MLB 2K8 News Post

Major League Baseball 2K8 360 Impressions

02:24 AM - February 26, 2008 by Steve_OS

Matt Blumenthal had an opportunity to demo Major League Baseball 2K8 this afternoon. His official writeup of the event will be up later this week, but we wanted to get some quick thoughts up here for you guys.

This game looks beautiful, the player models have improved but the real leap is in the animations. The animations move silky smooth and there is no need to worry about herky jerky animations of the past anymore.
I'm impressed with how intuitive and fresh the analog controls are. The pitching takes a little time to get the hang of but the new mechanics add a whole new dimension to the pitching model.
The baseball cards feature is surprisingly cool, expect me to have more on that later on this week.
In-game saves are officially in the game this year.
Check swings don't seem to be a chore anymore. They are now accomplished by pulling back on the right analog stick - no more right trigger necessary.
Stadium-specific animations are in. The Yankee Roll Call was mentioned specifically.
There should be plenty of foul balls this year. I saw several in the few at-bats I played.
No spring training games this year.
I counted eight unlockable classic stadiums. I think more might be available by default as well.
No co-op play
You will have the option to make trades for CPU-controlled teams in franchise mode, but you won't be able to edit their rotations and lineups.
It was suggested to me that the demo is done and has been submitted. If that's the case, it's in Microsoft's hands now.
I will hit on a few of the big questions from the forum here.

Game: Major League Baseball 2K8Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 74 - View All

Member Comments

# 1 dmbfan1970 @ 02/26/08 02:29 AM

Thank You VERY much Steve! We are starved for the info. Much appreciated!!!

Did you get a chance to see the online features and lobbies?
You really have me excited about the check swings however I'm not sure I'll be able to pull back in time. It just seems too hard to me.

# 2 nyisles16 @ 02/26/08 02:32 AM

You will have the option to make trades for CPU-controlled teams in franchise mode, but you won't be able to edit their rotations and lineups.

this does NOT bode well at all

# 3 glcmustliveon @ 02/26/08 02:32 AM

Sounds like he had a good time with the game, sounds very encouraging. I guess we'll find out when the full write-up is available.

# 4 SoxFan01605 @ 02/26/08 02:34 AM

Good to hear about in game saves for 2K8 as well. With the detail in these baseball games (plus I like to play Red Sox baseball and grind out ABs) it's almost a must. Looking forward to trying this game out.

# 5 SoxFan01605 @ 02/26/08 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nyisles16


	You will have the option to make trades for CPU-controlled teams in franchise mode, but you won't be able to edit their rotations and lineups. this does NOT bode well at all

I know...hopefully they addressed the lineup bug in franchise mode

. This will be a huge disappointment if it wasn't.

# 6 Tomba @ 02/26/08 02:40 AM

360 or ps3 version seen?

# 7 Pigskin11 @ 02/26/08 02:50 AM

So how'd the bat sound??

# 8 PVarck31 @ 02/26/08 02:51 AM

Awesome to hear about the smooth animations. I am so excited for this game. The inability to control cpu lineups doesn't really bother me. If thats the only knock on this game we are in for a treat.

Quick question: How was the hit variety?

# 9 Uifz @ 02/26/08 03:30 AM

I have a question:

From some videos posted on YouTube of this demo, the game looks extremely boring. With commentary by Jon Miller and Joe Morgan (who I both enjoy watching in real life), I get tired of it and tired of Joe's obvious commentary, such as: "The reason he was safe was because he slid into the bag and made it safely." Is the commentary repetitive from last year (because it sure seems like it)?

Secondly, Homeruns and game play killed this game last year. How is it? Is there such thing as "an NL Game" this year, or is it very similar to last year where everything was either a: Homerun, or a Robbed Homerun or and out?

Thanks for your answers. Hopefully this version will bring back Baseball to 2K like the good old days.

# 10 SeaNNyT @ 02/26/08 03:33 AM

Yea, one problem i couldn't stand was the only way the AI ever scored was off of homeruns about 95% of the time.

# 11 rock85 @ 02/26/08 03:37 AM

Thanks for the info. Graphics has improved

Well that takes care for the some who said it looked like the graphics to a step back
Animations are smooth no herky jerky movement

Lineups and rotations can't be edited

# 12 Mr.Wednesday @ 02/26/08 05:18 AM

The game sounds like it will be a major improvement over 2K7. The more information I read about this game, the more excited I get. Now, I just need to figure out how I'm going to get all this baseball gaming in next week.

# 13 djcorrosive @ 02/26/08 07:31 AM

What are the options for fielding cameras? The angles from last year killed it for me.

# 14 Skyboxer @ 02/26/08 08:47 AM

Well it would be nice to know: Are HR's still easy to hit, are there more camera angles and lastly how is the presentation.

# 15 born_bad @ 02/26/08 08:49 AM

Thanks for the impressions. In-game saves and the Yankees roll call were in 2k7, though, so I was hoping for a few more points about new things in the game since we only got a few bullet-points for now.

Great to hear about the smoother animations! I was getting a little worried about the fielding being just like last year.

# 16 davewins @ 02/26/08 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock85


	Thanks for the info. Graphics has improvedWell that takes care for the some who said it looked like the graphics to a step back Animations are smooth no herky jerky movement Lineups and rotations can't be edited

The some were me LOL. I will be first to admit it. It looked and still looked to me from screenshots that the player models took a step back but I will take Steve's word for it.

Thanx for the early info Steve that's really cool.

The only small concern I have is the HR camera and how often it happens when you hit a HR. I know Ben said in the conference call that it's only on long shots but I have seen it on what I would call routine HR's as well. Just curious what you think about this or I guess this question could go to Matt.

# 17 ExtremeGamer @ 02/26/08 09:21 AM

Doesn't sound like too much improved, just about everything on that list was in 2K7 sans the trading cards.

# 18 ac11367 @ 02/26/08 09:30 AM

Thanks Steve. Very encouraging news especially with animation, analog pitching, and check swings.

When you're batting, is there some sort of pitch recognition being featured? I heard that the trajectory of a curve would be (rightfully) different than a fastball.

# 19 TJdaSportsGuy @ 02/26/08 09:33 AM

Hey guys,

Just to let you know, it wasn't Steve who wrote these impressions, it was Matt (aka TheLetterZ). I'm sure it was a lot of work for Steve to post these but any thanks should go out to Matt for making the drive from Philly to DC yesterday to preview the game for you guys.

# 20 davewins @ 02/26/08 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TJdaSportsGuy


	Hey guys, Just to let you know, it wasn't Steve who wrote these impressions, it was Matt (aka TheLetterZ). I'm sure it was a lot of work for Steve to post these but any thanks should go out to Matt for making the drive from Philly to DC yesterday to preview the game for you guys.

And it is MUCH appreciated. Seriously not bein a kiss-___ or anything but I really appreciate everything you guys do for us. If it wasn't for this site I honestly don't know what I'd be doing before baseball games came out.

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