We're very apologetic when we admit that none of us on staff at PS3 Fanboy really play sports titles. Especially when we hear such good things about
MLB '08: The Show. Guilt, maybe. We're missing out, but since it's not our forte and would feel stupid for passing judgment on something we're not particularly experienced with, we decided to give
The Show a metareview instead of a full review. So, what are other sites saying about this game and how it stacks up compared to last year's rendition? Take the jump to find out.
From what we could find, so far
The Show has gotten these scores from some major review sites:
- IGN: 8.7 / 10 -- "... instead of simply patching the visuals or fixing some of the AI problems, just about every facet of the game has been improved on radically, making this the best version of The Show on any system to date."
- GameDaily: 9.0 / 10 -- "MLB '08 was built from the ground up on the PlayStation 3, utilizing the system's power to create a beautiful recreation of America's pastime, full of realistic animations, detailed parks and impressive crowds ... It's so good, you'll play it right up to next year's edition."
- GameTap: 9.0 / 10 -- "Playing MLB '08 is the closest any of us cyberathletes has come to experiencing what it's like to step to the plate against Johan Santana (or hop over the first base line at Chase Field). It also features one of the best single-player experiences in any sports game, Road to the Show."
We actually saw a much lower score from G4TV (a 3 / 5), but really, who can trust them that much? Besides, most other sites seem to be in agreement: this is a fantastic baseball game for the PS3. What makes it stand out is how different it is from last year's, apparently. Last year, the game was more of a port from the PS2 to the PS3, but now it seems to have gotten a lot more attention for the newest Sony console. The graphics are fantastic and the gameplay is tweaked so that it's just what baseball fans are looking for. If we could put it in hockey terms, this would be called a "slam dunk" of a game. We're so athletic.
{ Mar 7th 2008 at 6:30PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
aaron_k7 @ Mar 7th 2008 6:40PM
This game is a lock for me to buy. "MLB 07 the Show" got the most play time by far in my PS3 last year. I also noticed a lot of other people on PS3Fanboy commenting on how much they were playing it. It's a whole lot of fun, a very satisfying experience whether hitting, pitching, or playing defense. This year it looks like SCEA made an already great game much better.
Beech @ Apr 9th 2008 3:39PM
Just purchased it. Will someone explain the pitching meter that is arched? Do I click once to start the pitch, and then again while it is in motion? If so, what is the purpose? The manual is poor.
russell @ Mar 7th 2008 6:51PM
bought it the morning it came out and i'm blown away.i think the reviews are pretty damn accurate. it has it's flaws but its ridiculously technical so it's hard to cover all your bases, teheheheh.
love the last line of this review tho. hooray for ps3fanboy.
boxmyth @ Mar 7th 2008 6:53PM
I was really impressed with the demo, other than the fact that I couldn't hit the ball. At all. Ever.
But it was really impressive when I wasn't swearing at it. Great atmosphere.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 7th 2008 8:17PM
lol same here. i absolutely sucked at the demo but boy was it pretty! it sure had alot of features too though.
Haiddasalami @ Mar 7th 2008 9:58PM
Another one unable to hit the ball and get a homerun.
Word Up, North Korea! @ Mar 8th 2008 4:28AM
i gave up on my first Road to the Show player because I can't figure out how to get hits for the life of me....I'm not making it to any show with a .087 batting average
Andy @ Mar 8th 2008 12:16PM
One thing I would recommend is going into settings and turning on the plate coverage indicator. Its a yellow oval you have to aim to where you think the ball will go when batting. For some reason is it disabled which doesn't make sense to me.
Nightz @ Mar 7th 2008 6:57PM
I love this game. Since you guys need one, hire me to be the sports guy!
Semi-serious here. ;)
Torgo @ Mar 7th 2008 7:01PM
I wrote a review as well.
http://vgevo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85634
Glenn
PSNation Podcast
John @ Mar 7th 2008 8:44PM
Dude. That was an excellent review. You covered everything. I never play sports games. I want this game! Well-written, not too gushy, covered anything I could think of wanting to know about any game, and with great graphic inclusions.
ajiezer @ Mar 8th 2008 2:13PM
Ditto, that was an excellent and objective review. Good work Glenn
mberkowitz @ Mar 7th 2008 7:23PM
I could tell this game would be really fun except I could not pitch a strike in the demo, I would walk everybody. I'd put the ball in the strike zone and it would never work. anyone else know what im talkin bout?
Rob @ Mar 7th 2008 7:31PM
Fortunately for me, I don't know what you are talking about. However, I never played the demo, I own the actual game ;) I've never really had trouble with batting/pitching. Of course, the full game allows you to tweak sliders to get it perfect for yourself.
Andrew @ Mar 7th 2008 7:39PM
RAD! Mine just arrived, will be playing tonight! STL baby.
Chris Rah Osiris @ Mar 7th 2008 7:42PM
Why am I not surprised by the review G4TV gave?
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 7th 2008 8:19PM
i cant even take their 5 point scale seriously. i cant tell if its a good game or not based on just 5 points. i need at least 10, and hopefully with decimal increments.
parkd @ Mar 7th 2008 8:40PM
Yeah, you can't really trust G4TV anymore...they're really biased towards the PS3.
The Sound @ Mar 7th 2008 7:46PM
Online is a tad laggy right now, but other than that, amazing.
seansloan @ Mar 7th 2008 9:39PM
Great game now i just need to get a handle on base running.If i get caught in a double play from attempting to tag up one one more time....
damienanderson228 @ Mar 7th 2008 9:45PM
"we admit that none of us on staff at PS3 Fanboy really play sports titles," Wow!!! What man doesn't play sports games?
Haiddasalami @ Mar 7th 2008 9:59PM
PS3Fanboy men
Nate @ Mar 8th 2008 12:38AM
I think a lot of gamers aren't really into sports. If we were, we'd be watching sports not playing games.
Out of all my gamer friends, only a couple actually watch sports. I play sports games occasionally (loved NFL 2k series), but lately the trend for ever more complex controls just totally turns me off.
ajiezer @ Mar 8th 2008 2:03PM
Actually sports games and events are not my hit, but if a game is fun I'll give it a shot
Ray @ Mar 7th 2008 10:00PM
Aside from the problems due to incompatibilties with certain routers (07 had similar woes), after I did the easy workaround (disabled auto sign on) the game looks, plays, and works just unbelieveably awesome.
Torgo @ Mar 8th 2008 12:25AM
Thanks John. I was lucky enough to get the game last week, so we put a lot of time into mainly the PS3 version before I wrote the review.
Skemo @ Mar 8th 2008 1:45AM
IT'S TIME FOR DODGER BASEBALL!!
Great freaking game, if your down for some hardcore NL action, look me up!!
joey_numbers @ Mar 8th 2008 3:14AM
The demo was great. The meta review would be even more killer, if you would have meta reviewed side by side with MLB2K8.
my two cents.
LW @ Mar 8th 2008 11:41AM
For anyone who plays fantasy baseball, this game is ideal, as you can build custom teams and play other guys in your fantasy ball league online if they have a PS3.
The hitting is damned hard to learn, but that just makes it that more realistic. Baseball games used to just be a weak simulation that was just pushing buttons and not really learning any new skills. With this game, plate patience and having a good batting eye and lightning quick timing make all the difference. For the first time I feel like I'm actually gaining a whole new appreciation of real baseball from a video game. Obviously if you're not a baseball fan, there's no reason to get the game, but if you are, it's worth a buy, not just a rental. I use gamefly for almost all games, but I bought this one due to the infinite replay value.
Andy @ Mar 8th 2008 12:21PM
I couldn't agree more. I like having to aim the oval as well as get my timing straight.
Also another bit of advice, if you can obviously see a ball is going to miss, follow it anyways with the oval aimer just to get used to aiming.
huphup @ Mar 8th 2008 11:51AM
In hockey terms it's a "slam dunk"?? Wow, you guys really don't know sports, haha.
ajiezer @ Mar 8th 2008 2:04PM
LOL, true or was that on purpose?
ajiezer @ Mar 8th 2008 2:10PM
or maybe they are thinking when Michael Jordan switched sports :)
Ryan @ Mar 8th 2008 9:58PM
And you really don't know humor...
OLDMIKE @ Mar 9th 2008 6:09AM
wow G4 show its sony hate giveing it a 3/5 and 2k a 4/5
yet every othe place gave the show better score
Gary @ Mar 8th 2008 10:07PM
This is a Great lookin game.. I have it for the PS3 and it's the best lookin Sports game on it by far.. I think PS3 FanBoy need to get a real sport Guy.LOL
brianc6234 @ Mar 11th 2008 1:47AM
Regarding X-Play and their review of The Show, if it was also on the 360 it would have received a better score. Is there a bigger group of Xbots than X-Play and G4TV? They must be getting paid by Micro$oft or something. I rarely watch X-Play anymore though.
heartless_mac @ Mar 11th 2008 4:14AM
ok im sorry but the game froze on me on single player mode so i reset it and now i i get start up errors on all my games so my ps3 is screwed up because of one new game fresh outof the case why is that
Brandon @ Apr 29th 2008 11:40PM
Yea that happened for me too. The music will randomly not work sometimes (no sound) and that's followed by a continous load screen for which I have to reset the game. Ever since then my whole system has taken a pounding, where the glitched long save/load times carry over into Rock Band and just starting up games from the PS3 main screen. It's very frustrating and especially when RTTS has these extra long loads and saves on top of the already long ones. Any comments or suggestions on what to do about it?