MLB ‘08: The Show (PS3) / 2008 Sony / http://www.us.playstation.com /
Individuals that wish to have the most realistic experience that they could conceivably have playing baseball on the PS3 would be well to purchase MLB 08: The Show. This is due to the fact that Sony has made great strides to create a simulation that at points would rival that of actually playing baseball. In the years since I began playing baseball simulations, there has been a shift from having generic names to providing individuals with real rosters, being stuck with the same crew of 9 (or 10) to allowing trades and injuries to modify a player’s roster.
Whether the player just wants to go and play baseball or concern themselves with the day to day management skills needed to keep a team in a contender role, MLB 08: The Show allows individuals to do just that. Perhaps the best innovation that is present in this iteration of MLB is the introduction of a Progressive Batting Performance feature, which gives players benefits for continued proficiency at the bat and penalizes them when they are less than hot at knocking the ball around. For those individuals that have thoroughly trounced the AI and wish to play different online players at their level, the SCOUT (SportsConnect Online User Tracking) feature matches individuals with other players that are at their same levels. The amount of information that individuals can take just from standing at the plate is amazing. OF course, the number of strikes and balls are present, but a history of the batter’s luck at facing that specific pitcher is present, along (if individuals want) pitch-by-pitch information of those at-bats. Finally, (and I understand that this is an older feature), I love the fact that there are umpire personalities.
This means that some umpires will call more things a strike or a ball than others, have a different strike zone than others, and just are generally different individuals that other empires. The soundtrack (featuring such acts as The Ramones, War, and Thin Lizzy) provide individuals with some of the songs that individuals are apt to hear at a stadium. Overall, this is the best baseball sim currently on the market. Sony has continually bettered themselves with each subsequent edition. If you like baseball in the slightest, pick this game up and never look back. Give the game a go and pick up the 2009 edition when it comes out in about a year.
Rating: 8.0/10