Nintendo Wii Fanboy

In a slightly surprising move (wait ... baseball games have music?), 2K partnered with Pitchfork Media to make the soundtrack for Major League Baseball 2K8 (which comes to NA this week). By "make," of course, we mean "pick a bunch of different pre-existing songs," but that's neither here nor there.

If you ask us, the soundtrack for the game is looking pretty damn sweet. Then again, this blogger has a musical taste that is often disliked by the norm, so many of you may hate the track list. But, don't worry too much: supposing bands like LCD Soundsystem and Dinosaur Jr. don't do it for you, there's also a lot of good bands on the soundtrack that are more well-known, such as The Cure, The Cars, and Modest Mouse.

To feast your eyes on the full track list, make sure to check past the break.

MLB Power Pros might have been too cute for a tough guy (or girl) like you, or maybe you've simply been waiting for a more realistic baseball experience. If so, you'll have the chance pick up 2K's Major League Baseball 2K8 next week on March 4th.

The press release for the game reveals tons of waggle, which (as we've seen in Wii Sports Baseball) can be a lot of fun, if pulled off correctly. Aside from pitching and hitting, though, the game will also let you field with motion controls. You control the player's destination with the Nunchuck, but then use the Wiimote to throw the ball to the designated fielder.

The only think we're a bit skeptical about is the motion-controlled baserunning. To increase your speed, you shake the Wiimote and Nunchuck simultaneously, which might get annoying over time. Still, we suppose this is probably the most immersive baseball video game to date.

Alas, waggle comes at a price. The game doesn't support online play, and lacks the minor league and trading card features found in the other console versions.

[Via press release]

Ben Brinkman for Major League Baseball 2K7 recently answered some questions through a blog entry at 1UP. While followers of the game had their questions answered, the grim details regarding an installment in the franchise for the 2007 season on the Wii were hard to swallow. Turns out, the game won't be present on the Wii this year, with the company taking the extra time to perfect controls for the game's 2008 installment.

For a baseball game, how many different gesture-based controls would you really need? Would it be that difficult to assign commands? Also, why not do what EA did with Madden 07 and just port the title over at a later date instead of abandoning the year's version altogether?

[Thanks Jonah!]

Update: Whoops, it's Ben Brinkman, not George Simmons.