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

# 1441 Super Glock @ 03/06/08 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wsu_gb23


	These must be 360 shots, because the PS3 version I played looks awful.... bland textures, jerseys, lighting, etc... the self-shadowing for PS3 (which is new in 2K8) makes the players look worse... the shadow on the player is very jagged looking, doesn't look natural...

wow the 360 version looks 10x better than the PS3, I wish I never would have seen these

# 1442 metal134 @ 03/06/08 12:08 AM

Got the game. For those of you who want to hear about walks, pitch counts, franchise, etc. and don't give a rat's *** about framerates and whether or not people high-five each other at the plate, this review is for you. Here are some early impressions:

I was really worried when people kept saying that they turned the CPU throw stirke sliders all the way down and still saw 90% strikes. Well, that was the first thing I adjusted and, when I turned them almost (not quite) all the way; the result? Less than 60% strikes and about 7 walks. However, it peeves me that they didn't put in a human pitcher control slider. The only thing you can do is make the meter more difficult and, while I haven't tried it, methinks it will only result in more meatballs. It remains to be seen whether or not we'll be able to issue walks, though. Last game, I threw a good amount of balls (only 62.5% strikes), but every time I get down 3-0 or 3-1, I just end up either coming back to get the out, or throwing a meatball and getting hammered. Maybe once I get better at the pitching mechanic, more of those misses will be balls and thus, walks will ensue. Pitch counts looked pretty good, too. I forget the exact count, but last game, I got about 120 something pitches from each team.

I only gave franchise mode a quick glance, but it seems solid. There were a lot of trades, but nothing that I thought was a stretch. The only thing, though, is they were all one for one trades, so it doesn't look as thought there will be any "trade this superstar for two or three top prospect" type deals between CPU teams. I kind've rushed to sim a season, so I didn't notice if there were any lineup glitches. When I get more time, I'll check that out. The simmed stats looked pretty darn solid. Both team stats and player stats. I'll go over them more in depth later, but the only statistic that looked off to me was strikeouts. Johan Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez led the league with 159 Ks. Kind've a bummer but all the other stats looked pretty good (at least on the surface). The draft sucks. It is bare-bones and I didn't see any scouting options (I may have missed them, but I doubt it). There are no trades during the draft. It's basically a draft system from sports games 10 years ago. No draft day activity, no scouting. When I get a chnace, I'll sim some more seasons to see how player progession is.

As long as we can get user issued walks (and good all around stats) and there turn out to be no game crippling bugs in franchise mode, I will spend a lot of time with this game.

# 1443 bigfnjoe96 @ 03/06/08 12:09 AM

I just got suicide squeezed by the RAYS.. Crawford lay-it down & Baldelli scored...

I was totally caught off guard. So shocked that I couldn't even throw Crawford out...

# 1444 Spectre @ 03/06/08 12:13 AM

Question guys, have you gotten any good sliders to get the computer to take a good amount of pitches. I'm starting to really get into the demo but one thing that bugs me about it is the fact the AI hacks away early in the count at a pitch if its somewhat decent.

The only other big gameplay gripe I have right now is getting a little more variability with hitting spots. I know there's a meter difficulty slider, does it just cause the green circle to collapse faster? If so, then it won't cause meatballs because that's just a function of the gesture (which I've gotten really good at already!).

I just lost 1-0 in the 5th to the Sox when Youk yanked a Jimenez pitch over the Monster.

I can't stress how much I love this pitching. Also, those pics look outrageous joe. That Zambrano pic looks life-like

# 1445 metal134 @ 03/06/08 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spectre


	Question guys, have you gotten any good sliders to get the computer to take a good amount of pitches. I'm starting to really get into the demo but one thing that bugs me about it is the fact the AI hacks away early in the count at a pitch if its somewhat decent. The only other big gameplay gripe I have right now is getting a little more variability with hitting spots. I know there's a meter difficulty slider, does it just cause the green circle to collapse faster? If so, then it won't cause meatballs because that's just a function of the gesture (which I've gotten really good at already!). I just lost 1-0 in the 5th to the Sox when Youk yanked a Jimenez pitch over the Monster. I can't stress how much I love this pitching. Also, those pics look outrageous joe. That Zambrano pic looks life-like

I'm working on it. I haven't messed with the take strikes slider, but I have raised the take ball overall slider and the take ball ahead slider. Not a whole a lot, but the CPU has taken more balls, but still not enough for me to walk anyone, so I'm going to jack it up some more. I left the take ball behind in the count slider because I still want to be able to get ahead 0-2, 1-2 and have them chase (that's kind've the purpose of getting ahead in the count, lol!). But I'll try some more tweaking and let you know what I see.

# 1446 DocHolliday @ 03/06/08 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metal134


	Got the game. For those of you who want to hear about walks, pitch counts, franchise, etc. and don't give a rat's *** about framerates and whether or not people high-five each other at the plate, this review is for you. Here are some early impressions: I was really worried when people kept saying that they turned the CPU throw stirke sliders all the way down and still saw 90% strikes. Well, that was the first thing I adjusted and, when I turned them almost (not quite) all the way; the result? Less than 60% strikes and about 7 walks. However, it peeves me that they didn't put in a human pitcher control slider. The only thing you can do is make the meter more difficult and, while I haven't tried it, methinks it will only result in more meatballs. It remains to be seen whether or not we'll be able to issue walks, though. Last game, I threw a good amount of balls (only 62.5% strikes), but every time I get down 3-0 or 3-1, I just end up either coming back to get the out, or throwing a meatball and getting hammered. Maybe once I get better at the pitching mechanic, more of those misses will be balls and thus, walks will ensue. Pitch counts looked pretty good, too. I forget the exact count, but last game, I got about 120 something pitches from each team. I only gave franchise mode a quick glance, but it seems solid. There were a lot of trades, but nothing that I thought was a stretch. The only thing, though, is they were all one for one trades, so it doesn't look as thought there will be any "trade this superstar for two or three top prospect" type deals between CPU teams. I kind've rushed to sim a season, so I didn't notice if there were any lineup glitches. When I get more time, I'll check that out. The simmed stats looked pretty darn solid. Both team stats and player stats. I'll go over them more in depth later, but the only statistic that looked off to me was strikeouts. Johan Santana and Ubaldo Jimenez led the league with 159 Ks. Kind've a bummer but all the other stats looked pretty good (at least on the surface). The draft sucks. It is bare-bones and I didn't see any scouting options (I may have missed them, but I doubt it). There are no trades during the draft. It's basically a draft system from sports games 10 years ago. No draft day activity, no scouting. When I get a chnace, I'll sim some more seasons to see how player progession is. As long as we can get user issued walks (and good all around stats) and there turn out to be no game crippling bugs in franchise mode, I will spend a lot of time with this game.

Dude now that was an impression. Hats off to you for that review. You manwhiched that bad boy.

Hopefully the pitching issues like strikes and balls can be rectfied a bit.

Badass review.

# 1447 ericdrum @ 03/06/08 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigfnjoe96


	I just got suicide squeezed by the RAYS.. Crawford lay-it down & Baldelli scored... I was totally caught off guard. So shocked that I couldn't even throw Crawford out...

San Diego suicide squeezed me. I was so shocked I couldn't react.

# 1448 bigfnjoe96 @ 03/06/08 12:38 AM

Just got hammered again by the CPU. Geez I haven't won a game yet. 0-4

# 1449 metal134 @ 03/06/08 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DocHolliday


	Dude now that was an impression. Hats off to you for that review. You manwhiched that bad boy. Hopefully the pitching issues like strikes and balls can be rectfied a bit. Badass review.

Yeah, I kept waiting and waiting for someone to tackle these issues, but I realized that that probably wasn't going to happen.

# 1450 metal134 @ 03/06/08 12:49 AM

Something else I forgot to mention. Some people are probably goint o be miffed about this, but I'm happy about it. The Indian's home park is still Jacob's Field in the game!

# 1451 DrUrsus @ 03/06/08 01:20 AM

I own both the Show and 2k8, and so far I have been playing nothing but 2k8. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Show, and I know that I will come back to it later, but this game is pretty fresh. The Show definitely looks better in the graphic department as well, and I like controlling the CPU rosters. Is there a way to do that in MLB2k8?

The game is definitely better with Ehh's workaround (signing out of your xbox Live signon, thereby disabling VIP and achievements however)

I love pitching in this game! I am getting better and better at it after using the tutorial, and it is becoming a blast. Never have I enjoyed pitching so much in a baseball game. There is definitely a learning curve. I like how I have to worry about the break point, the accuracy and recreating the pitch. Very fun right now. It may get old later, but I really like it right now.

As far as hitting goes, I have ditched Hitstick 2.0 in favor of 1 button classic. The hit stick doesn't make it any more fun for me, and I like trying to decide where I am going to hit the ball, and I personally feel like I have more control with classic. Also, it is a little harder to hit the ball in classic in my opinion, so I am able to strike out at times.

We definitely need to come up with sliders that recreate pitching better for the CPU. It throws way too many strikes, I have noticed so far.

# 1452 Direblaze @ 03/06/08 01:23 AM

I bat with swingstick 2.0 and i can hit a hit if they gave me a guitar. said it before everything I hit is hit at fielders need help please tips

. I can handle the pichting

. but i can not picht a shutout all the time

. this is in all star difficulty out of the box slider no change

# 1453 Bat @ 03/06/08 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Direblaze


	I bat with swingstick 2.0 and i can hit a hit if they gave me a guitar. said it before everything I hit is hit at fielders need help please tips . I can handle the pichting . but i can not picht a shutout all the time . this is in all star difficulty out of the box slider no change

Take your initial step back to hit alittle earlier and hold it for a split second. I do better when I start my pull back sooner than I would naturally expect.

# 1454 bravosfan @ 03/06/08 01:31 AM

Brief impressions, probably nothing unique but here goes...

-graphics do seem to have been scaled back a bit, grass most noticeably, but still a nice looking game IMO.

-framerate, I think I'm probably a little less sensitive to this than some... noticed a little choppiness at start, but quickly got over it. Probably wouldn't have noticed it at all honestly if I hadn't read so much about it.

-font is tiny, at least on SDTV. Especially the menus. I could hardly read the names while doing a little quick roster editing.

-pitching, I suck at it. Big time. I was anticipating this new control scheme the most, I just didn't expect it to be so difficult. At least for me. Not gonna give up on it yet, but at least classic's still there just in case.

-swing stick, I actually like this a lot more than I expected. Last year's I went right to classic almost immediately, but I can see myself keeping the default.

-saw a pretty good variety of hits. Had one AB where I fouled off 5 or 6 straight pitches, really dug that.

-fielding is pretty cool, I really like the analog throwing. The field itself feels a bit bigger, too.

-didn't see enough balls thrown by either side, but I only played on default... and I'm kind of a hacker anyway.

All in all, seems like a solid enough game so far. I'm sure I'll enjoy it even more once I figure this pitching out, and maybe find a good slider combination.

# 1455 Bat @ 03/06/08 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrUrsus


	I own both the Show and 2k8, and so far I have been playing nothing but 2k8. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the Show, and I know that I will come back to it later, but this game is pretty fresh. The Show definitely looks better in the graphic department as well, and I like controlling the CPU rosters. Is there a way to do that in MLB2k8? The game is definitely better with Ehh's workaround (signing out of your xbox Live signon, thereby disabling VIP and achievements however) I love pitching in this game! I am getting better and better at it after using the tutorial, and it is becoming a blast. Never have I enjoyed pitching so much in a baseball game. There is definitely a learning curve. I like how I have to worry about the break point, the accuracy and recreating the pitch. Very fun right now. It may get old later, but I really like it right now. As far as hitting goes, I have ditched Hitstick 2.0 in favor of 1 button classic. The hit stick doesn't make it any more fun for me, and I like trying to decide where I am going to hit the ball, and I personally feel like I have more control with classic. Also, it is a little harder to hit the ball in classic in my opinion, so I am able to strike out at times. We definitely need to come up with sliders that recreate pitching better for the CPU. It throws way too many strikes, I have noticed so far.

I have always loved The Show and i bought both yesterday but I actually haven't even played The Show 08 yet! I am pretty shocked but I am enjoying the pitching in 2k8 so much. I never liked pitching in a baseball game like this. I will get to The Show soon but 2k8 is pretty fun.

# 1456 metal134 @ 03/06/08 01:38 AM

If you turn down the CPU throw strikes slider, you SHOULD see a lot more balls. Some people are reporting that it isn't making a difference, but I'm personally seeing a HUGE difference.

Something else I wanted to mention; I noticed there is no commentary in minor league games. Kind've sucks, but I'll get over it.

# 1457 Direblaze @ 03/06/08 01:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bat9th


	Take your initial step back to hit alittle earlier and hold it for a split second. I do better when I start my pull back sooner than I would naturally expect.

Thanks man i will try that. I just can not hit right now if my life depended on it

# 1458 pdawg17 @ 03/06/08 01:46 AM

When using the R analog incorrectly for pitching are there pitches badly out of the zone or are they usually meatball pitches?

# 1459 metal134 @ 03/06/08 01:49 AM

It depends. If you mess up badly, it will be a meatball. I oticed that if you mess up slightly, it is often a ball. Problem is that until you get the hang of it, it is easy to mess up badly. I am still throwing a lot of meatballs. I am hoping that once I get halfway decent at it, it will allow for a good strikeout/walk ratio.

# 1460 DrUrsus @ 03/06/08 01:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metal134


	If you turn down the CPU throw strikes slider, you SHOULD see a lot more balls. Some people are reporting that it isn't making a difference, but I'm personally seeing a HUGE difference. Something else I wanted to mention; I noticed there is no commentary in minor league games. Kind've sucks, but I'll get over it.

I guess Joe Morgan and John Miller? (can't remember his name now) must be too important to do minor league commentary, LOL. Maybe they should have used those old NFL 2k cheap announcers, LOL.

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