Major League Baseball 2K8 360 Impressions

[Sportsforever]

Quote: Originally Posted by YankeePride

This is being discussed elsewhere and I don't know what to say anymore. I havne't had this problem but enough people are that perhaps there is something going on with the product.

I only had this happen once for two pitches in a row and then haven't seen it since...not a clue as to what caused it. Really weird.

[CMH]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottd

Too me it start with the animation. They need to work on that big time. Also, how players react after the ball is hit. If they can fix that for next year I would be happy, but I doubt they will.

To me the animations are done well but could all be better.

Players no longer lose their heads and fly out of their swing after hitting a ball. I'm not a huge fan of the running animation or the slowdown animation when fielding a flyball. So that I agree needs to be addressed.

Pitching too me is amazingly fluid. The Show, in my opinion, doesn't come close to grasping this aspect of a pitch. When 2k pitchers throw it looks like they throw with authority. Now their body position after a pitch is ugly. They stand there with their arms just laying flat on their sides. It looks stupid.

Most fielder throwing animations are ugly too. Some bodies look backwards when throwing from a specific position and guys still crow hop like crazy on easy throws from the outfield to the infield. I dont understand why that can't be changed.

However, catching animations and fielding grounders is done very well. Guys look good when fielding balls backhanded or scooping balls. Looks nice.

[NEWYORICAN]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scottd

I don't know, I hate the game, and I was a big 2k fanboy. I think they had something great going last year, but then they decided to make it a different game. The real reason for me is I'm a graphic whore first and this game is a joke in that department at least too me it is! I'm glad some are having fun with this game, but too me it just wasn't doing it for me.

I agree with you here. All I had was 2K7 360 before I went out a brought a PS3. 2K7 was an excellent first step into this three year project that Ben started. The graphic and some of the gameplay were wonderful, except for the fielding and and the issues with the GM mode/roster movements. Even with those issues, it was/still a fun game to play! My son and I we played for hours online it was so much fun.

Now 2K8 comes in year two hoping for some new action and to my surprise, they took 10 steps backwards! Oh my how awfull it looks now! and the frame rate!! What did he (Ben Brinkman do to my 2k Baseball!!) Noooo!. Question, was last year framerate running on 60FPS? because this year,it looks like a turd turtle is powering it!

Yea I know we wanted the gameplay fixed but I don't remember saying; Yea, take out all that nice looking graphics for gameplay and give us SwingStick 2.0 and baseball cards yea we need baseball cards!! I think baseball cards went out of style in the late 90's man!, people don't collect them like they used to. Or do they still do?..I'm not in touch with that anymore.

If you are going to release a game looking good in the the first year of this project and then come out in year two with regressed ugly looking player models and ugly grass stadium, then why teese us with beautifull graphics? I can say the fileding is better which to a degree it is, but there are still some things I'm seeing that are not good.

The smooothnees of 2K7 is otta here!! Now we get nice choppness in-between at bats!! that god awful bat sound that's been in 2KBB since the first WSBB for XBOX . Also no more dynamix foul ball cut screens, all you get now is the batter looking up,down,left,right, no more down the line fouls or fair for Hr's off the fould pole excitements. The catcher now throws the ball to fist base on strike outs w/no one on base when a right handed batter is punched out..it throws it to third(like it should) on left haned batters. Is this something new that MLB baseball does now? Did I miss something from real baseball? And all the "little things" of baseball we love as far as I can see by playing are gone. I also saw a lefty catcher for Boston playing. It was the new guy Elsbury(sp?) The AI I guess still thinks it is ok for a lefty catcher!! it's not that it is not possible to have playing in real life, but I think now a days, it is very unlikely.

I'm sorry, I was really looking foword to this game being so good this year, that's why I'm so dissapointed. I love Baseball games, I don't care who makes them just as long as they are done with some pride and effort which to me looks like 2k didn't do. Sorry, it has to be said. This looks like a rushed-out non-completed product. This is my opinon only.

peace!
Ernesto

[Scottdau]

Quote: Originally Posted by YankeePride

To me the animations are done well but could all be better. Players no longer lose their heads and fly out of their swing after hitting a ball. I'm not a huge fan of the running animation or the slowdown animation when fielding a flyball. So that I agree needs to be addressed. Pitching too me is amazingly fluid. The Show, in my opinion, doesn't come close to grasping this aspect of a pitch. When 2k pitchers throw it looks like they throw with authority. Now their body position after a pitch is ugly. They stand there with their arms just laying flat on their sides. It looks stupid. Most fielder throwing animations are ugly too. Some bodies look backwards when throwing from a specific position and guys still crow hop like crazy on easy throws from the outfield to the infield. I dont understand why that can't be changed. However, catching animations and fielding grounders is done very well. Guys look good when fielding balls backhanded or scooping balls. Looks nice.

I thought that too about the pitchers not throwing right in the the Show, but then I watched some real pitchers and they look like they are hardly throwing it. It is all in the legs and being on a mound. If you are on a mound you are going to throw harder then you would throwing on a flat surface.

[michaeldu]

Quote: Originally Posted by NEWYORICAN

I agree with you here. All I had was 2K7 360 before I went out a brought a PS3. 2K7 was an excellent first step into this three year project that Ben started. The graphic and some of the gameplay were wonderful, except for the fielding and and the issues with the GM mode/roster movements. Even with those issues, it was/still a fun game to play! My son and I we played for hours online it was so much fun. Now 2K8 comes in year two hoping for some new action and to my surprise, they took 10 steps backwards! Oh my how awfull it looks now! and the frame rate!! What did he (Ben Brinkman do to my 2k Baseball!!) Noooo!. Question, was last year framerate running on 60FPS? because this year,it looks like a turd turtle is powering it! Yea I know we wanted the gameplay fixed but I don't remember saying; Yea, take out all that nice looking graphics for gameplay and give us SwingStick 2.0 and baseball cards yea we need baseball cards!! I think baseball cards went out of style in the late 90's man!, people don't collect them like they used to. Or do they still do?..I'm not in touch with that anymore. If you are going to release a game looking good in the the first year of this project and then come out in year two with regressed ugly looking player models and ugly grass stadium, then why teese us with beautifull graphics? I can say the fileding is better which to a degree it is, but there are still some things I'm seeing that are not good. The smooothnees of 2K7 is otta here!! Now we get nice choppness in-between at bats!! that god awful bat sound that's been in 2KBB since the first WSBB for XBOX . Also no more dynamix foul ball cut screens, all you get now is the batter looking up,down,left,right, no more down the line fouls or fair for Hr's off the fould pole excitements. The catcher now throws the ball to fist base on strike outs w/no one on base when a right handed batter is punched out..it throws it to third(like it should) on left haned batters. Is this something new that MLB baseball does now? Did I miss something from real baseball? And all the "little things" of baseball we love as far as I can see by playing are gone. I also saw a lefty catcher for Boston playing. It was the new guy Elsbury(sp?) The AI I guess still thinks it is ok for a lefty catcher!! it's not that it is not possible to have playing in real life, but I think now a days, it is very unlikely. I'm sorry, I was really looking foword to this game being so good this year, that's why I'm so dissapointed. I love Baseball games, I don't care who makes them just as long as they are done with some pride and effort which to me looks like 2k didn't do. Sorry, it has to be said. This looks like a rushed-out non-completed product. This is my opinon only. peace! Ernesto

I agree with everything you said. This game stinks! Brinkman, come out and make a statement.

[pistonpete]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pared

That's my biggest beef with games like this. People want to say "well with the right sliders it's great." Why is the game not "great" out of the damn box? Did I not spend $400 on a gaming system and $60 on a game? Why should I have to do all this patchwork for the game to be solid. I'm used to doing slider work but only to make a great game better. When you have to put in all this work to get the game under control it annoys me.

amen, amen, amen. i have a headache trying to figure out how to make the CPU pitch more realistically.pitchers guys like anthony reyes and jason marquis should not be nipping the corners all day everyday like they are santana or maddux. and the umpire calls the game like he is on the take. i can't even work the count because i know sooner or later, mr. 5th starter in the rotation is going to throw a slider with a 12 inch break that will hit the black, striking me out, after going down 3-0 and throwing 2 pitches just like the one described above. this game is sloppy, just sloppy. the more i play
2K's baseball games the more i think they quality test their games with a bunch of trained howler monkeys at the controls.

[sva91]

At first I was a bit dissapointed with how much of a hit the game took graphically, but after playing it for a couple of days of come to really enjoy it. With the Framerate fix and using arial cam, the game plays much smoother than last years. I like the new pitching interface, and the hit variety is awesome. For some reason, the pitches are much easirer to read and using classic batting and the wide hitting camera, the response time is awesome (check swings actually work this year).

For those graphic whores (much like myself), just forget about the Show and 2k8, and tell yourself this is MVP 08. The graphics are much better than MVP and all the sig stances are really well done.

FYI: The graphics look much better using arial cam(field texture looks much better, and using Wide batting cam lets you see the entire backdrop of each stadium.

[baa7]

A few examples of poor/sloppy programming in this game:

-- I fire up my first game without touching sliders. The CPU proceeds to hit 8 HR's with the first 10 batters it sends to the plate. The infamous meat pitch programming, wow. And this is supposed to be 2K's sim answer to The Bigs?

-- After a few innings of batting, I notice the CPU seems to be throwing nothing but strikes. So I decide to test things out. I fire up a game against a certain team and pitcher. The CPU pitcher starts the game off by throwing 9 pitches for strikes, and my guys go down in order.

So I adjust the sliders, lowering all three AI Throw Strike sliders to 0. I fire up another game and the CPU pitcher proceeds to throw 9 pitches for strikes, mowing my guys go down in order.

So now I go in and edit that same CPU pitcher's Strikeout, BB and individual pitch control ratings to 0. This guy should be throwing nothing but balls and wild pitches. Result: strikes out the side on 11 pitches. This is basically the game killer for me, this bit of (non)programming.

-- A little thing but so indicative of the how this game plays overall: At the end of a play - say, a 6-3 groundout - the players often just disappear. That's the transition scene into the next batter. You're watching the batter running to first. You see the ball as it comes across the diamond, and you see the first baseman catch it and the ump call the runner out. Then the scene freezes for 1-2 seconds while the players vanish - they're suddenly not there anymore all. You can still see their shadows on the field, but no players.