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

# 1401 SPTO @ 03/05/08 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportsforever


	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.

Well looks like that's what i'm going to have to use

# 1402 VidGaminMachine476 @ 03/05/08 07:28 PM

Is it safe to say that the demo is somewhat close to the retail version, or way different?

I'm d/ling the demo right now as we speak.

# 1403 ehh @ 03/05/08 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CS10029


	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.

Strange thing I noticed is that I find guys w. the slow windups like Wang and Dice-K easier to pitch with for some reason. No idea why, maybe it forces you to not rush through the gestures.

# 1404 HK-47 @ 03/05/08 07:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VidGaminMachine476


	Is it safe to say that the demo is somewhat close to the retail version, or way different? I'm d/ling the demo right now as we speak.

Is the demo out for both systems!?!!?

# 1405 Lerxt @ 03/05/08 07:49 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?

Man, you can't respect someone's opinion and then say it's laughable in the very next sentence. That just doesn't make any sense...

# 1406 JaSnake16 @ 03/05/08 07:51 PM

Well count me in as enjoying this game. After getting used to it the pitching interface just feels right, pitches dont go exactly where you want them every time you pitch. Fielding and throwing is smooth and IMO nearly flawless. The swing stick...ehh...Im gonna keep trying but I just might go back to classic swing. The graphic are slightly better than last year, not in textures or anything like that but in the variety of animations during play. Overall I am extremely pleased and am anticipating some sliders so I can get my franchise started.

# 1407 brendanrfoley @ 03/05/08 07:53 PM

Today has been a good day, I think.

Now that there's a fix to the frame rate issues, people can focus more on gameplay. And by many people here (those that I trust, at least), 2K8 seems to play a good game of baseball... that's a lot of fun.

Positives I've seen reported are a great pitching interface, much better hit variety, and great fielding. It also sounds like the new camera angles are getting rave reviews.

Most of the negatives I see are in presentation, audio, etc. But there don't seem to be many gameplay issues that aren't fixable with sliders (pitch counts, etc.). We'll see... but considering I still play MVP on a regular basis... presentation issues will NOT prevent me from buying this game.

# 1408 brendanrfoley @ 03/05/08 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomba321


	My impressions of the ps3 mlb 2k8 box. When it was handed to me it felt light. kinda cheap. i thought hmmmm

Tomba... with all due respect, are you just waiting around to post a negative comment every hour or so? You're nearly as bad as Motown

# 1409 Tomba @ 03/05/08 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brendanrfoley


	Tomba... with all due respect, are you just waiting around to post a negative comment every hour or so? You're nearly as bad as Motown .

i had a power outage from all the wind and it erased everything else I was typing

OK more in general.

# 1410 Cubbies2166 @ 03/05/08 07:58 PM

I've been trying to find somebody to answer these questions for me since around noon yesterday. So if anybody can answer these I'd really appreciate it.

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?

# 1411 123456dan @ 03/05/08 08:02 PM

This is the most fun I've had playing a sports game in years. One question though, how to you throw to the cutoff man form the OF? I can't figure it out and a lot of doubles are turning into triples as a result. Thanks!

# 1412 bluengold34_OS @ 03/05/08 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cubbies2166


	I've been trying to find somebody to answer these questions for me since around noon yesterday. So if anybody can answer these I'd really appreciate it. 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?

As far as I know there are no stadium downloads yet, but there is a roster download via xbl for 2/29.
I will check his numbers later this evening as I am watching a movie w/ the wife. I will say he seems to have decent power and a good contact stick. his defense seems to be pretty solid also.

# 1413 Sportsforever @ 03/05/08 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 123456dan


	This is the most fun I've had playing a sports game in years. One question though, how to you throw to the cutoff man form the OF? I can't figure it out and a lot of doubles are turning into triples as a result. Thanks!

Hold the left trigger as you are loading up your throw...

# 1414 ehh @ 03/05/08 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 123456dan


	This is the most fun I've had playing a sports game in years. One question though, how to you throw to the cutoff man form the OF? I can't figure it out and a lot of doubles are turning into triples as a result. Thanks!

Hold down the LT and press up on the RS. That one stumped me at first too.

# 1415 brendanrfoley @ 03/05/08 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	Hold down the LT and press up on the RS. That one stumped me at first too.

If you hold LT while pointing the stick down (to throw home) and let 'er rip... the cut off man automatically throws home... right?

# 1416 Sportsforever @ 03/05/08 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brendanrfoley


	If you hold LT while pointing the stick down (to throw home) and let 'er rip... the cut off man automatically throws home... right?

Yes, they automatically throw where ever you were wanting to throw. For example, if you get a ball in right center and come throwing to third but you have the left trigger depressed, the cutoff man will get the ball and relay to 3B.

# 1417 ehh @ 03/05/08 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brendanrfoley


	If you hold LT while pointing the stick down (to throw home) and let 'er rip... the cut off man automatically throws home... right?

I'm trying to figure that out exactly. There have been a lot of auto-throws by the cutoff man and I couldn't figure out why. None of them ever burned me so I thought the CPU was just making the correct decision. Who knows, maybe I've just gotten lucky so far.

# 1418 gobucks @ 03/05/08 08:25 PM

Why is there no Meatball slider for the human? There is one for the CPU only...or am I missing it?

# 1419 123456dan @ 03/05/08 08:52 PM

Thanks for helping me on the cutoff throws. And to gobucks, it's probably because meatballs are based on a pitcher making a mistake or mis-executing a pitch. Since there is a slider for Total-Control Pitching difficulty, turning that up will likely increase the number of meatballs that you are going to throw.

# 1420 Bat @ 03/05/08 09:07 PM

The sim stats look pretty good EXCEPT pitcher strikeouts. Johan went 19-7 with a 2.36 era and struck out only 126 batters. The top pitcher in strikeouts was 148. Palvano had the best K/9 ratio in 7.6 (was a fantasy draft).

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