The Show

I picked up MLB 08: The Show yesterday and was able to put in some time with it. First of all, the game is gorgeous. Players look like their real-life counterparts and the stadiums are amazing. It's really something to behold. The gameplay is very good as well. I have seen all manner of hits and faced ace pitchers and journeymen with realistic results. The pitching and batting interfaces are largely unchanged from last year's model, and that's fine. The game plays a realistic and fun game of baseball and that's the best you can hope for. I have yet to see any statistical bugs which are said to be a bit of a problem. I am sure they are there, but they must not be too commonplace.

I started a Road To The Show career, where you begin as a young player in the minors and work your way up. It is a blast, but I do have some complaints. First off, I can be the second highest rated player at my position in my organization, have some terrific stats, but I still am only on the AA team. When I am rated higher than the AAA player and have better stats, I would think I should be ahead of him in the organization's depth chart. Secondly, and worse, is that the goals you must achieve every few weeks make you focus your training on mundane areas, which forces you to neglect more important skills. For example, the emphasis on bunting is absurd, as it has caused me to basically ignore my power rating. It needs to be more flexible and not so difficult to obtain training points, so that you can reach your goals and focus on other areas at the same time. That or the goals need to be modified to more accurately reflect real life training. I mean, how good of a bunter do I have to be before I can concentrate on other areas?

I did play a game with Dave online last night and it was a blast. I fell short in a 6-4 game as the Cubbies really clobbered Adam Wainright in one of the middle innings. It also didn't help that I did not know how to work the base running controls. I hit several balls to the gap but had to settle for singles because I did not know how to make the runners go to second base. Doh! Dave led 6-1 until I manged to put a few runs up late, including a pinch hit home run by Cardinals' cast-off Scott Spezio. Overall, it played pretty well online, though lag came into play a few times for both Dave and myself. Dave plays a great game; he isn't afraid to throw strikes and makes sound managerial moves. Good job, buddy!

I also picked up Bully yesterday, but it will probably be a while before I get into that. I'll post impressions when I do.