The little things are what make or break sports games. It's a safe assumption to label the OS community as a group of sim gamers who are looking for a sports title to resemble its real life counterpart as closely as possible. They scrutinize everything they see and hear within the game and measure it against what they witness in real life. There is one title that comes to mind when thinking of a sports game that has mastered the little things, and that title is MLB 08: The Show.

The cut scenes in The Show are extraordinary and should be the standard for all sports games. The way they've captured the emotion of the game to make it more enjoyable is exceptional. Sports gamers want to be immersed in competition and feel the emotions of the cyber athletes. Cut scenes in this realm range from smirks given by the players after nice plays, to throwing helmets against the dugout wall because a home run just got robbed. The overall experience of The Show is made complete with the incorporation of all the little things.

The Show brings our cyber athletes to life through the use of these cut scenes. Hitters, who have no manners, blow snot rockets when coming up to the plate. Pitchers who are struggling show the emotion and nerves they are feeling with a big hitter coming up. Good plays in the field are expressed with celebration and errors throw players into depression. The accuracy of the correlation between what happened on the field and how the players react is phenomenal. The SCE San Diego production crew has gone above and beyond to put all this detail in the game and it truly pays off. It goes without saying that this game was manufactured by a group of people who truly understand and love the game of baseball.

The Show catches the emotion of this Manny HR perfectly

The excellence of the little things not only applies to what you see on the field, it can be said about what you hear around the ballpark. If you need to pause your game, you never know what you might hear. Recently I had to take a break for a moment and hit pause. After a couple minutes I heard the PA announcer proclaim, "Attention those seated behind home plate. If you are caught talking on your cell phone and waving at the camera you will be immediately subject to imprisonment of no less than 20 years." I had a good laugh, and after a couple more minutes I heard another great line from the PA announcer -- I won’t spoil it for you though.

The sounds from the commentary booth and the crowd also set this game apart from other titles. The announcers mention when a particular player gets a hit on their birthday; they mention all the important milestones; and they build the drama as a pitcher goes deep into a game with a no-hitter or perfect game. Everything they say transitions almost flawlessly and I have yet to hear the commentary get cut off. Fans also come into play in the audio department and will cheer/heckle players appropriately. Torii Hunter gets a warm welcome in Minnesota and the "Bleacher Creatures" at Yankee Stadium call out the starters.

MLB 08: The Show excels in creating the best representation of a baseball game I have ever seen. I have played baseball for a dozen years and seeing the little things incorporated in this game has me giddy every time I am about to power up the PS3. I am confident that fellow baseball fans feel the same way when they witness the intricacies of baseball nearly perfected in this game. It’s time for other sports games to take note of this classic and incorporate the ideas into their own titles. They will find that the little things go a long way.

Check out the Little Things thread on OS for more examples of SCEA's great work.