MLB 2K8 interview

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 5:18 pm

MizzouRah wrote:With the signing out of your profile trick, the game runs smooth for me at 1920x1080. Definitely something I think they will fix.

You must have gotten the golden Dell 24" monitor...cuz it ran like ASS on mine with the "fix". Yikes.

Nozzleman_216 · Post by **Nozzleman_216** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:10 pm

I finally got a chance to try the demo out today, 2/3 of an inning. Couldn't handle any more. It wasn't even the framrates that bothered me (well it could have been) but it played like ass. And it looked even worse. If this game were my only choice this year, I am afraid I would not be playing a baseball game this year. Or I would immediately have an excuse to buy a PS3.

Look I know most will not agree with me here on this, but I am hoping EA buys T2, its the ONLY hope of having a great baseball game on the 360. I truly feel sorry for those of you not owning a PS3.

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:18 pm

SEMINOLE wrote:I finally got a chance to try the demo out today, 2/3 of an inning. Couldn't handle any more. It wasn't even the framrates that bothered me (well it could have been) but it played like ass. And it looked even worse. If this game were my only choice this year, I am afraid I would not be playing a baseball game this year. Or I would immediately have an excuse to buy a PS3.

Look I know most will not agree with me here on this, but I am hoping EA buys T2, its the ONLY hope of having a great baseball game on the 360. I truly feel sorry for those of you not owning a PS3.

I don't think that will help. If EA gets the rights, how long is it going to take them to make a good baseball game? On par with The Show? Probably 3 years?

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:34 pm

LOL, it's interesting that there are so many widely varied opinions on the game. It's all cool though, and hey I loved MLB when I had a PSP.

But 2K8 is certainly growing on me more. I've started a career with the Nationals (I happen to be wearing my Nats hat that day), and while I got shelled by the Phillies in my first games (3 homers by Rollins!), I have since gotten more used to the pitching and an doing quite well now. I played that Marlins series and took 2 of three, now I'm playing the Braves and there is a definite difference in the quality of the team.

It's not without its quirks, and I'm avoiding slider changes at the moment until I get a little more time with it under my belt (fielders running into each other and the AI usually throwing strikes stand out). But as I get used to it it's starting to play a decent game of ball.

I won't comment on the frame rate, because other than when I first loaded it up it just isn't that bad to me. I must have a golden copy also.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:41 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
MizzouRah wrote:With the signing out of your profile trick, the game runs smooth for me at 1920x1080. Definitely something I think they will fix.
You must have gotten the golden Dell 24" monitor...cuz it ran like ASS on mine with the "fix". Yikes.

What can I say? I do believe I have the next model up from you, but that shouldn't matter.

I start a game, log off Xbox live, then continue my game. I do play with the aerial cam as I love it, but that's about it.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:01 pm

After playing the demo, I see a lot of gimmicks but not a lot of baseball.

The batting system is gimmicky and stupid. I hated the step method in NCAA, it's one of those things that's realistic but not fun.

I know it's a demo and the pitchers are too accurate but it's entirely too hard to spot pitches in that game. And nibbling the edges was too easy. Maybe it's different in the final version.

What has bugged me all these years is the ball physics, I think 2k needs to scrap that entirely and start over. The ball doesn't have any weight to it and seems to float. The rainbow throws have been in the game since XB/PS2 days.

The pitching system too a lot of concentration but I don't think it's the right way to go. 2k Sports always tries new things but they don't seem to well-designed. I think 100 pitches of rotating the stick is going to get a little old. Plus I think it takes away players ratings. Much of the same problem with the meter systems, is that once you get timing down a pitcher with no control and be an ace.

I know it's a demo but I know why they waited on it and held back reviews.

I just don't have any faith in 2k Sports making a complete game.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 7:43 pm

JRod wrote:What has bugged me all these years is the ball physics, I think 2k needs to scrap that entirely and start over. The ball doesn't have any weight to it and seems to float. The rainbow throws have been in the game since XB/PS2 days.

This is even more apparent after playing MLB 08 The Show on the PS3. The ball physics in this series is light years behind that of MLB 08. 2k8 does have a variety of hits but MLB 08 has an insane amount of variety.

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:59 pm

JRod wrote:What has bugged me all these years is the ball physics, I think 2k needs to scrap that entirely and start over. The ball doesn't have any weight to it and seems to float. The rainbow throws have been in the game since XB/PS2 days.

Actually they hacked apart the 2K7 ball physics programming for 2K8 according to Kushgamer over at OS. I'm suspecting this might have something to do with the glitches that we're seeing in-game. I just had the weirdest glitch I've ever seen in a baseball game happen to me. The ball gets popped up into the outfield and lands in the feet of the RF (who could've easily caught the ball) and then starts disappearing and reappearing at his feet. The CF then shows up and proceed to watch this debacle at which point the ball then starts to rolls underneath the OF wall and off into the distance with the camera watching. I watched this is total disbelief for two full minutes before finally trying to quit which apparently you can't do in the middle of a play and ended up having to reset my 360. Very, very depressing.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:12 am

Question.... I think I know the answer, but figured i'd check anyway.

When the catcher is giving you his target, is that where the ball should end up, or is that where you aim the cursor, before any break?

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:31 am

Gangrel wrote:Question.... I think I know the answer, but figured i'd check anyway.

When the catcher is giving you his target, is that where the ball should end up, or is that where you aim the cursor, before any break?

Ball should end up in the glove so you'll want to aim breaking balls accordingly.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:35 am

i figured that, thanks.

It's just odd some of the locations the catcher calls for. A chest high slider? Well, Pujols cranked it yard on me!

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:39 am

It is VERY obvious why they didn't release this demo ahead of time. Bad animations, jerky framerates, general gameplay awkwardness (IMO), Joe Morgan, disappointing graphics, bad crowd reaction...this demo is miles behind the MLB 08 demo.

Still don't know if I'll buy a baseball game this year (might try to stick with Power Pros), but at least making a choice between 2k and SCEA is an easy one.

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:02 am

The content is out on Live for us 360 owners......

(the unis, stadiums, and cards they left off the DVD vs the Blu Ray disc.)

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:07 am

Just pulled the ball down the 1B line and the ball actually moved farther into fair territory as it went down the line. WTF?

Jackdog · Post by **Jackdog** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:46 am

JackB1 wrote:I still see no specifics about why you guys dont like it???
Did I log into the ign boards by mistake? Now that the
frame rate issue has been solved, what is bad about this
game? I would like to hear from someone who played more
than a few innings. It's like anyone who has "The Show/PS3"
is just resigned to saying "it sucks" without any reasons behind
it. I don't see how it's worse than 2K7. It does eveything that game
did PLUS it added the new pitching and throwing features.

I don't get it. I guess if you have The Show, there is no reason to get this game, but if you just have a 360 (me) and liked last year's game (me) then this is a good purchase.

Thanks for the IGN comparison.

Jesus man, if I didn't know who you were I would be calling you a troll. This post sounds like a 6 year old throwing a temper tantrum. Our impressions are what we feel. Nobody here owes you anymore than that. If you enoy the game,great! A lot of us don't.

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:35 am

just a few little things that I liked in my last game...

Me Cubs vs Dodgers. Big Z pitching, Juan Pierre at first, Jeff Kent at the plate. Tried to break Kent off with a curve. ball bounced in front of the plate, but instead of going to the backstop for a wild pitch as usual, Soto was able to block the ball and keep it in front of him without catching the ball. ball bounce about 3 feet in front of home. Pierre, taking his secondary lead, thinks he can make it down to 2nd base. Soto pounces on the ball like a cat, and throws a perfect strike down to Derosa at second to nail Pierre. I yelled "Yeah!!" very loud.

earlier in the same game Kent hit a long drive to left, looked like a easy HR, but Soriano, jumps at the last second, gets his glove on the ball, and looks like a robbed HR, but he knocks it over the fence for an HR.

Also had Cedeno throw 2 Dodgers out at home after taking the relay in short leftfield from Soriano at the wall.

this sounds like a really good game, but I got blasted 15-4

kicko · Post by **kicko** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:31 am

Other then the usual tweaks i am not finding too much to complain about. I tired lowering the total control pitching slider all the way down but i do not think it controls the speed of the meter but i did notice my meatballs had a lot less meat. Sometimes i might miss the mark and the batter would still ground out or even better strikeout. I'm sure in a few weeks we will all get this game working just fine. So far i really like the game.

pigpen81 · Post by **pigpen81** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:20 am

Dave wrote:Just pulled the ball down the 1B line and the ball actually moved farther into fair territory as it went down the line. WTF?

Talk about staying inside the baseball

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 10:42 am

I'm playing my franchise on All-Star level with tweaks (CPU throw strikes and hit corners way down, player contact way down, difficulty of throwing and pitching meters up some) and I as the Yanks just got roughed up by the Devil Rays! Ouch. Strange thing is, this wasn't a 'meatball' roughing up as was the case when I first started playing the game...these guys were just hitting 'regular' well-executed pitches. I may actually have to lower the CPU hitting!

Some more random observations...

After playing The Show again, I now can't ignore the small outfield. The Show kills 2k8 with variety of hits to the OF.

I love, love earning strikeouts in this game. You have to work for them but they are there, and when you get them it definitely feels like an accomplishment.

I'm slightly worried about the amount of injuries I have seen. In only a couple of games I saw two pitchers go down for a long period of time. I forget, were excessive injuries a problem in last year's title?

With CPU throw strikes all the way down, I'm still not getting a great deal of walks, but some of it is my inability to judge pitches in this game. I have to play around with the cameras some. Strikezone is far too big.

I really do thing both the pitching meter and throwing meter add a lot to playing defense. Passed balls and wild pitches are almost always your fault, and even getting your release point just a little late to bounce a breaking ball can see runners advancing on the gaffe. I had one great sequence where I messed up on both meters back to back, so Posada dropped a third strike, and then threw it low and towards the outfield to Duncan on first, causing him to bobble it and allow the runner to be safe. It was a great looking play and I knew it was my 'fault.'

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:21 am

Gangrel wrote:i figured that, thanks.

It's just odd some of the locations the catcher calls for. A chest high slider? Well, Pujols cranked it yard on me!

The catcher does call for some odd locations. You can either click the left stick to reset him or aim the the left stick and press A and he'll move there.
I have never seen catchers call for high/outside pitches so much in my life.

I hope there is a way to turn that off in the full game. I do like how the catcher calls the pitches and puts down fingers...very cool! After a few innings, I am just looking at the fingers and then throwing.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:27 am

Couple of quick things, Web.

I agree with the strike zone. Too big and anything close is usually called a strike. Playing last night, though, I had a different plate umpire and some of the pitches that clearly touched the strikezone, were called balls. This was encouraging, just don't know how often this will be the case.

Lastly, I was also having trouble judging pitches and thus was having trouble hitting. I turned the pitch speed down and it definitely helps. I think once I get the hang of it, I will be able to push it back up.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:33 am

JackDog wrote:
Thanks for the IGN comparison. Jesus man, if I didn't know who you were I would be calling you a troll. This post sounds like a 6 year old throwing a temper tantrum. Our impressions are what we feel. Nobody here owes you anymore than that. If you enoy the game,great! A lot of us don't.

But Jack, you DO know who I am. I didn't mean to offend you or anyone here. The IGN thing was sarcasm or a joke

Of course there is no comparison between this place and IGN. Thats why we hang out here and not there. My point was that it was unusual just to see that many posts here that say "this game sucks" or "it plays like ass", without any valid reasons behind them. Nobody owes anyone anything here, but if you are just going to say "this game sucks" then why bother saying anything at all? The whole point of a "discussion board" is "discussion", isn't it?

I lot of us don't have more than one console and are "stuck" with MLB2K8 if we want a baseball game this year and I was trying to figure out why everyone wasn't liking it. I don't have it yet, so I dont know if I "enjoy it"
yet. I guess I will just wait for my gamefly copy to come and go from there. For those that offered detailed responses..thanks! I really appreciate it.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:41 am

Pete wrote:Couple of quick things, Web.
I agree with the strike zone. Too big and anything close is usually called a strike. Playing last night, though, I had a different plate umpire and some of the pitches that clearly touched the strikezone, were called balls. This was encouraging, just don't know how often this will be the case.

Are there any sliders that can help this? Is there a "variable umpire" slider?
I wish there was an option to let you "draw" your own strike zone.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:50 am

I'm using the standard view for batting, but have it zoomed in just past halfway on the slider. The view reminds me of the old Genesis MLB game, the batter is half off of the screen. I like that view, and it really helps in judging pitches.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:51 am

kicko wrote:Other then the usual tweaks i am not finding too much to complain about. I tired lowering the total control pitching slider all the way down but i do not think it controls the speed of the meter but i did notice my meatballs had a lot less meat. Sometimes i might miss the mark and the batter would still ground out or even better strikeout. I'm sure in a few weeks we will all get this game working just fine. So far i really like the game.

It's encouraging to see some people are liking it. I actually saw quite a few DSPers on my friends list playing it the last couple of days, so some people are at least giving it a chance. I think there is some fun to be had here with this game, if you are willing to accept some flaws here and there. Believe me, I would love to have a PS3/The Show also, but I need the $500 in my pocket a little more

I played The Show last year on my PS2 and had a lot of fun with it, but I thought the game wasn't interactive enough and still relied on too much basic button pressing, which got a little boring after a while. I am sure it plays a more "pure" game of baseball, but I get enough "pure baseball" in my men's league.