New NBA Live 08 video on IGN - 6/15

[Bateman111]

Here is my take: After watching both videos about 5 times each I have to say that I am impressed with what I saw. This is already much better than Live 07. Here are the positive that I saw:
-Much better framerate
-Player movement looked realistic and players seemed to have a sense of weight to them.
-Loved the way the court looks in LA.
-Rebounding looked worlds ahead of Live 07
-The dunk by LeBron was a little too quick but once again, worlds ahead of Live 07. In Live 07, his head would have been above the rim and his hand wouldn't have even made contact with the rim.
-Raja's jumper looked smooth and realistic. It actually looked like a shooting form, and the arc on it was perfect.
-The shot by Nash in the lane was somewhat choppy but there was nothing like that in Live 07.
-Graphics look great not only standing but in motion also.
Negatives:
-Players still look odd when jumping to try and block a shot.
-Passing still needs work
-Pump fakes look odd
-Post moves need work and more need to be added.

Overall I liked what I saw. Would have loved to see a Laker possesion, though.

I really hope 2K does something with the player movement this year. I just think the players in this game move more like real athletes. They plant their feet and feel like they have weight to them. I just don't like the player movement system in 2K7 at all. I think Live has a chance to be the better game for me this year. I just don't see why everyone thinks 2K7 is soo great.

[el badman]

I guess we would need a video with a closer view, but it doesn't seem like the collisions and contacts got better either, even though it was one of EA's goals...
Players seem to bump into invisible walls rather than each other...

[hokupguy]

i think it looks much better the last year, players are moving much more smoothly no choppy movements , i think they break out of there funk this year.

[Craig]

It LOOKS like a unfinished NBA 2K7 now...

Since I've never played NBA 2K, I can only say Live08 still got a long way to go,

even when being compared to 2K7.

By the way, if this is so-called Next-Gen...
There is no reason a normal PC can't run this game.

[BigKaboom2]

I don't think it's "early footage" - it will probably be released looking pretty much like that, which is unfortunate. They still can't get the ball going through the hoop to look normal; it just kind of morphs in like it's spinning around in a funnel with a hole in the middle. The animations still aren't smooth-looking, and when a player does a 180 turn while dribbling it just looks absurd.

I'm disappointed.

[JohnnyLi]

I liked the video, but I agree that the shot fakes were extremely quick. I think I'm easily impressed though lol...

[Jing]

haha, "and LeBron James steps out of bounds"....
not impressed.

[Arthas86]

it's a copy of 2k7

[ThaLiveKing]

It LOOKS like a unfinished NBA 2K7 now...

Since I've never played NBA 2K, I can only say Live08 still got a long way to go,

even when being compared to 2K7.

By the way, if this is so-called Next-Gen...
There is no reason a normal PC can't run this game.

2k7 last year was better than Live, but it still had it's own problems. Styll a good game, this game looks like it could give it a run. Even though some of y'all don't like what you see, atleast you know the developers are trying to make this game work. Cause if you compare these small vids to the last two years on the 360, a lot of Progress has been made. and this is coming from a guy who bashd the game up last year


Edit: I wish they would change the rim sound and the swoosh!! I wanna see if the ball physics are what they say

[Andrew]

I like the little hop that Nash did when he was bringing the ball up, though I'm not sure if he really does it.

It's a generic animation for point guards bringing the ball up the floor. I saw Chauncey Billups perform one in an earlier video.

Personally I thought a couple of the animations looked a bit better, specifically the dunk by LeBron and some of the collision detection/player interaction animations that make the "on-ball scenarios" but I still feel it's hard to draw concrete conclusions from preview videos. After all, NBA Live 2005 is often looked upon as a recent high point in the series but a lot of the preview media was panned when it was first released. That's not to dismiss any criticism we might have of the product as we've seen it so far, just that the videos don't always give us an entirely accurate portrayal of certain aspects of the game, good and bad.

next gen?
so PC version will be even more poor than that?

I don't think we can really draw any conclusions about the Current Gen version from a preview of a build of the Next Gen version. I don't expect the Current Gen version will feature much in the way of innovation though.

By the way, if this is so-called Next-Gen...
There is no reason a normal PC can't run this game.

I don't think many people would dispute that. It's not about the power of PCs and whether's it's feasible or not or whether another company ports from Next Gen platforms to the PC. It comes down to which platforms EA Sports has decided to focus upon and whether or not they decide to stay the course with the PC version or start porting from Next Gen.

[will658761]

andrew, what do you think of the videos?

[Pera]

It can't be worse than 07. I'll give it that.


But I will probably skip live 08 this year, I'm not really feeling it anymore .

[volsey]

NBA 2k7 isn't a perfectly polished game. But you can EASILY play through a acouple games without noticing a glitch or bug. This is because the people over at 2k have set a good foundation, work hard and get most of the game finished early. Then everyone that works on the game plays the game for a month or two to get all the bugs out and tweak sliders, and smooth out the game before it's released. I remember the creators talking about how much fun their whole team has had playing NBA 2k7 like a month 1/2 before it was set for release in an interview, and that's good to hear, that's what EA needs. If they tested the game RIGHT AWAY within 15 minutes of playing they should notice that their opponents don't sub. It's obvious.

This video is horrible for how long they've had to work on it. Nevermind the dark crowd, bad AI on fastbreaks, and all that, they should at least have the player shots down. It's not like they made a whole new engine, they should be just improving from last year, so then why can't Duncan or Marion perform a pump fake or normal looking shot, or pass the ball normal? It's pathetic. They took the time to focus on Nash's little "hop" up the floor, which is good and those little animations make the game feel more organic, but why focus on those little things when the players shots and passes look worse than Live 95?

[JaoSming]

why didnt they just upgrade the current gen graphics.


Hell, why did they get rid of the 2003 / 2004 engine. Facial expression, dynamic shadows, good lighting without normal files. Hell March Madness 2003 had a FULL 3D crowd on the PS2. Time for more of this

[jakarta]

It seems that EA decided to shrink the player models and increase the head size which gives each player a "bubble head" look ever since Live 2005 for current gen. It’s not as extreme as it sounds, but most players don’t look natural in 06 and 07.

Would they do that in purpose to make Live nexgen look superior/advanced, or to "encourage" ppl to move on to nexgen consoles??

Live 2005 had the best gfx engine for current gen i think, most player's body and head were spot on.

[atlwarrior]

:wall: why didnt they just upgrade the current gen graphics.


Hell, why did they get rid of the 2003 / 2004 engine. Facial expression, dynamic shadows, good lighting without normal files. Hell March Madness 2003 had a FULL 3D crowd on the PS2. Time for more of this

I agree. Except my favorites were 2003 and 2005.I think on 2003 all they needed to do was slow the gameplay down a little,make better shot animations, make it look smoother, add collisions,change free throw routines, and tone down the amount of dunks.

EA has created a complete mess of Live

They could have created a sim off the nba live 2003 engine

I even remember the cpu taking advantage of a mismatch in the post in 2003

live 07 current gen has a ton of more glitches than 2003 had

the superstars dont call isolation anymore

and it seems as if the cpu doesnt even try to run their offense through their star player anymore

nba live 2003 was not the best but with a few tweaks it was more playable than live 07 is now

[Andrew]

andrew, what do you think of the videos?

I posted a few impressions in the post immediately above yours.

[Patr1ck]

and it seems as if the cpu doesnt even try to run their offense through their star player anymore

That's weird to read. I was playing against the Lakers, and Kobe took 35 shots. Playing against the Spurs, it was Parker and Duncan with the most offense. I also played against Dallas once, and the Mavs went into Dirk in the 4th quarter 5-6 times in a row sparking a comeback.

[atlwarrior]

and it seems as if the cpu doesnt even try to run their offense through their star player anymore

That's weird to read. I was playing against the Lakers, and Kobe took 35 shots. Playing against the Spurs, it was Parker and Duncan with the most offense. I also played against Dallas once, and the Mavs went into Dirk in the 4th quarter 5-6 times in a row sparking a comeback.

Okay u never seen the cpu run all the way to the basket with their pg (pg domination that is)

And then youre telling me that youve never seen the pg pass and the person he passes to just settles for a fadeaway 3pt shot

Im sorry but thats not trying to get the ball to your star player

on nba live 2003 at least the players never took stupid shots like fadeaway 3pointers

[Patr1ck]

PG domination disappeared when I learned how to play defense, before that they would torch me and take 40 shots. I haven't seen a fadeaway 3 for quite some time, but it could be the modifications to my aiact. I do remember wierd scenarios where a certain player would just shoot a quick 3 while fading as soon as they got the ball, and that was an obvious flaw. I agree that those things should not be in the game, especially for the pick up and play factor. After I learned how to stop the pg, the gameplay got alot better and I started seeing the real scorers on each team become the main option once they got the ball.

[fred.cad]

PG domination disappeared when I learned how to play defense, before that they would torch me and take 40 shots.

[Andrew]

on nba live 2003 at least the players never took stupid shots like fadeaway 3pointers

True, although the game had its own problems. Aside from the tempo and exaggerated blocks the CPU also had a habit of doing weird things like having players such as Shaq and Mutumbo step back and take - and sometimes make - long twos and three pointers.

[benji]

Can we stop calling the X360/PS3 versions "Next Gen"? That's the Current Generation of Consoles now.

Based on the quality of Madden Wii, I slightly look forward to Live Wii. Even if it will be Live 07 with five or six hundred more bugs and AI issues. Just like the PC version likely will.

Porting the X360 version would be insanely easy nowdays. If I'm going to have another terrible playing basketball game on my PC, at least it should be shiny and have a bunch more meaningless ratings. Other than inefficient coding, I can't see why Live 08 Current Gen would be anymore taxing on a PC than say Shadowrun.