On ESPN's gamer link (not affiliated with ESPN somehow) it ranked Live higher than its company's own ESPN Basketball. And not by a little bit either. Live is ranked higher also. Of course it was different reviwers, but still... http://sports.espn.go.com/espngamer/ourReviews
And last year's got an 8.2 from the same site. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/nbalive2003/review.html
My favorite feature in NBA2K3 was the, "Hay guys i'm two inches to the rim! Let me float over here and try a lay up or a fadeaway" or "Hay i'm Shaq and I can't dunk real close to the rim" Live 2003 was comedy when it came to the foul button. "Hey let me post up and try to back in :flop: :foul: shi
I don't mean to offend any of you die hard EA sports fans, but how can you look at NBA LIVE and actually think it's better than 2k? Just graphically speaking it is blatently obvious that the Sega series is by far superior. Anyone with a pair of eyes can see this. Also, what is the big deal wtih this "freestyle" thing. EA and their marketing team at it again. Who cares about this freestyle crap function. It's just a fancy name for a regular juke move that is featured in various other basketball games. Ok, yes Madden is overall a better football game than NFL 2k, but in baskeball the once king NBA live has taken a backseat for the past 4 years. I'm getting mine next tuesday when it comes out. Live is mediocre just like 90% of all EA games. It just has the EA marketing push and in the end what does that do for you? Nothing really, it just leaves you with a crappy game that you'll end up selling on Ebay.
I buy both games every year and for the past two years NBA2k has gotten more playing time on my consoles. I can't really comment on the graphics for NBA 2k3 since I change the damn camera angle (I detest the standard camera angle for both games. Shame on EA and Sega for that crap) and the players are pretty small so tattoos and other crap mean nothing too me. The one thing I hate about 2k3 is when i'm running a fast break and I have a 2 or 3 on 1 advantage my guy will stop and screw it up. God that pisses me off.
I'll give you that (at this point) 2K is the better sim. And I agree that Madden is still tops in football. But 90% of EA games mediocre? I don't see it. Yeah, they have a lot of money and marketing muscle - but so do most major players in the game industry. I Hard for me to agree they're mediocre when I've found a lot of their stuff getting a serious amount of playing time this year: Battlefield C&C: Generals Sim series (including city and the underrated Golf) NBA Street 2 NCAA There's a reason they make that much money. And it isn't all because we're a bunch of gullible saps that fall for a 'marketing push'.
I buy both every year also. The 2K series definitely won the battle on my PS2 the last two years. The early word on Live '04 does seem good though. Anyone get it yet? The game stores in NY keep saying 10/15 and not 10/14. They say that it ships today (10/14)
took me a while to figure out, but I resolved most of those weird fading shots when I learned to press that button to face the basket before shooting.
I don't have the game, nor do I really plan on getting it, but you guys can go to a Live '04 message board and see what they have to say. Here's where I went: http://cgi.gamefaqs.com/boards/gentopic.asp?board=2000185 So far, I see a couple LONG threads about people who got. Be warned though. Some people may be...*gasp*...LYING about having the game. I read one thread and it does sound as though Live is better, though I'm taking someone else's word for it. Take it for what it is worth.
I just picked the game up. I'll post my opinions in a little while. (I'm watching the computer play Yao and Steve a one-on-one game just for the hell of it right now! )
I got mine in the mail today around 11. Played for about 6 hours straight. It's hardcore. Gameplay is MUCH more realistic, offense is much tougher. Gotta love the new hop step move. One problem I still have is the fact that PG's still seem to explode on offense for the opponents. That can be adjusted to though.
Good to hear the gameplay is better. I am thinking about picking up the game but I am not sure if I am going to. When I fly back overseas I might pick up a bootleg of both to test them out and then buy the better of the two, for online play etc.
YES, the game is about 1,000 times more realistic. The defense in there is brutal, and the dunk frequency is much less. I played 6 minute quarters and there were only 5 dunks for my team (Yao had 2, Francis had 1, Cuttino had 1 and Cato caught an oop) Just for fun, here's the points/assists/rebounds etc. from the game I played against the Celtics;: Yao: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks Francis: 19 points, 5 assists, 3 steals Cat: 6 points, 1 assist, 1 steal (i couldn't get the ball to him much) E.Griffin: 4 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks Cato: 2 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block Taylor: 10 points, 6 rebounds, 0 blocks The rest I don't remember, but you can see those stats are much more close to the players real stats. In Live 2003 Francis would have had 60 points and 25 assists! By the way, I won the game 79-68. Oh, and towards the end of the game they start the whole intentional foul thing, and that (just like in real life) can get really annoying. There's also a seperate button for shooting and dunking, so you can decide which one you want to do. Like Nuggets4 said, that drop step is great! Especially if you got a good center like Yao, Shaq, Zydrunas etc. I'd give the game a 9/10!
Cool. Good to hear the JB. Sorry to pry you from your game. Go on now, you are free. Enjoy some more NBA Live 2004.
I would try it... But I haven't bought a basketball game since NBA 2002 (with Francise on the cover) was pure ****. If I ever stop playing Madden 2004 or Devil May Cry 2... maybe i'll check it out.
Question - Can you include the legends in the draft? Or for that matter does it even have the draft function? I enjoy playing a whole season with Bird on player lock. I enjoy going up against the likes of Erving, Magic, Russell, Chamberlain, and the stars of today.
