MLB 2K8 (PS3)

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Last year, in the inaugural baseball clash on the PlayStation 3, Sony's MLB: The Show came out on top over rival 2K Sports' MLB 2K7. This year, Sony has again released a strong game. 2K, though, has not spent the off-season on the golf course. MLB 2K8 brings a bunch of new and innovative ideas onto the diamond. If they all found their mark, PlayStation 3 owners would have found themselves in the enviable position of having two top-flight games from which to choose. As it turns out, however, a lot of the game's boldest new concepts fall shy of their target. There's a lot you'll like, but there's also a lot you won't.

The biggest move this year is to make the game almost entirely playable with just the analog sticks. If you've played EA's Fight Night or Skate (or the greatly underappreciated Robot Alchemic Drive -- which I will mention whenever given the opportunity until everyone in the universe has played it), you know how interesting a gaming experience can be when the face buttons are given a back-up role to the sticks. If your thumbs have been wired to take the field with the circle, square, triangle and X buttons, you'll need to do some unlearning and relearning.

The primary innovation is in the game's pitching. Recent versions of the 2K game have had some of the deepest takes on the pitcher-batter match-up and I think that this year's version of The Show -- with its emphasis on pitch movement and break points -- was heavily influenced by the depth of things in the 2K games. MLB 2K8 attempts to deepen things even further with what it's calling Total Pitch Control. No longer is getting the pitch across the plate simply a matter of figuring out the movement of the ball and properly timing your button pressing. This year, just like throwing a perfect hook punch in Fight Night or nailing an impressive 360 in Skate, you have to be pretty sharp with your right-sticking skills.

On the mound, pitches are broken into two "gestures." You generally pull the stick in one direction to start the pitch and then push it another direction as dictated by an on-screen timing meter. Fastballs, for example, are straightforward. Pull the stick down and then push it forward. Curves, sliders and change-ups call for you to do more complex sticking motions. It does take some getting used to and you will be tempted to revert back to the series' old pitching interface more than once. Once you do get the hang of things, though, you'll find it has its good points and its not-so-good points.

On the plus side, there's an incredible sense of satisfaction when you can hit your spot with a curve or a slider in a pressure situation. You have to not only nail the timing, but the precise movement of the right stick. On the negative side, there's a decent learning curve you have to deal with to get to that point. Initially, you will be relying on your fastball more than you probably should. The down, then up movement of the right stick is a lot easier to finagle than some of the more complicated motions you'll need to master to throw funkier pitches. You'll be able to get away with it as long as you're playing with flamethrower on the mound, but if you playing through a season and you're starting a finesse corner-painter like Greg Maddux, throwing straight heat isn't a wonderful thing.