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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
# 121 goofykramerica @ 03/02/08 12:53 PM
Can you tell us anything about catcher's throws. Is your catcher able to make a "snap" throw down to first base after a pitch in order to pick off a runner?
 
# 122 ulua @ 03/02/08 01:13 PM
Hey Steve,

on double plays can you take out he fielder? and also can you run over the catcher on close plays to home plate?

Thanks.
ulua
 
# 123 thescoop @ 03/02/08 01:16 PM
biggets question for me is does it have realistic wind effects? Being a Cubs fan I know when the wind is blowing in at Wrigley it is very hard to hit a home run. Some sure fire home runs are turned into pop ups. By the reverse effect, if the wind is blowing out a route pop up is carried out for a home run. I'm wondering if they've found a way to do this in the game. Please let me know what you've seen. I know its just a beta verison so it may not have that in the game, but I figured I"d ask.

Thanks in advance......
 
# 124 rpm123 @ 03/02/08 01:18 PM
Can you say which minor league stadiums are in the game?
 
# 125 Bwnarrow3 @ 03/02/08 01:23 PM
^^^

I second that. I really would like to know what stadiums are in the game.
 
# 126 Bat @ 03/02/08 01:34 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve_OS
No practice swings and I'm not sure if you can turn off the highlight show, but pressing any button skips it entirely.
Thanks for the response. Thats a bummer about no practice swings. I wonder why they keep leaving that out. It is nice having more control and things to do to make it feel like I am actually doing something..
 
# 127 blkprince04 @ 03/02/08 01:35 PM
does the framerate affects the gameplay or is it nothing to really be concerned about?
 
# 128 Ltrain44 @ 03/02/08 01:46 PM
has the catcher cam been worked on at all? or is still the same from last year?
 
# 129 Barky @ 03/02/08 02:30 PM
//
 
# 130 PVarck31 @ 03/02/08 02:31 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ulua
Hey Steve,

on double plays can you take out he fielder? and also can you run over the catcher on close plays to home plate?

Thanks.
ulua
Yes, and Yes.
 
# 131 jorge380 @ 03/02/08 02:57 PM
could you bat using the behind the pitcher camera?
 
# 132 blkprince04 @ 03/02/08 03:18 PM
does the drop in framerate affect the gameplay, or is it just when you throw the ball around in the infield?
 
# 133 ShowTyme15 @ 03/02/08 03:28 PM
Can we select the CPU's Uniforms in franchise mode? Also someone asked earlier but i didn't see an answer. When you change a players name will the announcers say his name or the default name he had to begin with? I hated this last year. Thank you in advance.
 
# 134 SPTO @ 03/02/08 03:31 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShowTyme15
Can we select the CPU's Uniforms in franchise mode?
I believe Kush said a long time ago that you could do that.
 
# 135 blkprince04 @ 03/02/08 03:47 PM
is the game enjoyable, fun, challenging?
 
# 136 blkprince04 @ 03/02/08 03:49 PM
do the players look stiff like last year players?
 
# 137 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 03:53 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by RedLine
Steve, can you confirm if the Base Burner mode is still in the game? I didn't see any controls listed for it in the screenshots you posted. Thanks.
Not seeing it... I could be overlooking it though.
 
# 138 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 04:23 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by tribeking
Steve,

I would REALLY appreciate it if you can answer this...

Please play a game at the Jake and let me know just 3 things....

1.) If you do go deep- do you in fact hear a siren? Ben did not know this.

2.) How does John sound in the stands with the famous drum?

3.) How many " real " players are on the Buffalo AAA team?

Steve~ thank you so much for taking the time to answer us on these questions! This is truly the best forum there is on the net!

Tribeking
1. Never heard a siren, as I grooved a few fastballs for Fielder.

2. Not much of a Brewer fan, so I actually have no idea

3. AAA team names, I don't know. Here are a few names.
CF Crain
SS Rivas
LF Francisco
3B Dudley
DH Choo
2B Astacio
1B Murphy
RF Schroder
C Heiner
 
# 139 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 04:25 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by brendanrfoley
Steve,

Forgive me if this is too general a question, but here it goes... does it play an overall solid, realistic, and fun brand of baseball? In otherwords... can you see someone enjoying a full 162 game season without throwing their hands up in frustration with game 'issues' 40 games in?
It's too early to tell, but I can tell you that it feels much better than 2K7 ever did.
 
# 140 Steve_OS @ 03/02/08 04:27 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by gleditts
Do the retractable roofs work like Minute Maid Park?
It must be always open, because you can't select rain in the weather options w/ that park.
 


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