I think I've fallen in love.

I love baseball.

I love videogames.

I love MLB 08: The Show.

I'll admit I was definitely hesitant to get this game as opposed to MLB 2K8 because traditionally SCEA has not really put out a good baseball video game while 2K Sports has put out decent ones. I first fell in love with the demo which I downloaded from the Playstation Network. It came out today, I went and got it and I love it.



I haven't been excited about playing a baseball game since EA Sports first put out MVP 06. The clank of the aluminum bat and the ability to play as one of my favorite collegiate teams (GO ANTEATERS!) made it a truly unique title. I felt the same way the first time I played the MLB 08 demo. After it loaded my jaw literally dropped because the players looked like the real deal. I felt like I was watching a game on TV but the only thing reminding me it was a video game was the controller in my hand. I decided I'd buy it when it came out.












The first awesome thing about buying this game is I get a free baseball cap of any one of the MLB teams for free! Now it's just a matter of which team I'll pick. Anywho, back to the game. After playing a full game (Royals @ Rangers in spring training) I realized that the looks weren't what made the game but they helped make it amazing. Not only were the players realistic but the presentation was a huge step up from any other baseball game out there. All of their commentary, save one comment, was accurate and timely which is really rare in a baseball game. The lone comment was on a defensive replacement I made, but the comment came one batter later so it was still relevant. A big part of the presentation is that the game uses the hard disk drive on the PS3 for various reasons. One cool feature is that during the course of the game, it automatically saves every play so at any point you can go back and watch a Jose Guillen groundout in the second inning. It also makes it possible at the end of the game for the announcers to pick a "play of the game" and replay it in it's entirety. Luckily, I won my game 2-1 and the play of the game was Hank Blalock bashing a two-run homerun in the eighth inning.












The commentary really impresses as well. Not only do Matt Vasgersian, Rex Hudler and Dave Campbell return for a terrific game call, but they're funny to boot. In the seventh inning, I hit a single with Josh Hamilton and as the cutscene showed Hamilton talking with the first base coach one of the announcers said: "That's their eighth hit of the game and they've all been singles. It looks like someone didn't eat their spinach this morning...ack ack ack ack." A Popeye impersonation/reference? This game is the shit.

Not only are the graphics more stunning than Selma Hayek (just kidding of course, went a bit overboard) but the rest of the visuals and animations create an authentic baseball atmosphere. The first thing that ever caught my eye was when I hit a foul ball into the stands and a group of fans jumped up and tried to fight for the ball. That's the first time I've ever seen that in decades of baseball games and it was definitely a much needed animation to make the game feel like the real thing. Other animations, particularly those during the course of play, really made me think aloud, "They actually put that in the game?" The first of these was when the Royals hit a grounder through the infield and made its way to Marlon Byrd in the outfield. Instead of a generic bend-over-and-pick-it-up motion, the game went back to the fundamentals and had Byrd take a knee to scoop up the grounder. I know it doesn't sound like much but when a baseball game finally takes the time to make sure their game is truly accurate even in the smallest of nuances I'm impressed. The other moment was even more impressive. The Royals lined a shot into the right-center gap and Hamilton ended up fielding the ball and as he was throwing the ball back into the infield, Milton Bradley (who was in front of Hamilton) bent over so Hamilton had a clear shot. Another one of those little nuances that most people don't notice but my mouth literally dropped when I saw that. SCEA really put out a quality product.

Some other really sweet features are the ability to import your music into the game to listen to while at the in-game menus however not during the course of playing a regular game. It's not a new feature to video games but it's the first next-gen game I've owned that did. Speaking of sound, the crowds are unbelievably cool. I had goosebumps when on a two-strike count they began chanting "Hank! Hank! Hank!" for Mr. Blalock. Also there were cheers of "RAN-GERS!" and I swear the "Charge!" trumpet sounded as if it was recorded here in Arlington.












The other sweet feature which I haven't been able to check out yet is online play. Apparently you can form your own leagues with friends and compete in a season or just play a quick match against a similarly skilled opponent. You definitely don't want to be getting whooped by someone who is miles ahead of you. Not related to the online feature but cool nonetheless is the adaptive pitching intelligence. Through the course of a game, your catcher will call certain pitches in certain locations based on the situation, the batter's weaknesses and the pitcher's strengths. Not only that but it seems that different umpires interpret the strike zone differently so you really need to get a good feel for how the ump is calling the game before you get too upset.

Overall, this game is definitely jumping to maybe the second best PS3 game we have behind Call of Duty 4. If you have a PS3 and love baseball this game is definitely the one to go with. LET'S PLAY SOME MORE BALL!

Sidenote: If they had John Hunter in the background of the Ranger games I would not only shit myself but contact the makers of the game and personally thank them. Just imagine playing at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington and hearing, "HAAAAWWWWWWWWWTTT DAAAAWWWWWWWWWGGGGGGGSSSSSS!" (as the hot dog man John Hunter spells it)