Major League Baseball 2K8 360 Impressions

[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.

[dmbfan1970]

Thank You VERY much Steve! We are starved for the info. Much appreciated!!!

Did you get a chance to see the online features and lobbies?
You really have me excited about the check swings however I'm not sure I'll be able to pull back in time. It just seems too hard to me.

[nyisles16]

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.



this does NOT bode well at all

[glcmustliveon]

Sounds like he had a good time with the game, sounds very encouraging. I guess we'll find out when the full write-up is available.

[SoxFan01605]

Good to hear about in game saves for 2K8 as well. With the detail in these baseball games (plus I like to play Red Sox baseball and grind out ABs) it's almost a must. Looking forward to trying this game out.

[SoxFan01605]

Quote: Originally Posted by nyisles16

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. this does NOT bode well at all

I know...hopefully they addressed the lineup bug in franchise mode. This will be a huge disappointment if it wasn't.

[Tomba]

360 or ps3 version seen?

[Pigskin11]

So how'd the bat sound??