniforms in the game?
 
# 37 PVarck31 @ 03/02/08 02:41 AM
With the aerial camera for fielding, does it keep the ball in view the whole play on fly balls?
 
# 38 Bucksin06 @ 03/02/08 02:42 AM
-as far as baserunning goes, what feels better in you're opinion?
last year i had to jack baserunner speed up to 100 just so I could steal a base!!!!
-also, have you noticed a variety of cutscenes for different occasions?
Thanks for the impressions,
-bucksin06
 
# 39 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 02:43 AM
Oops. Rock...and anyone else for that matter that wants a question answered, read post #1.
 
# 40 ubigidiot @ 03/02/08 02:48 AM
what has progression been like in franchise?
 


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