A pair of realistic games dedicated to America’s Pastime.
MLB 08 The ShowSCEA; PS3
Major League Baseball 2K82K Sports; Xbox 360, PS3
Spring is upon us, and with it come the latest versions of two baseball games: Sony’s
MLB 08 The Show and 2K’s
Major League Baseball 2K8. While these rival titles are very similar on the surface—both feature the same real-life teams and stadiums—they have decidedly different takes on America’s Pastime.
In terms of game play,
MLB 2K8 hits a solid triple, thanks to some improvements on last year’s edition, which made it far too easy to hit massive home runs and make miraculous catches. With a new push toward realism, both hitting and pitching are now controlled completely with the analog sticks; for example, curveballs require rotating the right stick around. The PS3-exclusive
The Show ups the realism factor, as well: The game’s computerized catchers use a database of actual MLB stats to call pitches—advice you, as the pitcher, can take or ignore. Practice also pays off; you get better at throwing specific pitches the more you use them.
The Show bests
MLB 2K8 in terms of animation and camera angles, while
MLB 2K8 triumphs when it comes to naturalistic controls and the nerd factor (you collect virtual baseball cards by completing in-game challenges). With both games, realism is at a premium—so much so, you half expect an embarrassing steroid scandal to break at any minute.