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

# 1101 Str8_A @ 03/04/08 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcxiv


	Yep, why i like 2k sports, is they try to be innovative even if it falls flat. They try to make you have the next gen experience. Not many other companies do that. They stick with the same formula for years and years and even more years. Thats what i did NOT like about the Show. There's nothing to take it to that next level. Its already been there and done that.

Wholeheatedly agreed!

# 1102 Pared @ 03/04/08 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	Because in large part no one who enjoys 2K8 goes running in The Show forum talking about how great it is and how it does something better than The Show. It's the polar opposite in this forum. Damn near every post in here is, "This game is trash and The Show is the only way to go."

So you're justifying your comments this way?

Back to the impressions, PLEASE! I'd like to hear other's take on how this compares to NCAA MVP and what exactly is so innovative, aside from using the right stick for pitching. Let's cut the bashing of either game; This isn't the thread.

# 1103 Rainey @ 03/04/08 09:29 PM

It's amazing how many fanboys from both games are destroying this thread.

# 1104 HK-47 @ 03/04/08 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Str8_A


	I do remember seeing his name in the signature styles in the edit player feature, so he does have his sig. I don't remember exactly how his stance was in real life, so I can't really say if its accurate. Although, Lackey's windup and follow through is exactly the way it should be, which is cool.

Thanks for answering my question!

# 1105 Heelfan71 @ 03/04/08 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcxiv


	Yep, why i like 2k sports, is they try to be innovative even if it falls flat. They try to make you have the next gen experience. Not many other companies do that. They stick with the same formula for years and years and even more years. Thats what i did NOT like about the Show. There's nothing to take it to that next level. Its already been there and done that.

that is 2k's problem with baseball. They add and change stuff every year without fixing the broken stuff first.

# 1106 Mr.Wednesday @ 03/04/08 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFGiantsPBA


	This game kicks ***! Great fielding, baserunning, hitting and pitching! I really love this game but still suck at pitching but I have 2 major concerns as a league Admin. I see no options to set custom sliders for leagues nor custom room games and the other is I see no way to change pitching from break point to pin point even in custom games! I'm at the very least hoping that the leagues just aren't finished yet and we will be able to custom out sliders.

Thanks SFG. Can anyone else post some of the things they like also. It's kind of hard reading through the other stuff to find the good impressions every 5th or 6th post. I've read about the framerate, but that doesn't bother me. I would like to hear about some different impressions on other aspects of the game.

# 1107 Motown @ 03/04/08 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	And what do you see when you "look right through me". I can't wait to hear this.

I'm done

...I'm movin' on

# 1108 CaptainZombie @ 03/04/08 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heelfan71


	that is 2k's problem with baseball. They add and change stuff every year without fixing the broken stuff first.

That has been my issue with the MLB2K series, its like they have a new identity every single year. I hope a demo comes soon to check this one out.

# 1109 UGA14 @ 03/04/08 09:33 PM

I think the game is actually pretty good so far on the 360. I love the Show, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of things that are in 2k's game that are pretty fun and good to. It reminds me a lot of a baseball game that wasn't fully polished but played some fun baseball, MVP 2003. I used to love that game and this seems similar to me.

# 1110 RoyalBoyle78 @ 03/04/08 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	Just curious, if 2K8's pitching is boring then how do you stay awake through The Show which still has the same meter for years or simply pressing a button and "let ratings do the work"?

beacause it feels more real, and I enjoy it more then 2k's. I'm sorry I love the meter and always had. I love the meter, it works for me, if it works then it's just fine, if it ain't broken don't fix.

# 1111 ehh @ 03/04/08 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pared


	Back to the impressions, PLEASE! I'd like to hear other's take on how this compares to NCAA MVP and what exactly is so innovative, aside from using the right stick for pitching. Let's cut the bashing of either game; This isn't the thread.

For the old crap, and I'll leave it at this because I don't want to go on bickering about something as stupid as this - I'm not justifying anything and in large part the regulars on this site who play The Show are fine, but this forum has been absolutely flooded with people who won't shut up about The Show and it's gotten very, very old. Not mention it's usually the same people over and over again. If people don't like this game then fine, but why do you keep posting here every 10 minutes?

As for the fielding, I don't think anyone said it was innovative in baseball games in general, it's just new to MLB2K. In 2K7 the fielding/throwing was a mess. You'd be 10 feet away from 1B with your 2B, tap B and he'd rifle the ball as hard as he could. Now we have a throw meter to determine how hard we throw across the diamond. It's a very nice addition this year.

# 1112 bkrich83 @ 03/04/08 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	or simply pressing a button and "let ratings do the work"?

Actually that's the way I prefer it.

I do like the analog pitching in this game don't get me wrong. I know you probably have a vested interest in this game. But come on, if you really want to compare the Show to 2k8, at this stage, there really is no comparison. And this is coming from someone who has both games, and plans on playing both games.

# 1113 Str8_A @ 03/04/08 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HK-47


	Thanks for answering my question!

No problem. I had fun playing against the Angels. Guerrero's no joke, I had to pitch extremely careful to him every time he was at bat. I was literally hangin at the edge of my seat, making sure I got the pitch right.

# 1114 HK-47 @ 03/04/08 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainey


	It's amazing how many fanboys from both games are destroying this thread.

"Heelfan71" is the only fan boy I see.

...He clearly doesn't like 2k.He's making up stuff just so he can bash 2k.

He tried to say all I cared about was Angels players signature stances.All I said was that The Show needs to work on them.I only mentioned K-Rod and Ryan Howards sig styles being off(even though there is a lot more).

# 1115 Mr.Wednesday @ 03/04/08 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UGA14


	I think the game is actually pretty good so far on the 360. I love the Show, don't get me wrong, but there's a lot of things that are in 2k's game that are pretty fun and good to. It reminds me a lot of a baseball game that wasn't fully polished but played some fun baseball, MVP 2003. I used to love that game and this seems similar to me.

Thanks UGA, this is exactly what I want to hear. I like having two baseball games to play because I enjoy different aspects from both games.

# 1116 lived @ 03/04/08 09:37 PM

Anyone know if They got frank thomas's sig stance correct. It was awful by a mile in the "other" game

# 1117 RestoreRoar @ 03/04/08 09:39 PM

I love when 2k comes out now. It's like the stages of grief.

Denial. Regret. Acceptance. etc.

Please, OS. Remember this when good 'ole Brinkman comes peddling his game next fall.

# 1118 RunN1st @ 03/04/08 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heelfan71


	that is 2k's problem with baseball. They add and change stuff every year without fixing the broken stuff first.

If they changed/fixed stuff without adding new stuff, it would be considered a patch, right? I think the new stuff is pushed more by the Marketing team. They need to attract audiences year-in and year-out... Picture this as a slogan, "Come buy last year's game that we tried to fix!" Probably wouldn't fly, right?

Also, I remember Ben saying something about being pressured by MLB to put out a game during a certain time period. If the framerate issue is a big as some of you say, then it could be because of time constraints and being under the gun.

# 1119 bkrich83 @ 03/04/08 09:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UGA14


	It reminds me a lot of a baseball game that wasn't fully polished but played some fun baseball, MVP 2003. I used to love that game and this seems similar to me.

This is the best analogy I have read. It's a fun game, and it does some things well. But it's not polished, and has some issues that take away from it. Still fun to play though. MVP 2003 was much the same for me.

# 1120 Rocky @ 03/04/08 09:43 PM

Guys, I may get blasted for this...but for overall gameplay, I may have to give the nod to 2K8 this year. Once the controls become second nature, than the game is amazingly involved and intinuitive.

The strike zone irks me to no end though. I mean why is crap like this never fixed.....nobody wants to be hacking because the ball may barely touch it. Besides that though, this game kinda reminds me of Inside Drive 2004 where they had some nice control features (that 2K stole) and it made for some fun and engaging gameplay.

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