MLB Power Pros 2008 News Post

MLB Power Pros 2008 Hands-On Previews (IGN, Gamespot)

11:03 PM - June 25, 2008 by XiaNaphryz

The following sites have posted their MLB Power Pros 2008 hands-on previews.

IGN
"We were curious to see if the franchise would make a return this year, and 2K let us in on the news a few weeks back that we'd indeed be seeing a return to this strange 2K/Konami/Power Pro/MLB partnership not only for Wii and PS2, but also DS. In the last week or so we've had a chance to sit down with the console versions of the game and get into the specifics of '08 play. Not a whole lot has changed visually � in fact, almost nothing has � but the game is deeper and stronger than last year's effort, and already shows off a larger mode offering and data tracking system."
Gamespot
"In MLB Life mode, you can play as a real-life player, use your Success mode player, or start completely from scratch with a brand new character. The level of obsessive detail in Power Pros continues in this mode. Not only do you choose whether or not your character is married, but you also choose how many kids he has (and exactly how many of those children are girls, how many are boys, their names, and appearances). Those choices affect the storylines you'll see in MLB Life mode--if you're married, for example, you won't be able to go out on dates with other women (which doesn't seem to be very realistic to the MLB we know and love, but there you go). As in Success mode, you'll have plenty of choices to make in a day--practice, games, traveling, leisure time--but everything will be governed by your vitality meter. If you run out of vitality, you won't be able to play on game day."

Game: MLB Power Pros 2008Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: NDS / PS2 / WiiVotes for game: 11 - View All

MLB Power Pros 2008 Videos

Member Comments

# 1 EXboxur @ 06/27/08 08:41 PM

I can't wait to hear and see more. Online for Wii yet?

# 2 agonytheclown @ 06/28/08 06:26 AM

Gameplay? I mean, stuff like walks and hit variation? Nah, that wouldn't be a feature of 2K games (rolls eyes).

# 3 mel81399 @ 06/28/08 10:23 AM

Thing is it is not a 2K game but is applying 2k's mlb liscense to bring the game via Konami.
I have started playing MLB PP again on my ps3 (ps2 version)
it is truely great. More fun and quicker than The SHow 08.
Not more pleasing to my eyes but if you are a baseball addict like me you enjoy playing both The SHow and Power Pros.

They dropped the ball on the PSP though, big time.

# 4 Keirik @ 06/28/08 12:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agonytheclown


	Gameplay? I mean, stuff like walks and hit variation? Nah, that wouldn't be a feature of 2K games (rolls eyes).

obviously you know nothing about this series if you are thinking this is really a 2k game.

why not do some research on the game before bothering to post ?

# 5 agonytheclown @ 06/28/08 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keirik


	obviously you know nothing about this series if you are thinking this is really a 2k game. why not do some research on the game before bothering to post ?

Yes, I have played the previous MLB Power Pros, and yes 2K is affiliated with this game. And yes....the "series" has the problems that I suggested they won't fix in this upcoming game. Just you wait and see. I will gladly eat crow with fresh tire marks if I'm wrong, but history tells me otherwise. Appreciate your personal attack.

# 6 XiaNaphryz @ 06/28/08 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agonytheclown


	I will gladly eat crow with fresh tire marks if I'm wrong, but history tells me otherwise. Appreciate your personal attack.

Are you claiming to know Pawapuro history? If so, then you would know that hit variety and walks did work out quite well in past games. Pawapuro 10 and 11 were IMO the pinnacle of the series, but those were several years ago with different developers at the helm. Of course, Konami didn't have so many different dev teams at the time either in Pawapuro Productions so they could just focus on the mainline game.

Oh wait, you probably tried to equate 2K's baseball game history to this franchise. Or even worse, just by going by the one previous game that was ever released here. Pffft.

I'm not saying that Konami's definitely fixing the issues from last game, but to say they won't because the game's history never had it is absurd considering the dozens of iterations the franchise has seen in the past 15+ years where the issues were ironed out. Why oh why couldn't they have stopped tweaking the engine back at Pawa 11?

# 7 agonytheclown @ 06/29/08 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XiaNaphryz


	I'm not saying that Konami's definitely fixing the issues from last game, but to say they won't because the game's history never had it is absurd considering the dozens of iterations the franchise has seen in the past 15+ years where the issues were ironed out. Why oh why couldn't they have stopped tweaking the engine back at Pawa 11?

Pfft all you want. You want to know what ABSURD is? It's when baseball game software makers continue adding stupid, irrelevant game "features", but don't fix the stuff that defines the game they're portraying. There are walks all the time in real-life baseball, but you won't see a realistic number of them in these games. None of them. Why? Because gamers would rather have their custom intro music and matching socks. They'd rather see the flag blow consistently, and the dirt look like it just came from the compost pile, then to see realistic pitching. And, no, the "issues" I'm talking about have not been ironed out. Ever. They won't be until marketing guru's determine that kids no longer buy baseball games. I know I'm not the only one here on OS that agrees with where I'm going with this. Konami is no different. I'll gladly eat crow (put whatever topping you want on it) if they produce anything near realistic.

# 8 XiaNaphryz @ 06/30/08 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agonytheclown


	And, no, the "issues" I'm talking about have not been ironed out. Ever.

I don't think you read what I posted. Konami had ironed out all these issues 5 years ago in their previous installments, specifically with Pawapuro 10 in '03 and 11 in '04. Unfortunately, with the people they have in charge of the dev team now this is no longer the case and they have failed to keep the gameplay engine up to par.

In fact, MLB Power Pros is an improvement in comparison to recent mainline Pawapuro games in terms of hitting physics, which was surprising to longtime followers of the series. This is why I'm more willing to accept the chance that we will see some improvement in the next game iteration. With this being the 3rd MLB version of the game (2nd in the states), it's a bit of a critical point - we need to continue to see improvement in the game engine and rosters/stats. If we do, I'll be satisfied Konami's at least on the right track and hopefully the series will reach the plateau it had established several years back.

# 9 duke776 @ 06/30/08 11:41 AM

I haven't played one game that had realistic amounts of walks...and anyway who cares about walks, I don't. I play the game because it's fun, not so I can get realistic amount of walks. Just my personal opinion.

# 10 ehh @ 06/30/08 12:03 PM

^^ I'm in the same boat, good point.

How is this game (well, last year's version at least) human vs. human?

# 11 StormJH1 @ 06/30/08 12:04 PM

All I know is that this series looks awesome, and I'm going to pick up my first MLB Power Pros game when this year's version drops in a month or so. Only problem is, I'm not sure which version to go for...

Just got a Nintendo Wii, and I was excited that they'd have a cool motion control option for hitting, but it turns out the motion controls are available as part of a separate exhibition mode, and nobody can tell me if they work well or not.

So basically, I'm waiting for a roster update (while the $19.99 version of last year's game taunts me on the shelves), and debating if there's any reason to get this on Wii as opposed to PS2. (The DS version also intrigues me, if they don't screw it up)

# 12 ehh @ 06/30/08 12:13 PM

From what I gathered the roster editing was a huge pain in the rear last year, hopefully it is improved this year although it didn't sound like it from the preview.

I was thinking along the same path as you but I don't want to play with an out-dated version of rosters esp with all the new call ups the Yanks have had in the last year.

# 13 duke776 @ 06/30/08 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	^^ I'm in the same boat, good point. How is this game (well, last year's version at least) human vs. human?

I've never played it human vs. human, since there isn't online and I don't have 2 ps2 controllers to play it against someone.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StormJH1


	All I know is that this series looks awesome, and I'm going to pick up my first MLB Power Pros game when this year's version drops in a month or so. Only problem is, I'm not sure which version to go for... Just got a Nintendo Wii, and I was excited that they'd have a cool motion control option for hitting, but it turns out the motion controls are available as part of a separate exhibition mode, and nobody can tell me if they work well or not. So basically, I'm waiting for a roster update (while the $19.99 version of last year's game taunts me on the shelves), and debating if there's any reason to get this on Wii as opposed to PS2. (The DS version also intrigues me, if they don't screw it up)

The DS version isn't going to have success mode, MLB life mode, or season mode according to 2ksports.com. Also, it says that the ps2 and wii version are going to have the same features, so I'm not sure why the ps2 version is going to be $20 and the Wii version is going to be $40 but I'm glad I only have to pay $20 for the new game. http://www.gamestop.com/browse/searc...%20Pros%202008

# 14 ehh @ 06/30/08 12:44 PM

Thanks for the info.

From the vids it looks like hitting is done by aligning your bat cursor with the pitch cursor before the ball is thrown. Is that correct? That seems extremely easy to hit if that's the case.

# 15 duke776 @ 06/30/08 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	Thanks for the info. From the vids it looks like hitting is done by aligning your bat cursor with the pitch cursor before the ball is thrown. Is that correct? That seems extremely easy to hit if that's the case.

You move it around as the pitch is coming to you, I think you can turn the ball cursor off so you have to actually follow the pitch, I'm not exactly sure because I leave it on so I can see the ball and align the cursor with the ball. But, the hitting isn't as easy as it seems, I thought it would be very easy, but I only average around 9 hits a game(estimation).

# 16 XiaNaphryz @ 06/30/08 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ehh


	Thanks for the info. From the vids it looks like hitting is done by aligning your bat cursor with the pitch cursor before the ball is thrown. Is that correct? That seems extremely easy to hit if that's the case.

It sounds easy, but it's really not. In normal batting mode, the size of your batting cursor depends on the batter's stats and the situation. This will change as the situation changes, so if your batter is terrible in 0-2 situations the batting cursor will shrink a bit when it becomes 0-1 and even more when 0-2. A smaller cursor obviously makes it harder to get a clean hit. When switching to a power swing, the cursor shrinks to the size of the pitching cursor, the small sweet-spot area of the bat.

There are several options to make batting easier or harder as well if you feel you're starting to master your current settings and are getting unrealistic results. You can turn off the pitching cursor, make the batting cursor harder to control (digital vs analog control), and increase or decrease the amount of homing assistance (the "lock-on" setting, which helps the batter by automatically moving the cursor towards the right spot. The lower the setting, the later in the pitch the movement occurs).

# 17 ehh @ 06/30/08 01:42 PM

Great, thanks for the insight.

The situation-specific cursor size sounds awesome, I had always hoped 2K would incorporate something similar before they ditched the cursor hitting (fools!)

# 18 mel81399 @ 06/30/08 07:18 PM

This game just moves along so well in Human v Human.
I just played my son with last years game on my PS3.
We got 9 innings in in 23 minutes.
When we play the show he looses interest by the 5th inning.
This is the way to go for a game with the family.
It is not in any way a kids game though but can be played by kids when the aids are turned on.
When I set the hitting to 1 manual and all aids off I can manage about 7 hits in a game and the games are 3-2 affairs.

Walks are very hard to come by but I am over that totally.

I had the game for the Wii and did not like the controls at all.
In any mode it was sort of clumsey.
I sold in and got the PS3/2 version. PLays great.

I will by MLB PP 08 on day one.

# 19 opd897 @ 07/01/08 10:58 AM

I am really hoping this game provides us with an easy option to update the rosters. Never could figure out exactly how to do it last year. I've not heard if that is the case though. Give me updateable rosters and walks and this is an immediate buy for me. Otherwise I'll most likely stick with last years version. This game is so good in many areas but the two things I mentioned really need to be addressed.

# 20 duke776 @ 07/01/08 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opd897


	I am really hoping this game provides us with an easy option to update the rosters. Never could figure out exactly how to do it last year. I've not heard if that is the case though. Give me updateable rosters and walks and this is an immediate buy for me. Otherwise I'll most likely stick with last years version. This game is so good in many areas but the two things I mentioned really need to be addressed.

Yeah, you had to unlock arrange mode, which I think will probably how we'll have to do it again this year...it's actually pretty easy to unlock, but it's just not as easy as it should be.

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MLB Power Pros 2008 Hands-On Previews (IGN, Gamespot)