Upcoming MLB 2K8 conference call
by 
I will be sitting in on a conference call for MLB 2K8 taking place with producer Ben Brinkman on Friday. Considering the relative lack of media on the title so far this should be a good opportunity to get some more insight into the game. With the anticipation and speculation surrounding when the demo will arrive I’m certain that will be a topic that is addressed.
I submitted a couple questions and there should be a large pool of them drawn from and responded to considering the amount of time being set aside. Check back for a full recap of the call to be posted Friday evening (here).
February 18, 2008 at 6:02 pm
Can you ask about information regarding online leagues and whether fatigue carries over from game to game in them?
Can you ask him about the walks and throwing strikes difficulty. It has been my curse of bb gaming for as long as I can remember.
Thanks,
Chad
February 18, 2008 at 6:20 pm
I’m excited to see what he has to say. They have been quite secretive about the game and that seems a bit sketchy. At first I thought they were going hiding everything and then hype up and advertise this game full out starting at least a month before the release date. Still, nothing too exciting has surfaced. I am just hoping they don’t have anything to hide.
February 18, 2008 at 6:24 pm
[quote comment="13717"]I’m excited to see what he has to say. They have been quite secretive about the game and that seems a bit sketchy. At first I thought they were going hiding everything and then hype up and advertise this game full out starting at least a month before the release date. Still, nothing too exciting has surfaced. I am just hoping they don’t have anything to hide.[/quote]
While I agree there is some reason for concern because of that, I think a big part of it may be due to just what was done with the game this year. The new controls are something that need to be experienced rather than just read about, and they aren’t something that can be demonstrated in gameplay videos.
Thats why a demo is so important and not having that prior to release (at this point seems more likely than not that it’ll be out release week or after) is troubling.
February 18, 2008 at 6:37 pm
This is from The Show but you have to watch it. It’s too damn funny.
http://www.vimeo.com/704807
February 18, 2008 at 6:55 pm
HOW ABOUT A SUPERSTAR MODE??????? CREATE A PLAYER GET HIM DRAFT OR PLAY AS A ROOKIE IN YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS FARM thank you go cubs
February 18, 2008 at 7:24 pm
[quote comment="13721"]HOW ABOUT A SUPERSTAR MODE??????? CREATE A PLAYER GET HIM DRAFT OR PLAY AS A ROOKIE IN YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS FARM thank you go cubs[/quote]
YES! find out if that’s the secret game mode pasta
February 18, 2008 at 7:48 pm
I really hope Brinkman wasn’t pigeonholed into his 3 year plan of making mlb 2k better each year. SO far from the looks of it it seems 2k8 has been badly handled by something/someone SOMEWHERE within the development cycle of the game. very sad stuff… very doubtful of the tilte being any better than 2k7 when NO media has been shown other than bits and pieces and poor examples of what the game plays and looks like.
February 18, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Pasta, this would be a great chance to ask the smart questions. We know you know all the good things to ask. The other interviews has some rather bad questions asked. I think theyll tell us about the new game mode soon.
Id love to know alot about the franchise mode. Like if you can have the automatic first pick in a draft. More people care about that than they think.
Stadium renovations is another thing id love to hear about. (If they put lights in Miller Park) Last year they had a really lame scoreboard, and the colors were COMPLETLY off. I have faith that they fixed this though.
Thanks pasta,
CHAD F
February 18, 2008 at 7:53 pm
[quote comment="13727"]I really hope Brinkman wasn’t pigeonholed into his 3 year plan of making mlb 2k better each year. SO far from the looks of it it seems 2k8 has been badly handled by something/someone SOMEWHERE within the development cycle of the game. very sad stuff… very doubtful of the tilte being any better than 2k7 when NO media has been shown other than bits and pieces and poor examples of what the game plays and looks like.[/quote]
Actually one of the questions I sent in was in regards to the three year plan. Whether with 2K8 complete there are to where he had hoped to be at this point in time when he started with the series.
February 18, 2008 at 7:58 pm
I bet I could market this game and outsell an competitor, and do it for free. And I don’t mean that in a high minded way.
February 18, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Ask them about how many people can participate in franchise mode. I know last year was like 4 or something like that,and when you have a bunch of guys wanting to start a league it sucks having to partner up.
February 18, 2008 at 8:57 pm
Ask him if they plan on making 2k8 look like the show this year. Next year I hope it will look like the show. The lighting is amazing. I can’t get over how good the graphics are on the show. The cut scenes are amazing and it is what a true next gen game should be.
February 18, 2008 at 9:13 pm
can you ask if the minor league stadiums are going to be authentic
February 18, 2008 at 9:41 pm
please ask what kind of downloadable content they have in store for us throughout the season. more minor league stadiums? how many roster updates? Jerseys? Old time players, teams, stadiums?
thanks pasta.
February 18, 2008 at 9:51 pm
[quote comment="13731"][quote comment="13727"]I really hope Brinkman wasn’t pigeonholed into his 3 year plan of making mlb 2k better each year. SO far from the looks of it it seems 2k8 has been badly handled by something/someone SOMEWHERE within the development cycle of the game. very sad stuff… very doubtful of the tilte being any better than 2k7 when NO media has been shown other than bits and pieces and poor examples of what the game plays and looks like.[/quote]
Actually one of the questions I sent in was in regards to the three year plan. Whether with 2K8 complete there are to where he had hoped to be at this point in time when he started with the series.[/quote]
Yeah, thats what i kinda wanted to know as well. Being civil i thought about it. i can be angry people can be angry about”no demo” “no media” etc, but to behonest you have to say from the planned perspective that Brinkman was approaching is everything STILL going according to plan. i seriously hope so.
February 18, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Well, I just hope it’s better than last year atleast playable.I don’t understand why they don’t have enough media like they supposed to have by now.Like you can listen to the music on the MLB 2K8’s homepage on 2Ksports website.It’s just seems weird to me.Look APF 2K8 they were advertising that game
on TV, at Gamestop and other websites.Come on, Pasta, ask Brinkman we need more info than you’re giving us.Atleast one thing I don’t have to worry about is I sold a couple of games that I had to my friend and pre-ordered it at gamestop.when it’s released it’ll be ready for pick-up.
February 18, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Guys I can appreciate you all have questions you’d like to be answered. Unfortunately in this setting I was only able to send in a couple and I’ve already done so. I’ll be writing up a summary of all the questions that are posed and the responses given. Hopefully the ones that come in from other media sources will cover a lot of what you’re wondering. I think last time there was an opportunity to ask a few questions near the end as time permitted so I may be able to get another in but I can’t say for sure.
February 18, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Thanks Pasta. Keep doing what your doing with this site because its amazing. I think you need a sports ticker on the top of the page though
.
February 19, 2008 at 12:57 am
Could you please ask the following weather and minor league related questions? (as I haven’t seen them touched on during any previews to date)
Has the raining inside domes been fixed?
Will the retractable roofs work during games as in MLB Power Pros?
Will there be a wind indicator during games? Will wind be in play in Franchise Games (unlike last year)?
Will weather be dynamic during the game – game starts in sunshine then clouds move in, with a possibility of rain – starting and stopping rain
Has the end of season freezing bug been fixed?
Minor leagues affecting rosters-
Will we be able to use minor league players in the majors after Sept 1st in Franchise?
Have you implemented some sort of waiver system so one can’t move players up and down at will?
February 19, 2008 at 6:46 am
Ok, Pasta thanks for doing what you can and hopefully we’ll get some answers.I love this site it’s so informative.We’ll see what happens.
February 19, 2008 at 8:58 am
I LOL at Brinkamn saying that the “card system” is his favorite or his most excited feature he’s amped about. THAT’S a publisher talking NOT a “game” producer…I’m worried i’m honestly worried…
February 19, 2008 at 9:42 am
Get a grip! :O)
February 19, 2008 at 11:37 am
adam… those are great questions… but 2 posts above yours, Pasta just said he can’t add any questions.
February 19, 2008 at 12:05 pm
DarkHeath, sorry didnt notice. I did submit them to other websites too, so hopefully someone will ask.
February 19, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Look at the screen shot used for this article. If that is Ken Griffey, then I am Ben Ogilvie.
February 19, 2008 at 1:47 pm
I hope so too, adam. As I said… really good questions. Especially this:
Has the end of season freezing bug been fixed?
It was inexcusable that they didn’t take care of that last year. I managed to get past it, but I know a lot of people didn’t.
February 19, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I hope you emailed a question about the ratings in mlb2k8. They are almost identical to mlb 2k7s ratings. In my opinion they are completly off, in every way.
February 20, 2008 at 9:45 am
Please ask Mr. Brinkman if Cooperstown Legends will be available in Franchise? The last several years they were hidden in Exibition…
February 21, 2008 at 11:19 pm
really can’t wait to see him talk about this game again. i fear that something broke it again this year last minute…
February 22, 2008 at 5:46 am
[quote comment="13992"]really can’t wait to see him talk about this game again. i fear that something broke it again this year last minute…[/quote]
Ha, well they wouldn’t admit anything like that prerelease anyway.
The whole thing is perplexing. That they’ve let a couple crappy quality videos be the selling point for their game. The rest has just been talk. Thing is that the new controls are what is going to make or break it this year overall and those really have to be expierienced. Thats why the demo was so critical, and potentially not having it out prior to release so concerning. Who knows maybe it’ll exceed expectations, but they haven’t instilled much confidence to those who have this as the only sim baseball option.
February 22, 2008 at 10:02 am
I contacted Microsoft on Wednesday evening and they said that they HAVE IN FACT received the demo for MLB 2k8—HOWEVER it will take 6-8 days for the demo to be approved and uploaded onto the Microsoft Market Place…
the demo was received early Tuesday……so we can hope to get it between Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday next week.
February 23, 2008 at 9:01 am
Hey Pasta, When do you think MLB 2K8 will go Gold? And thanks for your time.