Sporting games in general, and baseball in particular, seems like a perfect fit for the Nintendo Wii. The Wii's motion sensing controls allow for replication of the arm movements that allow pitchers to throw and batters to swing. Nothing, save virtual reality or a rapid increase in skills, could better place a player within a game.
Enter 2K Sports's Major League Baseball 2K8, the first full baseball sim game for the Wii (there are arcade titles and more niche stuff currently available too). MLB 2K8 is, sadly, one of those games that promises much more fun than it actually delivers. The basic elements are all there, and the game provides a decent amount of enjoyment, but there are a myriad of issues with the title that make it no better than adequate. There is no single element in the game that one can look at without seeing problems accompanying it.
The majority of the gameplay centers on the "Franchise" mode, where the player selects a team and manages the team, including trades, contracts, and accompanying paraphernalia, over the course of several seasons. However, without the addition of minor leagues (farm teams do exist but are not playable), and having to truly struggle with a budget and fan base, it really isn't that deep at all. It is, however, the one mode in which you can select which team you wish to play as and follow the team for an extended period.
Even something that should be as simple as batting isn't not as clean as it needs to be. Swinging the Wii remote (either righty or lefty) swings the batter's bat, and the harder the Wii remote is swung the harder, allegedly, the ball is hit. Yet, all too often the game registers a full swing as a checked one, leaving the player shocked in dismay as their cleanup hitter allows strike three to pass by down the middle of the plate with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth.
Worse than that however is the fact that it is nearly impossible to load the bases. Despite being a simulator- and not arcade-style game, it is far, far easier to hit a homerun than it is to string together a series of smaller hits to advance runners. Even without trying the ball flies out of the park with ease. That is, it flies out with ease except for numerable miraculous over-the-wall catches the computer makes on a regular basis. Rarely do 9 innings pass where five or more homeruns are not hit and two or three wall climbs do not stop more. It is true that I played as the near and dear to my heart New York Yankees, but expecting Jeter, Rodriguez, Abreu, Matsui, and Giambi to all hit more than 50 home runs in a season (with a bunch more players sitting at around 30) stretches the bounds of credibility… if only slightly.
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