MLB 2k8

[MizzouRah]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/841/841745p1.html

I loved this game last year and this article really has me pumped. Seems like they've hit on all my gripes - framerate, fielding, baserunning, etc...

[EagleFan]

Enjoying the hell out of the 2K7 version. Looking forward to 2K8.

[Logan]

How'd the game play on the 360?

[MizzouRah]

How'd the game play on the 360?

The game's quite good on the 360 - as it was horrible on the ps3 from what I've read (MLB 2k7). After the patch, I played a whole season of games.

Running in 60fps should REALLY make a difference this year.

[EagleFan]

I'll echo what Mizzou said. It plays quite well on the 360.

I first made a mistake purchase of "The Bigs", forgetting it was "The Show" which was the good one for PS3 (hoping it was the right one that had been ported to the 360).

[Balldog]

I never played it post patch, but I wasn't a big fan before the patch. From what I hear it was pretty good after the patch.

[sooner333]

I never really liked it...couldn't get the hitting down and never got better as much as I tried to read up on how to actually play the game. I just miss MVP baseball and hope that the last Xbox version can be made 360 compatible.

[SackAttack]

I'll echo what Mizzou said. It plays quite well on the 360.

I first made a mistake purchase of "The Bigs", forgetting it was "The Show" which was the good one for PS3 (hoping it was the right one that had been ported to the 360).

The Show is a Sony game. You won't ever see it on 360.

And you can thank 2K Sports targeting EA specifically (rather than going for the complete monopoly) for The Show's existence.

[MizzouRah]

The Show schmoe.

[ice4277]

I actually enjoyed it quite a bit on the PS3. Never played it on 360 so I can't compare the two. I'm really looking forward to 2k8.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Should be a lot of information coming out on this game over the next few days. There was a developer conference call with the gaming media that took place last night.

[CraigSca]

I thought the call was supposed to be on Friday - it actually happened last night?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I thought the call was supposed to be on Friday - it actually happened last night?

Ah, you're correct. Missed by a day. Thanks.

So given the upcoming weekend, my guess is that we'll see some info on Monday.

[MizzouRah]

There was a podcast a few days ago with some good information. Demo has been sent to MS, the guy was very impressed with the new throwing controls...etc...

http://www.podtrac.com/PodtracPlayer/podtracplayer.aspx?podcast=http://www.1up.com/flat/Podcasts/sportsanomaly.xml (http://www.podtrac.com/PodtracPlayer/podtracplayer.aspx?podcast=http://www.1up.com/flat/Podcasts/sportsanomaly.xml)

Quality is not the greatest though.

[MizzouRah]

http://www.vetzballin.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=91&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Finally, some gameplay videos!

[CraigSca]

I like the stats and stuff while the game is loading - that's a really nice touch. The gameplay looks improved, but it still looks a little hitchy to me. I really look forward to seeing what they can do next year!

[CraigSca]

oh - check out the sound of the plane buzzing the stadium in the top of the 2nd inning (with Morneau up) in the Twins-Indians game. THAT is cool!

[CraigSca]

Still watching - there's some distinct hitching when you swing in the batter-pitcher confrontation. Still, I'm quite impressed with this. I'm wondering, why didn't they show these things earlier?!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Sounds like the guys over at the Sports Gamer blog are going to tape the developer conference call and possibly put it on their podcast..........

http://www.sportsgamerblog.com/2008/02/22/friday-notes-5/

[Pumpy Tudors]

mlb show the better game this year

[CraigSca]

Ok - watched all 3. Overall, I like what they did here, but there are still some animation problems. It seems like some of the outfielders are running in water at first when they pursue the ball, allowing some balls to drop in. There's also that hitch when the user swings the bat.

Still, I look forward to seeing what they can do next year as part of the 3 year plan to see if they can even it up with the Show.

[lighthousekeeper]

oh - check out the sound of the plane buzzing the stadium in the top of the 2nd inning (with Morneau up) in the Twins-Indians game. THAT is cool!


meh - it's still no beer tent.

[MizzouRah]

mlb show the better game this year

what id beter boutit? puholes has elbow pad in 2k8

[MizzouRah]

Ok - watched all 3. Overall, I like what they did here, but there are still some animation problems. It seems like some of the outfielders are running in water at first when they pursue the ball, allowing some balls to drop in. There's also that hitch when the user swings the bat.

Still, I look forward to seeing what they can do next year as part of the 3 year plan to see if they can even it up with the Show.

This seems like an old build, Rolen is still on the Cardinals. I'm telling you, the pitching, and throwing really has me excited about this title.

[rowech]

The pitching looks like it could be really tough.

[SackAttack]

Conference call is in about three hours. I don't know if they'll open the floor up to additional questions after they go through the pre-submitted stuff, but we'll see.

I really, one of these days, need to look into figuring out how to record these things so I can more easily transcribe after the fact.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I really, one of these days, need to look into figuring out how to record these things so I can more easily transcribe after the fact.

I think that most people that record those kinds of calls usually use Skype as their phone service. The audio is easy to record to a file since it comes directly through the computer.

[CraigSca]

This seems like an old build, Rolen is still on the Cardinals. I'm telling you, the pitching, and throwing really has me excited about this title.

I was wondering about this. When they showed the defense for the Yankees, the pic of Abreu STILL has a Phillies hat.

[MizzouRah]

I was wondering about this. When they showed the defense for the Yankees, the pic of Abreu STILL has a Phillies hat.

Noticed this as well.

[BigDPW]

I know gameplay is important but I don't remember the pregame stuff showing the fans pausing for so long last year(I sold my copy about 1 month after release and never went back)??? Is that just because of the early build thing or was this the case last year too and I just don't remember.

Best I can remember the pregame stuff showing around the parks was pretty slick last year?

[MizzouRah]

I know gameplay is important but I don't remember the pregame stuff showing the fans pausing for so long last year(I sold my copy about 1 month after release and never went back)??? Is that just because of the early build thing or was this the case last year too and I just don't remember.

Best I can remember the pregame stuff showing around the parks was pretty slick last year?

There was a pause as the game loaded last year as well.

[SackAttack]

I think that most people that record those kinds of calls usually use Skype as their phone service. The audio is easy to record to a file since it comes directly through the computer.

Hm. I'll have to look into that. Or else get some kind of implant so I can type 500wpm.

[rowech]

http://2opgaming.com/2008/02/22/live-mlb-2k8-conference-call-coverage/

[Ironhead]

Haven't played a baseball game since MVP '05 and prior to that it was probably one of the High Heat games. Don't have a Playstation so The Show is not an option. Would love for this game to turn out great though. I had a blast playing through 2 full seasons of a Padres franchise in MVP. I got so into it that I even designed an access database to record boxscores and keep track of month by month stats.

[MizzouRah]

http://2opgaming.com/2008/02/22/live-mlb-2k8-conference-call-coverage/


http://www.pastapadre.com/2360/mlb-2k8-conference-call-recap

This one is a little easier to read.

Tons of great information!! Seems like there is going to be a lot to like about this years version.

[SackAttack]

Yeah, there was a lot of information in the call. I didn't get all of it down and I didn't have time to fool with the Skype stuff, but I think I wound up getting around a dozen questions transcribed - the 2-3 of my own that got asked/answered, and another 8-10 that I felt like were worth actually asking. There were some that were just a little too...I hate to channel HA here, but "nerdy" for me. They give you 3-5 questions, don't ask all of those, and you're going to waste one on whether or not the bat crack in the trailer is more varied in the game?

Just...damn. :)

[SackAttack]

Dola,

Waiting to receive the answers to a couple follow-ups before I post my own article on the call. Will probably happen this weekend or early next week.

[Big Fo]

Not much info was given on the Wii version other than the dreaded "casual" being thrown around, "not for hardcore sim people" etc. Pretty weak. A baseball game on Wii with good motion controls for in the game plus solid sim stats/franchise mode/player progression/all that jazz would be heaven.

Oh well maybe 2k will bring over another version of Power Pros this year.

[SackAttack]

Fo - yeah, that's why I'm waiting on the answers to a couple follow-up questions.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Xbox 360 MLB 2K8 game will not fully fit on DVD. Data will be available for download onto the HDD if 360 owners want all of the content on the PS3 version.

http://loot-ninja.com/2008/02/24/mlb-2k8-too-big-for-dvd/

Impressions on conference call discussion.........

http://www.sportsgamerblog.com/2008/02/22/mlb-2k8-conference-call/

Edited, 1 hour audio of conference call..........

http://www.sportsgamerblog.com/pods/benbrinkmanconference.mp3

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Yikes. Some early impressions from the Operation Sports editors indicate that the Wii version of the game should be avoided at all costs. Gameplay and graphics are both reportedly sub-par and the motion controls don't flow well at all.

[MizzouRah]

Yikes. Some early impressions from the Operation Sports editors indicate that the Wii version of the game should be avoided at all costs. Gameplay and graphics are both reportedly sub-par and the motion controls don't flow well at all.

Oh no Mr. Bill.

[Butter]

Seems like people are still figuring out this Wiimote control scheme stuff. I bet in another year or so, they will have some fantastic sports games using the motion control. I'm hoping the upcoming tennis title delivers, as tennis could be phenomenal on the Wii.

Sounds like baseball's not there quite yet.

[korme]

I played a cartoony tennis game on the Wii when I was in Florida, needless to say it was very fun

[Big Fo]

Yikes. Some early impressions from the Operation Sports editors indicate that the Wii version of the game should be avoided at all costs. Gameplay and graphics are both reportedly sub-par and the motion controls don't flow well at all.

Poked around over there and couldn't find anyone discussing the Wii version (though I did hear bad things from an IGN podcast and the screenshots are Dreamcast-level), any links perchance?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Poked around over there and couldn't find anyone discussing the Wii version (though I did hear bad things from an IGN podcast and the screenshots are Dreamcast-level), any links perchance?

I couldn't find the link that I looked at this morning, but I did copy down the snippit about the Wii version. This is a quote from Matt and Bozon over at Operation Sports. As you mentioned, certainly seems to be in line with other comments we've seen about the Wii version............

-MLB 2k8?? - Not a serious attempt on Wii. No online, graphics, controls are a slap in the face from 2k.

[MizzouRah]

Yeah, OS is the place to go for facts. :rolleyes:

These are guys who complain about the color of the snow on the mountains when viewing Coors field.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Yeah, OS is the place to go for facts. :rolleyes:

These are guys who complain about the color of the snow on the mountains when viewing Coors field.

So you've heard some positive impressions about the Wii version? As Big Fo mentioned, everything that I've seen thus far paints it as being a red-headed stepchild of the other games, and an ugly one at that.

[MizzouRah]

So you've heard some positive impressions about the Wii version? As Big Fo mentioned, everything that I've seen thus far paints it as being a red-headed stepchild of the other games, and an ugly one at that.

Actually, since I'm getting it for the 360, I haven't heard anything. Here is your quote though:

-MLB 2k8?? - Not a serious attempt on Wii. No online, graphics, controls are a slap in the face from 2k.

Now this is supposed to tell me to avoid it at all costs? You are so obvious in your non-support for ANYTHING that doesn't have "Sony" attached to it. Everyone here gets it!

Did you bother to post in The Show thread the statistical errors? or how the last run in a walk off homer does not get recorded? or how fielders can sometimes run through the wall in the OF? Of course not!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Actually, since I'm getting it for the 360, I haven't heard anything. Here is your quote though:

Now this is supposed to tell me to avoid it at all costs? You are so obvious in your non-support for ANYTHING that doesn't have "Sony" attached to it. Everyone here gets it!

Did you bother to post in The Show thread the statistical errors? or how the last run in a walk off homer does not get recorded? or how fielders can sometimes run through the wall in the OF? Of course not!

I'd love to see some of the articles detailing the problems in The Show if what you say is true. However, you continue to post praise of the 2K8 game in The Show thread while posting criticism of The Show in the 2K8 thread. It would be nice if you'd keep the discussions about the specific games in the actual thread. Call me crazy, but I'd like to see some actually info about the 2K8 game in the 2K8 thread.

[Butter]

Mizzou fight!

[MizzouRah]

I'd love to see some of the articles detailing the problems in The Show if what you say is true. However, you continue to post praise of the 2K8 game in The Show thread while posting criticism of The Show in the 2K8 thread. It would be nice if you'd keep the discussions about the specific games in the actual thread. Call me crazy, but I'd like to see some actually info about the 2K8 game in the 2K8 thread.

You're so funny! You won't give MLB 2k8 a fair chance, so why bother?

[Pumpy Tudors]

So, uh, is anyone here picking this game up today? I thought about it, but I have decided to wait for reviews or something.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

First review is out for MLB 2K8. EGM gave it a 72/100 (according to Metacritic.com). Apologize for not posting the details, but the site is blocked at my job site.

[MizzouRah]

So, uh, is anyone here picking this game up today? I thought about it, but I have decided to wait for reviews or something.

Yes, assuming my Gamestop gets their shipment, I'll pick it up on my way home.

[Pumpy Tudors]

First review is out for MLB 2K8. EGM gave it a 72/100 (according to Metacritic.com). Apologize for not posting the details, but the site is blocked at my job site.
EGM's website doesn't have the full review posted yet. :(

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

EGM's website doesn't have the full review posted yet. :(

I figured that may be the case. Metacritic only had a page number listed without a link, so it must be print-only at this point. I'm sure the article will be posted after a couple of days.

[LionsFan10]

The forums at Operation Sports are on fire with this frame-rate issue, if this is in fact true I will be one heat broken baseball fan this summer, seeing as I don't have a PlayStation 3.

Let us all know what you think as soon as you get the game, MizzouRah. I sure hope it's not as bad as everybody is making it sound ...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The forums at Operation Sports are on fire with this frame-rate issue, if this is in fact true I will be one heat broken baseball fan this summer, seeing as I don't have a PlayStation 3.

Let us all know what you think as soon as you get the game, MizzouRah. I sure hope it's not as bad as everybody is making it sound ...

Is it in the actual gameplay or in the cut scenes? Both consoles, I assume?

[Anthony]

i don't care about frame rate, i just want a baseball i can play with my friend online. sometimes its more about the fun you have then the framerate or color of shoelaces.

[Calis]

i don't care about frame rate, i just want a baseball i can play with my friend online. sometimes its more about the fun you have then the framerate or color of shoelaces.

I don't think framerate is anywhere near the same as complaining about shoelace colors.

I mean, are we talking stuttering here? That's an actual issue if you feel like you're having a seizure watching the game playout.

If it's someone griping about it not running a constant 60 FPS or something then that's a whole different deal.

I don't understand how console games come out with horrible stuttering, there's no reason it shouldn't be addressed beforehand.

[Anthony]

i have a feeling its more about there not being a constant 60 fps. i don't think a choppy, stuttering game is even possible anymore.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

More framerate reports showing up at IGN and Neogaf message boards.

Also, Hillary over at IGN has said that Brinkman has told all review sites to not release their reviews until tomorrow. Certainly an interesting move in that most producers want the reviews out as quickly as possible to build up hype for the release. Holding back the reviews until two days after the ship date (March 3rd) doesn't bode well.

[DeToxRox]

Picked this up on lunch but won't play till tomorrow. I got it for MP with my buddy but the Show will be my main game when I gwt PS3

[MizzouRah]

VERY EARLY IMPRESSIONS

Thankfully I'm going to try the aerial cam to see if it improves the framerate.

I really liked MLB 2k7 last year, with that being said.

Setup: Dell 24" monitor with VGA cables (right away I had to step down to 1280x720 as the framerate on 1920x1080 was horrible)

You have to update right off the bat, there is a roster update dated 2/29 - didn't see anything on Xbox Live to download yet.

You pick your favorite team. From there I played an exhibition game vs Seattle (I'm the Cardinals).

The graphics are definitely worse this year, no wow factor at all from me this year. :(

I didn't see any studdering while the game loaded up, but when a ball is hit to the OF with the default fielding cam, framerate.. even at 720p is definitely a bummer. Had me thinking of The Show on my neighbor's ps3 and how smooth that game played. :( (MizzouBBfan will be happy)

Swing stick 2.0 seems much better, imo so far. :)

You can hit pause when pitching and engage a pitching tutorial.. (much needed), after some practice, I really like the pitching .

Fielding is SO MUCH BETTER than last year and throwing is quite fun.
Sexton hit a HR against me and the crowd reacted like they should.

So far, I'm a bit disappointed, but it's an initial impression. I definitely need more games under my belt and I hope the aerial cam alleviates some of this annoying choppyness.

* The Choppyness I see is when there is a ball hit to the IF or OF, you can tell it's chugging along. There is NO comparison in that department vs The Show so far.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Mixed impressions from Bill Abner. Likes the pitching, but is still finding the flaws in last year's game present in this year's game.

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/2008/03/well-damn.html

[MizzouRah]

LOVE how you turn for a ball in the OF and the catching circle disappears until you turn back around. :)

I believe the manual is wrong in terms of hitting as well. It says to pull back and release for a contact hit - I couldn't hit doing that, my guy would just stand there. I believe Brinkman said they took the power swing out, so if you pull back and then push up, hitting is fine once again.

[DanGarion]

Mizzou fight!

You mean these aren't the same person? :confused: :confused: :confused:

[MizzouRah]

Impressions Part 2 http://www.digitalsportspage.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Ok, switching to the aerial cam seems to have really helped the framerate for me. I also have the ticker off and ball trails off.

You can change pichers and lineups for the CPU controlled teams, not sure if it was like that last year?

Just had a REALLY enjoyable game at home vs Cleveland. I LOVE PITCHING, best EVER in a game so far. I have maybe seen a few meatballs, but alot of mistake pitches have been high or outside...

The fields seem so much better on aerial view as well. You can REALLY tell who's running the basepaths as I hit one in the gap with Ankiel and he legged out a triple.. the ball was thrown offline and I slid in just under the tag.. VERY cool hit and run.

Base coaches have helmets (just for those who want to know) http://www.digitalsportspage.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Did I say I LOVE THE PITCHING in this game, feels very fluid once you get it down and you don't always put it where you want to.

Love the throwing meter now for pickoffs

Hit variety is worth the price of the game for me so far. Tons of hits all over the place and plenty of foul balls.

Hitting seems much better, but not as fluid as The Show. Again, MUCH better than last year.

Playing on Pro right now and the CPU throws mostly strikes... although I'm walking batters.

I'm slowly moving towards disappointed to happy. Really wish the game was buttery smooth though.

[Big Fo]

First review is out for MLB 2K8. EGM gave it a 72/100 (according to Metacritic.com). Apologize for not posting the details, but the site is blocked at my job site.

My EGM arrived a few days ago. It seems that they've changed their grading system from numbers to letters.

MLB2k8: B, B-, B

The Good: Fielding, batting, decent baserunning...finally
The Bad: Audio all around, atmosphere stinks
Rediscovered Hobby: Collecting virtual cards

IGN gives the 360 version a 7.4 (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/856/856712p3.html)

[CraigSca]

Impressions Part 2 http://www.digitalsportspage.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Ok, switching to the aerial cam seems to have really helped the framerate for me. I also have the ticker off and ball trails off.

You can change pichers and lineups for the CPU controlled teams, not sure if it was like that last year?

Just had a REALLY enjoyable game at home vs Cleveland. I LOVE PITCHING, best EVER in a game so far. I have maybe seen a few meatballs, but alot of mistake pitches have been high or outside...

The fields seem so much better on aerial view as well. You can REALLY tell who's running the basepaths as I hit one in the gap with Ankiel and he legged out a triple.. the ball was thrown offline and I slid in just under the tag.. VERY cool hit and run.

Base coaches have helmets (just for those who want to know) http://www.digitalsportspage.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif

Did I say I LOVE THE PITCHING in this game, feels very fluid once you get it down and you don't always put it where you want to.

Love the throwing meter now for pickoffs

Hit variety is worth the price of the game for me so far. Tons of hits all over the place and plenty of foul balls.

Hitting seems much better, but not as fluid as The Show. Again, MUCH better than last year.

Playing on Pro right now and the CPU throws mostly strikes... although I'm walking batters.

I'm slowly moving towards disappointed to happy. Really wish the game was buttery smooth though.

I really hope you enjoy the game this year, as you did last year, Todd. I have to give you props for calling out the lag in the game, but yeah, you have to call it as you see it.

Just an FYI, there is no shame in going to the dark side (buying a PS3), but I'm only doing it for this game. I have no interest in any of the other PS3 stuff out there, but the Show is definitely a system seller for me and I'm having a great time.

[MizzouRah]

I really hope you enjoy the game this year, as you did last year, Todd. I have to give you props for calling out the lag in the game, but yeah, you have to call it as you see it.

Just an FYI, there is no shame in going to the dark side (buying a PS3), but I'm only doing it for this game. I have no interest in any of the other PS3 stuff out there, but the Show is definitely a system seller for me and I'm having a great time.

I feel ya. The game so far is a good enough improvement over last year's game that I just can't bring myself to spend $400 for one game. I just bought a new TV and entertainment system.. wife would kill me! :D

I usually love games inintally and then find issues, this time I think it's going to be the other way around.

[rowech]

My neighbor brought his copy over. I thought the game was pretty good other than the glitches when fielding. That was really my only beef from 5 innings of play.

[darkenigma510]

i don't care about frame rate, i just want a baseball i can play with my friend online. sometimes its more about the fun you have then the framerate or color of shoelaces.

I have heard there are major lags on online...per Op Sports....I don't have the game yet though

[darkenigma510]

From what I have seen of videos of the lagging, its no worse than any PC games I have played. I got hundreds of MVP2005 games in with stuttering so I can't imagine its a game killer or anything. No excuse, mind you, but nothing to stop me from getting it.

[Anthony]

i'm bringing this game back. too hard for me. i haven't played a console baseball in about a decade, and back then all you needed to hit the ball was to press a button. now i gotta use the right stick to hit and pitch and i'm just not getting it. waaaay too hard for me, and i don't like that there isn't a practice mode in here so i can just practice throwing pitches or step into a batting cage to practice hitting. i guess this is the beginning of the end for me, you know, when you realize you aren't young anymore and can't do some of the things you used to be able to do. i'm completely dumbfounded and at no point in time was i having fun. i couldn't even field. mind you, i didn't read the manual, but the in-game tips were really helpful. i think a game should be playable out of the box, i shouldn't have to read a manual. anyway i just can't do it and rather than get mad and toss my controller in a fit of anger i just took it out of my 360 and put it back in the box. i'll lose money on it and i basically gave away madden and nba 2k8 for free when i traded them in for this game. i'll pick up a used copy of NCAA 2k8. i liked being able to record highlights anyway.

game looks great, fwiw.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

My EGM arrived a few days ago. It seems that they've changed their grading system from numbers to letters.

MLB2k8: B, B-, B

The Good: Fielding, batting, decent baserunning...finally
The Bad: Audio all around, atmosphere stinks
Rediscovered Hobby: Collecting virtual cards

IGN gives the 360 version a 7.4 (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/856/856712p3.html)

No, they didn't change the ratings. Metacritic has an adjusted scale for the magazines that use a A, B, C, D, F scale. For example, I believe an A- rating is the equivalent of an 87 score at Metacritic. I think a B- score is around 72-73 at Metacritic. The magazines/sites that use the letter scores are aware of the difference and they do rate the games accordingly. Other competitive sites use similar scoring scales for letter grade publications.

As of this morning, MLB 2K8 has 5 reviews with an average score of 75 on Metacritic.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Demo for this game now available on the 360. Guessing the PS3 version will be out tomorrow during the regular PSN release timeframe.

[Anthony]

i shall now play a demo for a game before purchasing (expect for GTA IV). had i played the demo i would've known this game was too hard for me.

[MizzouRah]

figures I would get sick after picking this one up

[CleBrownsfan]

I'm really itching to play a baseball game for the the 360 and I didn't pick up 2k7 last year. My problem is it seems I can never hit the damn ball - plus I never can take a walk in console baseball games. So my question is in 2k8 can I "just play the field" and pitch then sim the 1/2 of inning my team bats?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Franchise bug from past versions has shown up in the 2K8 game. This bug in past versions has rendered franchise mode unplayable as you're never able to properly fill your roster for post-season play. It was never patched in 2K6 and 2K7...............

http://www.operationsports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240955

[Eaglesfan27]

Demo for this game now available on the 360. Guessing the PS3 version will be out tomorrow during the regular PSN release timeframe.


Cool. Looking forward to trying the demo out this weekend to see if this is worth picking up for me.

[DanGarion]

I bought it yesterday, didn't get to play it yet. I never really got around to playing 2007 that much.

In response to HA, there are ways to make the hitting easier so you don't have to use the stick (I would think, since you can do that in 2007). I understand why they build all these functions into games, but sometimes we just want to play a game, we don't want to have to fuck with 30 different commands to do things. That's why I'm pretty much given up on Madden...

[BigDPW]

I am eagerly awaiting more reviews from you guys on the game. I remember rushing out and buying last years MLB 2K game the day after launch after hearing good things about it and enjoying the demo only to regret the purchase within 3-5 days after popping it in the console. It was nearly the worst game I ever played but had alot of promise.

Within 3 weeks I had sold it on Amazon Marketplace for nearly 50 bucks and was so happy that I had rid myself of that game.

Then I heard that the patch (months later) finally made it a good game but was reluctant to make another purchase with 2K8 around the corner and baseball season nearly over.

This years game has lots of promising buzz around it until release day and hearing all about the framerate, franchise bugs, roster bugs, etc. I am also excited to hear that my hometown teams stadium is in the game(Five County Stadium - AA - Carolina Mudcats - Zebulon, NC).

Part of me really wants to buy this game to check it out but I am unable to stomach the likelyhood that I will only be turning around to sell it in 3-4 weeks due to the issues noted by early adopters. I would rent it but Blockbuster will not accept a debit card for there "credit card" requirement to be able to rent games so I am stuck waiting for your reviews.

Also not to slight MizzouRah (I appreciate you input and the fact that you seem to be the first person here to be giving useful impressions) but you seemed to be a big fan of last years effort for awhile and after the patch (as best I can recall) so given my dissatisfaction for last years game I am taking your impressions as only a part of the big picture and holding off getting excited until I hear some others give good impressions.

So keep the impression coming so I can make a solid decision this year!

I will fire up the demo tonight but I wonder if I will get a good taste for the game with the demo only since franchise stuff is a big part of the game for me.

[rowech]

Ready for this? I played my neighbor's copy yesterday and I downloaded the demo. The demo doesn't have the glitches in the screens, especially when fielding, that the regular game has. The pitching is definitely one of the coolest things we've had in a while but I'm just not seeing this game as being some massive difference in a 3-year plan. It's got some new stuff, some of the old stuff is still there, and yes, some of the old bad stuff is still there.

It's an okay game if you're desparate I think but it's not the be-all-end-all baseball game.

I'll once again comment that perhaps people should stop issuing yearly copies of sports games and give these guys 2 years to come up with some real changes.

[rowech]

This review is pretty accurate....

http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1482/Major-League-Baseball-2K8/p1/

[MizzouRah]

This seems to be a workaround for the framerate studder:

ehh from OS posted this (I'll check it out tomorrow maybe when I'm feeling better)

1) Started my 360 with HD attached

2) Load menus came up, my VIP, settings and roster were auto-loaded

3) I started a franchise and started my first game

4) Before the first pitch is thrown, I tap the middle button on the controller to bring up the blade from the left that controls your profile. I signed out of my profile (and in turn out of my VIP as well) and got the error message saying "Progress Won't Be Saved" blah blah blah

5) After the game, back at the main menu of the franchise I tapped the middle button of the controller again and logged back in to my 360 profile/VIP. I went to the save menu, saved my franchise and viola! No problems.

So we should be able to play franchise mode immediately without any frame rate issue.

For exhibition games just follow Step 4.

Now of course there are cons with this. If you don't have your VIP loaded you obviously cannot unlock achievements, cards, or have your stats saved. If that's important to you than this fix isn't something you'll be interested in.

If you test this out please report back and state if you're on PS3 or 360.<!-- / message -->

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Cool. Looking forward to trying the demo out this weekend to see if this is worth picking up for me.

As others have mentioned here and on other threads, I'd be very wary of that demo. It doesn't have many of the hiccups that the retail version has. Probably should give it a rental to try it out.

[MizzouRah]

This seems to be a workaround for the framerate studder:

ehh from OS posted this (I'll check it out tomorrow maybe when I'm feeling better)

<!-- / message -->

Verified and works like a charm! Game is smooth for me now.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Here's some impression threads from Bill Abner on the game. He's gone from 'maybe it will grow on me' in his first post to 'it feels like a constant Beta' in his latest post................

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/2008/03/more-on-mlb-2k8.html

More on MLB 2K8
Ok time for a 4 game rundown. Let's play Likes/Dislikes for $200!

Likes:

It still needs tweaked because it's too easy to throw strikes, but I love the new RS pitch interface. Really nifty and MUCH better than "Press A for fastball"

Swing Stick 2.0 feels better. I still don't LOVE this, but it's better.

Despite my earlier post, I am seeing more doubles this year and even 1st to 3rd on singles and scoring from 2nd. This is still not perfect -- but my earlier worries may have been a bit premature.

After slider tweaking I can get the CPU to take strikes, swing and miss, and chase pitches out of the strikezone. Now if I could just get them to stop going deep.


Dislikes:

The framerate in the field. This might be stadium, specific. But the hiccuping is there.
If the ball NICKS the strikezone the ump calls it a strike. Everytime. Serious control slider tests will need to be made to get the CPU to throw anything close to a walk. I could not get past 2 balls because the umps call it so tight you have to swing at damn near everything. (This is a huge, huge issue for me)

Way, way, WAY too many homers. Way too many. Way.

The graphics. I'm on a 60" Sony Bravia and it looks...ok. Seriously, do we really need all the jersey flapping? Still?

The fielding. A lot of guys seem to like this but I don't. I can't locate the ball worth a damn so I'm basically auto fielding. Yes, throwing with the RS is cool, bit I'm talking about fielding. Not throwing. MLB2K has never done this well,. IMO.

The commentary is the same as 2K7. Same trivia questions. Joe, what in the world is a walk off homer? OR -- I'll take dumb ass baseball questions for $500.

Too many wild pitches.

In general, it still feels...unpolished.

So there you have it. 4 games. General thoughts. I'm not "wowed" by any means but maybe it'l'l grow on me.

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/2008/03/2k-quickie.html

2K Quickie

Before I get to work this morning, I figured I'd throw this out before I forget.

On default settings the CPU will throw almost nothing but strikes. It's maddening. However, by drastically lowering the "throw strikes" sliders you can fix this. I walked three times in my stutter-filled game last night.

Along these same lines, I strongly suggest removing the strikezone box while pitching (keep it when hitting). Otherwise throwing strikes is too easy -- you should also raise the Total Control Pitching slider so that you won't always hit the catcher's mark. I *should* have walked three batters with Bronson last night but the CPU was up there hacking because I messed that slider up. ;) So this can work -- you just need to fiddle. Why out of the box 2K thinks baseball fans want nothing but strikes, I have no idea.

Finally, the manual is wrong about Swing Stick 2.0. There are no contact and defensive swings -- that's last year's model. It's all the same swing this year -- pull back, push forward. The manual lies. Damn lies.

OK -- more from me on all of this later this afternoon.

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/2008/03/friggin-vista-and-more-mlb.html

OK MLB...played another two games today and here's the deal. It's like last year in that you can see a really good game in there...somewhere. You need to slider tweak it because there are still issues with not being able to get a double on a ball that rolls to the wall, which is just completely moronic and I'd like to sit down with the 2K people and show them that when Griffey Jr. hits a ball that takes 4 bounces to reach the wall in right center that he should glide in with a stand up double and not get thrown out sliding into 2nd. That's just ridiculous. Why are the default setting the way they are? I have no answer.

Pitcher control is WAY too good out of the box and the power settings were left over from The Bigs. All of this is fixable via sliders, which is a pain, but at least the sliders do affect this stuff.

But I'm not kidding when I say that the stuttering is really, really annoying. On a pop up, infielders run in slow motion to catch the ball. The screen hiccups when the ball is thrown from 3rd to 1st. At times it looks really painful, like Mickey Mantle post hip replacements is playing CF. See, back with High Heat I knew the graphics, player models, and animations were 2nd rate but at least everything was smooth without any drastic stutterings and slow downs,. Here, it permeates throughout the entire game. I need to check the Wii version.

I can't wait to read Todd and Bill Harris' thoughts about this. Should be good for a laugh because I know Bill will blow a fuse when he sees the stuttering. It really is inexcusable and gives the entire game a "I am in constant Beta" feel to it.

[MizzouRah]

AGAIN, you can fix the studdering by signing out of your profile.

Are we really getting to the point we have to link everyone's thoughts on the internet? Do we not have intelligent people on these forums for impressions?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

AGAIN, you can fix the studdering by signing out of your profile.

Are we really getting to the point we have to link everyone's thoughts on the internet? Do we not have intelligent people on these forums for impressions?

Oh, quite the contrary. Everyone in the FOFC forum would be happy to tell you that this forum has a monopoly on intelligent people.

Regarding the framerate issues, if the only fix is to disable profiles, that's a problem. Online players want stats for online play and achievements. Also, online play is reportedly very laggy even with the profile disabled, so that's not even a fix for them.

As stated in some of the above impressions and in the reviews that are out, the lag issue is only one of a number of issues. However, your fortitude to stand in the middle of the chaos screaming "All is well! All is well!" is quite admirable.

[MizzouRah]

Oh, quite the contrary. Everyone in the FOFC forum would be happy to tell you that this forum has a monopoly on intelligent people.

Regarding the framerate issues, if the only fix is to disable profiles, that's a problem. Online players want stats for online play and achievements. Also, online play is reportedly very laggy even with the profile disabled, so that's not even a fix for them.

As stated in some of the above impressions and in the reviews that are out, the lag issue is only one of a number of issues. However, your fortitude to stand in the middle of the chaos screaming "All is well! All is well!" is quite admirable.

Chaos? HAHAHA!!! Ok.. chaos is the laughable basketball team Missouri has.. THAT'S CHAOS! We're talking video games here..

There are 36 pages of glitches for "The Show" over at OS, although most of them are stat issues, I don't see the point in linking each and every one of them when everyone here can read them for themselves.

What I am tired of is your rose colored glasses when it comes to anything ps3 exclusive. You're VERY predictable to the point I can pretty much guess your post before clicking on the topic.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

What I am tired of is your rose colored glasses

Quoted for ironic content.

[Oilers9911]

It's getting beyond ridiculous to read Mizzou-Bball and his "insights" on console games here. To summarize his posts:

360 - teh suck
PS3 - makes me cream all over myself
Repeat ad-nauseum.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

It's getting beyond ridiculous to read Mizzou-Bball and his "insights" on console games here. To summarize his posts:

360 - teh suck
PS3 - makes me cream all over myself
Repeat ad-nauseum.

No, what's insane is that a game like 2K8 (also available on the PS3), which has been roundly criticized and has some glaring issues both in performance and in the modes, is written off by you as being OK. This is no different than Todd's glowing reviews of Madden that he tosses up on this board year after year, which usually just fade away into the eventual sea of criticism. Gamers should not settle for this kind of unfinished product. It's no different than what we've been fed recently by the EA franchises. They put out a lot of PR and positive hype about the game, only to deliver underwhelming results and then fail to do much at all to fix the inherent problems.

The fact that the main defense of this game and its features in this thread is that MBBF is criticizing it, so it must be good, is very telling. Thus far, the only thing I've seen mentioned by Todd is that you can turn off a main feature of the game to fix another part. I'm tired of seeing yearly roster updates with lackluster performance from some of these franchises. If Brinkman patches the flaws quickly (within a month), that's wonderful. Given his previous performances, I wouldn't count on it.

[DanGarion]

Ok I played 5 innings of a franchise game last night. I didn't play 2k7 that much after I bought it because it seemed to be a pain in the ass. I'm interested in playing a game that I can pick up the controller and just enjoy and I've been able to do that with this. After tweaking the settings a bit and turning off the Swing Stick (I just want to mash a button) I've made a game that feels almost as good as the great games of the past (World Series Baseball). Sure there appears to be some slight slowdown at times in the field, but it hasn't affected my gameplay.

I'm playing franchise and I'm the Dodgers. I'm only do a 10 game season, so I'm not quite sure how that affects league financial.

Also is there a way to just make the game AI take care of all the stupid stuff, like ticket prices? So I only have to worry about the players I have and playing the game?

And I just want to make sure that if I'm in the middle of a game in franchise mode and I save my franchise does that mean it saved the game so I can come back to it later? If so that makes this awesome, because I don't always have time to play a whole game.

I think I might restart my franchise and switch to shorter games (like 5 innings) but 40 game seasons.

Anyway, I'm not looking for a game that challenges me to have to learn to flip and stick and hit 15 different buttons, I just want to play some fricken baseball.

[Anthony]

i tried to give the game another shot last nite, switched everything to classic mode (using the button to pitch/hit rather than the stick) and while i did only marginally better on pitching (and that's with me using Johan Santana on the Mets) i couldn't hit. the few times i was able to get the guy to swing the bat, it was 1 second after the pitch crossed the plate. either my reflexes are horribly slow (which could be the case) or there's just something i'm not getting. anyway, i'm officially done with this game and it's sitting in my car as i write this so that when i get off of work i can take it back and put it towards some other games. i can honestly say this was the last time i ever buy a baseball console game.

[MizzouRah]

It's getting beyond ridiculous to read Mizzou-Bball and his "insights" on console games here. To summarize his posts:

360 - teh suck
PS3 - makes me cream all over myself
Repeat ad-nauseum.

QFT

[MizzouRah]

i tried to give the game another shot last nite, switched everything to classic mode (using the button to pitch/hit rather than the stick) and while i did only marginally better on pitching (and that's with me using Johan Santana on the Mets) i couldn't hit. the few times i was able to get the guy to swing the bat, it was 1 second after the pitch crossed the plate. either my reflexes are horribly slow (which could be the case) or there's just something i'm not getting. anyway, i'm officially done with this game and it's sitting in my car as i write this so that when i get off of work i can take it back and put it towards some other games. i can honestly say this was the last time i ever buy a baseball console game.

That's odd.. I'm having all kinds of hitting success with the swing stick 2.0.

You pull back on the rt stick as he starts to deliver the ball and then push up when you want to swing. The manual is wrong, you HAVE to push up and NOT just release it.

[BigDPW]

Ok I played 5 innings of a franchise game last night. I didn't play 2k7 that much after I bought it because it seemed to be a pain in the ass. I'm interested in playing a game that I can pick up the controller and just enjoy and I've been able to do that with this. After tweaking the settings a bit and turning off the Swing Stick (I just want to mash a button) I've made a game that feels almost as good as the great games of the past (World Series Baseball). Sure there appears to be some slight slowdown at times in the field, but it hasn't affected my gameplay.

I'm playing franchise and I'm the Dodgers. I'm only do a 10 game season, so I'm not quite sure how that affects league financial.

Also is there a way to just make the game AI take care of all the stupid stuff, like ticket prices? So I only have to worry about the players I have and playing the game?

And I just want to make sure that if I'm in the middle of a game in franchise mode and I save my franchise does that mean it saved the game so I can come back to it later? If so that makes this awesome, because I don't always have time to play a whole game.

I think I might restart my franchise and switch to shorter games (like 5 innings) but 40 game seasons.

Anyway, I'm not looking for a game that challenges me to have to learn to flip and stick and hit 15 different buttons, I just want to play some fricken baseball.

I am very interested to hear more about your franchise experience as you move forward. Thanks for the impression.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

FYI......Brinkman and staff are saying that a patch is in the works for the the framerate issue. If he can get it out relatively quickly, that would be a VAST improvement over the several months' timeframe that it took to release the first patch for the 2K7 version of the game. Hopefully this means they learned from last year's customer support problems.

[Anthony]

That's odd.. I'm having all kinds of hitting success with the swing stick 2.0.

You pull back on the rt stick as he starts to deliver the ball and then push up when you want to swing. The manual is wrong, you HAVE to push up and NOT just release it.

i'm not a real baseball player. i'm not able to analyze in the 1.4 seconds it takes for a pitcher to throw a ball towards the catcher if 1. it's in/out of the strike zone and 2. if it is a hittable pitch, the ability to hit the button or swing up and down on the stick (the fact that when you push down and that makes him step and then push up to make him hit throws me off considerably).

i'm not going to say it's the game's fault if i lack the necessary reflexes and instincts others have to play this game. it's my fault. i'm much better at playing madden, and rightfully so, because i have many more years experience on it. but still, i don't think going down to "easy" would make a difference. i just can't do the things that are required for success on this game. it sucks cuz it looks nice, but the only thing that'll happen is i get mad and wind up breaking something. and after working this shitty job i really just want to have fun, i don't play video games to get mad.

[MizzouRah]

No, what's insane is that a game like 2K8 (also available on the PS3), which has been roundly criticized and has some glaring issues both in performance and in the modes, is written off by you as being OK. This is no different than Todd's glowing reviews of Madden that he tosses up on this board year after year, which usually just fade away into the eventual sea of criticism. Gamers should not settle for this kind of unfinished product. It's no different than what we've been fed recently by the EA franchises. They put out a lot of PR and positive hype about the game, only to deliver underwhelming results and then fail to do much at all to fix the inherent problems.

The fact that the main defense of this game and its features in this thread is that MBBF is criticizing it, so it must be good, is very telling. Thus far, the only thing I've seen mentioned by Todd is that you can turn off a main feature of the game to fix another part. I'm tired of seeing yearly roster updates with lackluster performance from some of these franchises. If Brinkman patches the flaws quickly (within a month), that's wonderful. Given his previous performances, I wouldn't count on it.

Funny thing is, The Show is NOT available for the 360, so that makes it an instant "classic" with you.

2k is aware of the "studdering" issue and is already working on a patch: http://2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163317

I KNEW you couldn't find that! So you have to turn of the VIP.. big deal I can't get trading cards right now.. oh my.

The difference between you and I is this... I don't need people like Bill Harris and Bill Abner telling me they don't like a game for me to at least try it out.

You have motives behind all your posts. MLB 2k is on its 3rd year of rebuilding, The Show isn't.. and STILL has many statistical issues as well as horrible online play... but you won't post that.

Edit: hahah lmao, mbbf did post a patch was in the works.. was it me?

[MizzouRah]

i'm not a real baseball player. i'm not able to analyze in the 1.4 seconds it takes for a pitcher to throw a ball towards the catcher if 1. it's in/out of the strike zone and 2. if it is a hittable pitch, the ability to hit the button or swing up and down on the stick (the fact that when you push down and that makes him step and then push up to make him hit throws me off considerably).

i'm not going to say it's the game's fault if i lack the necessary reflexes and instincts others have to play this game. it's my fault. i'm much better at playing madden, and rightfully so, because i have many more years experience on it. but still, i don't think going down to "easy" would make a difference. i just can't do the things that are required for success on this game. it sucks cuz it looks nice, but the only thing that'll happen is i get mad and wind up breaking something. and after working this shitty job i really just want to have fun, i don't play video games to get mad.

I'm with you reflex wise.. maybe it's because I played 2k7 to death?? I'm just finding the swing stick so much easier this year. Sucks you're having a hard time with it.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

2k is aware of the "studdering" issue and is already working on a patch: http://2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=163317

I KNEW you couldn't find that!

You have motives behind all your posts. MLB 2k is on its 3rd year of rebuilding, The Show isn't.. and STILL has many statistical issues as well as horrible online play... but you won't post that.

I posted the link to the possible patch long before your post and noted that would be a good start for the 2K crew, but I'm sure that will receive some sort of 'MBBF is a fanboy' spin as well. :rolleyes:

"3rd year of rebuilding"........This isn't a real-life team like the Royals. The day that sports games begin 3 year rebuilding efforts is the day I stop playing them. That's ludicrous.

As I said before, I'm still not sure why you continue to bring up 'The Show' in a 2K8 discussion thread, but whatever makes you happy.

[DanGarion]

i'm not a real baseball player. i'm not able to analyze in the 1.4 seconds it takes for a pitcher to throw a ball towards the catcher if 1. it's in/out of the strike zone and 2. if it is a hittable pitch, the ability to hit the button or swing up and down on the stick (the fact that when you push down and that makes him step and then push up to make him hit throws me off considerably).

I know what you mean, that's why I turned off the swing stick and just do the button mash option. It takes a bit getting used to the timing, heck I'm still behind a lot, and sometimes I'm early when the pitcher decides to mix in a changeup, but it does get easier.

[INDalltheway]

It's getting beyond ridiculous to read Mizzou-Bball and his "insights" on console games here. To summarize his posts:

360 - teh suck
PS3 - makes me cream all over myself
Repeat ad-nauseum.
You took the words out of my mouth.. I'm incredibly tired of this toolbag..

[MizzouRah]

I posted the link to the possible patch long before your post and noted that would be a good start for the 2K crew, but I'm sure that will receive some sort of 'MBBF is a fanboy' spin as well. :rolleyes:

"3rd year of rebuilding"........This isn't a real-life team like the Royals. The day that sports games begin 3 year rebuilding efforts is the day I stop playing them. That's ludicrous.

As I said before, I'm still not sure why you continue to bring up 'The Show' in a 2K8 discussion thread, but whatever makes you happy.

Actually you didn't. I was typing up my post when my DSL froze up.

You are a "fanboy", no biggie but we all know that.

Besides, The Show.. what other sport games do you play? How long has the same gameplay, pitching/batting/fielding mechanics been around for The Show? With MLB 2k.. they are taking a different direction and Ben has said it's not a simple 1 year fix. If you don't like it, move on.

Oilers9911 said it best, but let me add:

360 - teh suck
PS3 - makes me cream all over myself
360 games - teh suck
PS3 exclusive games - makes me cream all over myself
Repeat ad-nauseum.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Hey, it's great that they're working on a patch for the framerate issue, but they'd better take care of the franchise issue, too. If some teams can't demote players, that's a huge problem that a buttery smooth framerate ain't gonna fix.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Besides, The Show.. what other sport games do you play? How long has the same gameplay, pitching/batting/fielding mechanics been around for The Show? With MLB 2k.. they are taking a different direction and Ben has said it's not a simple 1 year fix. If you don't like it, move on.

Different does not = better. As far as the 3 year rebuilding effort, if you're willing to spend $180 on a beta for the first two years and what *may* be a finished product in year three, more power to you. Most gamers won't put up with that.

Right now, I can't find much in the way of sports games on consoles. Both of the 2K basketball games and The Show are likely the only ones I'll have for awhile. Thankfully, WWSM and DDS:CB keep me busy.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hey, it's great that they're working on a patch for the framerate issue, but they'd better take care of the franchise issue, too. If some teams can't demote players, that's a huge problem that a buttery smooth framerate ain't gonna fix.

That problem was reported in the '07 version as well, so I doubt we'll see any patch for that issue.

[billethius]

Different does not = better. As far as the 3 year rebuilding effort, if you're willing to spend $180 on a beta for the first two years and what *may* be a finished product in year three, more power to you. Most gamers won't put up with that.

Right now, I can't find much in the way of sports games on consoles. Both of the 2K basketball games and The Show are likely the only ones I'll have for awhile. Thankfully, WWSM and DDS:CB keep me busy.

Most gamers actually do it all the time - they just tell themselves that they don't. I don't think you could name a PC game that's come out in recent years that did so without needing a patch or an entire new release to fix some major issues.

As for the different != better - I tend to agree. But in the case of the pitching and in-game throwing mechanics for MLB2k8, I think they're far superior to any other baseball game I've played and wouldn't be surprised to see all other baseball games move in a similar direction in the coming years.

Edit: I might as well throw a general review up here. I'm really enjoying the game so far this year. As mentioned above, I love the new pitching and throwing controls, and am even having success with the swing stick this year after hating it last year. The graphics still look fine to me - and in fact I like the player models a lot more this year now that they don't all have really disproportionate legs that make them look odd. I'm not interested in the cards or achievements, so signing out of my profile to play the game doens't bother me. And upon doing so, it plays a fantastic game of baseball.

[MizzouRah]

Hey, it's great that they're working on a patch for the framerate issue, but they'd better take care of the franchise issue, too. If some teams can't demote players, that's a huge problem that a buttery smooth framerate ain't gonna fix.

I'll check out this one on my own and report back.

[MizzouRah]

Different does not = better. As far as the 3 year rebuilding effort, if you're willing to spend $180 on a beta for the first two years and what *may* be a finished product in year three, more power to you. Most gamers won't put up with that.

Right now, I can't find much in the way of sports games on consoles. Both of the 2K basketball games and The Show are likely the only ones I'll have for awhile. Thankfully, WWSM and DDS:CB keep me busy.

or I could spend $180 on the same game The Show has been with prettier graphics.. at least 3 years running...

[MizzouRah]

Edit: I might as well throw a general review up here. I'm really enjoying the game so far this year. As mentioned above, I love the new pitching and throwing controls, and am even having success with the swing stick this year after hating it last year. The graphics still look fine to me - and in fact I like the player models a lot more this year now that they don't all have really disproportionate legs that make them look odd. I'm not interested in the cards or achievements, so signing out of my profile to play the game doens't bother me. And upon doing so, it plays a fantastic game of baseball.

You mean you actually played the game instead of posting links to others who have, but are disappointed with it? There are actually people who are enjoying this game? Well.. well... I'm glad you don't read the blabber that is mbbf's - kudos to you!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

FYI......Here's more fix information. You have to sign back into the profile each time you want to save and then sign back out before you play any games.

As owners of MLB 2K8 know, there is currently an issue with framerate which is being worked on. Until the fix is put in place, here is the work-around so that you can play the game as it is intended to be played. The temporary fix takes just a second of your time, but we do apologize for any inconvenience.

For Xbox 360:
- Sign out of your Xbox 360 profile by hitting the Xbox Guide button (the center button with the large green X), and pressing the blue X button.

- You can still save your franchise by signing back in to the gamer profile before attempting to save in the franchise menu. Simply press the Xbox Guide button (the center button with the large green X), select "Sign In," and select the gamer profile you wish to save the franchise to. You will need to sign back out prior to playing another game if you wish to alleviate the framerate problems currently being experienced.

Thank you for your patience while we resolve this issue in a better manner,

Blue-Lightning
2K Sports Moderator

[Icy]

Maybe we can ask Skydog to create a new forum section only for both mizzou fans to argue about every new next gen game release and console related news, i bet it would get more posts from them than the general forum here.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Another impressions post. This time from PastaPadre...........

Impression from Pasta Padre..........

http://www.pastapadre.com/2427/initial-impressions-of-mlb-2k8

Initial impressions of MLB 2K8
5 Mar, 2008
Baseball Gaming

After spending a lot of time playing MLB 2K8 yesterday I was able to compile my early thoughts on the game. Going in I had somewhat low expectations and that is probably why I feel at least somewhat pleasantly surprised. There are certainly a laundry list of issues but I’ve still found it to be fun to play as well as going through the process of learning and getting comfortable with the new mechanics. However I think over time that feeling is going to wear off as the problems become more frustrating and harder to ignore.

The game is taking a lot of heat right now and while some of it may be deserved it seems a little on the harsh side to me. Part of that is probably due to resentment over how the game was essentially hidden prerelease. Very few videos were put out, only a couple sets of screenshots, and the demo was submitted too late for it to be out prior to the release of the actual game. Then there was the news that reviews had been embargoed until release date (but that is something that isnt’ all that uncommon).

Sure there was a lot of talk about the game but people started to pick up on how little was actually being shown. I had hope that this was due to the difficulty in demonstrating the new mechanics (which were the main upgrades being touted) through videos. But then once I started to get the hunch in early February that the demo would likely not be out until right before or possibly even after release of the game that was a big warning sign. So that may be why I am enjoying the game for what is is so far because I wasn’t expecting to be blown away but I still wanted to give it a chance.


The most pressing issue with the game is the framerate. As I pointed out following the conference call with Ben Brinkman his tone and the way he worded his response to the question regarding the framerate lacked confidence. At that point it was obvious it was going to be a problem and that the small sample of videos out showing it were representative of the final product. As soon as the ball is hit into play its noticeable and annoying. While it doesn’t really affect the result of the plays it is bothersome that they couldn’t get the game running smoothly and it takes away from the experience.

The new pitching mechanic using the right analog stick is at least interesting. Working through learning the system is actually pretty fun and rewarding. At the same time I can understand why people would give up on it. Even after hours of playing I’m still making mistakes and paying for it. The movements have to be so precise that those mistakes happen too often. There have even been times where the movement hasn’t registered resulting in an easy to crush meatball that shouldn’t have been. It also means you have to focus so much on the movement of the stick that less attention is paid to actual placement and it isn’t as easy to react when the ball is hit. I’ve seen people calling the right stick pitching a gimmick and others touting the innovation of it. I fall in between those two beliefs in that it isn’t a gimmick but it probably wasn’t necessary. This ultimately may turn out to be the Madden Vision Cone of the 2K baseball series. Innovation just for the sake of innovation. An idea that had good intentions but just overcomplicated the game and wasn’t needed.

Probably my favorite new aspect of the game is throwing to the bases with the right stick. It feels really natural and the meter works perfectly. When I switch over to playing The Show that is the thing I miss most. The baserunning continues to be very easy to control and the new pickoff camera is pretty neat. I also like the intuitive nature of making diving or leaping plays in the outfield.

However the game really suffers from a poor hitting system. The majority of contact results in fly balls and right now I’d estimate that happens probably 80% of the time. The main way to induce grounders seems to be off perfect pitches as anything other than that results in the ball being lifted. So far I’ve seen a good deal of homeruns but the hitting variety is vastly improved from last year despite that. It is a worry that against another user I’ve found an awful lot of homeruns being hit, but against the CPU at least it is toned down some compared to last year. I haven’t seen many traditional singles except those that go right back up the middle. Since the system is predominantly timing based it feels so random and disconnected. Also the CPU throws almost all strikes. Pitch counts generally aren’t going to be very realistic because of the urge to swing and the lack of any reward for working the count (if you could even get the opportunity to do so). For me all of this means I don’t take as many pitches because I have to commit to the swing earlier (even though the pitches are a little easier to pick up vs last year). It’s time to scrap the swing stick and go back to the buttons as the standard method of hitting.

The trading card system is something I’ve been looking forward to. Reaction has been split going in with some people like myself anticipating the achievement angle as well as the opportunity to use card teams online. Others again think of it as something designed for marketing purposes. So far I’ve unlocked a couple cards and I like that it makes me want to play with different teams. Unlocking the cards though hasn’t been as exciting as I thought it would be. I was hoping for a notification to popup on screen or something along the lines of that. Some of the tasks required are frustrating to even imagine attempting while others are pretty easy. I guess that opens up the possibility of trading or getting them in packs. While it’s good that I’m wanting to play more games and with different teams I also find it changes my habits and I start concentrating on the individuals and trying to meet the card requirements instead of just trying to perform well and win the games.

While the commentary is unchanged from last year (Tampa Bay drops Devil from their name and they didn’t even re-record that they just edited the word out) there are some presentation elements that I really enjoy. One is the win probability and game recap that follows the end of the 7th inning. I also like that they go back and show replays of big plays from earlier innings and it’s usually the the ones you’d want to see.

There are a couple of distracting oddities I wanted to point out. What is with all the flash bulbs in the crowd? I was trying to bat at Safeco (roof closed) and could barely concentrate with all the flashes in the background. I definitely find that terribly annoying and unrealistic. Also after an out players who are out of position stand there and then all of the sudden sprint back. I usually think it’s someone on the other team trying to steal because the movement just comes from out of nowhere. It just looks really bizaare.

I got into one online game which did have some slight lag. I was worried going in that the new pitching would make any lag even more difficult to deal with since the movements have to be so precise. However I was able to time the pitches relatively well but at the plate with the swing stick you have to commit so early that it becomes a guessing game and skill goes out the window. The more lag there is the more evident that will be. I’ve read that many people are experiencing lag issues so I guess that means 2K8 joins The Show with disappointing online performance at release. 2K has the better track record in this area though so I expect improvement will be seen there. 2K8 does have a wide array of options and modes including setting specific lobby rooms (bummer they’re all unranked) and the card team battles but the removal of sliders from leagues is a curious decision.

This writeup doesn’t even contain all of the notes I took since I started playing MLB 2K8. I don’t know whether it’s a good or bad thing but it just seems easier to spot and explain what there is to like and dislike about 2K8 as compared to my impressions of The Show. I think that probably has to do with The Show being such a genuine baseball experience while 2K8 has gone with more dramatic analog motions which require all that extra concentration.

Overall I’ve found the game to be fun despite all the issues and my gripes with it. The problem is that I get the sense that is going to wear off relatively quickly. Look for a 2K8 vs The Show comparison article by the end of the week.

[billethius]

or I could spend $180 on the same game The Show has been with prettier graphics.. at least 3 years running...

Sure, for people with that option The Show is a good purchase. But for those with a 360, there is only one option. I didn't buy 2k6, I sold 2k7 shortly after I bought it - but I'm enjoying 2k8. I can see why some people wouldn't want to log out of their profile, but for those who don't care about cards and achievements, it really it a good game.

[Butter]

Anybody with any links to discussion about the Wii version, fire away. I am interested in it. Maybe it's just me. I don't have the PS3 or XBOX360, so this would be the game I'd have to get if I want to do motion-control batting/pitching.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Anybody with any links to discussion about the Wii version, fire away. I am interested in it. Maybe it's just me. I don't have the PS3 or XBOX360, so this would be the game I'd have to get if I want to do motion-control batting/pitching.

Here's the impressions thread for the Wii version at OS:

http://www.operationsports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=240828

[CraigSca]

MBBF - why do you take the Show vs. 2K8 so personally? I don't get it.

I mean, I bought a flippin' PS3 solely so I could play this game and I think I made the best decision. However, you don't see me trolling these boards in a self-indlugent copy/paste 'fest to flip the proverbial bird to the people who decided to buy 2K8. Let it go, because you're coming across as an ass.

[BigDPW]

MBBF - why do you take the Show vs. 2K8 so personally? I don't get it.

I mean, I bought a flippin' PS3 solely so I could play this game and I think I made the best decision. However, you don't see me trolling these boards in a self-indlugent copy/paste 'fest to flip the proverbial bird to the people who decided to buy 2K8. Let it go, because you're coming across as an ass.

+1

[rowech]

Having played the demo again, I'm fairly certain if the framerate gets fixed, I'd pick this one up.

[ice4277]

I own a PS3, and have never owned The Show. I had 2k7 for a short time last year, and had a good time with it. I am on the fence with which one to pick up. I would definitely have gone with 2k8 this year if they had worked out the franchise issues, but those still being around, plus the framerate issue, are pushing me towards The Show. Any thoughts/advice?

[MizzouRah]

Having played the demo again, I'm fairly certain if the framerate gets fixed, I'd pick this one up.

I think they will have an easy and timely fix for the framerate issue. It runs very smooth for me now in 1920x1080 on my Dell 24" monitor by signing out of my profile.

Just had a great game vs the Cubbies at Wrigley.. you can hear sirens from police vehicles and horns from tractor trailers at times during the game... pretty neat.

Pie made a nice catch against the ivy against me that saved Chicago 2 runs.

I'm also seeing tons of hits all over the place, including doubles, triples, and so far the right amount of HR's. I do think the CPU pitches too many strikes, but I think a good slider set will fix up any little issues I'm seeing right now.

I also love the little chime and ticker report showing you who's warming up in the bullpen for the opposing team.

[TroyF]

I think they will have an easy and timely fix for the framerate issue. It runs very smooth for me now in 1920x1080 on my Dell 24" monitor by signing out of my profile.

Just had a great game vs the Cubbies at Wrigley.. you can hear sirens from police vehicles and horns from tractor trailers at times during the game... pretty neat.

Pie made a nice catch against the ivy against me that saved Chicago 2 runs.

I'm also seeing tons of hits all over the place, including doubles, triples, and so far the right amount of HR's. I do think the CPU pitches too many strikes, but I think a good slider set will fix up any little issues I'm seeing right now.

I also love the little chime and ticker report showing you who's warming up in the bullpen for the opposing team.


I had to do a double take on this one. Are you the same guy who has bashed sliders for the last five years?

[rowech]

Can you do franchise mode setup so you can't see glitches when you play the game?

[MizzouRah]

I had to do a double take on this one. Are you the same guy who has bashed sliders for the last five years?

Yes, that's me. I've grown accustomed to anything that has "2k" on it to be a slider tweak fest and as must as it pisses me off, I have to deal with it if I want to play games like NHL 2k8 and MLB 2k8. Luckily, someone on OS had an excellent set for 2k7.

I don't think there is going to be as much to tweak as last year though, so far out of the box, the game plays decent. I would like to see more foul balls overall and I would like to see the CPU throw more balls.

[LionsFan10]

Holy hell, the little "sign out of your profile" fix works like a dream. This is a completely different game of baseball once you do this.

Awesome news about the patch, by the way.

Anybody come across a good slider set to use? I'm playing on All-Star but the computer's Bonds' like plate discipline is a little dis-heartening. Going with the Mets, I was only able to K three with Johan Santana versus the sorry Marlins. It would also help if every computer pitcher wasn't Sandy Koufax, throwing strike after strike.

Once this game gets a set of sliders, it's going to be a whole lot of fun.

[darkenigma510]

MizzouRah,

Do you notice the pitcher throwing more strikes than in 2K7. I know in 2k& I had some good sliders to get the computer to throw a reasonable amount of balls. Any luck with that in 2k8? Do the pitchers throw more stikes than last year?

[LionsFan10]

Yes, they throw a LOT of strikes. Right now I've got all of these sliders set to zero in my Mets franchise ...

AI Corner, AI Change Speed. AI Throw Strike Overall, AI Throw Strike Ahead, AI Throw Strike Behind.

It's helped quite a bit, any bad at-bats I have now are pretty much my own fault as I try to get used to the new swing stick. With those sliders at zero, I can actually take the first pitch normally, instead of having to swing away like I'm down in the count 0-2.

[MizzouRah]

Yes, they throw a LOT of strikes. Right now I've got all of these sliders set to zero in my Mets franchise ...

AI Corner, AI Change Speed. AI Throw Strike Overall, AI Throw Strike Ahead, AI Throw Strike Behind.

It's helped quite a bit, any bad at-bats I have now are pretty much my own fault as I try to get used to the new swing stick. With those sliders at zero, I can actually take the first pitch normally, instead of having to swing away like I'm down in the count 0-2.

Agree here. Once again, it's going to take some slider work.. and this is a great starting point.

I've been playing the heck out of this game now though. What do you think about the aerial cam? I'm really liking it.

[Oilers9911]

I think i'll give this one a rental this weekend and giver er a try. I've been hoping for a good 360 baseball game.

[Pumpy Tudors]

What's the difference between the new swing stick and the old swing stick?

[Oilers9911]

No, what's insane is that a game like 2K8 (also available on the PS3), which has been roundly criticized and has some glaring issues both in performance and in the modes, is written off by you as being OK.

Hang on, written off by me as being ok? Where did I say it was ok? Considering I haven't even played it yet, it would be kind of foolish for me to make a pronouncement, no?

[LionsFan10]

What's the difference between the new swing stick and the old swing stick?

The difference between the old swing stick (from 2K7), and the new swing stick is pretty simple I believe. Last year, you had to pull back on the stick and just release the stick at the right time for a contact swing, if you pushed forward on the stick, you'd take a power hack (IIRC).

This year, you have to push forward on the stick no matter what, essentially eliminating the power swing, and instead the game measures the pitchers accuracy, location, etc, etc against the timing of your step/swing. I'm sure other factors are involved, but that's my simple breakdown of it. :)

I've been playing the heck out of this game now though. What do you think about the aerial cam? I'm really liking it.

I'm playing the heck out of it too right now :D I stayed up way too late last night, and now I'm paying for it this morning.

I like the aerial cam, it helps when you get one hit over your outfielders head and lose the ball indicator as you go running toward the track/wall.

Overall this game is one fine piece of work, once the patch(es) are applied, it's only going to make it that much more enjoyable. I know I, for one, am really looking forward to the trading cards.

[MizzouRah]

Hang on, written off by me as being ok? Where did I say it was ok? Considering I haven't even played it yet, it would be kind of foolish for me to make a pronouncement, no?

Like jb, mbbf makes his assessment of games by other people's posts. Unless it's a ps3 exclusive title, his enjoyment is by posting links from Bill Abner and Bill Harris, not to mention other various links from OS, even though he's never played the game and never will.

He's no mysterious contributer to this forum anymore, we all know what he's about and his motives behind his posts. Add that to a horrible Missouri basketball program and you have a dangerous mixture of pumpy!!!!!!!!!

MUHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TroyF]

Yes, that's me. I've grown accustomed to anything that has "2k" on it to be a slider tweak fest and as must as it pisses me off, I have to deal with it if I want to play games like NHL 2k8 and MLB 2k8. Luckily, someone on OS had an excellent set for 2k7.

I don't think there is going to be as much to tweak as last year though, so far out of the box, the game plays decent. I would like to see more foul balls overall and I would like to see the CPU throw more balls.

Change that to ANY sports title released in the last five years and I'll agree with you. Even the great NHL 07 and 08 needed slider tweaks to hit their sweet spot.

I'm anxious to try this one. Sounds like they may have put together a decent game this year.

[MizzouRah]

Change that to ANY sports title released in the last five years and I'll agree with you. Even the great NHL 07 and 08 needed slider tweaks to hit their sweet spot.

I'm anxious to try this one. Sounds like they may have put together a decent game this year.

Agreed...

[Pumpy Tudors]

Hey, if anyone sees any official news about the "unable to demote players" bug possibly being patched, please post it here. That's really the only thing holding me back from buying the game right now.

[Logan]

Any deals on this game (360) out there?

edit: HA, if you have it on 360 and are still unsatisfied, let me know if you want to work something out.

[DanGarion]

Ran into a major issue last night. I was out in the field and my team had just made an out, my OF threw the ball to my SS and the game just sort of stopped. I don't mean froze, I mean action on the field just stopped. It was like the players didn't want to reset to game mode, they were just stuck in after a play mode. I tried hitting every button combination, I went to the start menu, but that didn't solve anything. I tried to do a replay to hope that would kick it into working, it then completely froze and I had to restart my 360.

It really sucked because I was up 5-3 on the Marlins, and my team had a head of steam of momentum... :(. I ended up coming back to the game 40 minutes later to play the game again and of course I lost that time.

[INDalltheway]

Just turned the game on, and an update came up. I couldn't tell you what it is for, but I had one.

[Logan]

That happened to me a couple times in Madden. I attributed it to my 360 acting up.

[Anthony]

Any deals on this game (360) out there?

edit: HA, if you have it on 360 and are still unsatisfied, let me know if you want to work something out.

i took it back yesterday. pissed i only got $25 for it (and i'm sure Gamestop will sell it for $40something). i exchanged it for NCAA Football '08. i was burnt out on Madden. pretty happy i was able to start up my old Campus Legend career. that was fun. and i REALLY liked being able to save highlights and take pics. i really want to play someone from here so i can upload a video clip. i remember playing pumpy once and even though he wound up winning the game i scored a sickass td on him.

anyway, sorry i could've help ya. i'm a very "now" kinda person.

[Logan]

Ah...would've been win-win all around with my potential $40 offer. No worries...

[DanGarion]

i took it back yesterday. pissed i only got $25 for it (and i'm sure Gamestop will sell it for $40something). i exchanged it for NCAA Football '08. i was burnt out on Madden. pretty happy i was able to start up my old Campus Legend career. that was fun. and i REALLY liked being able to save highlights and take pics. i really want to play someone from here so i can upload a video clip. i remember playing pumpy once and even though he wound up winning the game i scored a sickass td on him.

anyway, sorry i could've help ya. i'm a very "now" kinda person.

I think you made a mistake, with the proper settings you would have found your game.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hey, if anyone sees any official news about the "unable to demote players" bug possibly being patched, please post it here. That's really the only thing holding me back from buying the game right now.

Same here with the news of the workaround for the framerate issues.

[SackAttack]

Change that to ANY sports title released in the last five years and I'll agree with you. Even the great NHL 07 and 08 needed slider tweaks to hit their sweet spot.

I'm anxious to try this one. Sounds like they may have put together a decent game this year.

Will get it out to you tomorrow. Don't quite have time before work today. :(

[Anthony]

I think you made a mistake, with the proper settings you would have found your game.

proper settings, schmoper settings. doesn't mean anything. i told my friend to test a game out online vs. a random guy to see if we'd be able to use classic mode instead of the stick, and he wasn't able to do it (or couldn't find an obvious way to set it back to classic). so for me to play this game vs. other people i'd have to use the stick. no thanks.

and like i said i tried to give it a 2nd try the 2nd nite i had it, i played it on classic and i just couldn't get a hit. it was too fast for me. i also couldn't strike anyone out.

it's ok, though, i'm adult enough (as much as it hurts to say that) to know when something is just above my level. i don't think a game should be that much work. this isn't like when i picked up COD4 for the 1st time, i sucked tremendously but i still got a few kills here and there. enough to make it worth continuing.

[Balldog]

I downloaded the demo today, hopefully I can get to play it tonight. Maybe, this game will be able to save me from purchasing The Show.

[rowech]

Just played with my neighbor again. We turned out of the VIP thing and sure enough, no glitches during play. Still some during replay scenes but I know I don't care about that.

This game is a lot better than folks are giving it credit for being. It's not perfect but it's definitely better than the flak that it's been taking. Not sure if expectations were so high (I know mine were) but it's a solid baseball game and the pitching is cool.

That pitching can really mess with you if you bring in relievers that have completely different timing than the guy you were using previously. I had a five run lead, brought in Valverde for Oswalt in the 9th, and totally lost control. Still won by two but stranded runners on 2nd and 3rd to finish. Timing is totally different pitcher to pitcher. Makes you really need to learn to use your staff.

I have a feeling a lot of the negative reviews are people who just don't like to work at learning to play a game.

[DanGarion]

I have a feeling a lot of the negative reviews are people who just don't like to work at learning to play a game.

But really should you?

[rowech]

But really should you?

Yes...you should....why should you just hit a button and watch a great pitch? I'd much rather I have more input into the whole pitching process. Fielding is not tough and hitting is not tough. The pitching takes maybe 2-3 games to get down better and then you're set. We're not talking some major learning curve.

[DanGarion]

Yes...you should....why should you just hit a button and watch a great pitch? I'd much rather I have more input into the whole pitching process. Fielding is not tough and hitting is not tough. The pitching takes maybe 2-3 games to get down better and then you're set. We're not talking some major learning curve.
That really depends on the person. I already have a real job, I want play a game to relax, not to have to learn to press a button, twist a stick and release. It's sort of annoying.

That's why I'm getting to hate Madden, I should have to remember 50 different commands... period.

[DanGarion]

Dammit. I'm up on the Padres in the 3rd 4-5 and after the 3rd out of the inning I proceed to watch the Padres defense walk to the dugout and the game just stops there. Once again the game doesn't reset itself after the completion of a play that's going to piss me off. It's almost like the game doesn't like me having a lead.

[rowech]

That really depends on the person. I already have a real job, I want play a game to relax, not to have to learn to press a button, twist a stick and release. It's sort of annoying.

That's why I'm getting to hate Madden, I should have to remember 50 different commands... period.

You don't have to remember them all. They have all the pitches right there on the screen, you throw according to a base when you field, and you move your guy. Baserunning is the only thing semi-tough in the game.

I'll give you that Madden has become almost too much.

[MizzouRah]

I've been home for the last 3 days sick and I really have put in a lot of time with this game today. First impressions are the opposite of last year for me, but after playing many games, 2k8 kills 2k7 in every faucet of gameplay.

Take the manual and flush it down the toliet, they must have written that up before actually making the game this year. The in game tips/tutorials are your friends! Study them!!!

Swing stick 2.0, I love it! just before the pitch, pull back - from there forward swings the bat straight, RS to the left and you can attempt to pull one, to the right and attempt one down the line, opposite field (rh hitter), in between.. you get it. I've had hits all over the place now that I understand what I'm freaking doing. http://www.digitalsportspage.com/modules/Forums/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif The only bad thing is , I don't strike out much at all. Hopefully a slider thing.. but damn do hits FINALLY feel realistic with the 2k series!

I love when I have a reliever warming up in the pen, as soon as he's warm, I get a chime and a pop up telling me so! I love all the different throws that are made, very few are perfect. I love the fact I can pitch 4 shutout innings with Wainwright and I'm working the new pitching system with perfection, then BAM! just like that give up 3 runs as I get over confident and I'm not making perfect pitches anymore. I also love it when I forget to call off my LF and he runs into me as the ball drops between us. Everything is quick thinking in this game and I like that.

You all know I hate walks in a video game, that's just me and on Pro, I'm getting fun games. Just lost to Oakland 6-3, they had 11 hits, I had 8, they also had an error on a pb that allowed me to advance to first base and keep a drive alive. The game is fun, very far from being perfect, but very fun for me.

Some of the presentation gets cutoff and I wish they would have smoothed those out a bit, but for a 9 inning game of baseball, I will NEVER go back to 2k7, not in a million years.

There are some neat things like watching the camera pan after an inning in New York.. it goes past the subway and climbs over the top of the stadium as you can see the players tossing the ball around as the next inning is about to start. VERY COOL

I'm babbling...... once the rosters come out after opening day, I'm ready to start a franchise!

[DanGarion]

You don't have to remember them all. They have all the pitches right there on the screen, you throw according to a base when you field, and you move your guy. Baserunning is the only thing semi-tough in the game.

I'll give you that Madden has become almost too much.

But what ever happen to teh nice controls of World Series Baseball? They don't need to be much more difficult then that. Do you really want me to take pictures of all the controller setup screens?

[MizzouRah]

You don't have to remember them all. They have all the pitches right there on the screen, you throw according to a base when you field, and you move your guy. Baserunning is the only thing semi-tough in the game.

I'll give you that Madden has become almost too much.

The thing I love about baserunning is you can preload where you want your runner(s) to go.. love that feature as I can have my lead runner head home and then worry about the other runner once I see where the CPU is throwing the ball.

[rowech]

The baserunning is cool...although I have no clue how to advance just individual runners.

[markprior22]

Dammit. I'm up on the Padres in the 3rd 4-5 and after the 3rd out of the inning I proceed to watch the Padres defense walk to the dugout and the game just stops there. Once again the game doesn't reset itself after the completion of a play that's going to piss me off. It's almost like the game doesn't like me having a lead.

Yeah, I'm having the same problem. I don't know if it's a game problem or a 360 problem because I don't play the XBOX enough to see a pattern. Sure is frustrating to play 6 or 7 innings and have it freeze up though.

[darkenigma510]

Did they release a demo for PS3 owners or did I miss this in the PS Store? If they haven't I am a bit disappointed and will have to hold off purchasing. I really want to support this game but 2K makes this a tough call...

[BigDPW]

Can anyone with the game post screenshots? I realize that most people cannot with the 360...

I would love to see screenies of the Carolina Mudcats and Durham Bulls ballparks...

Five County Stadium (came with the game)
Durham Bulls Athletic Park (part of expansion on XBL)

If anyone has links to photos of them that would do me too...

I know that wanting to see my hometown ballparks is not a really good reason to purchase the game alone but it is very intriguing that they are both included!

Here are some linkies if you just wanted to post how realistic they look (or not)...

http://www.small-parks.com/FiveCounty.htm
http://www.cattailsrestaurant.com/images/StadiumForCattailsParking.jpg
http://www.ballparkreviews.com/zebulon/zebulon.htm

http://www.ballparkwatch.com/visits/durham_athletic_park.htm
http://www.small-parks.com/durham.htm

It is a shame I cannot get the game and edit it so that both teams are affiliates of the same major league club to play...

[Sublime 2]

I picked this up two nights ago. I think I would really like it, as close to MVP 05 in terms of fun I've had from a baseball game. The problem is, I've played a 'total' of 5 games, 2 I've been able to finish the other 3 have locked up on me. One froze heading into the bottom of the ninght, one froze after the game, and another froze in the 7th or 8th. I don't think it's my system because I haven't had any problems before, but whatever it is (game or system) it's been very frustrating!

Either way I'll keep attempting. I love the pitching, and the hitting is coming along slowly but surely.

[JetsIn06]

I'm liking this game a lot. However, I'm having a huge problem with the homeruns. There are just too many. I got the sliders set to the point that the CPU is getting doubles and singles, with the right amount of homeruns. But when I'm batting, I have the power all the way down, and I either strike out, ground out, fly out, or hit a homerun. My past 3 games, I've had a total of 9 hits with 9 home runs. I

I guess I'm just going to have to keep tweaking the sliders. I was using a set over from one of the guys at OS.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

A heads-up for those considering buying the Wii version. There's a game-killing bug in the franchise mode that has been confirmed by several sites. After completing one season, the second season schedule is created with only 10 games for the entire season and every season thereafter.

[MizzouRah]

A heads-up for those considering buying the Wii version. There's a game-killing bug in the franchise mode that has been confirmed by several sites. After completing one season, the second season schedule is created with only 10 games for the entire season and every season thereafter.

Thanks Dr. Spock.

[darkenigma510]

Anyone here with the PS3 version? How is the s-s-s-s-t-t-ttutter?

[MizzouRah]

I've read it's worse on the ps3 than the 360.

[Oilers9911]

I've read it's worse on the ps3 than the 360.

You forgot to post links from 100 message boards to back up your claim.

[MizzouRah]

You forgot to post links from 100 message boards to back up your claim.

Will a limerick do?

The ps3 has studdering play
Some wish it would go away
Who cares said some
The game is ho-hum
We'll just play The Show, mmmkay?

[darkenigma510]

well just tried the PS3 demo:

Thoughts: pitching is great...has potential to be best thing ever included in a vid game

fielding...reminds me a lot of mvp2005 and mvp07 ncaa...which is a good thing

graphics: people said it took a big hit but I don't see it..outside of the grass textures but who cares about that? Graphics look similar to last year..maybe slightly less butu not enough to complain

Overall, I'd like to rent this to make a decision but I think the gameplay is def headed in the right direction...

[Eaglesfan27]

Does this year's version have an auto-field or assisted fielding option?

[MizzouRah]

Does this year's version have an auto-field or assisted fielding option?

Yes and Yes.

[Ironhead]

So what is the current verdict on this right now? Workarounds are required for the framerate, there are some bad franchise bugs but the gameplay is fun for the most part? Worst case scenario, if a patch never came out how long would see yourself playing the game?

[MizzouRah]

I haven't started a franchise yet since I'm waiting on opening day rosters.. if you are going to play with San Diego you'll have to wait for a patch as far as franchise goes.. can't move players up and down from majors to farm I believe.

They are going to fix the framerate issue, at least I believe they will, you can sign out of VIP and it goes away for the time being.

If they patch it, yes.. I'll play it all season long.

[Sublime 2]

So what is the current verdict on this right now? Workarounds are required for the framerate, there are some bad franchise bugs but the gameplay is fun for the most part? Worst case scenario, if a patch never came out how long would see yourself playing the game?

With no patch, I probably would only play a month or two solo. But, much like MVP, I could see this being a great game to play with a few buddies while throwing a couple back during the summer. For me the gameplay has been fun, but franchise mode needs work.

[Ironhead]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Exactly what are the issues with franchise?

[markprior22]

Will the San Diego roster issue take care of itself if the CPU is controlling that team or will they be at a huge disadvantage?

[MizzouRah]

Will the San Diego roster issue take care of itself if the CPU is controlling that team or will they be at a huge disadvantage?

Not sure yet as I'm waiting on the patch and opening day rosters, might want to check the OS forums.

[Ironhead]

Went ahead and picked this one up tonight. Enjoyed the demo and the reviews seem overblown with the stuttering issue.

Looking to jump right into a franchise but I haven't followed baseball closely for a couple of years. Does anyone have a suggestion for a middle-ish of the road team with good speed and an interesting pitching staff?

[EagleFan]

Phillies have good speed. They have one of the best young pitchers in baseball with Cole Hamels. Add Kyle Kendrick, Jaimie Moyer and Brett Myers and you have a nice mix in the rotation.

Oh yeah, also add one of the top current power hitters in the game with Ryan Howard.

I may be a little bias though... :)

[Ironhead]

Phillies have good speed. They have one of the best young pitchers in baseball with Cole Hamels. Add Kyle Kendrick, Jaimie Moyer and Brett Myers and you have a nice mix in the rotation.

Oh yeah, also add one of the top current power hitters in the game with Ryan Howard.

I may be a little bias though... :)

Thanks for the suggestion. The Phillies are a little too good for my tastes though - I tend to be a glutton for punishment in my dynasties and don't mind losing more than winning.

Grabbed some sliders over from OS and played my first full exhibition game and wow...it was great. I drew 8, yes 8, walks in the game. I don't remember the last time that happened in a video game.

Don't see what all the fuss is about with the framerate. Maybe I am just not as demanding as the younger crowd but everything seemed fine to me.

[Logan]

Do you have a link to those sliders? My game should be here in a couple days.

[Logan]

You can give Tampa a shot. A ton of young talent, some good pitchers (Kazmir, Shields, Garza) and the added challenge of going up against the Yankees and Red Sox.

[Ironhead]

You can give Tampa a shot. A ton of young talent, some good pitchers (Kazmir, Shields, Garza) and the added challenge of going up against the Yankees and Red Sox.

Funny, that is who I was leaning toward going with. Last time I ran a franchise in MVP 05 I had Carl Crawford on my team and absolutely loved the guy.


The link to the sliders I used are here:
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/2k-sports-major-league-baseball-sliders/243202-sfgiantspba-all-star-sliders-total-control-downloadable-file.html

[Logan]

Thanks.

I tend to run two franchises at once...the Mets, which I'll play primarily, and another team where I'll play more of the GM, with a game thrown in here and there. I'll probably go with Tampa for that one.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks for the suggestion. The Phillies are a little too good for my tastes though - I tend to be a glutton for punishment in my dynasties and don't mind losing more than winning.

Grabbed some sliders over from OS and played my first full exhibition game and wow...it was great. I drew 8, yes 8, walks in the game. I don't remember the last time that happened in a video game.

Don't see what all the fuss is about with the framerate. Maybe I am just not as demanding as the younger crowd but everything seemed fine to me.

Will have to check those out once the opening day rosters are released.

[Ironhead]

Haven't been playing this too much. I was having so much trouble reading the text in the game that I have finally submitted to the fact that I need glasses. I might as well wait for opening day rosters at this point. Anyone know when 2K plans to release them?

In the meantime I revamped a Microsoft Access database I originally built for MVP 2005 for use with the game. I added some more bells and whistles to the new version of the database and can track:

* Stats between user definite date ranges
* Home/Away splits
* Day/Night splits
* Grass/Turf splits
* Month by month stats (Pre & Post-All Star game stats also)
* Stats by Opponent
* Pitching Game Scores

The one thing I really wish it could do was track hitting streaks but I could never get the code to work for it. Why can't I ever just K.I.S.S. and just play the darn game? lol

[watravaler]

Online game-play is still unacceptable, imo...

[Ironhead]

Still waiting on the patch and opening day rosters. :mad:

[Coop]

i played this over my friends house the other day.. i'm so happy I bought a PS3 for mlb the show

[Eaglesfan27]

According to OS, the patch for MLB 2k8 is out today.

[MizzouRah]

According to OS, the patch for MLB 2k8 is out today.

Interesting, thank you!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

According to OS, the patch for MLB 2k8 is out today.

Just to clarify, there's only a patch for the 360 version. Sales on the PS3 must have been pretty lousy because they decided not to issue a patch for the PS3 version despite it having the same issues as the 360 version.

The 360 patch provides some improvement on framerate and fixes the SD Padres bug. Strangely, no online play fixes were made. From the press release............

“The update will increase the frames per second to help improve the overall gameplay experience, along with correcting an issue in Franchise mode when playing as the San Diego Padres and attempting to move players to and from their minor league roster.”

[Eaglesfan27]

Do you have a link to the press release? There are conflicting views on what the patch does, and on whether or not a PS3 patch will be following.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Do you have a link to the press release? There are conflicting views on what the patch does, and on whether or not a PS3 patch will be following.

I'll word it differently as you do bring up a good point. There is currently no confirmation of any PS3 patch being in the works. Never say never I suppose.

I was forwarded that text from someone on the 2K Sports e-mail list.

[darkenigma510]

Just to clarify, there's only a patch for the 360 version. Sales on the PS3 must have been pretty lousy because they decided not to issue a patch for the PS3 version despite it having the same issues as the 360 version.

The 360 patch provides some improvement on framerate and fixes the SD Padres bug. Strangely, no online play fixes were made. From the press release............

Sales on the PS3 won't get any better with that kind of treatment.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'll word it differently as you do bring up a good point. There is currently no confirmation of any PS3 patch being in the works. Never say never I suppose.

I was forwarded that text from someone on the 2K Sports e-mail list.

I haven't seen that released publicly anywhere. There are some people reporting the 360 version is fixing some other issues such as more CPU stealing as well. Shrug. I'm still holding off on buying this.

[Pumpy Tudors]

A press release that doesn't seem to be released publicly???

[Ironhead]

I'll admit I haven't spent too much time with the game as I have been waiting for the patch & roster update. The couple games I have played though have been a lot of fun. It seems like the roster update could still be a few weeks away. I think I am going to just pick up a transfer kit and download rosters from Operation Sports so I can start my season.

[Eaglesfan27]

A press release that doesn't seem to be released publicly???

He PM'd me saying it was something emailed to him in private. It seems odd that a "press release" wouldn't be released to the press.

[Ironhead]

Just had my most tense game yet. Tampa Bay at Kansas City. It went 13 innings tied up 1-1. In the top of 14th Crawford reached based on a bloop single over the 3rd baseman's head. The pitcher got rattled and bounced a ball up to the plate and Crawford took second. He moved to 3rd on a sacrifice fly to right. Upton hit a sharp line drive to center and Crawford tagged up and managed to slide around the catcher blocking the plate to put us up 2-1.

Bottom on the 14th, 2 outs with a runner on 3rd. Percival is trying to nail to down. Jose Guillen lines a ball down the right field line...Baldelli is hustling off the crack of the bat and makes a diving/rolling catch right on the line to save the win!

Maybe it's just me but that was as good a game as any I had on MVP '05.

[MizzouRah]

I am EXTREMELY happy! The patch definitely fixes the framerate. The only studder I see now is after an out when the 1B throws it around the horn.

Had a spectacular game vs Colorado, where I beat them 3-2 in 11 innings.. wow, what a game that was.. very intense with that lineup Colorado has! One thing I really love about this game is the pace of a game is perfect!

Can't wait for the next roster update to really dig into a franchise.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

He PM'd me saying it was something emailed to him in private. It seems odd that a "press release" wouldn't be released to the press.

Specifically, it was sent to the editor-in-chief of any of the major gaming review websites. They do that in the hopes that the websites will update their reviews with an improved score due to any improvements contained within the patch. Whether that actually happens or not varies from site to site.

[Eaglesfan27]

Specifically, it was sent to the editor-in-chief of any of the major gaming review websites. They do that in the hopes that the websites will update their reviews with an improved score due to any improvements contained within the patch. Whether that actually happens or not varies from site to site.

I wonder if SackAttack got this email.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I wonder if SackAttack got this email.

I would certainly think so. It should have gone to someone at his site.

[Ironhead]

Opening day rosters are finally out. :)

[MizzouRah]

Opening day rosters are finally out. :)

I finally broke down and ordered an exchange kit with memory card so I could get Chris Nelson's rosters. :p

[SackAttack]

I wonder if SackAttack got this email.

I would certainly think so. It should have gone to someone at his site.

2K is kind of weird about what they send us. We get all kinds of conference call invitations, we do get a number of press releases, but certainly not everything they issue.

That said, Troy is still working on his review. It hasn't been published yet, and so they may have said 'eh, that's a woo we don't need to pitch yet."

[MizzouRah]

Chris Nelson's rosters are MUCH better. :)

[Ironhead]

Anyone else still playing this? I am about 25 games deep into my franchise, playing each game, and I have to say this plays a nice game of baseball once you tweak the sliders. It has it's issues but so did MVP 05. Very happy with the game and right now I do forsee going through a full 162 game season.

[Balldog]

I've been playing the demo, is there anyway to just have a normal pitching interface? Like just pressing A and location, or something more simple.

[Ironhead]

I've been playing the demo, is there anyway to just have a normal pitching interface? Like just pressing A and location, or something more simple.

I know you can use a "Classic" button style for hitting . I am pretty sure you can do the same for pitching.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Looks like this year's version of the game was the straw that broke the camel's back. Brinkman is reportedly being booted and will not even have the chance to complete his 'three year development plan'. This should have happened a lot sooner. Visual Concepts or Blue Castle Games will likely take over the production of future versions of the game...............

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300926

[SegRat]

Now that everyone has had plenty of time with this game and looks like they patched it, is this game worth $35? I havent played much baseball in awhile, but the real life Brewers are giving me an itch to play some baseball.

I am also considering picking up FIFA 2008 instead of baseball.

[MizzouRah]

I honestly liked 2k7 better for some odd reason, 2k8 has its moments (love the pitching interface), but after awhile I just wasn't interested anymore... but... The Show on the psp cured all my video baseball woes.

Try the demo.. I've had some fun games and some not so fun games.

[Calis]

Personally I'd recommend FIFA '09 over MLB 2k8. I tend to agree that last year's baseball was more enjoyable. See if you can pick that up for even cheaper and grab FIFA as well. Although I think FIFA '09 is coming out pretty soon, so it might be worth waiting on that.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Wait, they actually patched it?

[SegRat]

Well I traded in NCAA 2K8 and kind of used peoples advise. I got MLB 2K7 and Fifa 2K7.

I played a little MLB, and boy I can sure tell that I have not played baseball in a long time.