By Dennis McCauley
The Philadelphia Inquirer

With the baseball season well underway, it's time to look in on the roster of new baseball game offerings. As in recent years, options are fairly limited for console system owners due to restrictive licensing agreements with Major League Baseball.

"Major League Baseball 2K8" is this year's high-profile, multi-platform diamond sim. While there is a lot to like about the game, it has its share of frustrations, too. Chief among these are its batting and pitching controls. And since those two features combine for about 95 percent of the user interface, "MLB2K8" can be quite vexing to play.

Truth be told, the new pitching system is just a mess. While a 2K Sports news release touts the mound interface as allowing players "to emulate the realistic motion of pitching a baseball," I'm not seeing it. On the PlayStation 3 version used for this column, throwing a pitch involves a double movement on the right thumb stick, performed in sync with onscreen cues.

It's got about as much to do with real pitching as Mario does with real plumbing. Not only that, it's frustrating to use. The step-and-swing batting interface is a bit more intuitive. But I have enough trouble timing my swing, both in video games and real life. Do I really need to time my step, too?

Thankfully, the default pitching and hitting systems can be reset to the classic single-button method. Checking around on the online message boards reveals a number of users griping about frame rate slowdowns as well.

On the plus side, the game is graphically stunning and offers a nice selection of play styles, from Home Run Derby all the way up to a deep franchise mode. Extras include a decent soundtrack, a virtual card collecting system, minor league teams and solid play-by-play from the TV announcing duo of Jon Miller and Joe Morgan.

The only bad news about "MLB08: The Show" is that you can't play it if you don't own one of Sony's game systems. But if you have a PS3, PS2 or the handheld PSP, this is definitely the baseball sim to get. While its graphics are a shade less impressive than those found in "Major League Baseball 2K8," "MLB08" earns the win by absolutely nailing the pace and feel of big league baseball. What's more, "MLB08" uses a tried-and-true pitch meter interface that works well and lets players focus on the game instead of the controller. There are plenty of different modes of play, but I especially enjoyed the "Road to the Show," in which players create their own character and try to make the big club. Since the only way that I'll be stepping into Citizens Bank Park is by purchasing a ticket, I couldn't resist creating a virtual pitcher and adding myself to the Phillies Spring Training roster. I soon found my character in competition for the fifth starter's job. However, I got rocked in my last two appearances and wound up signing a minor league contract to pitch long relief for the class-AA Reading Phillies. By the way, it's worth noting that "MLB08: The Show" features Phillies slugger Ryan Howard on the cover.

You might call Strat-o-Matic "the thinking fan's baseball game." The graphics are so minimalist that the game is essentially text-based. For the uninitiated, SOM is the computerized version of an amazing card-and-dice baseball game that's been around for nearly 50 years. While it's not for the twitchy-fingered console crowd, Strat-o-Matic will appeal to the hard-core diamond fan who craves arcane baseball data and reads Bill James. Baseball buffs will also swoon over the numerous past seasons available as optional $22 purchases.

Grade: B-

"Major League Baseball 2K8"

2K Sports

PS3, Xbox 360, $59.99

Wii, $49.99

PS2, PSP, $29.99

Rating: E (all ages)

On the Web: http://www.2ksports.com/

Grade: A

"MLB08: The Show"

Sony: PS3 $59.99, PS2 $39.99, PSP, $39.99

Rating: E (all ages)

On the Web: www.MLB08TheShow.com