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

# 1121 Fatalah @ 03/04/08 09:43 PM

Heelfan probably hates 2K baseball games because he's got to spend more countless hours tweaking his infamous sliders for us again.

I'm over at mvpmods.com right now, researching MVP '08.

# 1122 HK-47 @ 03/04/08 09:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Str8_A


	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.

lol, did he take you deep in that game?

Man, I can't wait to play this game!Damn Red Rings Of Death!!!I have The Show 08 to keep me busy, but reading all the impressions on how cool the controlls are, is making me really anxious to play 2k8!

# 1123 belljr @ 03/04/08 09:44 PM

Where do I post about buying someone's game that they are unhappy with at a discount??

# 1124 HealyMonster @ 03/04/08 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkrich83


	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.

while I 100% agree exactly. my brain is saying wtf. another year of "they have the perfect groundwork to do something great next year" i mean is this it? are we going to do this every year? i enjoy the game and unless some crazy game killing bug comes along ill play this game all baseball season. it just bothers me that after 1 day with the game regardless of how much i like it, im looking to next year already. lol

# 1125 ericdrum @ 03/04/08 09:46 PM

I think that this game is much better than people are giving it credit for. The framerate thing is overblown IMO. I actually really like the gameplay. I've only played 2 half games, but I'm actually liking this tons more than last years game. I'm playing on the 360.

# 1126 Motown @ 03/04/08 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkrich83


	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.

Tru dat...that's what i'm all about...havin' fun

with that said i'm sure i'll enjoy both games!

Anyone played HR Derby yet? is there anything new in that mode? thanks

# 1127 CS10029 @ 03/04/08 09:49 PM

Started reading this thread around 2 PM at work and finally got through it. OVerall sounds like the gameplay is well done, but could of used a little more time in the oven to really make it the full package.

To comment on the wonderful bickering I just got to read through. Its coming from both sides in this thread. The Show fans are being overly aggressive in bashing this game and talking The Show up. While 2K fans are coming back with very defensive responses that in some way are negative towards the show. For the people saying theres no comparison of this to the Show. Come on.... I played The Show on PS2 and 2K7 on 360 last year. Guessing that The Show was just a graphical upgrade on the PS3. The games arent that far apart. Both have pros and cons.

We need to get the thread back on track towards the title though so I'm gonna sit back and wait til I'm out of work to play and post what I've taken from the game. Fingers crossed that I don't need to play baseball on my PS2 again.

# 1128 bkrich83 @ 03/04/08 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renegade44


	while I 100% agree exactly. my brain is saying wtf. another year of "they have the perfect groundwork to do something great next year" i mean is this it? are we going to do this every year? i enjoy the game and unless some crazy game killing bug comes along ill play this game all baseball season. it just bothers me that after 1 day with the game regardless of how much i like it, im looking to next year already. lol

I totally agree with you. I wasn't attempted to make an excuse for 2k. I was just pointing out how I see it.

I totally agree, I am getting tired of the "The ground work is there, just next year will be the year" as well as you.

# 1129 HK-47 @ 03/04/08 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Renegade44


	while I 100% agree exactly. my brain is saying wtf. another year of "they have the perfect groundwork to do something great next year" i mean is this it? are we going to do this every year? i enjoy the game and unless some crazy game killing bug comes along ill play this game all baseball season. it just bothers me that after 1 day with the game regardless of how much i like it, im looking to next year already. lol

Well, Ben Brinkman said that it would take three years to get the game how it needs to be.2k9 should be really good.

# 1130 Rainey @ 03/04/08 09:51 PM

Ok just played 2k8... the stuttering on the field is just horrible. 2k7 never had those problems.. I wonder how they messed that up.

# 1131 Brophog @ 03/04/08 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarryTheWeight


	2K9 will prove just how serious 2K Sports is about making a baseball simulation.

Pretty much the kiss of death right there for any sports game: talking about next year's game the day this year's comes out.

It's why I never buy sports games the day they come out anymore. They are the only games I ever rent, because it doesn't matter which company it is or what their track record is, sports games these days are just such that there are enough bad apples that if you don't try before you buy you'll be angry a great deal of the time.

# 1132 bkrich83 @ 03/04/08 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CS10029


	I played The Show on PS2 and 2K7 on 360 last year. Guessing that The Show was just a graphical upgrade on the PS3. The games arent that far apart. Both have pros and cons.

I see no way you could come up with this. I HAVE both. They are quite far apart. At least imo.

Not that 2k8 is a bad game. But there are certain things that really detract from the experience for me.

# 1133 Village Idiot @ 03/04/08 09:53 PM

First of all, I'm writing as someone who played over 400 games of 2K7. With slider tweaks and a couple of house rules, I honestly thought that game was great. That's also to say I was one of the people who actually believed that this game could be one of the best of all time - they just needed to fix a handful of things.

Well, I played for about five hours. My initial impressions are that this game has taken a GIANT step backwards.

1. The graphics, colors, lighting and textures are all subpar from what they were in 2K7. That's right, none of them are as good. Even the player models, which was one of the reasons I prefered this game to The Show in the first place, look pretty bad at times.

2. The framerate is bad. Maybe I'm just going crazy, but it, too, was better in 2K7, even the PS3 version! Even worse, like others have mentioned in the framerate thread, there's literally a 1-2 second freeze between virtually every cut scene. It's pretty goddamn brutal.

3. I'm not a fan of any of the "innovations." (Frankly, I don't even understand how the new picthing mechanism is supposed to be better than what was there last year. It's still easy to pitch, and if you "hit your spot," the ball still goes exactly where you aimed it. Wasn't that everyone's main complaint?) It's like they just wanted to implement the analog sticks; there doesn't seem to be any other reason for the new systems. I haven't noticed any enhancement they offer to gameplay whatsoever.

3b. And so get this: since I didn't like the new pitching, I switch back to payoff (from 2K7) and they've gone and made it SLOWER! I mean, honestly, WTF? It takes like five seconds to get a pitch off now. It's so bad, in fact, I went back to the other system!

So those are my main out-of-the-box beefs. It's not that the game blows, per se, but I'm having a very hard time seeing any improvement over 2K7.

6.5/10

# 1134 bkrich83 @ 03/04/08 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HK-47


	Well, Ben Brinkman said that it would take three years to get the game how it needs to be.2k9 should be really good.

He also said this years game plays in 60 fps and never dips below 30 fps.

I do however, feel this game is a year away from really being a top notch game, and challenging The Show.

# 1135 SportsorDeath @ 03/04/08 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lived


	So, how's the bat sounds?? lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by lived


	So how's the bat sounds

Quote:

Originally Posted by lived


	So how's the bat sounds. Do they sound like they're changed

How about you quit asking? You have asked the same question at least 3 or 4 times in this thread already. How many more times do you need it answered, especially when you are supposedly going to be able to see for yourself tomorrow?

# 1136 bigfnjoe96 @ 03/04/08 09:54 PM

As I posted in the Frame Rate Thread:

Quote:


	We'll guys I have basically CONFIRMED the problem is what I posted before. I took of my 360 HARD DRIVE to see if that would help & it did. The Choppiness & Studdering is basically non-existent. The games plays very fluid. The pause between cut-scenes is still there (looks like that's how it's programmed) but everything else is fine.. Here's hoping a fix will be upon us sooner than later

# 1137 HK-47 @ 03/04/08 09:56 PM

A lot hate it and a lot love it...Who's right!!>?

# 1138 timisone @ 03/04/08 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skeem


	you CAN use your own music, I have done this, a warning though. I would not try it if you have a wireless adapter for your 360 and your music resides on your computer. The game becomes unplayable as it takes a while to load the music, i would recommend ripping the music to your hard drive.

How do you get music of your computer into the game

# 1139 Str8_A @ 03/04/08 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HK-47


	lol, did he take you deep in that game? Man, I can't wait to play this game!Damn Red Rings Of Death!!!I have The Show 08 to keep me busy, but reading all the impressions on how cool the controlls are, is making me really anxious to play 2k8!

haha Fortunately, no he didn't. But he hit everything I threw at him.. hard, and I pitched outta the zone. Pretty realistic if you ask me.

That sux man. I almost had that problem last year before 2k7 came out. So I almost know how you feel. Definitely check out 2k8! If you are iffy like most about graphics, give it a rent.

# 1140 jorge380 @ 03/04/08 09:58 PM

over 1,200 posts good or bad theirs something here.

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