2K Sports Touts Wii Motion Controls for Major League Baseball 2K8
Thursday, February 28th, 2008 at 2:11pm by Press Release
PRESS RELEASE — What better way to for gamers to enjoy a baseball video game than to move like they are actually playing baseball? With Major League Baseball 2K8 on the Wii home video game system, fans of all ages and skill levels will be able to step up to the plate and hit one out of the park. Major League Baseball 2K8 provides the most fun and exciting baseball simulation experience available and the innovative Wii controls allow fans the opportunity to pitch, bat, field and run the bases using the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™.
Some of the fun new Wii gameplay controls for Major League Baseball 2K8 include:
Pitching – To pitch, players simply point the Wii Remote at the screen, pull back to start the pitcher’s motion, then flick the Wii Remote forward. The quicker the player flicks the remote, the more velocity and movement the pitch will have. The Nunchuk can be used to view a player’s pitch arsenal and to select which pitch to throw.
Batting – Swinging for the fences with Major League Baseball 2K8 on Wii will provide fans with even more fun when they control the Wii Remote as if they were swinging a real bat. The Nunchuk acts to control the direction of the ball.
Fielding – While controlling their designated player using the Nunchuk, players can snag fly balls and use the Wii Remote to throw to the appropriate base. Players can use Major League Baseball 2K8’s “Smart Throw” technology to throw to the best base by simply flicking the Wii Remote or can manually choose which base to throw to by pressing a direction on the directional pad.
Baserunning – Players can control the speed of their baserunning by shaking the Wii Remote and Nunchuk simultaneously, then pushing both controllers to slide.
Major League Baseball 2K8, rated E for Everyone by the ESRB, will be available in retail stores on March 4, 2008, for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™ home video game system, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system.
February 28th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
if the controls work well me thinks this will be the first baseball game i’ve bought in over 10 years (can we say tecmo baseball with only “a” & “b” buttons to contend with). i just got tired of all the crazy controls for sports games and gave up, but now there is hope again for the tards like me…
February 28th, 2008 at 2:53 pm
I just wish the graphics were an upgrade from PS2 level. I’ll wait for reviews, but may pick it up.
February 28th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
If it works right, I’ll buy it, but I have MAJOR DOUBTS. Take this bit for example:
“Batting – Swinging for the fences with Major League Baseball 2K8 on Wii will provide fans with even more fun when they control the Wii Remote as if they were swinging a real bat. The Nunchuk acts to control the direction of the ball.”
That makes no sense. How are you going to swing the wii mote and you the nunchuk at the same time? That won’t feel like baseball at all.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Did anyone here play The Bigs? Pitching and hitting were actually a blast, but fielding and base running were AWFUL. The main thing was the way that they mapped which base you throw to with the direction you flick the remote, meaning that thrown to first was a flick to the right, no matter where you dude was standing. It seemed like I was always throwing home, even on a simple grounder.
However, one thing I did like about The Bigs was that it was an arcade baseball game, which I’ve always liked better than realistic sports games. I’m curious to see if this game fixes the glaring control problems The Bigs had, but I’m still not sure if I want to play “real” baseball on the Wii.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Oh, also: Online play? Updated/able rosters? I don’t want to buy another baseball game that will be stuck in last year’s rosters that I can only play by myself…
February 28th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
It’s true it doesnt make sense when using the nunchuck and wii-mote to bat .. But this is how it works, you use the nunchuck’s analog stick to direct/point to where you want to hit the ball to go too, right field, left field, etc..then you swing the bat using your right hand.
It would be impossilble or hard to direct the ball with only a wiimote, the nunchuck makes up for the lack of buttons needed.
well, is more like playing tennis in Wii Sports plus the nunchuck.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Wouldn’t swinging early/late to control the direction of the ball be more realistic? Shaking the wiimote and nunchuck to run around the bases sounds like it could become tiresome. I’m hoping this game will be waggletastic rather than resulting in a trip to the doctor for carpal tunnel.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
ill stick to wii sports baseball. unless they dont mess this up
February 28th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
2K make a game with downloadable rosters? that’ll be the day.
I agree - the controls sound wonky. Maybe wonky-of-the-year. Too bad they won’t push a demo for us to try….I’ll never buy this without trying it first. Especially if I have to waggle the wiimote and chuck in order to run. That gets real old real fast.
The graphics are my biggest concern. The 360 was just starting to get sports games to look like TV - not we have to back to Gamecube graphics? I’d rather see them make a great arcade baseball game - somewhere between Wii Sports and this. Realism on the wii is an oxwiimoron.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
With the Bigs it wasn’t like you HAD to shake to run, it just gave you a speed boost. If you get a solid single, you don’t have to do anything, but if you want to make a break for home, it actually worked really well to get you into it. BUT, trying to do whatever movement they expected you to do to slide never worked right.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Baseball seem slike the perfect sports game for Wii, i really hope this turns out good. I’ve heard Powerful pro MLB is great but haven’t had a chance to play it. I thought it was odd that it got no attention even with it being a localized powerful pro game.
February 28th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
@retodd
If they do it like The Bigs, swinging early/late does affect the direction of the ball, but the analog stick also gave you some pull in either direction - supposedly. I’m not sure it ever gave me a lot of help over my timing, so I mainly relied on it on up and down for fly balls/homeruns and grounders respectively.