NBA LIVE v. NBA 2K : An Unbiased Open Letter to the Basketball Gaming Community

[delmarjones]

To Whom It May Concern,


Although I may be new to these forums I am not new to the NBA LIVE and NBA 2K series. My love for sports gaming started with NBA 2K on the Sega Dreamcast. I was a NBA 2K fan until the Dreamcast folded and NBA LIVE 03 released. Since then I have been a die-hard NBA LIVE fan.

The reason why I made the switch from 2K to LIVE was because of the groundbreaking feature "Freestyle Control". Never before in a basketball game were we granted so much freedom to do with the ball exactly what we wanted to do. NBA Live made constant leaps foward in the gameplay department every year after the 03 installment up until NBA LIVE 07. Now I wont go in to a whole lot of detail about the game because as we all know, it was a complete disaster.

Although I supported NBA LIVE I felt that NBA LIVE 07 did not warrant a purchase from me, but neither did NBA 2K7, even though it was light years ahead of NBA LIVE on Next-Gen systems at that point in time. I always felt like the 2K series was missing something, yes, we know that the graphics in the series have been mediodcre at best, but that wasnt it, it was something deeper. After playing NBA 2K7 for a couple of hours I wasnt empressed, my basketball gaming cravings were left unfulfilled, and thus, I was empty. And then I finally figured it out, I finally figured out what was missing to me. The NBA 2K series lacked personality. Yeah, the jerseys moved and the players were shiny, but, was the really game that good? In my opinion no, but, NBA LIVE was so bad, and the basketball gaming community desperately needed a basketball game to play that the NBA 2K series was crowned king. I for one decided not to support either party because in my opinion both were bad in their own special way.

Now after a year off of basketball gaming I was determined to make a purchase. I scoured through countless websites and gaming forums to see with what series would I be siding with. Now I used the word "siding" because during that period of time I discovered that there was almost a war going on between the NBA LIVE and NBA 2K communities. I was astonished by the sheer passion that people held for their selctive series. Based off of reviews, previews, and the demos that were released I chose to purchase NBA LIVE.


Although I wasnt blown away by the LIVE 08 installment, I was relieved that it was at least playable and fun again. LIVE 08 had great graphics, great online play, but unfortunately the broken gameplay held the series down. Flaws and all, I stuck with NBA LIVE up until I ran across a by now classic NBA 2K8 video on youtube in the summer. The aforementioned video is the NBA 2K8 - O.M.G. video created by MomentousCeltic, I was immediately blown away by the realism in the player movements and animations. NBA 2K8 was a good game but again I felt like it lacked the personality and fun that no matter how bad things seem to be, NBA LIVE always has. I also felt that the controls , constant sliding, and other things kind of held the game down. But, it was enough to get my purchase in 09.

I bought NBA 2K9 and I admit I was impressed, the 2K staff finally gave the game a much needed facelift, animations were still life-like, and gameplay was still intact. I was so dissapointed in the fact that the LIVE series took one step foward in 08 and two steps back in 09, that I felt like leaving the series alone all together. But after a month or so of playing 2K9 the old feeling cameback. The feeling of boredom, the feeling of fustration, and that same old empty feeling came rushing back. Could it be the overly complicated controls? Could it be the disastrous Online play? I didnt know, but I did know one thing, NBA 2K just isnt for me.

Now it has been a few months since i had this epiphany and I am once again searching through the forums. I have been blown away by the LIVE screens so far and unimpressed by the 2K screens, but, last night the gamespot.com preview was very outstanding. Now without a doubt the feature that is most immpressive is the NBA 2K "My Player" feature. They have everything that is needed in the single player career mode. This includes summer games, the d-league, and even the nba draft combine. Now, while reading this article I got so angry because for years, well, since 05 the LIVE community had been asking for a Career mode. In 09 we got our hopes up when NHL 09 released the biggest feature ever in a sports game with their "Be a Pro" Mode, and we got teased in NBA LIVE 09 with a single game appetizer of what could have been.


I honestly feel that the NBA LIVE development team has been caught with their pants down again. Now as we all know, all information has not been released by either party, I just cant help but to feel like NBA LIVE is one step behind again. But I will not lose hope in my favorite game of all time, with Mike Wang, the architect of NBA 2K gameplay, and EA Sports asthetics first attitude as well as their infinite resources I truly believe that NBA LIVE will be back on top again. Only time will tell.


Sincerely,

Delmar Jones

PS:THANK YOU FOR READING. COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK ARE WANTED AND WELCOMED. THESE ARE JUST MY THOUGHTS. AGAIN THANK YOU.

[Fiasco West]

Well I think you're completely wrong when you say that people only enjoyed 2k because Live was so bad.

I've always felt that since next-gen that 2k has been on another level. I think Live 09 did make a step towards the right direction, but to me ever since complete freestyle has been introduced it's been a bit too fast paced for my taste.

[sleepytercel]

The fact that the NBA2K series has been the highest rated basketball game for six years straight by user and professional reviews tells you that people didn't jump ship to the 2K series only because Live was so bad.

Now, to be specific, a huge majority of "Live fans" jumped to 2K because Live was that bad. They're the same folks who come here hoping each year Live is actually good, just so they can go back to that franchise. There's some drone loyalty with EA. It's like some people are playing 2K and secretly feeling like they are betraying their loyal EA game. When I see statements like, "If Live 10 is as good as NBA2K9, it is a must buy!".

You see, that statement reflects that, regardless how much 2K10 improves over 2K9, that these Live fans will go back to Live and accept that it may still play an inferior game of basketball to the competition. This makes no sense to me.

Now I am nearly 30 years old. I've played them all, and a lot of people don't understand why 2K has it's own diehards. Most of the people who don't understand are those who have never owned or played a Dreamcast. Playing the first NFL2K and first NBA2K game in 1999 was somerthing so special to the sports videogame world. There was nothing like these games at the time, and they have continuously evolved. The NFL2K series has seen remarkable amounts of improvements in each yearly update, offering something new to sports videogames each year.

Now, many people are attached to the brand "Live", but the ignorance lies in the fact that Visual Concepts (makers of 2K's NBA and NFL franchises) have been making sports games longer than any current sports developer. Who do you think developed Madden before Tiburon? That's right, it was Visual Concepts. In fact, Visual Concepts also developed the 16 bit EA hockey games and their baseball offerings.

So, in short, there is a feud here. EA fired Visual Concepts back in 97, and Sega bought them in 98 when they made the great (but no one played) NBA Action '98 on Sega Saturn, which is technically the first NBA2K game. That game came out in 1997.

Visual Concepts is an ex-EA developer. There's a lot of heat in this competition, and if you think Visual Concepts will slouch and let EA catch up on their only remaining flagship title, well...I think we'll see some good stuff. Anyways, without 2K, you could possibly have Live 07 coming out this year. EA was known to do small updates and roster updates until the competition came.

[other]

^That guy knows his stuff.._

Me personally. I bought a Dreamcast after playing 2K once. Live '03 did convert me because of the freestyle controls. The series got stale so I ended up buying both games (on the original Xbox) in '07. Then it became clear...

As a videogamer, Live is the game.
As a basketball player/fan, 2K is the truth.

Live is a lot easier to pick up and play. 2k has a hell of a learning curve, but it is more realistic. Both games have their flaws, but I but I never expect perfection from a videogame.

-that being said-

2k's programmers have clearly adapted to the latest generation of systems faster than EA. If all else fails, I can buy both games again. -but- Live better have a damn good demo this year, because 2k10 will get purchased.._

[ZoneBlitz]

Quote: Originally Posted by sleepytercel

The fact that the NBA2K series has been the highest rated basketball game for six years straight by user and professional reviews tells you that people didn't jump ship to the 2K series only because Live was so bad. Now, to be specific, a huge majority of "Live fans" jumped to 2K because Live was that bad. They're the same folks who come here hoping each year Live is actually good, just so they can go back to that franchise. There's some drone loyalty with EA. It's like some people are playing 2K and secretly feeling like they are betraying their loyal EA game. When I see statements like, "If Live 10 is as good as NBA2K9, it is a must buy!". You see, that statement reflects that, regardless how much 2K10 improves over 2K9, that these Live fans will go back to Live and accept that it may still play an inferior game of basketball to the competition. This makes no sense to me. Now I am nearly 30 years old. I've played them all, and a lot of people don't understand why 2K has it's own diehards. Most of the people who don't understand are those who have never owned or played a Dreamcast. Playing the first NFL2K and first NBA2K game in 1999 was somerthing so special to the sports videogame world. There was nothing like these games at the time, and they have continuously evolved. The NFL2K series has seen remarkable amounts of improvements in each yearly update, offering something new to sports videogames each year. Now, many people are attached to the brand "Live", but the ignorance lies in the fact that Visual Concepts (makers of 2K's NBA and NFL franchises) have been making sports games longer than any current sports developer. Who do you think developed Madden before Tiburon? That's right, it was Visual Concepts. In fact, Visual Concepts also developed the 16 bit EA hockey games and their baseball offerings. So, in short, there is a feud here. EA fired Visual Concepts back in 97, and Sega bought them in 98 when they made the great (but no one played) NBA Action '98 on Sega Saturn, which is technically the first NBA2K game. That game came out in 1997. Visual Concepts is an ex-EA developer. There's a lot of heat in this competition, and if you think Visual Concepts will slouch and let EA catch up on their only remaining flagship title, well...I think we'll see some good stuff. Anyways, without 2K, you could possibly have Live 07 coming out this year. EA was known to do small updates and roster updates until the competition came.

Good stuff.

Judging from what we've seen so far, I think Live might beat 2K on the court this year. Off the court it's a complete blowout in favor of 2K. I like the more well-rounded game and 2K will probably get my money. The online 2K leagues are the best I've ever seen.

[23]

stewaat, what the heck does that mean man? On the court, off the court?

Does that include internationally as well?

[Behindshadows]

Quote: Originally Posted by stewaat

Judging from what we've seen so far, I think Live might beat 2K on the court this year. Off the court it's a complete blowout in favor of 2K. I like the more well-rounded game and 2K will probably get my money. The online 2K leagues are the best I've ever seen.

What you said makes absolutely no sense! Off the court?

Live 09 was better online, than 2k9 and more sim! Not to mention had better setups and lobbies, ranked games against friends, Rivalry game lobbies, game of the week lobbies, full online leagues with password protection, private lobbies for those who by invite only for full sim play!

I didn't even see a 3rd of that in 2k9.