MLB 2K8 News Post

Patrick Williams: Can I Have My Money Back?

01:30 PM - March 20, 2008 by RaychelSnr

Patrick Williams of Operation Sports wrote an article discussing why he is unhappy with Major League Baseball 2k8 and why he thinks a full refund is in order.

Quote:


	"As daylight savings kicks in and the snow begins to melt it's starting to become evident that spring is in the air. And what comes with spring? Baseball. Unfortunately being an XBOX 360 owner leaves me few options when it comes to choosing a baseball game. In fact it leaves me with just one option: MLB 2K8."

Game: Major League Baseball 2K8Reader Score: 6/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 74 - View All

Member Comments

# 21 Sportsforever @ 03/20/08 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	Let's see, the things he touches on in this article, in order, are... - Dull presentation - The commentary is repetitive - Lack of new replays and cut scenes - Hard to read batter card - Throws in that he likes 2K Beats It takes the author until the NINTH paragraph to even mention the game play. NINTH! And outside of a brief paragraph discussing pitching and the fact that it "takes too long to do" he summarizes the game play as... A few sentences on the pitching interface and then the above quote is all he has to say about the entire gameplay package in this game. That's it?! I'm sorry, but this could possibly be the worst article I have ever seen posted on this site. I've said it a hundred times on this site, everyone complained last year that the gameplay was what need to be fixed from 2K7. So 2K goes out and does that and now every tears the other aspects of the games to shreds. Brutal.

I agree that this is one of the worst articles I have seen written on here. It's not even a review so much as "I feel like I was robbed of my $60 because the game is boring..." diatribe. He completely lost me when he said the new pitching mechanic "takes too long...". On the one hand we are crucifying the game for not feeling like a baseball game, but then we want to rush through things like pitching? If anything, the pitching this year is as fast or faster than last year. I'm not going to say his complaints are valid, and it was his $60 so he can complain if he wants, but this whole thing seemed more like one of the many whiney threads that have been started rather than an article for a sports gaming site.

# 22 roadman @ 03/20/08 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maverick3176


	Is it OS or is it 2K baseball...think about it. Why are they "picking on" this game. The article hit on it so well. With all that he didnt even mention frame rate. But anyway, I dont think ANYONE should get their money back. At this point 2K baseball makes bad game more consistly than good games., so anyone who bought it without getting a review or without reading the boards was foolish. You could smell this coming a mile away. That is why many paid $460 to have more choices

Why do we need to read reviews and boards to make our decision? Do you read movie reviews, CD reviews before you make a decision to buy something? If i tried that philosophy, I'd miss out on a lot of great movies and music just because of one person's opinion. And that's all reviews are, opinions, not fact. Same with this article, opinion, not fact.

# 23 CS10029 @ 03/20/08 03:55 PM

I don't see why his article should be posted for the site to see./ Why nnot post some of the things Ive said.

# 24 ILLCHILL @ 03/20/08 03:56 PM

Hmmm, I'm gonna have to say the only thing that was 'dull and boring' was this article. Goodness not only the content, but the way it was written. Blah

That being said, he makes ssoooommmee good points but nothing ground-breaking. I agree with the other guy, who the hell stole your money? Just rent the damn thing next time.

# 25 goheat @ 03/20/08 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sportsforever


	If $60 means that much to someone, IMO they shouldn't be buying video games or they should be renting before they purchase. Just my opinion though...

Amen. And Go Gators!

# 26 gta95 @ 03/20/08 04:04 PM

$60 is a lot of money to spend on a video game. Factor in the price of the console, TV, electricity, and time. Gaming comes out to be an expensive hobby. When I spend $60, I expect atleast a halfway decent game.

# 27 Shockgeez04 @ 03/20/08 04:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gta95


	$60 is a lot of money to spend on a video game. Factor in the price of the console, TV, electricity, and time. Gaming comes out to be an expensive hobby. When I spend $60, I expect at least a halfway decent game.

you are going overboard by implying 2K8 isnt even halfway decent, even if its not a better game than The Show I still find it plays a good game of baseball with very few slider tweaks

# 28 CS10029 @ 03/20/08 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aka_HorseChoker


	You ever come to think that maybe they are bashing the game because,you know,it isn't very good. Of course if it were an EA Sports game,you would have agreed with every point the guy made.

Haha are you kidding me. I still try out EA sports games. I love the NHL game and NCAA is decent. MLB could be better, the same thing with the EA games, but the quality of 2Ks games to that of EAs differs drastically.

I just don't get why this article needs to be posted, when for the most part the people of this site like the game. Im sure this article had to be approved by someone, and I just don't see why its necessary.

# 29 Star1 @ 03/20/08 04:19 PM

Refund?

Dude should have rented it first...

Nobody owes him d***.

# 30 Blzer @ 03/20/08 04:22 PM

I am one of the people that felt like this game was going to be a major letdown. I read the impressions the first day, and thought to myself, "Crap, what did you guys do, 2K?"

Then I downloaded the demo and played the game...

The gameplay is so much better than last year. Now hitting, pitching, fielding, and baserunning aren't actually a chore to make your own sacrifices to make the game harder for yourself. For instance, closing your eyes to move the ball cursor while pitching to miss your spots sometimes; not ever holding up on the left-analog stick while batting to prevent HR derbies; tapping the throwing meter instead of holding it every time while throwing to reduce the ball velocity just a little bit; using baseburner mode to try and steal runners with less ease. We shouldn't have to have these stupid fixes just to address gameplay issues.

And now the four fundamentals have not only been resolved for the most part, but they have become fun. Don't tell me that pitching isn't more fun with the new controls, that batting is more dynamic and smoother with 60 FPS, that right-stick throwing and using cut-offs to throw runners out now feel rewarding. Gameplay issues have, for the most part, been addressed and resolved, and now people are showing their true colors. It seems as through visuals and presentation was more important to you guys than you once thought. Take a look at the MLB 2K8 wishlist thread and read how many "Fix gameplay!" posts there are. They do it, and we still complain that 2K8 wasn't a step in the right direction.

As for me? I am a major graphics whore. I am very disappointed in the overall detail, color, and lighting... but I would take that kind of hit for 60 FPS and anti-aliasing eight days a week. Hopefully next year they can be heavily improved on. But I don't think Brinkman gave us any false hope this year. He was very outright with all of the things he said, and I think we got what we were told we were going to get.

It's not necessarily that the series took a step back. In some ways, I do think that it did... but only to jump back forward again in the future. I don't know jack about memory, processing power, or anything like that, but if the 360 version is holding the PS3 version back, I say they screw the 360 like they did the PS2, and go as much as they can with the PS3 version when they will have to limit themselves with the 360 version. Only then, hopefully we will find where this series wants to be with 2K9. Most fundamental gameplay issues have been resolved... now let's pretty up this series again. I still have faith in this series, but I think 2K9 is their last chance for me. If they aren't going in the right direction by then, then I will have lost all hope.

EDIT: If there was one thing they did wrong this year (not necessarily in terms of development, but something I think they could have held back on), it's the playable minor leagues. I think that could have waited a year or two, but that's just me. I have yet to play the retail version (only the demo), so I can't speak first-hand on how cool they are in the game. But the lack of many generic stances doesn't excite me too much.

# 31 awesomepatrol @ 03/20/08 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blzer


	EDIT: If there was one thing they did wrong this year (not necessarily in terms of development, but something I think they could have held back on), it's the playable minor leagues. I think that could have waited a year or two, but that's just me. I have yet to play the retail version (only the demo), so I can't speak first-hand on how cool they are in the game. But the lack of many generic stances doesn't excite me too much.

Wait, so you've launched into this lengthy diatribe defending the game and you have, you know, yet to actually play it?

Because I can tell you, it ain't running at 60fps. It's more like (60 - 55) fps.

# 32 CS10029 @ 03/20/08 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awesomepatrol


	Wait, so you've launched into this lengthy diatribe defending the game and you have, you know, yet to actually play it? Because I can tell you, it ain't running at 60fps. It's more like (60 - 55) fps.

You obviously know very little about seeing.

# 33 awesomepatrol @ 03/20/08 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CS10029


	You obviously know very little about seeing.

Indeed. Me and all of the hundreds of posters -- and, in fact, 2K themselves -- who have acknowledged this patent flaw.

We must all be EA shills.

# 34 CS10029 @ 03/20/08 05:01 PM

Do you realize what 5 FPS would look like? Honestly come on.

# 35 Artman22 @ 03/20/08 05:06 PM

I completely agree with the article. This game went completely backwards. The game deserves a 5 not even a 6. The player models are horrible. They have small heads that dont go with the bodys at all. This game is a complete disapointment. People need to stop being fanboys. I love 2k but this game is bad. 2k6 to 2k7 imo was a big jump. 2k7 to 2k8 went backwards. Fanboys will defend this game to the end. It's sad that people wont accept that this game is just not good, And this is coming from a guy who liked 2k7.

# 36 spankdatazz22 @ 03/20/08 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by arseniotall


	I hope they bash Madden like this when it comes out.

Yeah it's the new OS - had to double check to make sure I wasn't at IGN at first.

Madden'll never get bashed; if this were in the Madden forum it'd have to be placed in the all-encompassing "place your bad comments here" thread. Besides Madden has had four years to get it right - and will get longer if necessary. Madden's bar is simply to be better than it was the year before, not to be the best it should be (EA at it's most clever - make the game suck the first year; they'll appreciate half-azzed games in subsequent years).

As far as a refund goes... guess I'm shocked at how little improvements in gameplay mean nowadays. And I'd say the gameplay enhancements were fairly significant. Even with as great as I've heard The Show is this year, I think there would be disappointment if they didn't make some gameplay changes next year. It could be argued those changes would come anyway because of the title evolving, but I think a fairly significant reason would be because of what 2K8 did with it's control changes to liven up it's gameplay.

# 37 CS10029 @ 03/20/08 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by baa7


	That's a BAD example to use to if you're trying to plug the game. The commentary is years old, hasn't been updated since 2K5, is buggy and wrong a good portion of the time and thanks to Joe is irrelevent much of the time, and doesn't track in-game hitting events or seasonal hitting streaks. That other game probably has a dozen event sound files for every one that's in 2K. If we're talking ratings, 2K's commentary is a 2 or 3 compared with The Show's 10.

Ill agree there, the commentary is tough to listen to most of the time, if not all the time. I've learned to block them out though.

# 38 Blzer @ 03/20/08 05:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by awesomepatrol


	Wait, so you've launched into this lengthy diatribe defending the game and you have, you know, yet to actually play it? Because I can tell you, it ain't running at 60fps. It's more like (60 - 55) fps.

The batting and pitching cameras seem to have a steady 60 FPS framerate. In the field, there is a daringly awful chop that I see every quarter-second as the camera pans across the field for throws or hits, but that doesn't seem like a framerate issue.

I only say that because, if you go into replay mode and let it play in regular motion, you won't see that hiccup. I think what happens is, in-game, the game tries to mimic a "camera delay" as if it's trailing the ball only by a little bit, but then it locks and re-centers every so often, giving it that terrible look of what could perhaps be a framerate issue. But I don't think it is the framerate that is really dropping.

Nevertheless, in between, it seems to be running at 60 FPS. If the patch improves this, then more to us. If not, then it's something we have to look forward to being fixed next year. If not then, we can say goodbye to this series.

But I hope you weren't calling me out in a way that maybe I don't have a keen eye for visual degradations. I know of people on this site that though MLB 2K7 was running just smoothly and didn't have any jaggies. I hope that, after playing MLB 2K8, they finally can see what issues MLB 2K7 had in those departments. An a game that isn't running smoothly or that isn't clean around the edges normally doesn't get a passing grade in my book.

BTW like I said, I haven't played the retail version. Supposedly the issue you're talking about is worse in retail, so what I'm seeing in the demo is only a slight issue compared to what you guys have. Obviously, that's why I didn't buy this game.

# 39 awesomepatrol @ 03/20/08 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blzer


	BTW like I said, I haven't played the retail version. Supposedly the issue you're talking about is worse in retail, so what I'm seeing in the demo is only a slight issue compared to what you guys have. Obviously, that's why I didn't buy this game.

Correct, everything you said above this is 100% inaccurate about the full retail game. Hysterically, the demo isn't plagued by this problem.

# 40 queensbomber @ 03/20/08 05:13 PM

I personally agree. Having played both games this year, I was really really dissapointed with 2K8. Waiting anxiously for it this year again and it was a big let down. Just as he said, "Boring!". The fielding controls were the ONLY bright spot for me in this game. Pitching did feel like a chore to me.
Again, this is my personal opinion, the dudes that are into 2K8 well, more power to them. Me personally have switched to the show and Im satisfied.

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