Baseball Video Games for 2008

[RobDeer 45]

So has anyone heard anything about this years video games coming out? I had 2k7 for 360 last year and enjoyed it. There are a few kinks that need to be worked out but I enjoyed it. Any news about this years games would be much appreciated because I have not heard anything.

[BradyCoo28]

I am pretty sure MLB 08 The Show comes out March 4th for the PlayStation systems. From what I have seen, it looks like a really nice game. I have last years for PS3 and it's really fun.

[patrickgpe]

i am getting the show and it will be in stores on the 4th, you are right. I played some 2k7 and the game had too many bugs in it.

[jordanmuehl]

I've always been a 2K fan. I'll be buying this year's version for sure.

[TooLiveBrew]

The more I played The Show 07, the more I saw its own bugs. I still think it's the best choice out there, and perhaps the best baseball video game yet. I'll check it out for '08, most likely.

 

My biggest gripe (aside from them having an actual numeric "Clutch" rating) is the lack of attention to defense. They rate players defensively not too dissimilarly from the GG voters. I think baseball video games have a ton of room to still improve - largely by embracing more in-depth coverage of players. I'll always be able to forgive them not having the minor-league studs (at least by their real names), since there's so much player movement within any given minor-league system.

 

I just can't deal with seeing guys like Dunn & Lee, etc. get rated out as average or better defensively. They actually do a pretty solid job of capturing the vast majority of players' offensive abilities, but on D it's a total crap-shoot at best.

[logan82]

I am not getting another baseball game until EAsports gets back into MLB games. I hate the 2k baseball games. They made the base stealing more important so the defense is off. For example, Lee is good at stealing bases so they made him really fast and therefore a really good fielder. They can't get a pitcher's repertoire right either. That to me is just lazy. Hire some outside scouts to see what a pitcher throws.

[Crew2323]

I only have one game for my PS2, and it's MLB The Show 07. I love that game. All I play is "Career Mode." It's very addicting. I'm curious to see what The Show 08 will be like. Doubt I'll buy it right away, but interested nontheless.

 

I agree with the comments about defense. In one of my seasons, Carlos Lee was playing for the Yankees, I believe, and he was playing CF. He was getting to balls in the gaps etc. I kept saying to myself out loud "If Lee can't get to balls in the gap in LF, how the heck is he going to get to them in CF?" Then I reminded myself it is just a video game. But I agree, I would like to see them pay more attention to pitching/defense than just focus on offense. I also would like to see them include an organizations top 5-10 prospects and have them in their minor league system. That would just add to total awesomeness of the game, in my humble opinion.

[TooLiveBrew]

I also would like to see them include an organizations top 5-10 prospects and have them in their minor league system. That would just add to total awesomeness of the game, in my humble opinion.

The main problem there, I think, is the MLBPA. They negotiate the player compensation with the game studio/distributor/whoever (perhaps this is all covered in the CBAs), and guys that are in the minors aren't members in MLBPA. But I don't want to take away from your suggestion on top prospects - that'd be a huge upgrade to the way the 'franchise' & 'career' modes play. They do the big two-three prospects now, but just use generic names.

[jwill535]

Here is a write up for MLB the show 08. It sounds pretty cool, didnt change much just tweeked and added new parts.

 

http://www.sportsgamer.com/forums/mlb-07-show/186932-mlb-show-08-1st-details.html

[TooLiveBrew]

Thanks for that link, J. Some highlights, imo:

 

 

Multi-Branch Fielding - Branch Point Technology goes to a new level as gamers you can now take full control of fielders and break out of any animation in the process. Change a fielding decision and branch out of any animation after the first branch point. With Branch Point Technology, MLB 08 THE SHOW provides unbelievably smooth, fluid transitions for seamless double plays and relays.

 

PlayMaker Fielding - The fielding interface brings the player attributes together with the user's skill level. With the Fielding Zone Marker, the fielder's fielding attribute rating will determine the size of the zone that surrounds the ball and its eventual landing location. With highly ranked fielders, the ball marker will be displayed sooner and smaller, making it easier to judge fly balls.

...

Release Point Pitching - Taking video game pitching to a whole new level, gamers must utilize a timing mechanism to learn and realize each pitchers pace and release point, which varies from pitcher to pitcher.

...

New Umpire Personalities - Providing even more realism to the diamond, MLB 08 THE SHOW features umpires with unique tendencies and animations. Each umpire will have his own definition of the strike zone, and it's up to the gamer to figure out if the umpire is calling the zone high, low, or giving the corners.

...

Managers / Coaches - MLB® managers and coaches will be on the field calling the shots.

 

 

As J mentioned, nothing revolutionary. It's about time they get some real coaches in the game, and it sounds like they're making the umps more interactive - something I thought they did well last year as a gradual step.

 

I'm relieved to see that you can break out of fielding animations. That got pretty frustrating, though again, they did a nice job of upgrading it from '06 to '07 imo. The most impactful change seems to be the 'release point pitching.' That sounds intriguing.

[sheetswannabe]

Can someone explain the "break out animation" for me?

 

Also, I thought it would be cool if you could press a button, like in MVP 05 (best baseball game ever), and have the manager go out and argue a call.

[TooLiveBrew]

That was a sweet, sweet feature in MVP. I find myself trying to argue calls during the replay of missed calls in The Show... you can guess how often that's worked out for me.

 

http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

 

Can someone explain the "break out animation" for me?

The Show pretty clearly has used pre-loaded animation paths or tracks that your fielder(s) will follow. Sometimes, it's to your benefit (when you biff a play), but in most cases it can get rather annoying - watching a guy "catch" a ball that you can see comes down a yard away from his glove... but he still catches it!

 

Some of the replays used in at least the '07 version looked intentionally framed/cropped so that you'd just miss the discrepancy - seeing the player catch the ball, but omitting the huge glitch that the pre-loaded player animation simply ends with the ball falling into his glove, regardless of where the ball actually was.

 

Is that a bit better?

 

EDIT: So what 'break out' means is that you can break your guy out of a specific (pre-loaded) animation if it's not the right route to the ball. However, I found this part -

 

"Change a fielding decision and branch out of any animation after the first branch point."

 

a tad suspicious... is it that you can break out anytime after the first branch point (read: start of pre-loaded animation), or that you can only break out after the first branch point, and not after any subsequent ones.

[chowyo123]

Here's an impression from someone who's played the 2k8 demo:

http://vetzballin.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=85

 

I haven't read it yet, but ran across it a few minutes ago.

[Schlitz001]

Does Nintendo have a first party baseball game like Sony and MLB '08? I own an Xbox 360, but haven't been impressed with MLB2k6 or MLB2k7. I'm seriously thinking about buying another system to buy a baseball game that I can actually enjoy. I kind of want of PS3 anyway for the Blu-Ray.

[TooLiveBrew]

If the Blu-Ray is something you want, & the extra cost of a PS3 doesn't deter you, go for it. The Show plays quite well on the PS2, and barring some major glitches in 'upgrading' the game to PS3, I'd bet it's killer.

 

I checked into the Wii for baseball, and the only ones I can find that they have are MLB Power Pros & that NBA-Jam-ish version. Not cool.

[BrewCrewForever]

I'll buy the new 2k game if they actually release it for regular xbox.

[Paul77]

It's about time they get some real coaches in the game...

As small a feature as it sounds, I really like it. 2K7 on 360 has real managers already and it does up the level of enjoyment for me. Hearing Jon Miller say, "And Ned Yost has just been tossed from this ballgame" makes it that much more "real".