MLB 2K8 interview

kevinpars · Post by **kevinpars** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 7:35 am

I agree that this is the first baseball game in years that I keep playing. This is a very fun 'pick up and play' baseball game because it has a lot of variety and a good bit of strategy is involved. But you can also skip through cut scenes and actually get a game in a lot quicker than in past years.

Gurantsu · Post by **Gurantsu** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 8:35 am

The whole pitcher/batter showdown is captured fantastically in this game. The only thing I did is turn off the feature where the ball icon moves all over the screen when the pitcher is nervous. I find that in those situations I'M usually nervous, which makes putting the ball where I want and doing the motion hard enough already. Just like a real pitcher I need to settle down and concentrate on putting the ball where I need it. I don't need the computer to do that for me anymore, I can screw it up on my own thank you very much!

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:33 am

Gurantsu wrote:The whole pitcher/batter showdown is captured fantastically in this game.

Especially from the pitcher's side. With the pitch slider tweaked just to my breaking point, every big at-bat gets the adrenaline going! You have to pick good spots, and execute well. I love it.

Still not a big fan of the batting, though. At this point I'm willing to admit that the problem may be with me because many of you have said you found a good spot for this, but I can't really find any camera/zoom combination that lets me judge pitches well enough. And the check swing calls suck. You have a swing-stick, they should judge whether or not you went around by how far you actually moved the stick. As it is now, it's fairly random even if you have hardly any movement at all, making the check-swing fairly useless.

kicko · Post by **kicko** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:55 am

I had to laugh my ass off the other night. I was playing with the red sox vs. marlins in an exhibition game. I'm not sure who was at bat but they had hit a hard groundball through 3rd and ss into the outfield. Manny bends down to scoop up the ball and...... WTF the ball goes right through this legs. It was a very routine play but the funny part (i watched on replay) was his head turns around to see where the ball had gone(classic)

Was this manny being manny?

was it a 2kglitch or

was it a really cool error!!

either way that could have really happened, so i didnt get mad... thats real baseball!

brendanrfoley · Post by **brendanrfoley** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:19 am

I vote for Manny being Manny!

Who would of though Signature Styles extended into players' fielding routines

?

Inuyasha · Post by **Inuyasha** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:41 am

I had an insane online game where I lost in the bot 9th.

I was the Wsox playing this guy as the cubs at Wrigley. So I had no DH and I had to sit Thome down.

Score is tied 2-2 in my top 9th and I had the pitcher up so I pinch hit with Thome and double switched putting Thome in RF. Thome eventually flied out so I was like no big deal, he's playing RF, I know he's not an outfielder.

So with 2 outs in the bot 9th, Lee gets a double off me and Rameriz is up. He lifts a fly ball to RF, and Thome is going back to get the ball and is under it just about to turn around and the ball hits him off his head , rolls about 10 feet, and I lose the game.

Usually I catch this kind of ball with say Dye in RF or Anderson or any other OF. But it was pretty cool how the ratings of Thome being a shitty outfielder mattered where you see on the replay he didn't have his balance when trying to run and catch the ball once he got under it, and it popping off his noggin'.

TheTruth · Post by **TheTruth** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:50 am

webdanzer wrote:
Gurantsu wrote:The whole pitcher/batter showdown is captured fantastically in this game.
...., but I can't really find any camera/zoom combination that lets me judge pitches well enough.

Web...have you tried wide and zoomed in around 75 clicks? Using this now and it seems to help me. Try it out and see if you like it.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 10:59 am

I'm on Wide now at a lower zoom than that, and I've tried Wide at Max and Medium zooms, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I do think Wide is probably the best batting camera out of all of them.

wabash97 · Post by **wabash97** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:24 pm

How is the hitting "feel" and variety? I like MVP 05's hit variety and the feeling of the bat and ball having some "weight." Is it similar?

I only have a 360, but played The Show on the PS2 and couldn't get past the bat/ball physics. It always felt like I could swing unrealistically quickly, and the ball didn't seem to come off of the bat correctly.

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:29 pm

wabash97 wrote:How is the hitting "feel" and variety? I like MVP 05's hit variety and the feeling of the bat and ball having some "weight." Is it similar?

I only have a 360, but played The Show on the PS2 and couldn't get past the bat/ball physics. It always felt like I could swing unrealistically quickly, and the ball didn't seem to come off of the bat correctly.

The hit variety in 2k8 is pretty good, but IMO not as good as The Show. I'd say both the bat and ball do feel a bit 'heavier' in 2k8, but the ball doesn't come off the bat any more realistically than the Show. Maybe even worse.

wabash97 · Post by **wabash97** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:34 pm

how about compared to MVP 05 (if you played it ...)?

webdanzer · Post by **webdanzer** » Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:59 pm

wabash97 wrote:how about compared to MVP 05 (if you played it ...)?

It's been a while, but I say 2k8 feels about as 'heavy' as MVP, doesn't have quite as good hit variety (but close), and has worse ball off bat feel.

Overall, though, 2k8 reminds me more of MVP than the Show does, but I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone given the project leads...

brendanrfoley · Post by **brendanrfoley** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:07 am

In Presentation Options, I've turned off the score ticker at the bottom of the screen. I've found it keeps the game running a little more smoothly than with it on.

But every few innings, it pops back on with news from around sports, etc. When I go into options, it says "off." I can't figure it out.

Is this a known bug?

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:20 pm

brendanrfoley wrote:In Presentation Options, I've turned off the score ticker at the bottom of the screen. I've found it keeps the game running a little more smoothly than with it on.

But every few innings, it pops back on with news from around sports, etc. When I go into options, it says "off." I can't figure it out.

Is this a known bug?

The one in the game is for scores from your franchise I believe. You have to go into XBL while in the game and turn those off there.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:37 pm

brendanrfoley wrote:In Presentation Options, I've turned off the score ticker at the bottom of the screen. I've found it keeps the game running a little more smoothly than with it on.

But every few innings, it pops back on with news from around sports, etc. When I go into options, it says "off." I can't figure it out.

Is this a known bug?

Mizz is right. You have to go into Online Options, Online Desk and uncheck all the possible ticker updates they have.

JackB1 · Post by **JackB1** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:37 pm

I have played a few games post patch and I dont notice any gameplay differences???

Gangrel · Post by **Gangrel** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:31 pm

I dont' think there are gameplay differences myself. I think it's a byproduct of the framerate being a tad smoother during swings, meaning we are all seeing some different hits then we were used to when it was a tad choppier.

My theory anyway.

brendanrfoley · Post by **brendanrfoley** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:40 pm

JackB1 wrote:
brendanrfoley wrote:In Presentation Options, I've turned off the score ticker at the bottom of the screen. I've found it keeps the game running a little more smoothly than with it on.

But every few innings, it pops back on with news from around sports, etc. When I go into options, it says "off." I can't figure it out.

Is this a known bug?
Mizz is right. You have to go into Online Options, Online Desk and uncheck all the possible ticker updates they have.

Ah, that explains it. Thanks much!

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 5:23 pm

I'm going to have to get back into this game. I've been out of town due to my sister passing. its going to be good to get back to some normalcy and playing this game.

kicko · Post by **kicko** » Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:41 pm

I'm very sorry to hear that.

Zeppo · Post by **Zeppo** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:47 am

TheGamer wrote:I'm going to have to get back into this game. I've been out of town due to my sister passing. its going to be good to get back to some normalcy and playing this game.

Holy cow that is extremely sad news. I am very sorry for your loss; I can't even begin to imagine what you must be going through. All the best in what must be a difficult time.

TheGamer · Post by **TheGamer** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 8:14 am

Guys, thanks for the thoughts. I really appreciate it.

Back on thread topic, played a couple of games last night and can really tell the difference after the patch. I think the fielder speed has been toned down a bit to allow more hits through the infield. Fewer pitches that were called strikes on the corners are now balls or at least pitch trajectory is able to be seen more accurately.

brendanrfoley · Post by **brendanrfoley** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 10:35 am

After more than a dozen games, I think the classic hitting has finally "clicked." To influence my hits, I've been jamming up or down on the left analog stick, the whole way. It results in nothing more than ground balls and high pop ups.

Last night, I tried being a little "softer" and not moving the stick to such extremes. Wow, what a difference! I scored 6 runs, while I have been averaging one or two! I also jacked two homers.. a solo shot with Ramirez and a two-run bomb with Ortiz.

The more I play, the more I love. Oh, and the hitting is nearly identical to MVP's.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:17 am

Sorry to hear about your loss TheGamer.

I love how if you play the same game as RL, the weather and time of day is the same, even in exhibition.

I will say, playing in AT&T field mid day.. the whole statium and field was definitely darker compared to other parks I've played in.

brendanrfoley · Post by **brendanrfoley** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:08 pm

I know I'm relatively late to the impressions thread, considering I got the game a month later than everyone else. But the only thing really holding this game back, in my opinion, is the framerate and overall presentation.

Even after the patch, there are still hitches. And replays between innings and post game highlights are a choppy mess. I like John Miller, but Joe Morgan is awful (ironically, many say the same about Joe in real life).

And some of the player notes are horribly outdated. I was stunned to see Alex Rodriguez come to the plate with a graphic recognizing him as a two time MVP winner (2003, 2005). No mention of what he accomplished in 2007.

I wonder what the audio, roster, and overall presentation part of the development team focused on during the game's incubation. My guess is everyone was focused on getting it to run at 60fps, and let other things fall by the wayside. I've also heard a great deal of rumors that Brinkman is extremely irritated with the main audio programmer.

As is, I'd grade this game in the B range. It's a shame, because between the lines the game is most certaily in the A range.

Regardless, I'm having a great time playing and look forward to the first roster update. Until then, I'll keep playing exhibitions and find a good set of settings.

Toodles!

Digital Sportspage

MLB 2K8 interview

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