So, I got an e-mail a couple days ago about NBA Live and low and behold, one arrived at about 8 this morning.

I got about the equivalent of a games worth in and even though I still think NBA 2K is better and more advanced, NBA Live has impressed me. The animations are pretty smooth, the graphics are decent, and it actually plays a decent game of basketball.

I DL'd the NBA 2K demo to do a little comparison and like I said, I think that's a better game, but I think NBA Live has a nice base to work off of. I've said that about a lot of EA games this year, but I think their entire roster needed some rewrites and I considered NBA Live unplayable the last two years. Those games were atrocious and a disgrace to the EA roster of games. However, this year they came out with something fairly decent.

In Franchise mode how are the rookie scoring tallies(PPG, ASST, BLK, REBS) are they pretty realistic or would you have Kevin Durant scoring his 30 and 10 almost every game and how are the hot zones for some of the rookies this year.

do they have an option for import the rosters from March Madness?


Online Play: How is the online play connection is it better or worse than Madden or NCAA? Anything different than last years version online play.


Roster Ratings:
What the rating for Ronalad Stuckey DET, Arron Affalo-DET Sean Williams-New Jersey, Tyrus Thomas CHI

I'll tell you this much, Stuckey and Afflalo aren't rated very high. I'm talking like low to mid 60's. I'll double check, though.

Can you add legends to your roster? EX: Jabbar to the current-day Lakers.

My "Live" should be in today or tomorrow, so Banger and I will tell you all about online play after that.

I am curious if they have made any improvements to the game since the NBA Live 08 Demo came out. I noticed some of the animations were not all that smooth in the demo. Although, I could say the same thing about some of the animations in the NBA 2K8 demo as well.

In game saves?

The announcing seems to be great this year,do you think that is the case?

The development team for Live 08 said their goal was to get back to the basics of 5 on 5 basketball. Do you think they succeeded in that?

I will say they went back to basics. The animations are okay and there's not a ton of variety with them either. I do like the fact that the players actually make their shots as opposed to the 2K series where it seems like they will make you miss shots on principle.

I didn't check for in game saves because I haven't gotten into dynasty yet.

I think the announcing is okay, I guess. I don't pay that much attention to it.


Inside games seems a bit dominant. I was able to own the paint on the offensive side with McDyess against the Suns. One thing I do like, though, is the fact that you will get called for an offensive foul if you have your back to the basket and do a like spin move towards the side of your non-dribbling hand. The tend to reach their elbow around the defender and you get called for it sometimes.

I should also add that I wish the players would go after rebounds more aggressively. Too many times guys are by the rim watching the ball hit the floor. It's a little annoying.

Yeah, I noticed a bit of this with the demo. Rebounding seems pretty random..as if the AI controls it.. at least from what I saw from the demo.

Sort of. I mean, you can manually go after them, but the CPu controlled players just stand there sometimes.

I also think the arena's are still a bit too dark. I turn up the brightness a notch, but it's not quite the same.

I double checked after this post, Afflalo is rated 69 and Stuckey is a 62, I believe)

The Pistons bench looks putrid in the game, ratings wise, by the way.

In fact, I noticed low ratings all around. I don't think I see any teams rated in the 90's (I could be wrong), and it seems that there's a ton of players rated in the 60's.

I know this is a little off-subject, but same sport. Do you guys know when the college b-ball games come out?

The college games are my jam! Anyway, they usually don't come out until about November or so.

I cant wait for NCAA 2k

I'll manage/coach my school/kids and sit back with a pint and watch them play
its great
i get more fun out of managing and watching than i do playing the damn game

I forgot to mention.....


the manual is a beefy 9 pages.

Here's something interesting that I just found out (maybe it's been mentioned already somewhere else), NBA Live has the EA Sports Locker feature. I think that's a first for an EA game on the 360

OK, I just got done playing a couple games against Damon online. Online played relatively smooth, but there's hardly anyone on right now.

I think rebounding needs some work. Guys just stand around a bit too much, especially after free throws. It's also a little to easy to dominate inside. I've had some large games with some lower tier bigs, that's for sure.

Overall, the game is decent. Nothing groundbreaking, but they had to start over with the series and they now have something to build on.

So did you beat Damon?

Mine hasn't arrived yet. Fed Ex left a note on my door I had to sign and put out there. Should get it today.

Yes, both times.

The first game wasn't pretty as I took my Pistons against the Bulls and destroyed him by about 20 points.

Then the second game I pulled out the victory with the Bobcats against the Bulls in the last minute of play.

Man, this stinks that you and I have the same favorite NBA team. Because I have ZERO feelings for anyone else in the league but the Pistons.

i HAVE A QUEsTION ABOUT THE cpu substitution logic. I hear it is very little to non-existent. Is there anyway to adjust this in the gamewith the fatigue sliders or setting the game for longer minutes or adjusting thier substitution sliders. Last year on some consoles the CPU NEVER went to thier bench unless the player was in foul trouble. If it's like that this year then that means we won't be playing against over half the players in the league.
Can u answer? Much love!

I have seen the CPU sub in players in 5-minute quarters. However, there is also a fatigue slider as well.

I was out and about most of the weekend and didn't get a chance to play.

QC, did you get some game time in this weekend?

I did. I had a game yesterday where I totally fell apart in OT. I used the Cavs, and got into early foul trouble with King James. It was what did me in in OT. Ilgauskas did okay...but Drew Gooden played like canned ass and was a liability with the ball. I wasn't too terribly impressed with Devin Brown either. HUGE drop-off when anyone but James was involved...so I guess that's realistic.

By the way, I lost to the Sonics.

Right now my challenge is to find the perfect quarter length. 6 didn't cut it. I think the score was 68 to 58 after 1 OT. Also, with those short minutes, subs aren't really a factor so much..so I'm thinking 8 to 10 minute quarters are probably in order....depending upon your tempo.