I Finally Did It- Wahoo

[Officer Clancy]

Well, I finally broke down and bought a PS3. I was able to find an open box unit online for $300. It came w/Spiderman3 and all contents were in sealed plastic.

In preparation for Live09, I purchased 08 in PS3 (along w/Resistance of Man and Warhawk). The graphics are, as expected phenomenal, but I find the following not to my liking:
1) it is extremely more difficult to make accurate cyberfaces (wtf's with that control setup);
2) it is more difficult to get the appropriately rated players to do moves to shake defenders- (maybe I need more time in the practice gym);
3) the direct pass function requiring you to hold down R1 and at the same time the proper player button is clumsy;
4) having dunk and layup on the same key SUCKS;
5) NO RETRO UNIFORMS;
6) way too much time spent w/replays and shots of the bench, coaches, and players after a basket or foul; and
7) Lack of patch and roster support.

I need to play the game some more and just enjoy the graphics. Oh well, here’s to hoping 09 is a lot better.

[Andrew]

3) the direct pass function requiring you to hold down R1 and at the same time the proper player button is clumsy;

I actually prefer that method, it's the one that's been used in most of the games since Direct Pass was implemented in NBA Live 98. NBA Live 2003, 07 and 08 have used the toggle on/off method though.

4) having dunk and layup on the same key SUCKS;

I prefer that approach as well. It was an interesting experiment in NBA Live 07 but it took away a face button, encouraged dunkfests and was just a liability for players who couldn't dunk. I'd rather they stick with the contextually based approach.

7) Lack of patch and roster support.

Definitely a downer but hopefully won't be an issue with NBA Live 365. We're still limited in what we can do with the game but it might take some of the usual updates out of our hands.

[Officer Clancy]

I actually prefer that method, it's the one that's been used in most of the games since Direct Pass was implemented in NBA Live 98. NBA Live 2003, 07 and 08 have used the toggle on/off method though.

Really- I just thinks its much easier to tap L2 w/left hand and choose direct pass player with right hand after tap.

I prefer that approach as well. It was an interesting experiment in NBA Live 07 but it took away a face button, encouraged dunkfests and was just a liability for players who couldn't dunk. I'd rather they stick with the contextually based approach.

I am actually starting to become acclimated to this set up and have to admit its not that bad.

Definitely a downer but hopefully won't be an issue with NBA Live 365. We're still limited in what we can do with the game but it might take some of the usual updates out of our hands.

Lets hope so.

A couple of new additions to the list are:

8) No sliders and

9) No one-on-one play. This where I really developed my game- playing one-on-one w/Iverson; F#CK Practice Mode.

[Andrew]

Really- I just thinks its much easier to tap L2 w/left hand and choose direct pass player with right hand after tap.

I guess I'm just used to holding it down, a habit that's been difficult to break even in the games with the toggle on/off method.

[Officer Clancy]

Last night I played 07 on my PS2- Jesus what a let down. After playing on the PS3, the PS2 is like getting into a time machine and dialing up 1992. I may never fire that game up again.

With that said I also played 07 on my PC and still found that enjoyable. The PC graphics are far exceed those of the PS2. You all on NLSC project deserve mad love for that work. Once you include all the patches and edits that are available, not to mention the fine tuning allowed by sliders and the like, you really recognize what a great thing the PC version is.

I cannot understand why EA has abandoned this platform.

[Andrew]

They haven't abandoned the platform. Peter Moore's latest comments seem to confirm a return to the PC next year.

[Officer Clancy]

They haven't abandoned the platform. Peter Moore's latest comments seem to confirm a return to the PC next year.

Whoooo, back the train up!!! When was that posted, I completly missed that one? If I had seen that earlier, I may (I say MAY) have continued on w/my miserly, penny-pinching ways and held off the PS3.

Do you have a link?

[Andrew]

Here:
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53921

It does seem like good news on the PC front.

[Officer Clancy]

Here:
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/53921

It does seem like good news on the PC front.

Yeah, that is good news. I'm not surprised to see Madden numbers down over last year. You think NBA Live is bad, w/Madden the only changes from year to year are the rosters- oh, excuse me, I forgot items such as "new and improved" hit sticks and player jukes. Easily worth the annual $40.

In any event, I now need to figure out what my PC/Console mix will be. Right now I'm thinking Madden PC (forget the PS3 keyboard) and Live PS3.

This assumes we can ramp up the PS3 patching availability; I hate not having retro rosters and uniforms available through patches. I cannot say enough time: The patches that people contribute to this site are the BALLS. Live on a next gen console, however, is addictive.

[Andrew]

I'm not sure we'll ever have the amount of patchability on the consoles as we do on the PC. Of course, it remains to be seen how much we'll be able to edit if/when the 360/PS3 version is ported to the PC.

[nba_baller]

6) way too much time spent w/replays and shots of the bench, coaches, and players after a basket or foul;

Actually there is a slider for that in the "My NBA Live 08" section of the game and is on one of the setting screens.

7) Lack of patch and roster support.

.

There are some pretty good rosters in the NBA Live 08 Downloads Section: Roster Patches part of the NBA-Live website. Also the NBA Live Rosters section in Operation Sports has some good rosters as well.

I am using these roster and settings files as the settings are challenging and fun and the rosters are as accurate as the 13th August, 2008, so it is not too hard to update the latest transactions.