MLB 2K8: Card Preview

Baseball and collecting baseball cards both have a special place in our country's tradition. Although baseball gaming is a much more recent phenomenon, it isn't a stretch to see why it appeals to the same audience that formerly boasted massive card collections (actually, I'm sure that many of you still have them in boxes up in the attic). While MLB 2K8 may not be the first to tie in the two, the concept and functional utility of MLB 2K8's synergy of these two pastimes make it one of the most unique, as well as entertaining, aspects of this year's game. Today, SportsGamer takes a detailed look at the feature and why it makes the MLB 2K8 experience one to watch. You can also check out GameSpot’s preview of MLB 2K8’s card feature in case you want to learn more. 

Card Types

There are four types of cards that are unlockable in MLB 2K8: player cards, which you will use to form your custom card teams (more on this later); jersey cards, which unlock vintage jerseys for your teams; stadium cards, which unlock specific venues for use; and team cards, which allow you to play as rookie classes of the past. The latter three card types are unlockables, which are almost a standard in sports games today. For this reason, we will look specifically at player cards and their role in MLB 2K8.

Player cards can be earned in three ways: earning them through some in-game achievement, trading for them with other players online, or purchasing packs of them using credits earned from selling unwanted cards. This is worth noting because it essentially provides a medium for trading unlockables or buying a pack of unlockables and crossing your fingers. There are, in fact, some cards that are so difficult to unlock that you will be forced to rely on these other methods to build your dream team.

The difficulty of unlocking various player cards through achievements scales with the player's skill level. This, in turn, reflects on the credit (in-game currency used to purchase additional packs of cards) turn-in value of cards you don't want. Let's take a look at an example...

Felix Pie: Get 2 base hit(s) in a game with Felix Pie. Alfonso Soriano: Have Alfonso Soriano be named the "Player of the Game."

Other players require even more difficult achievements in order to unlock such as Johan Santana’s 17 strikeouts in a game requirement or Albert Pujols’ 5 RBI game. That seems intuitive enough, but there is another aspect of baseball-card collecting that MLB 2K8 captured as well: Some cards, regardless of the player, are simply worth more than others.

Card Tiers

Each player card comes in one of three flavors: common (black border), rare (gold border), and super rare (platinum border). While cards of different tiers require the same achievement in order to earn, the likelihood of earning rare and super rare cards appreciates in correlation with the difficulty setting in which they were earned. Here is a breakdown of the chance to earn the rarer varieties...

The rarer the card, the greater the credit turn-in value it possesses, but there is another, more significant importance placed on rare and super rare cards when creating your custom card team.

Custom Card Teams

To create your own custom card team, you must first collect enough cards to fill out a roster with a minimum of nine pitchers (including at least five starting pitchers), 12 batters (at least one for each position on the field), and 25 players total. In addition, your custom card team must stay under a $125 million salary cap. Card tiers factor in here.

The rarity of each card dictates the "salary" that you must commit to that player to include him on your team. A rare card of a certain player places less of a salary burden on your custom card team than the player's common card. This salary reduction is even more pronounced in super rare cards. Collecting rare and super rare cards, therefore, allow you to stack your team with players of greater talent while still staying under the salary cap. Here's an example...

To Unlock: Get credit for a save with Ryan Dempster (min. 7 inning game and at least 3 batters faced) While both cards require the same achievement in order to earn, the super rare platinum variety allows you to plug Dempster into your custom card team at a fraction of the salary cost of his common card (assuming you actually want Ryan Dempster taking up space on your roster).

OK, so you have painstakingly constructed a serviceable team with a few stars and some scrubs to fill out your custom card team roster. Now what?

MLB 2K8 allows you to compete in card battles against other players online, pitting your card squad versus their card squad. Although you won't be able to "officially" wager cards based on the outcome of these games, the card battles provide a rewarding experience for all of your hard work and serve as a benchmark for how stacked your team is in comparison to other teams.

The depth of the thought and creativity that went into MLB 2K8's card feature is what makes it interesting, but I am equally impressed with the balance of the feature. The majority of achievements needed to unlock the various player cards are not overwhelming. In fact, you will probably unlock a great deal of cards naturally without making a concerted effort to do so.

While you can only earn cards for active players by performing tasks with that specific player, MLB 2K8 also has a lengthy list of former baseball greats whose cards you can unlock for use in your custom card teams. The achievements required for these cards are typically based on team achievements or profile benchmarks. For instance, you can unlock Will Clark once you have amassed 300 base hits on your user profile. Again, depending on the difficulty setting in which these hits were earned, the card may be common, rare, or super rare. With more than 100 former greats available, it is likely that you will be on your way to unlocking these players without even knowing it.

This, in addition to the sheer number of active player cards available (372 in Series One alone), creates a market for the exchange of both generic cards and super rare cards. Inflation of super rare cards is naturally regulated through achievement difficulty to ensure that the cards you worked your ass off to get make your team stand out from the rest (or at least provide a nice bargaining chip for trade). The interesting thing is that even if you intend to trade one of your coveted super rare cards, it may be in your best interest to hold it, especially if the player is doing well in real life. Roster updates and, more specifically, rating adjustments will undoubtedly tweak the value of different cards. That, along with 2K's announcement that additional series' will be released throughout the baseball season, may just be enough to rekindle the card-collecting obsession that many of us fostered during our youth. Leave it to 2K Sports to bring all the thrill and entertainment of ripping off your friends to console gaming. Well done, fellas.

For more information on MLB 2K8 and its new card feature, you can check out GameSpot’s preview here as well.