MLB 2K8 (PSP)

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Jacoby Ellsbury. That's how I knew I had the MLB 2K8 disk in my PSP and not the 2K7 disk. That's it. The fact that rookie phenom and pretty-boy World Series hero Ellsbury -- and not Julio Lugo -- was leading off for the Red Sox was about the only way I knew I had the latest version of 2K Sports' release in my handheld. I could understand -- though I still wouldn't tolerate it as a reviewer -- if 2K had decided to stand pat with a stellar product and just offer a roster update under the guise of a brand new game, but the 2K game has been beaten like a dog by Sony's offering, MLB: The Show, for the past two years. Sony continues to improve, develop, and deepen its handheld baseball game, while 2K does nothing. For handheld baseball fans, this year's choice is easier than ever.

In its defense, 2K Sports ripped apart and rebuilt the big console versions of its baseball franchise in order to give Xbox 360 owners a better way to go deep and to give PlayStation 3 owners an alternative to Sony's game. Unfortunately, the majority of the major innovations it came up with had to do with the right stick and -- whoops! -- that's the stick the PSP doesn't have. Apparently, with the focus on the next-gen machines as well as the debut of the franchise on the Wii, something had to suffer -- and if you happen to have a slim case in your hands with Jose Reyes on the cover, you're holding it.

Just in case you didn't play last year's game, it was solid and challenging when it came to the pitcher-batter interface, but it couldn't stand up to the competition when it came to overall gameplay and presentation. Once again -- as it is across the board with 2K's games -- the most interesting action happens when you're on the mound. I would have liked to have seen last year's interface evolve slightly. It's still a matter of placing the ball and then making sure it ends up there. This is often easier said than done. First, you have to figure out how your pitch is going to break. Thankfully, hitting the left trigger will bring up an on-screen tip sheet that shows the direction in which a curve or slider will break. Next, you have to do a two-step timing deal that will determine the intensity and effectiveness of your pitch. In one of the few noticeable differences between 2K7 and 2K8, the default pitching view this time around is from behind the pitcher. I found that having the catcher in view and calling where he wants the pitch made spotting the ball a tad easier. If you want to go to a behind-the-batter view, that's an option, as well.

The game could have adopted some aspects of the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 games by using the left stick as the right stick is used in the next-gen games. After spotting the ball with the left stick, for example, you could lock the location with a face button and then use the left stick to deliver the pitch using the funky two-move system of the large console games. Just a thought.

At the plate and in the field, things are unchanged from last year. Hitting is a one-button affair and throwing it around from base to base is mapped to the face buttons. The large console versions now have the default fielder throwing done with the right stick.