MLB 2K8 News Post

Major League Baseball 2K8 360 Impressions

01:24 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

# 681 HealyMonster @ 03/04/08 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dragon4ever


	1. Is the presentation better in the game now than in years past? Is there a pre/post game analysis? Is there a nightly/weekly highlight recap like in NFL 2K5? 2. Are there in-game saves?

i wouldnt rate the presentation any higher than last year. the way the pre game starts is awkward like it site there for like 10 secdonds and your waiting for them to start talking then they do the same stuff as last year give a little comment about the teams playing and ho they did last year. seems as though the pre game commentary has ended abruptly in an awkward way as if i pressed start button to cut it short. the secong game i made sure i didnt press start and it sort of cut off mid sentence and the game just started. just awkward a bit. the in game commentray is the exact same commentary from last year. fan email and what they say when u pause the game and all.

# 682 mrsalsays @ 03/04/08 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FocusYoMindOnDis


	I tried to be nice, but your response works better!

jesus christ, the kid needs to SHUT UP.

Who gives a **** about needing to control more than 4 teams, honestly.

# 683 Pared @ 03/04/08 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgerblue


	No kidding. And if you are reading these posts and you aren't going to buy the game anymore, I'm sorry, but you don't have to announce it to everyone!

Agreed. The impressions thread has quickly become the "That's it I'm not getting the game anymore; I'm waiting until the demo" thread.

Very hard to determine who has the game and their impressions of it.

# 684 RoyalBoyle78 @ 03/04/08 02:16 PM

Well, I'm back at work and I got to play about 5 innings, and I must say I'm pretty disappointed, the graphics seem like they took a step backwards, there ok but not that good IMO, also From owing both games, there is no way 2K8 graphics come close to touching the Show's graphics. the sound is decent until you hear the bat hit the ball, I didn't notice a lot of choppiness, I saw some slow down, thats about it. Then player models I like the batting stances are mostly pretty well done. I was using the Mets and I don't know why there jerseys need to be blurred, I never understood why this is. Anyway I will give it another go when I get home from work. I'm glad I have 2 choices, I love baseball and thats why I own both games right now, I will say that The show is no doubt pretty much leaps and bounds better then 2K8, I'm not biased when it comes to baseball games, I just giving my honest opinion, thats all....At least I got a cool bobble head out of it. I will play it a bit more when I get home.

# 685 HK-47 @ 03/04/08 02:16 PM

Have any of you put your own home run music?

# 686 Thadeus @ 03/04/08 02:16 PM

LOL at people who are planning to buy the game and someone on this forum says the framerate is bad so they don't buy it. Thank god I don't HAVE to have a game run at 60fps. I have a 1080p t.v. and the framerate doesn't bother me in the least. It's not great, but it's hardly unplayable. I love the new analog throwing.

# 687 Heelfan71 @ 03/04/08 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EWRMETS


	Heelfan, how are the pitch counts? Pitchers (you and CPU) getting to 100?

counts are low. Probably be fixed with sliders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamstrick


	Very good question! Stamina as well . . .

not sure about that. Been playing 3 innings and starting over with different teams.

# 688 reo @ 03/04/08 02:18 PM

Woohoo. Just read on MM that it sims very well! Sweet! Realistic numbers at the end of the season . . .

# 689 Thadeus @ 03/04/08 02:18 PM

No way the Show is leaps and bounds better than 2K8. The fielding is much better in 2K8, I think the player models are much better as well. Give it more than 30 minutes to dissect a game.

# 690 The GIGGAS @ 03/04/08 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FootballForever


	Well, I'm back at work and I got to play about 5 innings, and I must say I'm pretty disappointed, the graphics seem like they took a step backwards, there ok but not that good IMO, also From owing both games, there is no way 2K8 graphics come close to touching the Show's graphics. the sound is decent until you hear the bat hit the ball, I didn't notice a lot of choppiness, I saw some slow down, thats about it. Then player models I like the batting stances are mostly pretty well done. I was using the Mets and I don't know why there jerseys need to be blurred, I never understood why this is. Anyway I will give it another go when I get home from work. I'm glad I have 2 choices, I love baseball and thats why I own both games right now, I will say that The show is no doubt pretty much leaps and bounds better then 2K8, I'm not biased when it comes to baseball games, I just giving my honest opinion, thats all....At least I got a cool bobble head out of it. I will play it a bit more when I get home.

FF... what about the gameplay?

# 691 bigfnjoe96 @ 03/04/08 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgerblue


	No kidding. And if you are reading these posts and you aren't going to buy the game anymore, I'm sorry, but you don't have to announce it to everyone!

Thank You.. We get-it please move-on

# 692 MikeB_20 @ 03/04/08 02:19 PM

Would anyone say that the analog controls are enough to warrant a purchase over The Show or are they not that big of a deal?

# 693 CS10029 @ 03/04/08 02:20 PM

I got a friend that works at GS thats gonna let me buy the game and play it for the night. Its going right back tomorrow if it sucks though.

# 694 ComaFaction @ 03/04/08 02:20 PM

Played my first game -- Jays(me) vs. Braves.

I lost 10-1. Halladay, Jannssen and Chacin got knocked around. They hit two jacks...Overbay hit a solo bomb in the 8th for me. They hit me all over the park...doubles, singles, a triple from kelly johnson.

I'll just get my one big negative out of the way now -- the framerate. It's awful....I don't see any improvement over last year's, at least from the game I played...in fact at times it was worse -- players would glitch around (dissapear and reappear in new places) after cut-scenes and in transitions between plays. There was not a single replay, or celebration in any of the 3 homers...just a quick shot of the guy rounding the bases and, bam, right back to the next batter.

Almost all the transitions were glitchy -- really dissapointed me. Every play in the field was choppy, especially the ball's flight. The pitching and batting framerate is butter smooth...VERY NICE. You can really see the extra frames in the ball's flight from pitcher to catcher. Same when batting, you can pick up on pitches better.

Also, the new Jeanne Zelasko portions had very choppy transitions, they showed the wrong replays and talked about different replays....showed a homerun as a highlight for Smoltz being player of the game (!?) and would freeze up for a couple of seconds on every screen transition. I can't understand with the hit the fans and field textures took, etc. that the frame-rate is the same.

POSITIVES
Hitting engine seems awesome...going yard feels really nice. The throwing is great. The pitching is really hard, but I started getting a couple of K's toward the end.
Player models look just as good as last year, imo. The animations are nice -- Rolen climbed the ladder and made a great snow-cone catch for me. Lots of foul balls....many at-bats had multiple foul balls.

The game seems like it would be amazing if it ran smooth...but, to be honest, it really ruined the experience for me. I'm hoping it's my TV/console's setting -- as people seem to not be having this issue. But, I was very underwhelmed. That being said, if the frame-rate is ironed out, I'd probably give it an 8-8.5/10. Right now, I'd be around a 6. That's how much it detracted from my experience.

# 695 Heelfan71 @ 03/04/08 02:22 PM

I actually enjoy fielding more in 2k8 over the Show. Really like the throwing meters and throwing to the bases with the R Stick.

# 696 Heelfan71 @ 03/04/08 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ComaFaction


	There was not a single replay, or celebration in any of the 3 homers...just a quick shot of the guy rounding the bases and, bam, right back to the next batter. A

Cpu hit a HR against me and they showed several replays

# 697 Bill_Abner @ 03/04/08 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JT30


	Hi Bill Seems to be a concern with framerate issues. Are you experiencing this?

Seems much ado about nothing, really. There's some hiccuping but I haven't had any that made me want to forum vent. Haven't played online. Is it 60 FPS? Shrug. I have no idea. I don't see it as a problem yet, though. That said, I still very much dislike the fielding. It just feels weird and 2K has always struggled with this imo.

It doesn't feel 100% polished if that makes any sense (and yes there's sa LOT of recycled commentary) and for me I'll need to do a lot of base slider stuff because I really dislike the power settings (homers are indeed flying out of the park left aand right) and I'm still not sold on the runner speed/ outfield arm stuff.

One thing that is annoying is that in the games I have played today it's hard to draw walks because if the ball just nicks the strikezone the ump calls it a strike, so you basically have to swing at anything that's close.

Right now the draw for me is the new pitching UI.

# 698 HK-47 @ 03/04/08 02:23 PM

lol, I played a full season in 2k6, with rocket arms an all.I think I can handle framerate hiccups.

I can't get the game today though(360 still being repaired!)..My bro just picked up the Show though, so that will keep me busy.

# 699 bowlerguy92 @ 03/04/08 02:24 PM

Well after playing 1 game and my batting half of the first, I have hit 7 homers.

# 700 Pared @ 03/04/08 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scott4171


	Yeah but why should I plunk down $60 for a game when Ben said the frame rate won't jump below 30fps. Now we have to switch to 760p to fix the frame rates choppiness thats just bullcrap. But like I said I am waiting for the demo.

OK WE GET IT.Can we continue on with the impressions, please? I won't speak for everyone else, but I didn't click on this thread to read who is getting it from gamestop, who is waiting on the demo and anything else of the sort.

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