FirstCuts: MLB 2K8 Could Be a Hit on the Wii

By Chris Littmann
Sports don’t start and end with a referee’s whistle. FirstCuts, a blog dedicated to sports culture, will cover everything outside the lines, from games to gear.
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Although the Nintendo Wii shipped with Wii Sports, an awesome first-party sports title with great controls, it feels like there’s been a shortage of sports titles that really take advantage of the Wii Remote and Nunchuk. 2K Sports takes its crack at putting out an intuitive control system for a baseball game – something with arguably the most potential of the four major sports – when Major League Baseball 2K8 hits stores Tuesday, March 4.
[quote="2K Sports"]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. [/quote]
I’m a little unclear on how the Nunchuk will be used to “control the direction of the ball†when you hit, but the rest of it sounds awesome if executed properly. Will you ditch playing this on your traditional console – the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 – to give the new controls a go on the Wii?↵