Major League Baseball 2K8 360 Impressions

[Metsui]

Quick impressions for 360 version. Didn't get a chance to play it until midnight last night and played 3 or 4 innings in three different games, one minor league game.

I did get the update when I first logged in. Then I downloaded the 2/29 rosters from Live and started up a quick match - Mets vs. Red Sox.

The graphics are more or less the same as last year but have a different feel to them and for some reason look a bit better to me. Not sure why. Seems like everything is smoother with less jagginess. Can't complain about that.

I definitely have the stuttering when making plays in the field and during the transitions during the pitching/batting interface BUT I forgot to set my 360 to 720p (I have it on 1080i) and didn't go back and do that. Turning off all of the presentation options, commentary, and using the aerial cam seemed to help but not a lot. The minor league game I played had the same issues only slightly better. I'm hoping that clearing my cache and switching to 720p does the rest. I can see how this is unacceptable to some.

Also, I had the Padres roster bug with the newest rosters. Other than that, I love the fielding, throwing, and pitching. Still getting used to the hit stick but hit variety seems good.

If we can get the framerate/stuttering issue and Padres roster issue fixed, I'll be very happy with the game.

[Motown]

Quote: Originally Posted by Saint19

Hi all, Just got the game last night for my ps3. I've only got an SDTV. So far its pretty good. I've played THE SHOW for the past two years and really liked it. But this year I felt that although the gfx were awesome....I didn't really see much difference from last years game. So I decided to pick up 2k8. So far the only thing I'm really disappointed with is the small text size on my SDTV. It does make it hard to read stat info on batters, pitchers, lineup card etc. I was a little down about not having ANY custom soundtracks in the game. I guess I didn't notice that ps3 users wouldn't get this feature. FRAMERATE has been buttery smooth the whole time. I've played 3 games 2 in Yankee stadium cuz I love the Yanks. The other was in Wrigley Field where last year I found it unplayable in 2k7 cuz of stuttering issues...especially with men on base. But in 2k8 I've got NONE...NADA...ZERO stuttering. I was worried about that after reading the threads about framerate. But nope ...no problems. The faces....errr well, not great. Some are OK. But again not near as what I saw in THE SHOW demo. It reminds me almost of last years version of the SHOW instead....it just looks like a computer game with some OK faces. But when I'm playing I don't really notice it...its only doing walkups etc. ..as I said some are ok. I like how the shadows move across the field as the game wore on. I LOVE that I've seen broken up double plays...THAT I DID NOT SEE LAST YEAR IN THE SHOW.(Still love that game too.) The pitching is really cool this year. It'll take some time to get used to. But I really like it. I'm not to sure how much I like Swing Stick...but it hasn't been bad. I've only hit 2 homers so far....1 with Giambi, and the other with Matsui. I'm playing on PRO while I get used to the game. I will say on PRO that I've seen an awful lot of dropped balls. I'm not sure if its just my throwing...or what. Some fielded balls have been dropped too. I've not played FRANCHISE yet as I've got very little time with 2 kids and another onthe way. Oh well I'm not good at this reviewing sorta thing. But I hope this helps some. Saint19

Was this 40 gig?

[jake44np]

I did get the game last night but was only able to get in 2 games.
Overall after reading a ton of impressions yesterday I was not expecting much from this game. I was really surprised how much I liked it after playing 2 games. Yes there are some frame rate issues but not enough for me to not like the game. The frame rate issues do not effect the great game play at all for me.
PRO'S
1.The 2.0 swing stick is great, although I believe the manual is wrong you dont pull up for a power swing. The only way to swing is to pull back and they push up. In the manual is says to push up for a power swing which again is just wrong.
2. The cpu AI seems alot better this year.
3. The new pitching system. I am listing this as a pro but I have not figured it out at all yet.
I really struggled to pitch, I gave up 10 runs both games I played. I just dont get how to hit your spots at all with this new system. The reason it is a Pro for me is just that it is hard, every bball I have ever played it was always way too easy to pitch.

CONS
1. The very small stat overlays. Is it just me or is it damn near impossible to read the text on the screen? I have a 55" TV and all the info on the screen is written so small I cant read it. Is there a way to make this text larger???
2. Frame rate could be alot better, enough said.

Again these impressions are after playing only two games.

[Saint19]

Motown,

This was the 60gig version of the ps3. Also my SDTV only does 480i.

[HealyMonster]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mr.Wednesday

I thought this was an impression thread, not a "how I feel I got bamboozled" thread. I own the game and it's not that bad. Sure it has it's issues. At the same time I can see myself playing this game instead (Edit: for a change of pace) of The Show (I own both). A few reasons: -Sig styles are awesome -Pitching is very challenging -use of the r analog stick is brilliant -gameplay is way better than 2K7 -it reminds me of MVP baseball Don't get me wrong. Maybe it should have been a better game. I might be giving 2K8 too much credit because I can always play another game when I get tired of it. But, it's definitely not a reason to believe the end of the world is coming. Some of you are acting that way.

i gotta agree with you i too get an mvp baseball vibe. it could be from the throwing meters and mvp had the innovative pitching experience,etc. the grass though reminds me of mvp too for some reason like when im going for a fly ball i feel like im in mvp.

[maddeninyoeye]

Quote: Originally Posted by Renegade44

i gotta agree with you i too get an mvp baseball vibe. it could be from the throwing meters and mvp had the innovative pitching experience,etc. the grass though reminds me of mvp too for some reason like when im going for a fly ball i feel like im in mvp.

for people that have played the show and 2k8 which is more comparable to mvp 05? i still play nothing but mvp for the pc but am considering getting one of these games also.

Well, I will say this... the demo is any indication, this game is definitely better on the 360 than on PS3.

[RoyalBoyle78]

Well I played some more last night, and the game is ok after hating it, The game is a bit hard to get used to and the pitching needs some work, I know it's knew but seems broken at times, I just want to say that the players faces are pretty damn horrid, I mean they don't look real at all, the player models are good but man the faces are all off. After playing more last night there is still way to many HR's in this game, it's like you give up on and the next batter automatically hits another off you know matter what, it's like they codded the game like this by mistake, I've seen a HR followed by a HR to many times now.