I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

[BlueDevilsFan]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

You obviously haven't played Live so why make this sh!t up?

You can't use any player, if you do you will turn the ball over. Period. Anyone who owns the game will obviously concur.

On Superstar I am almost getting to the point of frustration that the freestyle doesn't work BETTER to help me past my man.

EA obviously made their freestyle work excessively at the default skill level (starter) to show it off and to encourage people to use it. On all-star I would estimate the success percentage of getting past a man using freestyle (and this is only with the top ball handler or two on the team - with the rest you can forget it) at less than 1 in 5 and on superstar it's about 1 in 10.

I have sat in front of the defender and worked the moves until I'm dizzy and the D only twitches in any given direction. On the miracle chance you catch him going for a steal and time your move right to get by him, he either recovers so quickly he still slows you up or the help D comes over and swats your shot away.

The other thing that can happen is you can work the pick and roll and the defense switches (yes, they actually switch off in this game) creating a mismatch. Then, if you have the ball in the hands of a guy like Kidd and he is being guarded by someone like McDyess you will have a much greater chance of breaking his ankles.

A nice touch to be sure, and folks it just doesn't get more real than that.

[BigTigLSU]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
The other thing that can happen is you can work the pick and roll and the defense switches (yes, they actually switch off in this game)

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

Are you saying that they don't switch on NBA 2k3.
Because I have had many mismattches on defense on a switch of a pick and another thing they pick away from the ball in NBA 2k3 and get mismatches.

[Bredrin]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

good post man

[EWRMETS]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Are you saying that they don't switch on NBA 2k3.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

You people really don't get the point do you? All he was saying was that it was a nice touch in NBA Live and immediately it is misconstrued as being a shot against 2k3. Stop being fanboys.

[SC3BBall]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

I haven't played on Superstar. On All-Star, I can get a dunk/layup 60% of the time.

Also, pump fakes always work. You can sit there pump fake, 3 or 4 times and the guy ALWAYS jumps. Sometimes they don't and they will strip the ball but 90% of the time they jump and you walk around them.

[SteelerForLife]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
Also, pump fakes always work. You can sit there pump fake, 3 or 4 times and the guy ALWAYS jumps. Sometimes they don't and they will strip the ball but 90% of the time they jump and you walk around them.

<hr /></blockquote><font class="post">

I seriously have to disagree with this one. I've played Live all weekend (after having 2K3 since Tues.). I've experimented with all sorts of settings (qtr. length, difficulty level, arcade vs. simulation, etc) and I haven't seen a problem with pump fakes at all. If anything, I've noticed that the CPU ignores pump fakes more than ever at any time in Live's pathetic recent past. I think this is just one of the points that Live players are trying to make: this year's game is not nearly as offense-heavy as it has been.

Dose this make it a sim? Not really. 2K3 is clearly the sim this year. But EA has managed to make the overall results of play more realistic than before. Are the dunks and blocks over the top? No doubt. Is the pace of the game (and passes)faster than real life? Absolutely. But the end result is a game that IS NOT NBA Jam, but a game that exaggerates highlight reel moves for emphasis without completely disregarding pro game imitation.

The problem I have with NBA 2K3 is the same problem I have with NFL 2K3. Somewhere along the way, while VC was creating these simulations and adding the ESPN polish and online play, they left out crucial aspects of each game. With NFL 2K3, it's getting sacks, perfect CPU field goal kicking, etc. With NBA 2K3, it's a clunky passing system, lack of true fast breaks, etc. Ordinarily, these problems would be relatively minor. But when a game tries so hard to be ultra-realistic, these types of mistakes become more glaring and are harder to overlook. Live has always been an arcade-style NBA game, so gamers aren't looking for as much in the way of realism. But this year, EA has managed to tighten up the Live gameplay to at least a respectable level.

As with NFL 2K3, I think Sega's on the right track with NBA 2K3, both just need polish. Hopefully NCAA BBall 2K3 will have at least of little of that polish (I'm picking that up day 1! )

[BlueDevilsFan]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

Nice post steelerfan.

[BigTigLSU]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

First of all pimpin I didn't say he did say that I asked him if he did. I am not a fan boy I am not anti any game. I don't recieve a check from any game company. Matter of fact I am still playing live giving it a chance to see if I can start to enjoy it some but you quoting a question I asked him to make sure what he meant. Boy is something I haven't been years so respect my mind

[gamecuber]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must sa

Here's what I noticed with the frestyle control on higher difficulty levels. EA basically made it useless for big guys as they simply loose the ball when they attempt the move. This is rediculous to me. I can understand makin it harder to preform, but why make it impossible? If it were a skill that could be learned and mastered, why not make it tougher to perform with these guys and give me the ability to "learn" how to use the move with a slower / lesser rated drilbber. The way it is now its just useless, and this is my biggest gripe wth Live, it's less of a game and more of an animatoin viewer. Good guys too good, weak guys too weak, and no real way to know exaclty when the move will be successful or not (in my case it's almost always success).

[Bredrin]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must sa

[Graphik]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must say ..

I'm sorry but I got to agree with SC3BBall here because 90% of the time if you sit there and pump fake 4-8 time s the CPU will eventually Jump resulting in a free trip to the hole. I play on all star, I think the superstar difficulty is nothing but a cheat mode for the computer. Same with all-madden on madden games, and triple play.

[TombSong]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must sa

I got both the same day and I liked Live better at first. Now after playing them both more and heavily with friends over the weekend, I like NBA2K3 better. Live is very good and all and I like the look and feel better than 2K3 but Live has some problems gameplay wise.

1. The "Merlin" steals. I have see over and over agin where you make a pass and the ball looks like its gonna be recieved by the guy you are throwing it to, only to see the defender simply raise his hand and the ball magicly changes directions and gets stolen.

2. Whats the use of setting picks in live if slower defenders get this speed burst that allows them to go around the pick and get right back in front of you ?

3. Freestyle is great and all and I love it but alot of times you can just freestyle your way from the perimeter to the basket. Once those animations start you alot of the time cant defend it cause there is no penalty for bumping into another player. you just continue on like no one is there. This is an area NBA2K3 is better at as far as crossovers. If you run into someone while doing a crossover in NBA2K3 your man wil stumble or his move will be stopped or altered. In live you just go through the motion regardless of what you hit. It happens enough to be a pain.

4. Whats with the fast cut scenes that interupt the flow of the game ? Someone runs out of bounds or if the ball is stolen and the cpu calls timeout it switches to a cut scene so fast you dont know what happend. Also sometimes if you are not watching you wont realise they have already given your man the ball to inbound it.

5. They seem to have adopted Maddens way of keeping the CPU in the game when you get a lead. all of a sudden everyone on the CPU's team gets hot and cannot miss and you on the other hand cannot make a bucket anywhere on the floor.

6. When the CPU is running the fast break and you have men back to defend its like they loose their minds or something and ignore the guy going to the hoop for the dunk. They make no attempt at all to try and defend him. Its like they are waiting for their own man to come up court anyone else they ignore.

Live is a good game but overall NBA2K3 is slightly better, especially in multiplayer games.

[Graphik]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must sa

All of it is true, Its sooo true

[SteelerForLife]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must sa

The more I play Live, the more of the types of things you listed I see, and the worse the game gets. Even though I exchanged 2K3 to get Live (at EB, with their new "one-exchange" limit), I'm beginning to regret that decision. I was hoping that Live's gameplay would be tight enough to overcome the hyper-fast pace of the game, but there are a enough holes in the AI to make the experience excruciating. I am the type of player that likes to control a single player on defense while letting the AI handle my teammates. But Live requires you to hold your teammates hands (control them) constantly because they simply refuse to do things on their own. AI teammates consistently refuse to go after offensive rebounds themselves, so you end up having to switch to the guy in rebounding position right after your shot to have a chance at a putback. They are poor at picking up players defensively on the fast break (choosing instead to just occupy passing lanes, which is useless because intercepting passes mid-air just doesn't happen), so unless you frantically mash the player switch button to get control of the furthest defender back, it's an easy dunk or alley-oop for the CPU. This situation is made worse by the fact that when you control a defender and the ball handler is anywhere in the vicinity, he immediately goes into the defensive crouch, sidestepping his way slowly downcourt, whether you want him to or not. The only way around this is to turbo you player back down court, which means that your players tire more quickly compared to CPU players, resulting in a ton of turnovers on the offensive end.

Other bothersome things:
-The blocks. I thought I could live with the over-the-top 5th row slaps. I can't. Not with every single blocked shot. Variety is desparately needed here.
-Shot variety. Every shot in Live has four possible outcomes: swish, clank, block, or dunk. Out of those, a good 70% of them are of the block or dunk variety. Gets old quickly.

You know what would have worked for EA? Take the 1-on-1 game out of Live, flesh it out (more street courts, tournaments, etc.), box it up, and sell it as a separate game. With the freestyle control this would be the ultimate pick-up-and-play game. Add online tournaments and Street Hoops style off-court aspect (clothing, wagering), we might be looking at Sports GOTY material. The attempt to emulate the NBA might be holding this game system back .

Bottom line for me. I was hoping I could combine Live's arcade style with NCAA BBall 2K3's simulation of the college game. But Live's shortcomings are quickly becoming unbearable; enough to where even 2K3's warts seem trivial now. Looks like I'll have to trade in Live to re-purchase 2K3 and take the L on the exchange .

[Goaty]

Re: I got both LIve and 2k3 on the same day.after days of playing I must sa

Very nice post. I had been very tempted over the weekend to one-time-exchange 2K3 for Live at EB, but I held off because I have a few days yet and 2K3 is growing on me.

I play "D" the same way as you and the 2K3 defenders seem to do fine without hand-holding. You have given me some food for thought, thanks for sharing your experiences