MLB '08 news and info

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:15 pm

What the hell is this Plate Coverage Indicator they talk about in the tips? I can't find it, much less figure out if it's useful.

bkrich83 · Post by **bkrich83** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:19 pm

SEMINOLE wrote:pardon my ignorance, but is there a roster update and if so.....WHERE? Thanks!
edit: n/m Just signed online and it asked if I wanted to save roster for offline use

As for in game saves, I believe quickplay does NOT have in-game saves but thats it

No in-game saves for RTTS either. I believe it's just for season and franchise modes.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:23 pm

Leebo33 wrote:I didn't save a game last night, but I thought the PS3 version has in-game saves.

Same thing, it was getting late and I was looking for it everywhere. But like others have said only on franchise and season modes unfortunately. On the PSP there's in-game saves on exhibitions as well though.

Post by **ScoopBrady** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:26 pm

bkrich83 wrote:
SEMINOLE wrote:pardon my ignorance, but is there a roster update and if so.....WHERE? Thanks!
edit: n/m Just signed online and it asked if I wanted to save roster for offline use

As for in game saves, I believe quickplay does NOT have in-game saves but thats it
No in-game saves for RTTS either. I believe it's just for season and franchise modes.

Well, that's better than nothing but I still wish I could save an exhibition game too. Thanks for clearing it up guys.

RallyMonkey · Post by **RallyMonkey** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:54 pm

I am interested in hearing about the pitch speed/power correlation a bit more.

In three games with pitch speed down and no power adjustments i haven't seen much of a correlation between the two. Hell i even jacked one with Ellsbury in game one. I would have said differently as my first two HR's JUST cleared the wall but last night Drew hit an upper deck shot in Oakland. I am also seeing a good number of HARD double as well so i'm not sure at this point i would link the two. More time may reveal differently. We shall see.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:11 pm

Got it yesterday and only had time for one game. All-Star, no pitch indicator turned swing influence off. Had a fun 5-3 loss, Cards at Cubs (me). Got on base with a past third strike with Felix Pie, hit two doubles with Derek Lee, saw a really realistic bobble by the Cards SS on a hard hit grounder. Overall, just a good, realistic game.

I saw one weird thing. I popped a pitch almost straight up over home plate. The Cards catcher just sat there in his crouch and let it bounce for a foul ball. At first I thought the pitch was out of play since he didn't move, and then it damn near bounced on his head.

Now I just have to create Fukodome and move Ryan Dempster to the rotation and I'll be ready to start my Cubs franchise.

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:17 pm

PS2 impressions for anyone interested:

Very solid, but similar experience to past games which can be expected for a game on an old gen system. I'm definitely curious as to how the PS3 plays to compare.

Hit vaiety improved on every edition and continues to do so in this version. Definitely a few more "duck snorts" than last year's version. Still lots of hard hit rocket line drives and ground balls.

Haven't messed around with any of the new features or RTTS yet.

Hitting might be a litle on the easy side, even on HoF. Might have to play around with a few things.

Graphics, a little sharper, nothing to really sit up and take notice.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:21 pm

What the f*ck are duck snorts?

lexbur · Post by **lexbur** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:27 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:What the f*ck are duck snorts?

They're kinda like Texas Leaguers.

Leadfoot5 · Post by **Leadfoot5** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 1:27 pm

From Wikipedia:

duck snort

A softly hit ball that goes over the infielders and lands in the outfield for a hit. Originally called a "duck fart" because it was assumed that a duck's feathers would make its farts as soft (or quiet) as the hit. Changed to a "snort" for use in polite company.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:07 pm

I guess when they say you learn something new everyday, they are right. It's too bad that this is one I could have done without.

GameSeven · Post by **GameSeven** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:09 pm

Played one game (Bucs at home against the Nats) and a single inning Yanks vs. Mets at the stadium and four innings Yanks at the Indians.

I like what I'm seeing so far on All-star defaults. I love some of the foul ball battles you can get into on both sides of the plate.

The Bucs game (visited PNC last year and wanted to compare the field) was a blast. I scored 2 on a LaRoche blast in the third and singled in another in the fifth. Matt Morris gutted out 7 innings with only one K and scattering 7 hits. Then I brought in Damaso Marte and the wheels fell off. He surrendered 5 runs on 5 hits including a no-doubt blast by Zimmerman that got him yanked. He (I) struggled with location and even beaned a pinch hitting Wily Mo Pena on an 0-2 count. I managed a pair of baserunnners in the eighth and ninth, but Cordero managed to escape on a bang-bang play at first after a hard chop to second by McLouth. The game had clutch hits by pinch-hitters on both sides and some great duels. Dmitri young robbed a HR in left that would have cut the lead to one in the eighth. Even though I lost, the experience has great.

The single inning against the Mets had Jeter and Abreu knock back to back one out singles before A-Rod deposited a 2-0 fastball by El Duque in monument park.

The 4 innings in Cleveland (went there too last year, escaped midge-less. Yanks not so lucky) were pretty good. I'm going to try not to touch any sliders (playing All-star defaults right now) for a dozen games or so, but I did manage 7 hits against Sabathia, but only a single run on a Jeter homerun that carried in the wind to just clear the wall in right-center. I did manage a triple with Posada

on a drive off the wall in left-center that was missed on the leap and chased down by Sizemore.

Right now, I'm using Classic pitching with the strike zone and ball indicator OFF. While I like the meter in theory, in the demo I found it too accurate. While I only walked two and had the one HBP, I think the overall feel of Classic pitching is pretty good so far.

Some random good and bad:

The good:

Game play feels very organic. I've seen a tremendous variety in hit types. The little details like head tracking of batted balls is very nice. Coaches giving advance/hold-up signals is nice too. Players backup one another in a realistic manner.

I really like the emotion shown by players. When Jeter legged out an infield single, the quick glance at the umps emphatic safe call and Jeter's fist pump was nice.

Hard to say if this is completely *good* yet, but in addition to robbing the HR, Dmitri young appeared to misplay one drive to left into a double. He overran the landing spot and appeared to freeze until he picked up the ball slicing over his back shoulder. He had to go pick it up. If this is a differentitation among fielder quality, then it's good. Hopefully it wasn't a glitch.

Crowd enthusiasm is very nice. In contrast to the crowd I'd been accsutomed to in 2K7, the depth of the crowd reactions in sound and in action is fantastic. Watching a higlight of an earlier homerun with the crowd reaching for the ball is nice.

For the most part, the commentary is extremely good. As some have pointed out, there are a number of miscues that could be listed as "bad", but that wouldn't be fair because, in general, the commentary is deep and well done. One miscue in my game happened when I hit Wily Mo. He had pinch hit for the pitcher so the commentary said (paraphrased) "what he doesn't want to do is hit the pitcher in this type of situation"

I caught the CPU in a rundown after it aggressively sent a runner to extend a double to left center. Not being accustomed to a well-executed rundown in a video game, it took me two extra throws to get the putout. It was a fun sequence.

All the little things. The aforementioned radio calls. The stadium specific details and sounds. The pause menu referred to the pierogi race in Pittsburgh and the train sounds at Yankee stadium.

The bad:

Menus are a little clunky. Just because I selected Yanks with my profile does not mean I want to auto-select them whenever I choose sides on selection screen. Also can't randomize my team when profile is selected. For that matter, I should have to loop through all of the minor leagues in order to loop around to top of MLB list of teams. It would be better to partition the leagues like NHL 08 (and other games) did.

Getting used to NEW baserunning controls cost me a baserunner in the 8th in the hotly contested game in Pittsburgh. Zimmerman overthrew first on a hard chopper and by the time I processed the new controls, I'd lost a little over a second and was thrown out at second base (blown call to boot).

Some scoring glitches have been reported by the OS crew. In my game, I'll say that the only one I questioned was the botched advance on Zimmerman's overthrow. Rather than score it as an error with a putout on the advance, it was scored as a 5-9-4 ground out. I know there is a rule that prohibits errors on plays that result in putouts, but am I mistaken that that wouldn't apply once the batter was safe at first? On the other hand, the one for walkoff homers *should* legitimately be patched if at all possible.

Beachballs are overdone. Nice touch, but when I'm pitching from the pitcher's view in Cleveland and the folks sitting in the dugout suite behind home plate are batting the ball around, it's a little ridiculous (not to mention distracting).

Leadfoot5 · Post by **Leadfoot5** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 2:54 pm

Tried an on-line game last night with a random (BK - lets go!!) and while the experience was mixed, it was ultimately a good time.

I had to attempt to start a game 3 times before I got one started. The first time, I joined another player at the Team Select Screen, but our connection was dropped after only about 10 seconds. The second time, I basically got a CTD (game quit, send me back to the PS3 menu) when I attempted to choose my team. That's a pretty bad one.

Third time was the charm, and it was Beckett and the Red Sox taking on Peavy and my Padres at Petco. The other guy played a pretty solid game and we had one heck of a pitchers duel. The primary problem is still with lag. You have to change your approach at the plate and swing early to account for the lag. I hope they address this.

Nevertheless, it was a good game, and I finally broke through in the 5th with a 2-run double to the gap in left center. Peavy was still going strong having only given up 3 hits through 8 innings, so I left him in for the 9th. I proceeded to walk the first batter and got Hoffman up in the bullpen (too damn late).

Two outs later, with the runner now on second, and up walks Big Papi, representing the tying run. I'm still stinging from Hoffman's performance in the clutch last season, so I decide to leave Peavy in the game. Also, there's no way I'm going to put him on first and let the winning run come to the plate, so I decide to go after him with a bunch of fastballs down and away. The other guy is guessing fastball, but the best he can do is foul them off. With the count at 2-2, I decide to try and get him to bite on some high cheese, and he does! Ortiz goes down on strikes and Peavy has a 3 hit shutout.

The final line was:

Red Sox: 0 runs, 3 hits, 1 error
Padres: 2 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors

Peavy gets the win while striking out 11.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:40 pm

Anyone else think plate discipline needs to be ramped up a little bit for the CPU? I don't recall seeing the CPU controlled team taking a called third strike. Not like I do of course.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:05 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Anyone else think plate discipline needs to be ramped up a little bit for the CPU? I don't recall seeing the CPU controlled team taking a called third strike. Not like I do of course.

I've seen it happen quite a few times in the three games I've played. I've also seen them swing and miss on balls too. It's the first time I've noticed both consistently in a baseball game.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:11 pm

Yeah, I've gotten them looking three or four times in my last two games.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:24 pm

Gonna play again tonight, mainly because I'm addicted to this game, but also to see if I notice the CPU taking called third strikes.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:39 pm

sportdan30 wrote:Gonna play again tonight, mainly because I'm addicted to this game

Raise your hand if you didn't see that coming.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:39 pm

I think it helps if you've got a pitch with a lot of movement. I was getting guys looking with Santana using the tailing fastball inside that would come back over the plate, as well as the slider low and outside that would nick the zone at the end.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:54 pm

How hard is it to hit your spots in this game. And is pitcher accuracy an issue, meaning average pitchers are a little too accurate?

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:55 pm

That's a good point Slumberland. The Cards pitchers, besides Carpenter maybe don't fool many batters. Heck, they pride themselves on throwing as few pitches as possible, looking for the groundball out. So, perhaps it's the pitchers I'm using that has something to do with it.

My approach has always been to get ahead in the count. That's probably everyone's approach actually. But, then I tend to get greedy and try and get that second strike. Once I do, I'll waste a pitch. Then, I'll see if they bite on a pitch up in the zone or inside. That's normally how I register my strike outs. I just don't seem that have the art of sneaking a called third strike in there. I think if I had a good tailing fastball in the repertoire, that might help.

[/quote]

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 4:58 pm

JRod wrote:How hard is it to hit your spots in this game. And is pitcher accuracy an issue, meaning average pitchers are a little too accurate?

I don't think it's that easy to hit your spots. However, I do think it's not difficult to throw a strike, if that makes any sense. I might aim inside and low and the ball might end up towards the middle of the plate. I think it definitely depends on the quality of the pitcher, and whether or not they are in the zone.

I should add it also depends on where you stop the meter. If you're in the blue, you seem to have more control over the location of the pitch. If you hold down until you're in the red, you better be sure you hit the mark.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:14 pm

sportdan30 wrote:
JRod wrote:How hard is it to hit your spots in this game. And is pitcher accuracy an issue, meaning average pitchers are a little too accurate?
I don't think it's that easy to hit your spots. However, I do think it's not difficult to throw a strike, if that makes any sense. I might aim inside and low and the ball might end up towards the middle of the plate. I think it definitely depends on the quality of the pitcher, and whether or not they are in the zone.

I should add it also depends on where you stop the meter. If you're in the blue, you seem to have more control over the location of the pitch. If you hold down until you're in the red, you better be sure you hit the mark.

That's why I use classic pitching...it's a lot harder to hit your spots consistently with the bottom of the rotation guys. With the meter it's easier to nibble...resulting in less walks. Classic pitching seems to give me a nice balance with the ease of use (just pressing a button short/long depending on how effective it will be) and the ability to miss your spot often.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 5:50 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
sportdan30 wrote:
JRod wrote:How hard is it to hit your spots in this game. And is pitcher accuracy an issue, meaning average pitchers are a little too accurate?
I don't think it's that easy to hit your spots. However, I do think it's not difficult to throw a strike, if that makes any sense. I might aim inside and low and the ball might end up towards the middle of the plate. I think it definitely depends on the quality of the pitcher, and whether or not they are in the zone.

I should add it also depends on where you stop the meter. If you're in the blue, you seem to have more control over the location of the pitch. If you hold down until you're in the red, you better be sure you hit the mark.
Would you say that classic pitching is the same as HH, in terms of accuracy.

In HH, if you aimed low and away, there was a chance that pitch could a ball, a meat ball, or in an adjacent quadrant. When I get into this game, I might jump straight to classic if it's like HH. Might be a bit boring at first but more realistic.
That's why I use classic pitching...it's a lot harder to hit your spots consistently with the bottom of the rotation guys. With the meter it's easier to nibble...resulting in less walks. Classic pitching seems to give me a nice balance with the ease of use (just pressing a button short/long depending on how effective it will be) and the ability to miss your spot often.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 6:16 pm

Yes...it's much more HH like. You can miss in all directions. So you aim down and away and it could end up in the middle. So you definitely have higher levels of "missing" when you use classic as opposed to the meter where you can pretty much nail your spots if your meter is timed correctly.

And that's some awesome quote-work Jrod...lol.