NBA Live 09 Playstation 2, Wii and PSP Issues

[megidoflare]

Anyone expecting a great deal of innovation in the PS2 version was bound to be disappointment since the 360 and PS3 are the platforms EA are focusing on now but some of the issues present in this year's PS2 version (ie. those that remain from last year) are frankly inexcusable. My honest opinion of the Xbox 360 version is quite favourable (full review coming soon) but the PS2 version is quite a sloppy production.

I agree with you there. At least they should have made their final PS2 NBA Live (most probably) the best NBA live for the PS2. But sadly, the bugs there still exist.

What is the QA team in EA doing???

[Andrew]

Well, I would imagine that the QA team isn't necessarily looking for basketball related issues with the game, such as realistic substitutions or simulated stats so that stuff slips by.

[scottmca]

Regarding PS2. I certainly understand why they are focused on ps3 and xbox360; however, there is no excuse for this product. Thankfully, I bought it on sale. As a regular player since Lakers vs. Celtics (still have the disks), I have always put up with the deficiencies in hope of year-to-year improvements. It seems like they didn't fix prior bugs, yet it is clear that they made some changes - perhaps for the sake of change only.

1. Old rosters are unavoidable but the inaccurate ratings and positions are ridiculous. There are the ones noted above as excellent examples. I am fine with making adjustments to deal with some things, but it is not cool that Josh McRoberts (who?) is a top 15 pick when you fantasy draft for season mode. At this point in his career, he may not be in the top 15 rounds.

2. Turnovers are out of control.

3. Dunks are lousy. It seems that most hit the rim then bounce in.

4. Stats in simulation are terrible. Shaq is frequently an assist leader in the league - in like the top 2 or 3. I can lead the league in rebounding with 7.5 per game. Top 20 scorers are easily above 30 ppg with top 5 at 40 plus. This is with 12 minute sim. (FYI - I haven't had trouble having a different quarter length in the games i have played out)

5. In this game, all PGs seem to be shoot-first. Played against GSW and Marco Bellinelli (their starting PG of course) erupted for 43 points (on like 17 for 41 shooting). He was the new human highlight film. Mike Conley likes to shoot the 3 a whole bunch.

6. Game smoothness / flow seems worse then ever. Catch and shoot looks extremely awkward. More like catch, pause, give defender opportunity to catch up, attempt shot, get blocked - all the while i am pushing the shoot button furiously. passing on the break is also slow.

[Andrew]

Absolutely. It's nice that they managed to add some watered down versions of the 360/PS3 features but some of the core elements of the whole NBA gaming experience - realistic stats and player abilities topping the list - have gone untouched after last year's disappointing effort.

[Fizdale]

I know there's a designed thread, but in the PSP version, Denver has 4 starters only, selecting a C is disabled, so when you play a game there's only a PF, SF, SG and PG, while my team has all, anyone else having this?

[Andrew]

Likely another database error. Can you reorder rosters in the PSP version, or just change the starters before a game?

[megidoflare]

I know there's a designed thread, but in the PSP version, Denver has 4 starters only, selecting a C is disabled, so when you play a game there's only a PF, SF, SG and PG, while my team has all, anyone else having this?

for real? hmmm let me try that one...

you could try Andrew's suggestion (reordering the rosters).

I remember in 05 (PS2), the International All-Stars had 6 starters (!) When i reordered them it went back to normal. (although on the starting lineups screen you will get the first 5 players)

[Andrew]

That's the issue I was thinking of too, the International All-Stars had a couple of players designated as the starting power forward.

[Fizdale]

Thanks Drew-drew, I went to reorder and they got JR Smith @ PG, Carter @ SG, Iverson @ SF, Melo @ PF and Kenyon Mart @ C.. problem fixed.

[Andrew]

No worries. Unfortunately the last gen versions seem to be riddled with these issues.

[Morzikei]

Bought the game for PS2 today...

1. The rosters suck! I know what was said in the first post, but the third guy (LK) after Melo and AI not getting a cyberface(luckily, the moronic face is mendable with a headband) and normal ratings(LK has 56 - something that was good only in Live 06) is outrageous. Took me some time to fix up the Lithuanian team, as well as the four Lithuanians in the NBA. Also it's weird how the added the 3D portraits for relatively fake faces while Siskauskas has a great cyberface - and no photo.

2. CPU steals 0, interception 0... The only way.

3. Lower the dunk vs. layup slider - otherwise a lot of dunks are gonna fail (interestingly enough, some failed dunks tend to result in baskets, something I didn't see in any Live before)

4. The sliding - unnatural because of it being sliding, irritating because it tends to result in leaning jump shots - but realistic because players aren't massless, thus some momentum has to be gained... Realism and difficulty is added with not so sharp turning.

5. But the game plays good - had a nice game against Great Britain, and with all-star, no fouls against me (gonna tweak that a bit tomorrow maybe) and no Big Z (still had 3 real and 2 capable centers) or Siskauskas on the court it was still a 75-60 game (though it was close).

6. Be a Pro - 100 times better than the ***p in FIFA 08. Had a quarter with Big Z - felt great. Started a season with a created SG on the Bucks - lost to the Kings, but after being down by 20 managed to climb to a 4 deficit (final was 71-63 I think)

7. Lay-ups and dunks tend to get missed - a lot... But that evens out the weak defense. Jumpshots, however, go down quite nicely for both HUman and CPU teams.

8. If you plan of having your guards penetrate on a FIBA court - lower the charge/block rating - Saras managed to collect 3 offensives against GB with just lay-ups. There are other FIBA nuances - if you call a timeout, it will be taken at the next dead-ball situation. 2 in the 1st half and 3 in the 2nd. Ball possesion changes every quarter - so winning th jump-ball might turn backl on you if you need the ball immediately in the fourth.

9. You may not like this, but the inbound blocking technique is very effective - not so much like in Live 2005, but easier to pull off than in Live 07. Of course, I lowered the steal/intercept ratings for myself, but no need to even them up with the CPU - you'll be sorry.

And the best thing:

10. The graphics look amazing. A little light, but the player models look a lot smoother and realistic than on Live 07... Lighting is also good, the poor shadows aren't highlighted, and the only bad thing is that the crowd is 2D - perhaps that was done to have a capable engine for the great on-court graphics.


BUGJust found a nasty little bug which allows CPU teams to sign free agents in the FIBA World Champs. Detected once Lithuania and Australia both had Jasikevicius as the main PG, then I checked out the rosters and found half the teams having IR lists and, of course, free agents. First thought it to be caused by randomising the tables, but now I guess I'll have to take control of all 24 teams to prevent his from happening.

[AI4ever]

I have encountered a new bug for my PSP NAB Live 2009 - when I have a new goto player, my PSP automatically turns itself off???

Anyone else experiencing that problem?

[scott1927]

4. Stats in simulation are terrible. Shaq is frequently an assist leader in the league - in like the top 2 or 3. I can lead the league in rebounding with 7.5 per game. Top 20 scorers are easily above 30 ppg with top 5 at 40 plus. This is with 12 minute sim. (FYI - I haven't had trouble having a different quarter length in the games i have played out)5. In this game, all PGs seem to be shoot-first. Played against GSW and Marco Bellinelli (their starting PG of course) erupted for 43 points (on like 17 for 41 shooting). He was the new human highlight film. Mike Conley likes to shoot the 3 a whole bunch.

[b]Could you please explain how you accomplished this? I can't make it work where i play 8 minute quarters and simulate 12 minute quarters in franchise mode.[/b]

[hackdevil]

PS2 has wrong ratings as well?

[Cleveland wins]

My biggest complaint about simulation stats, are the steals and blocks per game. I'm big on defense since in i've always been a point gaurd who can steal, since junior high but any way, one game i simulated my team had 0 steals and 0 block, this is for the ps2 planning on getting xbox 360 when i get a second source of income. But i've had nice success most of the times with assists, for example with my memphis dynasty, my starting point gaurd jarvis i think his name is crittenton? He averages around 5 assists per game and that's what i expect from a point gaurd. In fact one game he got 14 assists. But I see centers and power forward get an average of 6 or more rebounds per game, so as far as i have experienced this game, rebounds and assists have been fine. I know for other people that's not the case, as far as scoring its been pretty decent it seems, although i did see for crying out loud chauncy billups of all people score 60 points, i was like you gotta be kidding! I've only seen players average 20 or 30 points per game although i do see an occasional 40 point scorer for example one of my starting gaurds did this for memphis. And i have the older version of the ps2. I mean how can a team go the entire game with no steals and no blocks or even just 2 o steals or 2 blocks? Especially for teams like orland or charlotte who have big men okafor and howard who can block!

[Andrew]

They're noticeably bad, way lower than they should be but I don't think there's a single statistical category that's properly represented by the PS2 version's sim engine.

[B@5K3TB@11 3L1T3]

Theres one bug where players dribble backwards. And people miss more than half of thier dunks. Very easy to make 3pt though.Like lebron dunked and the ball just stood at the tip of the rim. 3 second later its goes in making a dunk sound. WTF?!? PS2 BTW

[blaccmao]

i don't know if this is just mine, but when I went to dynasty mode, it had last season's schedule... not this year...

psp version by the way...

[Andrew]

No, that would be an issue in every copy. Much like the rating, it's a sign of a sloppy effort as far as the previous gen versions are concerned.

[blaccmao]

i also forgot to mention that it did not update the players salaries...

monta ellis was earning, i believe 664k for 0 years...

[Andrew]

Indeed. Like I said, the last gen version is an inexcusably sloppy effort compared to the Xbox 360/PS3 version.

[tree55292]

psp2 the rookie Derrick Rose Michael Beasley OJ Mayo all the 2008 - 2009 rookie no name no portrait and all the 2007 -2008 rookie have no portrait it is the same roster in 08 not good at all

[Andrew]

Yes, the last gen versions are sloppy efforts and not worth investing in unless you're a more casual gamer and not bothered by the many issues more enthusiastic basketball junkies pick up on straight away.

[tree55292]

Andrew is it there a way to change a player dunkpack in psp2 4 to a 9 pack when you change a player stats in edit player the player dunkpack change to a 4 a player with a 9 or a 10 dunkpack will chang to a 4 can you help me

[Andrew]

Nothing you can do unfortunately since you can't access that value in the PSP version.