If you want a more arcade feel go with EA NBA LIVE If you want more stratgety and simulation go with ESPN 2K series. I personally have not bought an NBA live version of the game since the ESPN versions or Sega versions have come out. The quality and game play is much better and always will be.
The ESPN series of games are by far the best sports games out there... and at 20 bucks when they first come out they can't be beat. ESPN's NBA 2005 is much better then NBA Live. If you're into more arcade style games NBA Street is popular, although I'm not a fan of the And One type simulators. It is a shame that the NFL decided to be greedy and lease out their logos and names to only EA because now the only NFL game you'll see for the next 6 years or so will be Madden.... which sucks considering that ESPN NFL 2005 was leaps and bounds better then Madden 2005.
ESPN series OWNS Madden and NBA Live. Now since there is no competition, EA will just rehash the same product year after year with no improvement.
I've always gone with the ESPN 2K series. Other series have up and down years. 2K is quality year after year. Cmon, it's Sega.
With all fairness to EA (I don't have the game yet, but I've played it plenty already) ... there is almost no chance this 2006 version was going to live up to anyone's expectations. Now that they've had this exclusive license for 6 months or whatever it is everyone thinks the game should be light years better. I think that you'll see more improvement in the 2007 version of the game, or if there is a 2006 version on the 360 or PS3. They could have just skipped releasing it for Xbox and PS2 and just waited for the new systems, but then people get upset that they have to wait so long for the game. They're kind of in a lose-lose situation. Personally I think they did as much improvement this year as they've done in most years. They have the new passing mode, the "truck" stick, and superstar mode. Sure, other years have seen better improvements, but at least they didn't just update the rosters and ship it out. Anyway, sorry to derail the thread...for basketball I'd go with ESPN.
I really liked the latest version of ESPN2K also. But, if you can find the latest version of Inside Drive (Shaq on the cover), which probably around $8-$10 now used, I would try that out of I were you. To me, Inside Drive was better than any other it terms of gameplay. Of course now the rosters will be all out of whack (no Bobcats, etc), but if you see it cheap, It's a good try.
I'm usually more of a fan of the 2K series, so I lean towards ESPN NBA 2K5. Plus, like mentioned, the game is the cheaper of the two main NBA games. But it really depends on what you like. You try renting both Live and ESPN. Or maybe you'll find out that you'd rather stick with something like NBA Street Vol. 3. You should have some nice NBA gameplay with any of these games, IMO. Don't forget the 110 million Xbox's and PS2's out there (130 with GC). I think that may have persuaded EA to stick with the current-gen consoles just a little bit longer. edit: Oh yeah, and this is a pretty good "basketball" game for the Xbox:
Only for football, right? The 2k series still has basketball and baseball. And did EA buy the rights to ESPN?
EA has the rights to ESPN, the NFL, and even the AFL. Take Two (the 2K publisher) has the rights to the MLB. The NBA rights aren't really exclusive to either one, IIRC. It is a little more complicated than that, but it won't really change Live or the 2K series AFAIK.
*snicker* Anyhow...yeah, for basketball the simulation feel of ESPN 2K is much better. But it all depends on your style of play.
