My MLB2K8 Review for MLB.com

Hey everyone…in between my time spent watching the Cubs and blogging about them I had the opportunity to pretend I was them.  And I suppose Lou Piniella too, for that matter, considering I was in charge of lineups, arguing with umpires, etc. 

Here is my review of MLB2K8 on Xbox 360.  I thought it would be cool to get the MLB.com by-line and a great chance to receive a free copy of the game.  It’s definitely one I recommend highly.  Here is the article, complete with reviews from Steve Dempsey and Paul Festa for the Wii and Playstation 3 respectively. 

If you don’t want to leave the site, you can read my Xbox review right here:

Bloggers take a swing at MLB 2K8

MLBlogger takes new video game for test drive

By Ryan Maloney / Special to MLB.com

A new Major League Baseball season also means a new beginning for video
gamers everywhere. Put down your Assassin’s Creed, your Halo2 and, yes,
even your Guitar Hero 3. The MLB 2K8 game from 2K Sports has just
arrived at the MLB.com Shop, and to help capture the diverse experience
we turned to three members of the MLBlogs community who reviewed the
game over the Nintendo Wii, PLAYSTATION3 and Xbox 360 systems.

Xbox 360: Celebrating baseball in its purest form When it comes to playing MLB 2K8 on Xbox 360, all the Denis Leary voiceover in the world could not do this game justice. MLB 2K8 on Xbox gives you a thrilling gaming experience without losing the integrity and authenticity of America’s favorite pastime. The new pitching feature shows what a true art form pitching is while rewarding for strategy and perfect pitch placement. It pushes you to improve when you fail in those categories and are repeatedly taken deep by Major League-caliber hitters who couldn’t care less if your last pitch got away from you. As with a real game, your success on the mound greatly determines your final outcome. Hitting with the new Swing Stick 2.0 is awesome. Now there is an amazing amount of control over what you do at the plate, whether you are looking for a particular pitch or executing the timing of your step/swing to put the ball into play. It makes for a fluid batting experience and I was psyched when I finally went yard with the updated format (home run courtesy of Alfonso Soriano). The first stadiums I played in were the four I have visited: Fenway Park, Shea Stadium, Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium. The ballpark simulations are truly impressive. I practically felt Manny being Manny at Fenway. The only thing missing at Shea was the Citi Field construction noise. I am pretty sure I saw Lou Piniella reading “Fluent Japanese in 10 Days” at Wrigley and I essentially felt the ghosts of Yankees past in The Bronx. Basically, what some people do on a cross-country trip you can do in your home with MLB 2K8 on Xbox 360. Experiencing the graphics and sounds of each park is like sending yourself on a tour of every Major League stadium in North America. The biggest surprise for me was the stadium PA announcer audio. Even without a surround sound system, it sounds like his voice is echoing throughout the stadium. Overall, I found MLB 2K8 to be a fun and refreshing simulation of what it must be like to play in the Major Leagues. It celebrates the sport and presents it in its purest form; check out the list of current Major League records and tell me if you notice anything missing. I highly recommend every baseball fan with a gaming system to pick up MLB 2K8. It is everything you love about the sport wrapped into one exciting video game. — Ryan Maloney As for tonight’s game, another huge 3 game series against our division rivals the Milwaukee Brewers kicking off.  Jason Marquis on the mound tonight at Wrigley…let’s extend this lead on the Central, shall we?  Go Cubs Go!