MLB 2K8 conference call recap
February 22, 2008 by pastapadre
Earlier today I had the opportunity to sit in on a conference call with producer Ben Brinkman of 2K Sports’ Major League Baseball 2K8. I took notes throughout the call which went on for over an hour and have put together a summary of the more notable responses and themes.
Overall the focus this year was on adding significant depth along with the gameplay improvements. They needed to add content to a good playing game. Some of which includes the new pitching, hitting, and fielding mechanics, new batting and pitching AI, 90 playable minor league teams, and the trading card feature. The game also has a more interactive feel as opposed to last year where at times the user felt detached from the experience.
The demo is in submission now so we’ll probably see that next week or the following week. He didn’t give any specific details on what it entails except that the Red Sox are included. So from that it’s safe to assume that the opposition will be either the Rockies or the Indians.
The new pitching system is something Brinkman feels people will find intuitive once they get familiar with. They knew they needed something new in this area and using the stick for the motions feels natural and more like actually throwing. It also makes it so there is a lot more variance on where the pitch goes and you can’t just continually have pinpoint accuracy. He compared this innovation with the introduction of the pitching meter in MVP 03. There is the ability to switch back to old controls (listed as advanced vs simple) if anyone wants to although he feels most people won’t have that desire.
There is always the concern of balancing innovation and difficulty with making sure the game is accessible. He thought the first few tries at the new pitching actually turned out too difficult and they adjusted that as they went along to where it is now. He thinks it’ll take a little practice but after 5-10 minutes most people should start to get a feel for it. They also have the ability to practice your pitches and it’ll give feedback on what you’re doing and there is also a tutorial. He thinks it’s important that you get the sense you’re improving as you continue to play the game and not that you can master it right away. The new pitching mechanics seem to represent that belief.
Hit variety has been drastically improved and hitters will represent their real-life counterparts much more realistically. They knew that last year’s game was home run and single dominated so they worked a lot on fixing that. One way is that fielders don’t always take a perfect line to the ball so there should be more hits that get through the infield.
Baserunning AI has been improved so they won’t just run into outs anymore. There is a new double play system with multiple new positional specific double play animations.
When it comes to framerate the exact quote was that the game is “up around 60fps pretty consistently. We wont get down to 30, ever”. So it seems that the videos that show some choppiness especially when fielding are representative of what to expect. He didn’t sound incredibly confident about the state of the framerate.
Going into the call I didn’t really have a strong opinion of the trading card system either way. The first I heard of it my impression was it sounded gimmicky and targeted towards the really casual type gamers. However now having heard a lot of the detail on it I’m pretty excited about the feature. It has the feel of 360 achievements but with the added dimension of competition. The goal of it is to provide an incentive to continue playing the game. So the cards are earned through various events that happen in the course of playing the game as well as the difficulty setting corresponding to the tier of card received. Probably the coolest part of it is that you can take your cards and put together a team which can then be used online. You can even make your own uniforms, select a logo, and name your team. There will be trading card downloadable content with the first such instance of that coming around the release date.
Roster updates won’t come every month but he did state they had goals for putting them out around the following events: release day, opening day, All-Star break, trade deadline, second trade deadline, playoffs, and end of season. There is no 2K Share feature.
The Wii version hasn’t been promoted or previewed much if at all but we got a few details. It has most of the main modes with the exception of the trading cards, minor leagues, and online functionality (no online play or roster updates). The Wii version provides a different experience as more of a pick up and play type of game that goes for fun factor. However it still has the goal of being a sim representation of the sport. Brinkman talked about how much fun they’ve had with the game head to head and thinks the controls work well.
Brinkman feels they’re right where they had hoped to be in his “3 year plan”. The first year was setting the foundation gameplay wise and this year adding the depth while continuing to improve the gameplay. Next year they can take all those things and really flesh them out.
After listening to the call I think there is a lot to like about this game. But as I’ve stated before a lot of it really needs to be experienced to know how well they work or ultimately if they’re fun. So hopefully the demo comes sooner rather than later but regardless I’m looking forward to getting my hands on it.
hmmm so i guess there is no secret mode
Nice!!!!!!!!!!
No 2K Share is a real bummer.
the game sounds cool hopefully there wont be slider problems agine thanks for the info
Pasta, what did you mean by:
“They also have the ability to practice your pitches and it’ll give feedback on what you’re doing”
is that like a pre-game bullpen? or warming up on the mound before the start of the game? i’ve really been wanting something like this as well as pregame batting practice..
I look forward to play the demo and have a feel of the controls. I do not think that this game will be nearly as good as The Show, but some of its features are definitely interesting and a must at least to try them.
You can even make your own uniforms, select a logo, and name your team.
Yeah you can make your own team.
demo? like when? it’s snowing on the east coast i’m trapped
Beau wrote:
I believe you can pause the game and throw practice pitches with the guy you have on the mound.
Matt… what “slider problems” were in 2k7?
Darkheath wrote:
most of them you had to take all the way down or all the way up… and you could still barely notice a difference
pastapadre wrote:
thanks for the clarification Pasta
Hey pasta!!!!!!!
Do you know if they fix the thing with the crowd reactions to the game situations ?
Would they be a lot more active this year?
Because last year was very bad.
I thought the sliders worked pretty well in 2k7. They actually really sucked in MVP 2005. I dropped the CPU hitting down to -50 and power to -50 (lowest setting) and they still would hit the balls out.
My thoughts on sliders are this: the highest and lowest settings should be extreme. So if I set a “power” slider to it’s highest setting (+50 in MVP, 100 in 2k), nearly every single hit should be out of the park. If I set it to the lowest (-50/MVP, 0/2k) then players should have a hard time hitting it out of the infield. That way you’re pretty sure that every adjustment in between actually means something.
i am very intreasted in make your own team and logo sounds sick.
Man, this game sounds like it’s going be great.I can wait another week, no big deal.
I hope the team creator feature is a little more robust than Nba 2k7’s or Madden 08’s. Since this feature seems to be more important than it is in the two games I mention, I hope there are good ways to make logos.
I would give the team creator thing another year just because it not have enough options just to select a Logo, a basic uniform, and a name.
My sliders in 2K7 kept resetting, which was irritating. I like sliders but I hate having to spend a ton of time tweaking….
Keith Van Horn has an early copy of the game. He likes it a lot and plays the game everyday without his pants on.
This Card thing is really starting to catch my eye.At first I thought it might just be like madden use to have.But just the fact you have to complete tasks with the players to get there cards and you can build a team with your cards and you have a payroll that you cant go over to make it realistic.I think this feature will make this game playable for along time.
Also the pitching and hitting and fieding with the stick seperates this game and will make it enjoyable for months after the game has been released.It makes 2k its own unique game and gives you total control of each game instead of just pushing a button and letting the game decide what happens.
This scares me:
“One way is that fielders don’t always take a perfect line to the ball so there should be more hits that get through the infield.”
Did they really re-work the hitting system? Or did they just make AI fielding bad? I guess we will just have to find out. I guess we will really see in a few ways. Will home runs consistently be hit in the same part of the park.. Will Ichiro hit 60 home runs…. Im anticipating the demo…
honkimon wrote:
i know for a fact (b/c its been said numerous times by Brinkman this year) that they completely ripped out the hitting engine and and built up a new one. just an example, he said in the old system with 30fps you had about 3-4 frames where you could hit the ball and where the ball went practically all prejudged so you had very little say…. BUT this year with 60fps and the new system there is about 12-13 frames where you can hit the ball and its all based on where the ball is and where you swing…. he even said that there are different bat sounds depending on how good of contact you make and how fast the pitch was thrown
Hey Pasta, how likely do you think MLB 2k8 will be released for us PAL-users or if 2K will make it region-free(XBOX360)?
Eurothrash wrote:
Seems unlikely. They didn’t do it for 2K7. I doubt they will this year. I don’t think they see much incentive in doing so, at least thats the perception of the situation.
Hey, Pasta when do you MLB 2K8 will go Gold?And thanks for your time.
Brent wrote:
It likely already has. Generally 10-14 days from going gold is needed prior to the release date
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Hey pasta!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you know if they fix the thing with the crowd reactions to the game situations ?
Would they be a lot more active this year?
Because last year was very bad.
Please answer my cuestion.
abima wrote:
Hard to know for sure. From the small sampling of videos that are out there it doesn’t seem like it.
OK, Thanks.
Do children really overlook gameplay to play with these card gimmicks?
idk but it sounds ok if u can make your own team wit them other wise i have no intrest
Is operationSports down? Anyways yeah hopefully we’ll geta demo by weds
Will this game still have the same lighting effects with progressive shadows as 2K7 and previous years? I just haven’t seen any gameplay that has started in the afternoon. I am assuming the lighting is the same…..
OS isn’t down. They just changed up the site a little. I think they have a new address.
Check it out (stuff about the cards w/ pics):
http://www.sportsgamer.com/con.....d-preview/
I was looking at some screens for 2k8 and there was one that showed your inbox in franchise mode and one of the email titles were top 100 prospects.It looks like 2K is taking a page out of MVP baseball with the meter in fielding and the minor league teams and top 100 prospects.It looks like this game is heading in the right direction…hopefully lol.Maybe Brinkman is not lying when he says his 3 year plan is on track.
MarinerFan wrote:
huh? whats up with that
This is the best site ever. I can’t wait for the demo. woo! go demo and mlb 2k8 and pasta padre! woo!
Swag wrote:
Heres the link to the pic hes talking about,
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/.....&img=2
^^^^^ Error link is actually
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/.....amp;img=59
does the wii version hav team creator?