Sweeeep the leg, JOHNNY! The MLB 08: The Show uberthread

[Devil]

OK - With work, sickness and a ton of other lame-ass excuses, I haven't been able to check in nearly as much as I's like, BUT...

Nice work, Ron. Gives us a good sense of just how much things are moving further in the right direction.

And

I will download, or buy, some Celine (God I hate her) for the league, if only for the joy it will bring to hear her belting out some very crappy song as Vlad launches one off Oswalt or Lackey mows down Tejada.

EYE-EN!

[TheMissingLink]

Demo for PS3 & PSP THIS THURSDAY!

[Lockdown]

Demo for PS3 & PSP THIS THURSDAY!

YES !!!!

[depward]

Holy shit, awesome!

[Dimmona]

I purchased a PS3 just for this game.... I cannot wait....

[Xmann]

i'm definitely preordering this bad boy......freakin pumped!!

anyone know of any good preorder deals yet?

[Canuck]

I'm not that big of a baseball fan but I'm looking forward to playing the demo.  It's Thursday in Japan already-can I download it?

[Lockdown]

If any of you guys get this demo early, do you mind posting some quick thoughts. 

I'm at work, and then after I'm out all night with my brother; but I'd love to hear some early thoughts.

[depward]

If any of you guys get this demo early, do you mind posting some quick thoughts. 

I'm at work, and then after I'm out all night with my brother; but I'd love to hear some early thoughts.

I have my PSP ready to hop on the PS Store when it's updated to start downloading.  Though, since it's Valentine's Day and my fiancee told me, "No gaming / TV time", yeaaaah may have to wait til tomorrow   

[lildrgn]

If any of you guys get this demo early, do you mind posting some quick thoughts. 

I'm at work, and then after I'm out all night with my brother; but I'd love to hear some early thoughts.

Sounds romantic.

[WinoMcCougarstein]

It's not up yet. 

[TheMissingLink]

Firstly, it's still The Show.  There hasn't been any drastic overhauls of the engine, we see some of the same cutscenes featured in last years game (although they did some cool effect where they dampen the crowd, focus on the sound effects, and bring them back in very subtly as the highlight ends), you'll hear some of the same commentary (in which some sounds mono...The Show has never had that problem, I say they limited it for the demo) and I'm still not digging how they handle the clumps of dirt.

The animations this year are incredible.  Last year featured some awesome stuff, but man, this year, we're seeing players react to balls that are short-hopping to them in the outfield, first-base coaches ducking for their lives, and, as always, the game handles diving real well.

But the graphics are obviously where you'll see the biggest upgrade.  And what a little lighting can do!  Honestly, look a little past your tv, maybe into another room, and you will see a game that looks real.  From the crowd (and how awesome is it that they all go up for foul balls and stuff?) noise, to how smooth the game runs and plays....

Per usual, I dig playing The Show with the whole guess pitch stuff off.  And classic baserunning on.  I'm glad they kept classic baserunning.

The rumble is hawt as well.  You'll get a little the further you put your ball away from the strike zone (pre-pitch), and it'll rumble if you're the batter and in a stressful situation, or the pitcher

[TheMissingLink]

Oh, and the opposing pitcher is absolutely brutal on All-Star.  BRUUUTAL.  If you start swinging at junk outside of the strike zone, he'll keep throwing you crap until you can hold off ;D

[Devil]

Oh, and the opposing pitcher is absolutely brutal on All-Star.  BRUUUTAL.  If you start swinging at junk outside of the strike zone, he'll keep throwing you crap until you can hold off

Bad news for me!! 

[Lockdown]

Hahahaha!  I foresee many a Vlad strikeout in your future, Devil.  (For those who don't know, Devil swings at everything, and I mean everything!)

I ended up getting a chance to play very late.  I echo TML's thoughts 100%.  I'll add a few things as well. 

First, the new guess pitch is leaps and bounds better than the old one.  I don't play guess pitch type, but I do like the pitch location part.  In 08', they improved it so it does NOT show you if the ball will be in or out of the strikezone anymore.  It simply gives you a tiny indicator if you guessed the general correct zone the ball will be thrown to.  I like this much, much better.  (of course, it makes batting a tad more difficult, as you don't get freebie calls).

I played an extended-inning game (I think 5 innings before Ortiz hit one out) that showed off a few things.  First, the foul balls hit have been increased, which greatly helps pitch counts get to where they need to be.  Second, the computer was fouling off all my cheap stuff and waiting for a ball they could really hit.  I can't tell you how important something small like that is to me.  Love that.  Third, the new pitcher/batter interface analysis tool is done really well.  There are numerous ways to sort the data in order to see different types of tendencies.  Way, way too many to even try to talk about here.  It's very impressive without being overwhelming.

I also am very happy they included classic baserunning as I find it very intuitive, whereas the new style just confuses the heck out of me.  They have also added some new sliders that I am extremely stoked about  (although to give SCEA it's due - let me say very little will probably need to be adjusted at all).  But two new ones specifically come to mind.  First is a slider for foul balls hit.  If you are having trouble getting pitch counts up for some reason, this could be your ticket.  I understand why all baseball games leave foul balls unrealistically low - it can get boring in an arcade baseball game.  But for those who actually like the realism, this is a great slider.  The second really cool slider has to do with hit-zone timing.  I'm going to guess that if a player wants more precise control over the difficulty of the game from a batting standpoint, he could adjust this slider to either make things more difficult or easier, depending on his desires.  Just a very cool idea.

Now I have to go find me some rumble ps3 controllers - as the game is due out in like 3 weeks or less I think.   

[Canuck]

I think I can hook anybody up with rumble controllers if they want-I'm not sure if they'll be out in the US before this game hits.

[The_Man]

I think I can hook anybody up with rumble controllers if they want-I'm not sure if they'll be out in the US before this game hits.

so how can you hook me up?

[gellar]

Yeah what's the best way to get a rumble controller?  I've recently decided I must have one asap.

gellar

[KePoW]

I ordered mine from play-asia.com for 55 bucks

very slow shipping (if you choose the cheapest option), but I love my rumble DualShock 3 now!

[Canuck]

I've gotten controllers for Xmann, Destructor and Kevin Grey.  $60 shipped.  Regular mail takes about a week-not sure how long it took you, KePow.  Of course I haven't checked the stores lately-last time they were completely sold out but that's when they were first released and that was more than a couple of months ago.
Send me a PM if you're interested.

[Canuck]

I think I can hook anybody up with rumble controllers if they want-I'm not sure if they'll be out in the US before this game hits.

so how can you hook me up?

I live in Japan-you might not know that because Darkstar One stole my avatar  (That's why Maruko-chan and I are so angry).

[gellar]

Cool - PM sent.

gellar

[KePoW]

I've gotten controllers for Xmann, Destructor and Kevin Grey.  $60 shipped.  Regular mail takes about a week-not sure how long it took you, KePow

took about a week and a half...10 shipping days

[Devil]

Played the demo and it's all the things I've come to expect. It was great and now it looks pretty damn amazing too. Hit variety is always great. I'm even OK with the stupid throwing meter.

Nuckster - I might hit you up for one of those controllers. Do they make white ones? Thanks!

[WinoMcCougarstein]

Nice looking and fun to play.  For a baseball game    I love the pitching meter and the batting is fun even if I swing at everything!  My favorite thing that I have noticed so far is how the crowd reacts to foul balls by trying to catch them... awesome!

[Canuck]

Played the demo and it's all the things I've come to expect. It was great and now it looks pretty damn amazing too. Hit variety is always great. I'm even OK with the stupid throwing meter.

Nuckster - I might hit you up for one of those controllers. Do they make white ones? Thanks!

Yes

[Kevin Grey]

I've gotten controllers for Xmann, Destructor and Kevin Grey.  $60 shipped.  Regular mail takes about a week-not sure how long it took you, KePow.  Of course I haven't checked the stores lately-last time they were completely sold out but that's when they were first released and that was more than a couple of months ago.
Send me a PM if you're interested.

I'll totally vouch for Canuck on this.  Great transaction and I had the DualShock 3 in about a week. 

[The_Man]

Canuck,
             I sent you a PM about one of the Dual Shock 3s.

[Xmann]

yep, got me a white one a few weeks back.   pm sent, i'd be in for a silver if you can find one.

[Dimmona]

Nice looking and fun to play.  For a baseball game    I love the pitching meter and the batting is fun even if I swing at everything!  My favorite thing that I have noticed so far is how the crowd reacts to foul balls by trying to catch them... awesome!

I loved the occasional beach ball that would bounce around the crowd as well - all the little details like that are adding up to make one helluva game!  Just release it already!

[Lockdown]

I have played many, many more "mini-games" over the past 2 days.  Unless something goes seriously wrong, I can't imagine this game not getting some pretty kick-ass review scores.  From numerous gameplay standpoints, it is crazy good. 

If I read any more "almost as good as MVP '05 or High Heat 03/04" comments on these various websites and forums I go to, I'm just going to start laughing at people.     

[TheMissingLink]

Yeah, I really love it....I've seen some great hit variance.  Haven't managed to smack a tater yet :/

HOWEVER, guys, the PSP version this year is amazing, as well.  It is leaps and bounds above MLB 07, I don't know how they did it.  Give the PSP demo a whirl if you've got the chance.

[Lockdown]

Thanks.  I have to tell my brother about the psp demo, as he LOVED '07 on the psp.

Someone on Youtube did a comparison video between The Show '08 and 2ksports MLB 2k8.  (both early builds of the game obviously)

Since I think we have some people at GT that might still prefer 2k's game, here is a chance to see them sorta' together.  The video quality is pretty average, but you can at least get to see pitching, batting, animations, etc...

I like when people take the time to do things like this.  If you have any interest in watching it:  LINK

Note to Devil:  It looks like 2kSports got some Street Fighter II in their game this year with those crazy right thumbstick pitching motions.  I'm curious what your thoughts are on that.   

[Calvin]

Good game. Will likely buy and I don't even particularly care for baseball.

[WinoMcCougarstein]

I have played many, many more "mini-games" over the past 2 days.  Unless something goes seriously wrong, I can't imagine this game not getting some pretty kick-ass review scores.  From numerous gameplay standpoints, it is crazy good. 

If I read any more "almost as good as MVP '05 or High Heat 03/04" comments on these various websites and forums I go to, I'm just going to start laughing at people.     

MVP '05 is my favorite baseball game of all time and this feels very close to if not better than that.  I'm pretty impressed by it, but I still can't see myself purchasing it due to the fact that I can't sit through 9 innings.  Didn't someone mention a save feature though?

[pingwrx]

I have played many, many more "mini-games" over the past 2 days.  Unless something goes seriously wrong, I can't imagine this game not getting some pretty kick-ass review scores.  From numerous gameplay standpoints, it is crazy good. 

If I read any more "almost as good as MVP '05 or High Heat 03/04" comments on these various websites and forums I go to, I'm just going to start laughing at people.     

MVP '05 is my favorite baseball game of all time and this feels very close to if not better than that.  I'm pretty impressed by it, but I still can't see myself purchasing it due to the fact that I can't sit through 9 innings.  Didn't someone mention a save feature though?

Saw it somwhere there are mid game saves now.

[StitchJones]

Just got my PS3 and with no games purchased, this was the first thing i downloaded.  Excellent demo.  I know for sure now that I'm getting this game.  One question, does it have all the minor league affiliates too?

[gellar]

Just got my PS3 and with no games purchased, this was the first thing i downloaded.  Excellent demo.  I know for sure now that I'm getting this game.  One question, does it have all the minor league affiliates too?

Yep.

gellar

[Scraper]

2007 had all the minor league affiliations along with their stadiums and you could even play their season, so I can't imagine 2008 won't have the same feature.

[denoginizer]

I played the demo this morning.  There are so many little things that this game does right.  The way the middle infielders creep when the pitch is being made.  The way the pitcher turns toward the infield ready to throw after covering on a ground ball to first.  The amazing variety of foul balls.  I could go on and on.  It is clear that these developers know and love baseball.  I am so close to buying it.  I just know I would never play enough to justify it.