Bball 2009 : NBA Live 09 or NBA 2k9?

Waddupcouzin · Post by **Waddupcouzin** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 10:42 am

2K9, it plays a more realistic game of basketball. Not perfect but more realistic.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 11:04 am

Which is better 2K8 or 2K9? I still have 2K8 for the 360.

EZSnappin · Post by **EZSnappin** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 12:11 pm

I'll rep for Live 09. What it does well - floor spacing, drive and kick, team playsets - it does better than 2K9. The fast break is crap though; it is a half court game, but a good one. What 2K9 does better, and I mean much better, is make the individual players come to life. 2K9 has better and more individual animations, which makes Kobe seem like Kobe and different from Ray Allen or Iverson or any other shooting guards The EA team needs to work harder at animations, because the game can be amazingly ugly with jumping transitions from one move to another.

Both can be viewed as realistic because the goals of each development team are different. 2K9 looks like a broadcast of an NBA game, with lots of closeups, peripheral bench animations and television atmosphere. Live 09 is more like watching a game in person, a bit removed from the action.

Afrodamus · Post by **Afrodamus** » Sun Dec 28, 2008 8:52 pm

EZSnappin wrote:I'll rep for Live 09. What it does well - floor spacing, drive and kick, team playsets - it does better than 2K9. The fast break is crap though; it is a half court game, but a good one. What 2K9 does better, and I mean much better, is make the individual players come to life. 2K9 has better and more individual animations, which makes Kobe seem like Kobe and different from Ray Allen or Iverson or any other shooting guards The EA team needs to work harder at animations, because the game can be amazingly ugly with jumping transitions from one move to another.

Both can be viewed as realistic because the goals of each development team are different. 2K9 looks like a broadcast of an NBA game, with lots of closeups, peripheral bench animations and television atmosphere. Live 09 is more like watching a game in person, a bit removed from the action.

very accurate analysis IMO

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:15 am

I'm getting the sense in 2K9 that defense is better played manually that using lock-on... is that a commonly held notion? When I'm not having those games where the CPU is shooting 68%, the game seems phenomenal... the first b-ball game in a long time where I can stay engaged even with 10 minute quarters. Just have to get consistent with defense. Shame about the online, though.

I'm playing on PS3, currently.

Murph · Post by **Murph** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:29 am

I originally tried Live 09 as a change of pace and I enjoyed it for a short while. You can see Live is finally starting to move in the right direction.

In the end though, I went back to 2K9. Still the superior game, IMHO.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:57 am

Slumberland wrote:I'm getting the sense in 2K9 that defense is better played manually that using lock-on... is that a commonly held notion? When I'm not having those games where the CPU is shooting 68%, the game seems phenomenal... the first b-ball game in a long time where I can stay engaged even with 10 minute quarters. Just have to get consistent with defense. Shame about the online, though.

I'm playing on PS3, currently.

I just picked up 2K9 yesterday for around $27, but I can't decide whether or not I want to keep it. I keep reading about how the A.I. is unstoppable and makes the game pretty much unplayable. Also, I'm concerned by reading over at OS that the patch messed up the game. Is that true? I'm not concerned about online play. I just want a good pick up and play game. I doubt I'll play an entire season.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:42 am

I'm about 15 games into a Bulls franchise, and I've won 1 game. Granted, I am not the greatest B-Ball player, and the Bulls are atrocious. But it is pretty hard.

Having said that, I don't think it's impossible AI. I've lost a lot of games because of getting used to playing 2k again and my own stupidity. You have to really work your strengths and take good shots.

Despite the losing, I like it. However, if I owned a PS3 and wasn't dying for an NBA game, I'd probably not spend the money with The Show only five weeks away. Once that comes out, I'll probably play very little of this. I've used it mostly as a nice pacifier now that I'm done with Madden and kind of tired of Head Coach.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 12:30 pm

sportdan30 wrote:
I just picked up 2K9 yesterday for around $27, but I can't decide whether or not I want to keep it. I keep reading about how the A.I. is unstoppable and makes the game pretty much unplayable. Also, I'm concerned by reading over at OS that the patch messed up the game. Is that true? I'm not concerned about online play. I just want a good pick up and play game. I doubt I'll play an entire season.

The better choice would be NBA Live 09 if your looking for a good pick up and play BB game.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 12:46 pm

sportdan30 wrote:I keep reading about how the A.I. is unstoppable and makes the game pretty much unplayable.

I'm going to have to log more hours before I can figure out how true this is... so many things seem to go into it; the camera you use, the degree to which you use lock-on, etc. I was getting torched using the 2K camera and lock-on, then held the Bucks to 43% shooting using the Drive camera and more importantly, laying off the lock-on. They seemed less able to drive around me at will, and my CPU teammates were less likely to get totally confused on double teams. But the sample size is really small. And it's the Bucks. But I'm the Knicks, so, hey.

sportdan30 · Post by **sportdan30** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 2:04 pm

I play using the Broadcast camera and generally controlling one of the better defenders or centers on the team. I'll make subtle changes with my defensive strategy, but overall I don't try and control too much on D.

I played the demo again last evening and while I realize it's not indicative of the retail game, I still had an enjoyable time. Graphically, I'm a bit disappointed with the PS3 version, but there's no denying it wasn't fun.

It's really just a carry over until The Show, but I can see myself picking up the game every now and then for a change of pace.

greggsand · Post by **greggsand** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:59 pm

2k 360 guys, has the online improved? I heard the servers were pretty laggy...

toonarmy · Post by **toonarmy** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:08 pm

sportdan30 wrote:
Slumberland wrote:I'm getting the sense in 2K9 that defense is better played manually that using lock-on... is that a commonly held notion? When I'm not having those games where the CPU is shooting 68%, the game seems phenomenal... the first b-ball game in a long time where I can stay engaged even with 10 minute quarters. Just have to get consistent with defense. Shame about the online, though.

I'm playing on PS3, currently.
I just picked up 2K9 yesterday for around $27, but I can't decide whether or not I want to keep it. I keep reading about how the A.I. is unstoppable and makes the game pretty much unplayable. Also, I'm concerned by reading over at OS that the patch messed up the game. Is that true? I'm not concerned about online play. I just want a good pick up and play game. I doubt I'll play an entire season.

I haven't played Live, but I have played 2K9 and think it's a good game for casual fans. I do not follow the NBA very closely but am enjoying NBA 2K9. You can pretty much customize the game to play any style you want via the options and sliders without any problem. It's also cool that the game updates rosters and attributes constantly to mirror the real league (optional feature).

I'm surprised that anyone would say the AI is unstoppable. I play on All-Star level and have competitive games, usually winning about 75% of them so far. The key to stopping the CPU is making sure you get a hand in its face on shots. Leave the guys wide open and they'll torch you, but it doesn't take a nuclear physics professor to figure out that it's important to guard shooters in basketball. Overall I'd recommend NBA 2K9 as a good pick up and play game.

Slumberland · Post by **Slumberland** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:23 pm

I like that you can apportion minutes to players in the Association menus, so the CPU can run your rotation accordingly. I don't like doing manual subs, so this helps get the overall results I'm looking for.

Also, player specific post-game highlights are GREAT.

I normally wouldn't buy a basketball game either, but we had a big videogame marathon as one part of my bachelor party a couple weeks ago (nerdy, I know), and the 2K series was very popular back when a bunch of us were roommates, post-college. So I picked it up for that, and am not regretting it.

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:38 pm

I've played a few online games and I've not noticed any lag at all.

As far as the unstoppable AI goes I definitely disagree. When you start out playing, especially if you're not used to 2K bball then yes, on default, you're probably going to get your butt handed to you. Especially if you're the Bucks and you're going up against the Celtics. I'm currently 30 games into a season with the Clippers playing entirely on the default settings with an overall record of 7-23. Even though that record is terrible I've still had a ton of fun playing so far. The games are usually very close, occasionally I've been blown out (the mavs torched me) but most of the time I'll keep the games within 5-10 points. The computer gets ruthless at the end of the game so its very difficult to hold onto a slim lead but when you do it makes the victory that much sweeter. Running plays isn't totally necessary as the AI does a fairly decent job trying to set screens for you and getting itself open for a quick basket. Its mandatory to get your RB passing down cold IMO. If you have an open shooter then you need to dump the ball to that guy immediately because when the cpu makes a mistake it isn't for very long. I've had some spectacular plays when moving the ball around smartly (i.e. driving into the lane, jumping up for a shot, drawing 2 defenders and then dumping the ball to an open center for the easy dunk).

Playing hard-nosed, in your face defense is absolutely mandatory. You can't give the cpu open looks EVER. Even if I'm just pushing my defender into the shooter without hitting the Y (swat) button that seems to help the cpu miss some shots.

My main gripe is the same gripe I have with most sports video games. After awhile the action become very deja vu. The different teams do seem to play with distinct styles but the animations are becoming a bit stale though I'm still enjoying the game.