MLB 08: The Show Review - Blu-ray Forum

Steelmaker · 03-05-2008, 05:27 PM

Wow! Great in depth review Stockstar and you pretty much echo my sentiment as well on all points. This is hand down the best baseball game I've ever owned! But, like you, I see a LOT of room for improvement. I wanted to touch on a few things...

1.) The flag: I'm glad you mentioned this because it was one of the first things that caught my eye in the demo (and not in a good way). I was really hoping that it was a place holder graphic and that the final version would have more fluid flowing realistic flags. However it looks like a low rez SNES pixel created flag. True, it IS a small nitpick but it stands out like such a sore thumb up against all of the rest of the visual goodness.

2.) The crowd: You know, I guess it was just me dreaming but I had really hoped that this generation would finally usher in good looking and active 3d crowds that weren't robotic, repetitive, and lifeless. Oh well, we're either going to get this LATE in the PS3's lifetime or we'll just have to wait until next gen. I will say it has improved greatly from the cardboard cut outs of last gen but still, we have a loooong way to go! I'm with you that they need to start getting the crowds to move in and out of the stands to take concession and bathroom breaks. It also needs to show people leaving early when there's a blowout. Vendors selling stuff in the stands should be there too!

3.) Anti Aliasing: I haven't found this to be as big of a deal as you have I think. One thing to keep in mind, if you run the game at 1080p upscaled, you do get less aliasing. However the game runs at 30fps instead of 60fps. It's a buttery smooth 30fps and still very playable, but 30fps none the less. I'm like you though, I prefer 60fps at 720p.

4.) Online: So far this has been the most glaring disappointment in MLB 08: The Show. They should've had the servers ready to go at launch. There's really no excuse for this IMO. I hope they get this fixed and SOON! At this point, online gaming should NOT be treated as an afterthought and that's what this feels like with MLB 08.

Brian Cash · 03-05-2008, 05:42 PM

got this game yesterday and is awesome best baseball game so far

Tanman19az · 03-05-2008, 06:03 PM

I love this game! I'm already addicted to it! I was up all night playing the RTTS. I got pretty far! I was pissed though. I ended spring training with a .392 batting average and top leader in most the stats for my team and they sent me to AA with a lousy contract. Oh well!!

Copywriter · 03-05-2008, 06:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanman19az

I love this game! I'm already addicted to it! I was up all night playing the RTTS. I got pretty far! I was pissed though. I ended spring training with a .392 batting average and top leader in most the stats for my team and they sent me to AA with a lousy contract. Oh well!!

Think that's automatic. Same thing happened to me. I hit .347 with a handful of RBIs and stolen bases, but was sent to AA. Considering the team avg was .251 and the CF position was light in the organization, I should have been given a shot.

I haven't played a MLB game in years. This is a blast.

Copywriter · 03-05-2008, 06:04 PM

I played for 8 hours yesterday. My biggest grip with the game is RTTS mode (all I played

).

At first it's great, but once spring training is over, for me at least, it got a little unbearable. I was signed to a AA contract with the Mariners (bah, I could play on their team).

I was set to a backup role. And that's when the loading times pissed me off. Nothing is worse than waiting for the game to load, taking your one pinch hit AB, and waiting for it to load again. Rinse and repeat for 8 hours.

The games where I did start were great. So, this is one of those things where you just have to deal with it until you get a starting job.

The crowd in RTTS mode (minor league) is laughable. In one section there was maybe 6 character models repeated and doing the same thing. Looked like an NES game. I mean come on. Can't you change colors or add 4-5 random animations per character?

I also had online issues after I restarted the game. It wouldn't connect to the sports system, so gone were all the nice ticker tapes of scores and stuff. Kind of sucked.

Other than that, the game has been a blast. I'm really enjoying RTTS mode. I'll set up a franchise later next week probably. This game will more than earn my $60.

Oh, for those that don't know, think of RTTS as a "scaled down" version of the game. You're playing just your one guy from his position. So, you're not going through a full game, each pitch.

I swear I'll get out of AA soon.

My guy hit is first homer last night too, a 2-run jack.

I'd give The Show an 8.5ish. I haven't played a baseball game in ages and don't buy sports games.

Tanman19az · 03-05-2008, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

3.) Anti Aliasing: I haven't found this to be as big of a deal as you have I think. One thing to keep in mind, if you run the game at 1080p upscaled, you do get less aliasing. However the game runs at 30fps instead of 60fps. It's a buttery smooth 30fps and still very playable, but 30fps none the less. I'm like you though, I prefer 60fps at 720p.

so does it look better when you play it on 720p? How do I drop my resolution down to that?

Steelmaker · 03-05-2008, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanman19az

so does it look better when you play it on 720p? How do I drop my resolution down to that?

What resolutions does your tv support? If it supports all of them like mine(480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p) it will automatically default to 720p if you have all of them enabled within your display settings on your PS3. The only way to get it to upscale to 1080p is to un check the 720p and 1080i display options.

It looks great upscaled to 1080p and you do gain a bit more sharpness and less aliasing. However you lose a couple of things too. One thing is the framerate drops from 60fps to 30fps. It's still runs and plays great but the difference IS noticable. Players move and react with a certain speed and fluidity at 60fps that just looks better imo. You also lose the depth of field effect you get between the players and the crowd. In 720p, the game has a depth effect where your players are extremely high rez and focused and the fans in the background are unfocused and lower rez. It gives it a more "broadcast" look. In 1080p this effect is not there and both the players and the crowd seem to be running in the same resolution.

Like I said, my preference is in 720p at 60fps but both settings look and play great! It just boils down to what you prefer. I'm just glad Sony gives us the option to run it the way we want to.

Clark Kent · 03-05-2008, 10:19 PM

Great review Stockstar. How realistic are the scores you're getting? Is it easy to hit homeruns or do only legitimate power hitters hit them? How are the fielding controls? Are they basically carbon copies of last year's game?

stockstar1138 · 03-05-2008, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Great review Stockstar. How realistic are the scores you're getting? Is it easy to hit homeruns or do only legitimate power hitters hit them? How are the fielding controls? Are they basically carbon copies of last year's game?

Scores I am getting 4-6, 1-2, 3-7, around that range for offline. Today online I won 9-5, lost 10-1, and won 6-1, which is a little high, but not unrealisitc, I was playing on Vet. online too vs. HoF offline.

The homeruns depends what setting you are playing on. I have found it very difficult to hit a Home Run on HoF unless you use guess pitch and hit with power with somebody like Ortiz, Rameriz, Lowell, etc. However, it is not impossible to hit a Home-run with somebody else, just isn't going to happen more than once ever 10 games (16 home-run season isn't shabby). Today I was playing on Veteran online and I hit a homerun only using avg. swing with Yunel Escobar. Now it barely made it over the wall, but it was kind of a suprise. I would say though even on Veteran, tops I was hitting 3 homeruns a game, w/o using guess pitch and with laggy online. However, I'd expect that number to go up if i was playing offline. Offline I always play HoF for exhibitions and I would say I hit at the most 3 home-runs a game, but it is def. possible to swing for the fences and not even get one out of the ball park. Home-runs are def. at a realistic level as far as I'm concerned.

Fielding controls are not carbon copies, but very similar. When a player tries to tag a runner out, it looks more realistic. Double Plays seem more realistic to turn too, last year it was way to easy to turn one. There is less of players taking forever to throw the ball too and making should be outs into close plays. There is a new over-the-wall catch indicator, its challenging to rob a home-run, I'm 0-4 with it so far. Fielding is improved, but other than those things, its near identical.

heathward · 03-06-2008, 02:09 PM

did you guys see that G4 TV gave it a 60/100? everybody else so far rated it 85-90. what a bunch of turds. if this game was an Xbox 360 exclusive, they would have praised the hell out of it and given it a 95.

stockstar1138 · 03-06-2008, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heathward

did you guys see that G4 TV gave it a 60/100? everybody else so far rated it 85-90. what a bunch of turds. if this game was an Xbox 360 exclusive, they would have praised the hell out of it and given it a 95.

only way thats fair, is if they gave 2k8 a 4/100.

I'm guessing they docked it hard for the online.

Edit: Nope, just read the review for both 2k8 (80/100) and The Show. Could these A-clowns be any more biased? I mean if you are going to be in bed with MS at least be discrete about it.

Copywriter · 03-06-2008, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by heathward

did you guys see that G4 TV gave it a 60/100? everybody else so far rated it 85-90. what a bunch of turds. if this game was an Xbox 360 exclusive, they would have praised the hell out of it and given it a 95.

Nothing like having reviews done by a bunch of closet FPS-only players.

03-05-2008, 05:27 PM	#1
Steelmaker Blu-ray Duke Member since:Mar 2007 Location:Chattanooga, TN Blu-ray reviews:1 Trading Score:1	Wow! Great in depth review Stockstar and you pretty much echo my sentiment as well on all points. This is hand down the best baseball game I've ever owned! But, like you, I see a LOT of room for improvement. I wanted to touch on a few things... 1.) The flag: I'm glad you mentioned this because it was one of the first things that caught my eye in the demo (and not in a good way). I was really hoping that it was a place holder graphic and that the final version would have more fluid flowing realistic flags. However it looks like a low rez SNES pixel created flag. True, it IS a small nitpick but it stands out like such a sore thumb up against all of the rest of the visual goodness. 2.) The crowd: You know, I guess it was just me dreaming but I had really hoped that this generation would finally usher in good looking and active 3d crowds that weren't robotic, repetitive, and lifeless. Oh well, we're either going to get this LATE in the PS3's lifetime or we'll just have to wait until next gen. I will say it has improved greatly from the cardboard cut outs of last gen but still, we have a loooong way to go! I'm with you that they need to start getting the crowds to move in and out of the stands to take concession and bathroom breaks. It also needs to show people leaving early when there's a blowout. Vendors selling stuff in the stands should be there too! 3.) Anti Aliasing: I haven't found this to be as big of a deal as you have I think. One thing to keep in mind, if you run the game at 1080p upscaled, you do get less aliasing. However the game runs at 30fps instead of 60fps. It's a buttery smooth 30fps and still very playable, but 30fps none the less. I'm like you though, I prefer 60fps at 720p. 4.) Online: So far this has been the most glaring disappointment in MLB 08: The Show. They should've had the servers ready to go at launch. There's really no excuse for this IMO. I hope they get this fixed and SOON! At this point, online gaming should NOT be treated as an afterthought and that's what this feels like with MLB 08. Last edited by Steelmaker; 03-05-2008 at 05:50 PM.

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03-05-2008, 05:42 PM	#2
Brian Cash Special Member Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Chicago Blu-ray collection:13 Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:3	got this game yesterday and is awesome best baseball game so far

03-05-2008, 06:03 PM	#3
Tanman19az Senior Member Member since:Dec 2007 Location:Lake Forest, CA Blu-ray collection:57 Trading Score:23	I love this game! I'm already addicted to it! I was up all night playing the RTTS. I got pretty far! I was pissed though. I ended spring training with a .392 batting average and top leader in most the stats for my team and they sent me to AA with a lousy contract. Oh well!!

03-05-2008, 06:04 PM	#5
Copywriter Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Sep 2007 Location:Vegas Baby, Vegas	I played for 8 hours yesterday. My biggest grip with the game is RTTS mode (all I played ). At first it's great, but once spring training is over, for me at least, it got a little unbearable. I was signed to a AA contract with the Mariners (bah, I could play on their team). I was set to a backup role. And that's when the loading times pissed me off. Nothing is worse than waiting for the game to load, taking your one pinch hit AB, and waiting for it to load again. Rinse and repeat for 8 hours. The games where I did start were great. So, this is one of those things where you just have to deal with it until you get a starting job. The crowd in RTTS mode (minor league) is laughable. In one section there was maybe 6 character models repeated and doing the same thing. Looked like an NES game. I mean come on. Can't you change colors or add 4-5 random animations per character? I also had online issues after I restarted the game. It wouldn't connect to the sports system, so gone were all the nice ticker tapes of scores and stuff. Kind of sucked. Other than that, the game has been a blast. I'm really enjoying RTTS mode. I'll set up a franchise later next week probably. This game will more than earn my $60. Oh, for those that don't know, think of RTTS as a "scaled down" version of the game. You're playing just your one guy from his position. So, you're not going through a full game, each pitch. I swear I'll get out of AA soon. My guy hit is first homer last night too, a 2-run jack. I'd give The Show an 8.5ish. I haven't played a baseball game in ages and don't buy sports games.

03-05-2008, 10:19 PM	#8
Clark Kent Blu-ray Prince Top contributor Member since:Oct 2007 Location:Metropolis Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:184	Great review Stockstar. How realistic are the scores you're getting? Is it easy to hit homeruns or do only legitimate power hitters hit them? How are the fielding controls? Are they basically carbon copies of last year's game?

03-06-2008, 02:09 PM	#10
heathward Expert Member Member since:Apr 2007 Location:Milwaukee, WI, USA PSNetwork ID: heathward Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA Blu-ray collection:47	did you guys see that G4 TV gave it a 60/100? everybody else so far rated it 85-90. what a bunch of turds. if this game was an Xbox 360 exclusive, they would have praised the hell out of it and given it a 95.

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