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

# 1381 The Yankee Faithful @ 03/05/08 05:34 PM

So, I think I got the hang of the pitching. I finally played a full game, and it went to 10 innings!

I did Mets AAA team (Zephrys) vs Yankees AAA team (Scranton/W-B). I was the Scranton/W-B.

I pitched with Ian Kennedy, and gave up 2 runs with him over 6 innings of work. I was cruising on offense, as I managed to get 5 runs off of Jorge Sosa. Jason Lane and Morgan Ensberg carried the load. I noticed Kennedy's stamina decreasing as the innings progressed, so I took him out for Jonathan Alabadejo, and needless to stay, I stunk it up with Alabadejo, as he gave up 3 runs to allow the Zephrys to tie the game at 5.

The next inning, I brought in Ross Ohlendorf, and he got tossed for hitting a batter (considering I hit 2 batters earlier in the game, so that was pretty cool to see). The game would go on to extra innings.

It was in the bottom of the 10th, where with 2 Outs, I hit a Walk Off Home Run with Jason Lane. Players came running out of the dugout and onto the field. That was cool.

Now that I get the hang of the pitching, and basically the hitting as well, I'm having a blast playing.

2K8, at the moment, is a solid game in my opinion.

# 1382 UNC_Pete @ 03/05/08 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jistic


	It's funny. It seems like after a work around was found for the frame rate stutter, there's been no impressions! Is everybody happy now?

I'm sure to people that were overly concerned with the framerate are now actually enjoying the game. They'll come back and post. Someone else mentioned there should be a separate impression thread now that you can fix the framerate issue.

I bet people are going to start liking the game a lot now.

# 1383 VTPack919 @ 03/05/08 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldschool17


	Any game is �PLAYABLE� the word playable is relative to the person making the statement so what I say is unplayable is specific to me. I think this game is being looked at in a couple different ways. First you have people who have multiple consoles and options when it comes to their baseball fix. That being said anyone playing Sony�s baseball game won�t wast more than 30 minutes on this game. Then you have guys who it seems to me are the eternal optomists and will forgive a company even if they wrapped a piece of doo doo in a box and sold it. I know one thing if EA would have put anything out like this I�d almost guarantee that there would be a far more drastic public outcry of gamers claiming EA wronged them and are greedy, neglectful developers. fficeffice" />>> What 2K did IMO is inexcusable�The framerate is terrible and IMO not playable. I didn�t buy a next gen console to experience games that are the visual and gameplay quality of a game that was on Ps2 or Xbox.. One look at the grass tesxtures and overall ambience of the game is a complete turn off for anyone who even cares about visuals in the least bit. >> Anyone who encourages someone to buy this game is IMO irresponsible or just doesn�t care about the quality of sports games. If you like the game that�s fine and I can respect anyone who enjoys this sort of game..But to promote anyone buying it with a straight face is quite laughable. 2K tried to do some innovative things but at the end of the day they are failed. The basic nuts and bolts of the game are horrible. The pitching is needlessly difficult and moreover each missed pitch results in a homerun???...I just don�t get that�I don�t mind innovation and something new but this was something that IMO that was simply implemented poorly. >> I�m still confused on how a game can look so bad but at the very least not play a smooth 60 fps???...What the heck did they do for a year on this game?

I guess I am in the minority because the game doesn't look that bad for me....

# 1384 ericdrum @ 03/05/08 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldschool17


	I�m still confused on how a game can look so bad but at the very least not play a smooth 60 fps???...What the heck did they do for a year on this game?

Because there's a problem with using the VIP at the same time. Software that inherently runs well, can be made to run poorly if something else on the system is causing problems. I've spent some time with both 'the show' now and 2k8. I'm sorry to tell you this, but I have more fun playing 2k8 than 'the show' even though the 'the show' looks a lot better. The gameplay just engages me more.

# 1385 myghty @ 03/05/08 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by babythug23


	Anyone on ps3 likes this better then the show? I have yet to buy either

This year I played the demo of The Show 08 & went out to buy 2k8. The reason is that I've been playing The Show for the past 3 years now & its the same game every year with updated graphics. Not that its a bad thing because hands down The Show plays a better game of baseball & captures presentation perfectly, its just that for me it was getting repetitive. (If that makes any sense). Anyways, I like 2K8 and their new inovative way of pitching. Its tricky at times but its lots of fun where if you strike someone out it feels really satisfying. I have to get used to using the swing stick though as I suck right now but it has potential to being more fun when I get it down.

If you have liked The Show in the past & are happy with their same controls & presentations go for the Show. But if you want to try something new & IMO fun, give 2K8 a try. The demo for it is on the 360 & I'm willing to bet that it will be on the PSN tomorrow.

# 1386 Naednek @ 03/05/08 05:51 PM

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned but in the SF Giants field, there's a list of the all time HR records. Bonds record is not there this year, granted I know he's not licensed for any MLB games, but you'd think 2k would put in a dummy name. I actually thought it was funny.

# 1387 WaddupCouzin @ 03/05/08 05:56 PM

Played the demo and this game is taking a major step in the wrong direction! Play The Show for 5 minutes and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!

# 1388 ericdrum @ 03/05/08 05:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by myghty


	This year I played the demo of The Show 08 & went out to buy 2k8. The reason is that I've been playing The Show for the past 3 years now & its the same game every year with updated graphics. Not that its a bad thing because hands down The Show plays a better game of baseball & captures presentation perfectly, its just that for me it was getting repetitive. (If that makes any sense). Anyways, I like 2K8 and their new inovative way of pitching. Its tricky at times but its lots of fun where if you strike someone out it feels really satisfying. I have to get used to using the swing stick though as I suck right now but it has potential to being more fun when I get it down. If you have liked The Show in the past & are happy with their same controls & presentations go for the Show. But if you want to try something new & IMO fun, give 2K8 a try. The demo for it is on the 360 & I'm willing to bet that it will be on the PSN tomorrow.

That's a very good way to put it. I agree.

# 1389 CS10029 @ 03/05/08 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oldschool17


	Any game is �PLAYABLE� the word playable is relative to the person making the statement so what I say is unplayable is specific to me. I think this game is being looked at in a couple different ways. First you have people who have multiple consoles and options when it comes to their baseball fix. That being said anyone playing Sony�s baseball game won�t wast more than 30 minutes on this game. Then you have guys who it seems to me are the eternal optomists and will forgive a company even if they wrapped a piece of doo doo in a box and sold it. I know one thing if EA would have put anything out like this I�d almost guarantee that there would be a far more drastic public outcry of gamers claiming EA wronged them and are greedy, neglectful developers. fficeffice" />>> What 2K did IMO is inexcusable�The framerate is terrible and IMO not playable. I didn�t buy a next gen console to experience games that are the visual and gameplay quality of a game that was on Ps2 or Xbox.. One look at the grass tesxtures and overall ambience of the game is a complete turn off for anyone who even cares about visuals in the least bit. >> Anyone who encourages someone to buy this game is IMO irresponsible or just doesn�t care about the quality of sports games. If you like the game that�s fine and I can respect anyone who enjoys this sort of game..But to promote anyone buying it with a straight face is quite laughable. 2K tried to do some innovative things but at the end of the day they are failed. The basic nuts and bolts of the game are horrible. The pitching is needlessly difficult and moreover each missed pitch results in a homerun???...I just don�t get that�I don�t mind innovation and something new but this was something that IMO that was simply implemented poorly. >> I�m still confused on how a game can look so bad but at the very least not play a smooth 60 fps???...What the heck did they do for a year on this game?

No offense, but have you played that game for more than an hour or so. If anything the nuts and bolts of this game are close to flawless. If your referring to gameplay that is. Since I've goten this game I've experienced next to nothing for frame rate issues, some here and there but nothing to hurt the game. I'm honestly a few games away from feeling the same about this game as I did the last two MVP titles.

And to say the game is the same gameplay and graphical quality of a PS2 or Xbox game is rediculous. Have you ever played a game on either of those systems. They are good in there own right, but to compare the three is laughable.

# 1390 MikeB_20 @ 03/05/08 06:28 PM

So I got home, downloaded the demo and played a few games. I have to say the fundamental gameplay is fantastic but the game is lacking in a few key areas.

As we all know the framerate is choppy quite a bit. The simple work around helps but it doesn't fix it. It's really a shame because this is clearly the only major problem with the game.

I've read that some people are saying the crowds don't react well to the on field action. I couldn't find this to be any further from the truth, they boo when the away team does well and go nuts for homeruns and great catches by their team.

I like Joe and John, it sounds like when I'm watching a game on TV. They might not be the most interesting people in the world but their broadcast feels authentic and well balanced.

The new analog controls, specifically pitching, are absolutely fantastic. It took me the first game to get used to what I was doing but by the second game I was striking out batters and making a lot of good pitches. I really, really like the pitching. The field also works well but I still screw it up every now and then. I end up pointing and throwing to the wrong base for whatever reason. Once again, this works really well and it quite fun. As for the swing stick 2.0, I think I sort of like 1.0 a little better since their were two ways to swing but I do like how you can fully influnence the ball with the right stick. If they mixed the two it would be perfect in my opinion. If you were to just swing for contact by pulling back and then letting go you wouldn't be able to influence the ball which would be a good thing. If you want to control the ball you need to do a full swing, I think that would work well.

All-in-all the analog controls are great and in my opinion the future of the sport. Just as the analog hockey stick and golf club swing of their respective genres changed how the game is played, the analog controls in 2K8 is certainly going to be the standard next year. It makes pressing buttons for pitching/batting/field a bit dull and unengaging.

It seems as though the fields have been scaled back but I'm not noticing any other major downgrades to the visuals. It sucks that 2K couldn't get a rock solid framerate as it would have made for a much more enjoyable game overall.

A good effort but being the 3rd year on the 360 I can see why fans and reviewers are growing tired of it's shortcomings.

# 1391 TopDog @ 03/05/08 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WaddupCouzin


	Played the demo and this game is taking a major step in the wrong direction! Play The Show for 5 minutes and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!

Show, Show, Show, Show, Show......

....in a 2k8 thread. Over and over and over again.

I swear to god, do some of you people get paid each time you fellate Sony and their almighty game?

# 1392 CS10029 @ 03/05/08 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WaddupCouzin


	Played the demo and this game is taking a major step in the wrong direction! Play The Show for 5 minutes and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about!

Theres no need for this in this thread. The Show actually has a forum... and its only 2 clicks away. Give them a shot.

# 1393 brezz2001 @ 03/05/08 06:35 PM

Can you change the camera angle in the demo to aerial cam?

One other question--I see that the Right trigger dives, but how do you jump?

Brian

# 1394 OSUFan_88 @ 03/05/08 06:36 PM

Before the fixing of the framerate, I thought this game was pretty solid

After fixing the framerate...this game is close to being MVP 2005 good IMO

It's so close to being MVP, but there are few aspects that are missing.

MVP seemed to be more fun, and while this one is fun, nothing matches the MVP fun I had. Give 2K time and I think you'll see something even BETTER than MVP 2005.

Right now, after framerate fix, this is an easy 9 out of 10 from me.

# 1395 CS10029 @ 03/05/08 06:39 PM

The more I play the more I'm loving this game. I hate using Matsuzaka though adds like 15-20 minutes to a game. He's nasty though.

# 1396 UMiami @ 03/05/08 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TopDog


	Show, Show, Show, Show, Show...... ....in a 2k8 thread. Over and over and over again. I swear to god, do some of you people get paid each time you fellate Sony and their almighty game?

No. But any objective baseball fan will tell you The Show is resembles a baseball game... the same can't be said for MLB 2k8.

# 1397 Cubbies2166 @ 03/05/08 07:04 PM

Are there any downloadable stadiums or roster updates yet?

And could somebody tell me what Kosuke Fukudome's #s are? Or at least RF for the Cubs with the initials KF?

# 1398 Spectre @ 03/05/08 07:05 PM

I just played a game with the demo, I have mixed impressions

The Good:
1. Analog pitching = the future. I felt a great sense of accomplishment when I nailed a fastball. The great thing is that I wasn't hitting my spots all the time with my pitches, which I've been able to do in every game. Honestly, I don't know if I could go back to regular meter pitching at this point because it seems so boring to me. I didn't think I'd like it but it's a refreshing breath of fresh air.

2. Fielding- awesome. I loved it in MVP and I love it now. Again, I can't go back to simple press the button and let the CPU decide what's going to happen anymore.

3. Lighting- the night games looked really good IMHO. The neon grass could go though.

4. Player models/sig stances- I love the models, they look really good. They nailed the sig stances of the players. I lined a single up the middle with Manny and it was surreal.

The Bad:
1. Meatballs- I'm not opposed to the concept of punishing the user for a bad gesture, but don't make it a fat pitch down the middle. A messed up splitter looks differently than a messed up fastball. That being said, I didn't throw any of them!

2. Grass looks bad, looks like I'm playing on neon-green grass. That's really my only graphical complaint, I definitely don't agree with people that said that this is a noticeable step down from 2K7. Other than the grass, I disagree.

3. Framerate- not gamekilling, but no reason for choppiness at this point in development. They've toned down grass textures and they still get choppiness, not cool.

4. Ambiance/presentation: John and Joe are talking about JD Drew's 2004 season? What? It's time to let go of those two and move on with a fresh booth that can record new lines. Also, I love the crowd chatter but the crowd is way too quiet. They react appropriately, but the scale is not good.

5. Transitional animations are not good- I don't like the start/stop animation for running. It looks way too herky jerky. I did see some very nice animations though elsewhere.

The Meh:
1. I don't like Swing Stick- I've never been a fan of analog batting though, that could be personal preference.

2. CPU swung at way too much stuff, this will hopefully be taken care of with sliders.

Overall, I'm not going to get the game tomorrow or in the near future but that's because I'm playing the hell out of Lost Odyssey right now and I have to start studying for my medical boards

. Hopefully, by the time I have more time, the bugs and framerate hiccups will have been addressed permanently. Too bad we don't have a liaison with the 2K LA team anymore...

I can't stress how much I like the pitching. My #1 priority in a game is a good pitching interface and I think this is tops in my experience of any game on the market.

# 1399 SPTO @ 03/05/08 07:07 PM

Well I played 3 innings of exhibition ball and well...I can't do this pitching properly. Even after working on it in the tutorial I still suck the big one. I think i'll stick to the old pitching interface. Luckily this year's version of the game has made it harder so i'm still getting pummelled.

I have a question though, how do I get my OFers to run faster? Other then that this is a fantastic game and i'll be diving into franchise sooner or later.

Oh and while I suck at the swing stick i'm willing to give that a chance as i'm getting contact on the ball and such.

# 1400 Sportsforever @ 03/05/08 07:26 PM

I haven't seen anyone mention this, but I have been playing with the Assisted Fielding and it's basically Auto fielding from MVP. The CPU controls the player until they get the ball, and then you control the throw. I have always liked to play like this since it takes the player's defensive ratings more into account than my stick skills.

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