Given that PS3 is the only system that gives you a choice in baseball games this year. I am going to help you choose MLB 2K8 or MLB 08 THE SHOW.

I am a big fan of baseball, you may call me obsessed. I have recently played both MLB 2K8 as well as MLB 08 The Show.

If you have played MLB 07 The Show, then you are pretty much aware of what you are going to get in terms of gameplay. The biggest improvements this year are the fielding, pitching, and overall look and feel of the game. The body mechanics of 08 THE SHOW is practically flawless. If you walked into a room and someone was playing THE SHOW, you would have serious doubts that a game was being played and you were not watching some spring training baseball. The camera angles, transitions, cut scenes are all beautifully done. This may not be important to a leisure baseball fan who is not concerned with realism, but if you are an avid baseball fan like myself, it really gets you pumped for the coming baseball season.
Pitching and hitting remain the same in this years game, with the basic choose a pitch with a face button, choose where to pitch it and deliver, and the X face button for hitting.
Pitching is dominant in MLB 08. A fastball really feels like its blasting by the batter, and a changeup or curveball, can really have you ahead of the pitch.

MLB 2K8 does not focus so much on realism, but on gameplay. The batting system from last year returns with the use of the right analog stick. This is probably the best use of the right analog stick that i have ever seen in a baseball game. It really grasps the importance of the two step process in hitting a baseball (the step, and the swing). This year they have attempted to do the same with their pitching system, although I am not so sure I am a believer of it just yet.
The pitches system requires you go make a combination of gestures for each pitch. For a fastball, you must gesture the right analog stick down, and then back up for a fast ball, or down and then a half circle for a curveball. Kind of like Tiger Woods golf, when you want to his a straight drive or a hook. If the gesture does not match one of the pitches, you will throw a "MEAT PITCH", which is basically a hanging pitch that can be crushed by the opposition.
I certainly appreciate the aspect of making a curveball harder to throw than a fastball, but with this system the game play does not provide a large enough difference between speed of pitches. There are times when a fastball looks as easy to hit as the "MEAT PITCH". This really gets aggravating when you finally throw the pitch correctly and it gets crushed. It certainly lacks the feel of a fastball being blown by a hitter, or a curveball dropping out of the strike zone.

Overall I wish both games could be combined. The presentation of the show with the right analog stick functions would be the perfect baseball game. Of course this is far from a perfect world so you need to choose one. For big baseball fans who countdown the days till spring training, looking for a simulation type game, with lots of stats and intense visuals, then get MLB 08 The Show. If you are a fan of baseball, looking to try some new features in a baseball game, then the innovation of MLB 2K8 is for you.

I hope this review helps you choose a game.

My Corresponding rating will be for MLB 08 The Show