News Post

MLB '08: The Show PSP Review

12:53 PM - March 18, 2008 by RaychelSnr

We recently posted our MLB '08: The Show review for the PSP by Chase Becotte.

Quote:


	"There comes a time when every franchise hits a wall on any given platform, and the folks at SCE Studios San Diego have seemingly hit that wall on the PSP this year. MLB '08: The Show is now in its third iteration on the PSP, and while MLB '08 is still entirely competent and polished, any gamer who has played the previous two versions may feel a sense of d�j� vu while playing the '08 version of The Show."

Game: MLB '08: The ShowReader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSPVotes for game: 97 - View All

Member Comments

# 1 therockstar2005 @ 03/18/08 03:13 PM

Good review. I do happen to fall into the category of never playing the Show before, so I am still really excited for it and my new PSP which I should be getting tomorrow (yay, birthday!). I hope that 09 isn't just somewhat of a repeat of this one, and maybe have a real Franchise mode versus Season, and maybe a fantasy draft as well. But I am still excited for a good baseball game. Good job!

And loving the STL being represented through Mr. Howard on the cover.

# 2 DJ @ 03/18/08 03:49 PM

Good, balanced review. I'm a newcomer to the series, so I'm very impressed with the game on the PSP. You bring up a lot of good points for vets of the series, though, so they can decide if a new purchase is warranted.

I do agree on the load times between games in RTTS. It's not a huge deal, but it would be nice if you could get through games a bit quicker; or have the in-game save feature for RTTS.

# 3 magoo1967 @ 03/18/08 04:21 PM

Very informative review that fairly discusses the pros & cons of this year's PSP effort. Like many people (including the writer of this review), I felt that this year's game was way too similar to last year, and that was just from playing the demo. Initially, I had decided that there wasn't anything new enough to justify another purchase this year. But then yesterday I saw that Amazon was selling the PSP version for only $29.99 ($10 cheaper than everyone else), so I just couldn't resist...I placed my order. The way I look at it, the improved frame rate, new RTTS 2.0 features, some updated animations & commentary, and then throw in the ability to download updated rosters throughout the season (this is a biggie)...these things alone make it well worth the $30 for me.

I do agree with this review in that, next year SCEA definitely need to bring more new things to to the table in order to breath some life into this series, otherwise it may go the way of the dinosaurs. With that said, I must admit that if it wasn't for The Show, I would hardly play my PSP at all, and I am still eagerly looking forward to receiving this year's PSP version in the mail...can't wait to get my 2008 portable baseball fix!!!

# 4 ChaseB @ 03/18/08 04:24 PM

Yea I could have brought up lack of a fantasy draft as well but I think I made the point. I didn't realize though that during your season you can DL new rosters from online and use them in your on-going Season? That's pretty cool. Does it work through some sort of Import feature?

# 5 magoo1967 @ 03/18/08 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slizeezyc


	Yea I could have brought up lack of a fantasy draft as well but I think I made the point. I didn't realize though that during your season you can DL new rosters from online and use them in your on-going Season? That's pretty cool. Does it work through some sort of Import feature?

No, you can't use them in your on-going seasons. I guess I should have stated this better, I meant that you can download new rosters throughout the real baseball season, to reflect any moves that have been made (as opposed to trying to do it yourself, which is nearly impossible on the PSP). This obviously wouldn't have been available to me if I would have stuck with last year's version. Unfortunately it works just like the other versions of The Show, you must start a new season to use an updated roster set. Sorry for the confusion.

# 6 ChaseB @ 03/18/08 05:32 PM

Oh alright. But yea kudos to them for at least getting rosters in in some way.

# 7 tfigs121 @ 03/18/08 07:32 PM

I bought the PSP last month when the Demo came out and have been playing it every day since the game came out. I absolutely love it and play it a lot more than I did last year when I had the PS2 version.

My only complaint is the lack of CPU Roster control in Season mode.

But it plays a great game of baseball and was definitely worth the purchase of the PSP.

tfigs

# 8 Pared @ 03/19/08 12:08 PM

Great review.

# 9 kilmar1 @ 03/19/08 12:36 PM

MLB 09 The Show PS3 should have Remote Play integration with the PSP. The PSP will show stats of the game being played on the PS3 including but not limited to:

* Box score
* Pitching/Batting stats
* Hot/Cold zones
* Vs. stats
* Line score

Imagine the number of extra sales for the PSP version if they had that!

# 10 jczar78 @ 03/20/08 02:16 PM

The review was spot on, but I do agree that they need to spice it up a bit next year. I love the game but I would love to see them add new things before it becomes just another roster update every year. That being said this game is the only thing that keeps me playing my PSP.

# 11 longshadow11 @ 03/20/08 02:35 PM

I wish I had just stuck with '06. I don't like having to play defense or the low camera angle when batting in The Road to the Show.

Also, why no create-a-player for a regular season? I don't want to go through all the mess The Road makes you do, I want to create some players and stick em on my favorite team.

Graphics are the same if not worse than '06. Commentary is slightly improved. A very few more animations.

They did a great job on the PS3 version, but the job they did on the psp reminds me of something EA would do. I wish I had my money back.

# 12 Sully @ 03/20/08 02:59 PM

Good review. I purchased this last week for the PSP, and the load times are a bitch. I'm struggling to get into RTTS because of the fact that it takes so long to load the games up.

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MLB '08: The Show PSP Review