Initial impressions and videos from The Show’s demo
by 
The demo for MLB 08: The Show was released for the PS3 earlier today. After having gotten to play through it a few times I’m already confident in saying that this has the potential to be the best baseball game to date. That comes from someone who still looks back at MVP 05 as still holding that title.
The demo features the Colorado Rockies @ Boston Red Sox with Jeff Francis and Josh Beckett on the mound. It loads into the start of the game bypassing the main menu. Go to the pause menu to change the team being controlled. By scrolling to the right in the pause menu it is possible to change all sorts of options including difficulty, pitching interface, indicators and displays, pitching/batting/fielding views, and gameplay sliders.
I’ve added some quick thoughts along with videos from a full play through broken down by inning. Check out the broken bat near the end of the 2nd and the double play turned just prior to that.
- The graphics look great, an obvious improvement over 07 and given what had been shown from the game so far that doesn’t come as a surprise.
- The game just feels really good both in terms of pacing and flow with no framerate issues encountered.
- Noticed the variable umps. You’ll see in the videos how I wasn’t getting the calls on the outside.
- It seemed much tougher to pinpoint pitches which is a good thing.
- Good amount and variety of foul balls.
- Some great stat overlays. When Matt Holiday first came up it showed the top hitters by average in day games.
- Had a couple mishandled grounders by fielders which keeps me on my toes.
- The guess pitch now raises on the hitter’s side of the screen and shows the pitches and corresponding buttons.
- David Ortiz showed some emotion in the dugout after the game ended. Great touch.
MLB 08: The Show demo 1st inning from pastapadre on Vimeo.
February 14, 2008 at 6:50 pm
sweet im down loading the deme right now!
February 14, 2008 at 7:03 pm
i loved the demo. Pasta you should get in the SG league we’re trying to start up man. should be fun.
February 14, 2008 at 7:09 pm
this looks like the greatist baseball game
February 14, 2008 at 7:10 pm
[quote comment="13420"]i loved the demo. Pasta you should get in the SG league we’re trying to start up man. should be fun.[/quote]
Yeah I’m interested, just want to see how the online shapes up this year. I didn’t realize things could be worse than some of the EA games performance wise online until I tried The Show and read up on all the problems it had there for 07.
February 14, 2008 at 7:55 pm
It looks like the throwing motions are in slo-mo 4 pitchers. I thought it was Wakefield on the rubber there…
February 14, 2008 at 8:06 pm
The demo plays as great as it looks. I thought MVP 05 lost its crown last year to The Show and PYS4, but this is without question the greatest baseball game ever made – and we’re still just on the demo stage.
February 14, 2008 at 8:07 pm
wow they really suck at signature motions and stances. Todd Helton for example, not even close. Same with Beckett’s motiom. Pedrioa doesn’t have a sig stance like in 2k. Yooks stance is respectable but they could do better. Ortiz’s stance is way off compared to 2k who has it perfectly. Manny’s stance is so off its unbelievable, it hasnt changed since like the mlb 05, same with Mike Lowell and JD Drew AND Jason Varitek AND Julio Lugo. graphics look very good though. Yet the players always look to small for the field. All of the animations are nice and the graphics great but my gripe with the show all these years has been theyve done a terrible job with signature windups and stances. for the most part it really takes away from the realism and it ends up feeling really generic. And there has been nothing 2K has done better so far than make it look like you are actually watching real players.
February 14, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Ill take better everything of 2K’s signature crap.
February 14, 2008 at 9:00 pm
game is sick
February 14, 2008 at 10:15 pm
The coolest thing for me that I saw in the 5 minutes I played the game was when Josh Beckett took his ball cap off and then put it back on. No other baseball game has done anything like that. It was a minor detail but was very cool to see.
February 14, 2008 at 10:20 pm
hey.. i just played the demo a few times, the first time i played it everything was going along smoothly until my brother got a few base runners. he had manny on second and another player on first, he simply tried to return the players to their bases, and manny returned all the way to first base. im not sure why it happened, if anyone can clear that up for me that would be awesome. game looks pretty good so far though. i was disappointed with the replays of players getting hit in head by the pitch though. it changes the placement of the ball to the shoulder, probably just to avoid people like me from getting alot of laughs from seeing a cg player getting hit in the head many times. overall it seems to be enjoyable, i just have to learn the game better because ive never played the show
also pasta is this demo version the final build?
February 14, 2008 at 10:24 pm
[quote comment="13433"]hey.. i just played the demo a few times, the first time i played it everything was going along smoothly until my brother got a few base runners. he had manny on second and another player on first, he simply tried to return the players to their bases, and manny returned all the way to first base. im not sure why it happened, if anyone can clear that up for me that would be awesome. game looks pretty good so far though. i was disappointed with the replays of players getting hit in head by the pitch though. it changes the placement of the ball to the shoulder, probably just to avoid people like me from getting alot of laughs from seeing a cg player getting hit in the head many times. overall it seems to be enjoyable, i just have to learn the game better because ive never played the show
also pasta is this demo version the final build?[/quote]
using this as an edit kind of.. also i wanted to add that after manny returned to first he simply stood next to the other player and then my brother did a double steal, the one player went to second just fine but manny ran straight across the pitchers mound all the way to third. it was one of the funniest things ive ever seen from a video game. i hope this isnt a major problem.
February 14, 2008 at 11:31 pm
[quote comment="13433"]
also pasta is this demo version the final build?[/quote]
demos are generally at least a few weeks behind whatever the current build is considering how they have to be put together and then sent through the certification process. There should be some improvements seen in the final build vs the demo, but this will be pretty representative of what to expect.
February 15, 2008 at 5:02 am
Most realistic game of baseball to date. I really miss the swing stick though. Button pushing is lame.
February 15, 2008 at 7:45 am
Wow I just played a 9 inning game with Beckett Throwing 126 pitches, and I had 11 k’s and there was a cutscene that showed 11 K ’s on the wall. (SICK!!!) Only weird thing was no fans were in the seats where the K’s were.
Also I ended the game with a Walkoff HR by Varitek. The crowd was going nuts. Also he was jumping up and down putting his hands up in the air. The whole team came to home plate and smothered him.
Best reaction in a sports game ever IMO.
February 15, 2008 at 7:48 am
Guys-
Is there a behind the pitcher view when pitching like in 2k this year? Can it be set to default?
February 15, 2008 at 8:01 am
[quote comment="13469"]Guys-
Is there a behind the pitcher view when pitching like in 2k this year? Can it be set to default?[/quote]
Yeah its one of the options. I’ll record a game from that view today. I didn’t know they had so many options available until after I had played this one.
February 15, 2008 at 8:25 am
Wow!! looks good!
February 15, 2008 at 8:42 am
These videos dont capture The Shows real beauty
[quote comment="13472"]Wow!! looks good![/quote]
February 15, 2008 at 9:22 am
hey pasta could you be any other pitchers besides the staff aces
February 15, 2008 at 9:43 am
Any videos from the Pitchers back?
February 15, 2008 at 9:55 am
[quote comment="13480"]Any videos from the Pitchers back?[/quote]
coming later today…
[quote comment="13478"]hey pasta could you be any other pitchers besides the staff aces[/quote]
can’t change pitchers
February 15, 2008 at 10:50 am
I really do not understand how this game can not implement player tendencies/routines like the sign style in 2k. Game looks good- but really generic. I feel like I am watching RBI basball on my Genesis.
February 15, 2008 at 11:40 am
I am getting both after I convince my wife to let me buy another PS3 (traded my first in back in May).
2K on the 360 and The Show on the PS3…..My life is over….
February 15, 2008 at 11:41 am
Are the scoreboards real-time and is the hand-operated scoreboard functional and accurate?
February 15, 2008 at 11:51 am
[quote comment="13483"]I really do not understand how this game can not implement player tendencies/routines like the sign style in 2k. Game looks good- but really generic. I feel like I am watching RBI basball on my Genesis.[/quote]
If 2K or The Show would blend their games together we would have a perfect baseball game.
Things I like about The Show are:
-Smooth gameplay
-better ball physics
-faster looking pitch speeds
-great day-time lighting(although they need progressive shadows).
-better looking jerseys
Don’t like about The Show:
-stubby looking players (arms and legs are too short)
-pitchers don’t follow-through when they pitch; they short arm everything as do the fielders
-no progressive shadows
Things I like about MLB 2K8
-signature style
-player models are more proportionate
-progressive shadows
Don’t like about MLB 2K8
-terrible bat-on-ball sounds
-ball physics need work
-jerseys don’t look very good; bland textures in jerseys, too much of a “bubbly” look when the wind is blowing
-animations could be much smoother; everything just looks akward when the players first step in the box and do their practice swings….
In conclusion, if the show would have signature style like 2K I would definitely consider picking up a ps3…. but until then, I will stick with my 360…..
February 15, 2008 at 11:52 am
will the game have a swing stick?
February 15, 2008 at 3:01 pm
dude i love u and this game cant wait and i have a question is joba chamberline in it cause i love that dude
February 16, 2008 at 2:37 pm
So I just got done playing about the fifth game of the demo. I was a little upset because I used the Red Sox every time and didn’t hit a single home run. Then in the bottom of the third with 2 outs Big Papi came up and hit a shot to win the game. The celebration afterwords was awesome. I have never seen a baseball game do that before. I wonder what it’s like when you win the world series. I hope it’s not like the typical 30 second BS celebration.
February 16, 2008 at 8:48 pm
All the players look the same
All all the same size
February 16, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Um…. I’m pretty sure that Big Papi looks a bit larger then say… The Rockies center fielder Willie Tavares. Ortiz could be a little larger and I understand what your saying but they still did a good job. It’s not like there are just two or three body types.
February 20, 2008 at 11:18 am
This game was desinged for High Def and 16X9. These videos do not do it justice.
Drew chasing a ball in right looks just like a real game.
Ellsbury look exactly like he does in real life and his batting stance is dead on.
The graphics are amazing the players do not look stubby in fact they look real to life. Pedroia is short in the game just like in real life.
February 23, 2008 at 11:08 am
I played this demo… The game is going to be sick. The graphics have gotten better if that was possible. You should have a look at Manny’s pine tar helmet if that gives you any idea… The gameplay is solid as always and some of the new innovations with RTTS is going to make things very interesting… You now have to pay attention to the signs that the third base coach gives when you’re at bat and on the basepaths as well as signs on defense… I can not wait for March 4th to get here…