MLB '08 news and info

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 3:47 pm

lexbur wrote:
sportdan30 wrote: I don't think I've ever been more excited about a sports video game as long as I can remember.
Apparently you're not the only one, considering there's already an 11-page thread for a game that doesn't even come out for two more weeks.

I'm trying to decide if I should take a vacation day March 4th. I probably won't but I'm tempted.

I would consider it but baseball practice (I coach H.S.) starts on the 3rd so I need to be there. I won't get to play the game until at least 6pm on release day. Oh well.

GameSeven · Post by **GameSeven** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 4:35 pm

Have had a nice variety of "games" on the demo. As a Yankee fan, I can't bring myself to use the Sox, so I'm limited to the Rox. I was concerned at smacking Beckett around for 3 jacks and 8 runs in my second game on A-S, but there is still HoF to go and A-S just feels right in my games since. Most of my hits are going to the opposite field (power on these *might* need to be reduced a tad) but that makes sense given Beckett's heat.

I'm still deciding on whether I want to use classic or new baserunning. Classic seemed straightforward enough being that I last played MLB in 06. However, it was new baserunning that led to my one *strange* glitch in the demo.

I had just ripped a clean single to center with Torrealba and paused the game to get my daughter. When I returned, I hit 'x' a couple of times to unpause, which promptly made Yorvit hell-bent on legging out an inside-the-park job. I would have stopped him, but only realized it when he tore past second on his way to third. What made this interesting is that the Sox infielder (Pedroia?) had been standing on second with ball in hand since Torrealba was two steps past first. Fortunately, Pedroia had the wherewithal to throw to third and Yorvit was tagged out. That was pretty much the only blemish so far.

As many have said, the mechanics are robust and the fluidity of animations really complement the gameplay. I'm looking forward to RTTS.

snaz16 · Post by **snaz16** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 8:58 pm

Jared wrote:I'm excited about the game as well, and I don't even have a PS3. The main thing stopping me from getting a PS3 (and MLB 08 ) is the PK in me. Though right now, it's a struggle....

Give in to the Dark Side,young Jared

You can probably sell the wife on the fact your getting a pretty good Blu Ray HD player out of this also. Of course the point is moot if you don't have HD tv.
I understand the priorities though,been there ...done that.

phantompain · Post by **phantompain** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:27 pm

snaz16 wrote:
Jared wrote:I'm excited about the game as well, and I don't even have a PS3. The main thing stopping me from getting a PS3 (and MLB 08 ) is the PK in me. Though right now, it's a struggle....
Give in to the Dark Side,young Jared You can probably sell the wife on the fact your getting a pretty good Blu Ray HD player out of this also. Of course the point is moot if you don't have HD tv.
I understand the priorities though,been there ...done that.

But if you are going to use the blu-ray player as a selling tool, you better jump on it now before reglular blu-ray players start falling in price. Then what are you gonna say? "But the ps3 blu-ray player is better than the standalones!"

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:56 pm

This demo is just so ridiculously good. Then again, I haven't encountered any bugs. Using the Bo Sox, I played small ball to win the game 1-0 in the bottom of the third. Ellsbury lead off with a bunt single. Lugo sacrificed him to second. And the next batter, Pederio (sp?) singled him home with a shot to right center. The Red Sox players ran to first to mob Pedrio. Just freakin' cool!

LAking · Post by **LAking** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 9:57 pm

phantompain wrote:
snaz16 wrote:
Jared wrote:I'm excited about the game as well, and I don't even have a PS3. The main thing stopping me from getting a PS3 (and MLB 08 ) is the PK in me. Though right now, it's a struggle....
Give in to the Dark Side,young Jared You can probably sell the wife on the fact your getting a pretty good Blu Ray HD player out of this also. Of course the point is moot if you don't have HD tv.
I understand the priorities though,been there ...done that.
But if you are going to use the blu-ray player as a selling tool, you better jump on it now before reglular blu-ray players start falling in price. Then what are you gonna say? "But the ps3 blu-ray player is better than the standalones!"

Just to put things in perspective:

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-p ... 2978.story

There is no guarantee that blu-ray players will fall in price anytime soon.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 10:57 pm

No guarantees but the CE companies know that adoption accelerates at lower price levels.

So they will be working on reducing the cost of components, as they've done for every electronic product which has come to market.

And of course, PS3 will go down in price too.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 3:45 pm

sportdan30 wrote:This demo is just so ridiculously good. Then again, I haven't encountered any bugs. Using the Bo Sox, I played small ball to win the game 1-0 in the bottom of the third. Ellsbury lead off with a bunt single. Lugo sacrificed him to second. And the next batter, Pederio (sp?) singled him home with a shot to right center. The Red Sox players ran to first to mob Pedrio. Just freakin' cool!

The game does have some immersion to it and looks beautiful... but it still feels the same as 06 did for me as far as pitching and hitting go.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:20 pm

MizzouRah wrote:
sportdan30 wrote:This demo is just so ridiculously good. Then again, I haven't encountered any bugs. Using the Bo Sox, I played small ball to win the game 1-0 in the bottom of the third. Ellsbury lead off with a bunt single. Lugo sacrificed him to second. And the next batter, Pederio (sp?) singled him home with a shot to right center. The Red Sox players ran to first to mob Pedrio. Just freakin' cool!
The game does have some immersion to it and looks beautiful... but it still feels the same as 06 did for me as far as pitching and hitting go.

Fortunately, the game still feels quite fresh to me as I've only really played this series since last year. Also, whether you or others consider it to be too simplistic, I love the pitching, batting, and fielding aspect of this game. How can you not prefer zone hitting?

Don't get me wrong. I'm very much looking forward to trying out 2K8, but I've been quite down on this series for the past four to five years. It always has seemed to be missing that "something". It's hard to describe.

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 4:38 pm

ok guys, pardon my ignorance, but zone hitting.......... All examples are from right hand batter. If the pitch is is high and away, you swing (power or contact) and push on the left stick up and to the right? Is that how the hitting is done? Similar, ball right down the middle but at the knees or below you just push down on right stick? I am sucking at hitting and need to make sure this is right before I start questioning other things I am doing. To *try* to induce a fly ball you push up on the right stick (it will vibrate with DS3) and down to keep it on the ground.

Just making sure this is how it its. As I said, I am struggling big time with hitting! Baserunning I am terrible at too, and fielding is hard for me as I always jump when I want to dive etc.......it there a sprint button?

Sorry for all the noob issues, just need a little help

phantompain · Post by **phantompain** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:39 pm

SEMINOLE wrote:ok guys, pardon my ignorance, but zone hitting.......... All examples are from right hand batter. If the pitch is is high and away, you swing (power or contact) and push on the left stick up and to the right? Is that how the hitting is done? Similar, ball right down the middle but at the knees or below you just push down on right stick? I am sucking at hitting and need to make sure this is right before I start questioning other things I am doing. To *try* to induce a fly ball you push up on the right stick (it will vibrate with DS3) and down to keep it on the ground.

Just making sure this is how it its. As I said, I am struggling big time with hitting! Baserunning I am terrible at too, and fielding is hard for me as I always jump when I want to dive etc.......it there a sprint button?

Sorry for all the noob issues, just need a little help

You have it exactly right, Seminole. For the flyball/grounder with the right stick, just do it before the pitcher releases the pitch.

Try turning on the plate coverage indicator (I think that is what it is called) and see if that will help you get a better understanding of it all. It is similar to a cursor, but is more of a tool to help you understand than it is a cursor based hitting engine. That way you can see if you are pushing the left stick in the correct direction quickly enough before you swing. Sometimes you might find that the cursor stays dead center and that just means you started your swing before you pushed the left stick. Also try slowing the pitch speed down to like 2 or 3 clicks from the left (I think about 7-8 clicks to the right from the middle).

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:54 pm

thanks, good advice, I will try in a little bit. I have seen that coverage indicator in the tips during the game, never tried it though.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:41 pm

sportdan30 wrote: Fortunately, the game still feels quite fresh to me as I've only really played this series since last year. Also, whether you or others consider it to be too simplistic, I love the pitching, batting, and fielding aspect of this game. How can you not prefer zone hitting?

Don't get me wrong. I'm very much looking forward to trying out 2K8, but I've been quite down on this series for the past four to five years. It always has seemed to be missing that "something". It's hard to describe.

lol.. that's how this game feels to me... different strokes I guess..

I like the swinging with the stick and I think pitching could be VERY fun vs hitting the button 3 times.

Like I said, the gameplay is definitely solid and I love the presentation for sure!

spooky157 · Post by **spooky157** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:29 pm

One thing that still bothers me about the MLB series is the way inside fastballs get ripped to the opposite field way too often. Even fastballs that I'm quick enough to turn on result in shots to CF. This happens for the CPU batters as well. I'm hoping that some tweaking of the "timing window" slider can fix this.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:17 pm

Are the games for the Ps3 and ps2 going to be vastly different games this year, or will they be largely the same except for graphics?

phantompain · Post by **phantompain** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 2:56 pm

MizzouRah wrote:
sportdan30 wrote: Fortunately, the game still feels quite fresh to me as I've only really played this series since last year. Also, whether you or others consider it to be too simplistic, I love the pitching, batting, and fielding aspect of this game. How can you not prefer zone hitting?

Don't get me wrong. I'm very much looking forward to trying out 2K8, but I've been quite down on this series for the past four to five years. It always has seemed to be missing that "something". It's hard to describe.
lol.. that's how this game feels to me... different strokes I guess..

I like the swinging with the stick and I think pitching could be VERY fun vs hitting the button 3 times.
Like I said, the gameplay is definitely solid and I love the presentation for sure!

Does everyone hit the button 3 times? When I use meter pitching I just hold the button until I get the desired amount of velocity I am looking for then release so that it comes back to the accuracy line and then hit it a second time for the accuracy. So only 2 button presses. But I had read other people hitting it 3 times, so I was just curious if I was the only one only hitting it twice?

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:11 pm

I only push twice, push and hold for velocity, release and push again for accuracy. Maybe this is wrong LOL

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 5:28 pm

I always though the 3-click referred to having to select the pitch as well. At least in MLB's case (as opposed to golf).

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 6:51 pm

SEMINOLE wrote:I only push twice, push and hold for velocity, release and push again for accuracy. Maybe this is wrong LOL

Maybe I was doing it wrong? lol...

phantompain · Post by **phantompain** » Thu Feb 21, 2008 7:39 pm

MizzouRah wrote:
SEMINOLE wrote:I only push twice, push and hold for velocity, release and push again for accuracy. Maybe this is wrong LOL
Maybe I was doing it wrong? lol...

I don't think you are doing it wrong, I just think you can do it either way. whatever you are comfortable with is fine, I just never thought to do it with 3 clicks...but then again I am major lazy

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 6:48 pm

Played the demo again...My 2nd fav demo all time behind NCAA08.

I recently fell off the wagon and had my WoW addiction reignited or Id be typing...

cant wait cant wait cant wait cant wait cant wait....

instead of

Looking forward to this one in a big way.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 7:33 pm

Could the release date be moved up?

http://www.pastapadre.com/2379/mlb-08-t ... e-moved-up

Diablo25 · Post by **Diablo25** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 8:44 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Could the release date be moved up?

http://www.pastapadre.com/2379/mlb-08-t ... e-moved-up

It wouldn't be unprecedented. I'm all for it

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Fri Feb 22, 2008 11:24 pm

I'm finally going to head on over to Gamestop this weekend to get in a pre-order just in case it does come out on Tuesday. I know I'd be able to find a copy on release day but I also don't want to take that chance. It would be torture sitting around reading everyone else's impressions and not be able to play this one first day.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Sat Feb 23, 2008 11:17 am

Any word if this year's version will have a Home Run Derby?

I enjoyed that and the mini-game that they had on The Show 06.