NBA Live 07 vs. NBA 2k7

[D_up]

I was just wondering how many of you have played both Live 07 and NBA 2k7 and what your initial thoughts on each franchise / game were.

I've been a Live fanboy since forever, and although I've played the 2k games in the past 2k7 was the first one I purchased, that being said I really enjoy what I have seen from 2k7 so far.

The trading block, is a nice feature, as our three team trades, doing the development drills is more fun than one would expect. And I completely love the other simulation aspects of the game (hiring and firing coaches, creating a gm, etc.)... Oh yeah and most importantly I've been able to tweak the sliders so that I can get realistic 12 minute games going (meaning the game doesn't just degenerate into a dunk fest (thank you shot stick~!)).

Other Things -
Scouting is more fun, yet a little less exact in 2k7, I personally find the added uncertainty a good thing... You can also create your own team.

All that being said there are still some features in Live that I wish were part of the 2k series (or vice versa)...

Among them:

Team Chemistry - I really love how you can check how each player will get along with each other player in NBA Live, to my knowledge you don't have a nice little screen you can bring up like this in the 2k series.

Navigation - Speaking of "screens", the navigation in the 2k series (or at least in 2k7) is horrible! Well that's an understatement, it's beyond horrible! Not only are the menus unattractive and bland but they're just a pain to navigate through.

Graphics - My main complaint with 2k's graphics has to do with how goofy looking some dunks look and how at times the game seems to slow down when you go up for a powerful jam.

Controls - The controls in 2k are a mixed bad, the shot stick is a nice feature, but it along with pulling off simple "flashy moves" like a crossover, are things you really have to work with. Simply put the Live control scheme is much easier to learn and use, and even after having "mastered" the 2k control scheme, I still find the Live controller scheme easier to use.

Other Things - In the current get version of 2k7 there also doesn't seem to be a mid-level exception you can offer to free agents... Although it's nice that you get feedback on your trade request right away (you propse the trade and it is either denied or accepted), it's a little unrealistic and not as fun...

Does anyone else who has played both games have an opinion on this subject (note i'm not trying to turn this into a 2k vs. Live debate, i'm kind of just throwing out my opinion for others to read, and hopefully learn from. I encourage the rest of you to do the same).

[Dan's Brain]

what system are you on?

[D_up]

I have NBA Live 07 for the PC and NBA 2k7 for the PS2. At the very least I think you should rent 2k7 if you haven't played it before, making a decision based on your own experiences is always the best course of action.

[Dan's Brain]

I'll be buying 2k7. live 07 on the ps2, i cant...it's hopeless. i cant finish a game without hiding in a corner and crying.

i'm more of a dynasty/association/whatever gamer, graphics arent any sort of a big deal for me at all. the team chemistry in live, i dont really get. i think there needs to be reasoning behind why some players get along better with others.

2k7 isnt here yet (australia) from what i've seen, but after only getting live on thursday, i'm already sick of it.

[volsey]

I have NBA 2k2, 2k6 and 2k7, Live 2004, 2005, 2006, and NBA Shootout 2003 (at least I think 2003?), all for the PS2 (except maybe Live 2004, but I lost it awhile ago). I got NBA 2k2 and shootout when they were like 10 bucks in 2003, but I still played them quite abit. Out of all the NBA games I have played, I have never played a game for so as long as I have with 2k6 without getting frustrated. After I got some sliders, and tweaked it, within a week of getting the game the gameplay was nearly perfect. I was so impressed with how the CPU plays, on D and on O. The farthest I got was only 1 and a half seasons, but that's because I accidently saved over my first association. I played 73 games in one season, and simmed only 9 games. People say 2k7 is basically the same as 2k6, and for the most part I agree. But there are ALOT of little things that they have fixed to make damn near the most perfect basketball game possible on current gen. Little things like actual numbers in sliders, instead of just that round dot on a line. Being able to put real manufactured shoes on a player. Tendencies like how often a player shoots fadeaways, hook shots, posts up, fouls, does a fancy pass etc. all make each player really individual. There's also quite afew sig shots, of course no where near as many as next gen, but on some team's there's still 2 people with sig shots. It's cool seeing Zydrunas Ilguaskas, Shawn Marion, and Shaq all having their own weird awkward shot. On the fly coaching is pretty sweet, at first I though it was hard to navigate, but now I think it's near perfect. Gameplay wise, I think the CPU has become alot smarter, if you try to double team someone too often, you'll pay the price, that's why sometimes it's better to leave Kobe alone and score 40, rather than double team and give him 30 and 10 assists (which doesn't happen often, but has happened to me once already). 2k's graphics haven't changed much, but I still think they look alot more like watchin a real NBA game compared to Live's, which still has decent graphics (this is especially true with all the 36 camera angles). BTW D up, the mid level exception is in current gen, but it can only be used at the end of the season. Live 2005 was a pretty sweet game IMO too at the time. Graphics were decent, maybe not great but as long as I could tell the difference between Garnett and Shaq, I'm happy.Gameplay was simple and fun, the only bad thing I remember were blocked shots and stealing, but as I said, that's all I remember, they might not have been so bad. The dynasty mode sucked though in 2005, I hated using those NBA points to buy training time. But I really loved the idea of having that My NBA room, it had all the awards you've won in your dynasty, and all the retired jerseys, NBA store to buy accessories etc., have always thought that thing was cool. Live 06 was a step backwards, gameplay wise at least. At first I thought the passes and dunks and stuff were cool, then after they just turned into a nightmare. Alot of weird bugs also made this game worse. The dynasty mode was better though, hiring staff was pretty awesome, scouting was fun, training was fun, everything was pretty decent. The trading system sucked though (draft picks mostly), no trading block, no MLE, basically not much else. The offseason has always been pretty bad in Live. It should just be integrated into the regular season schedule. Dynasty mode in 07 sounds to be pretty good, team chemistry is awesome (I've played it on PSP), but I don't know how the MLE and trading system is, nor do have I heard anything about the offseason in it. The offseason in 2k is alot less linear, you can resign players and hire personall and resign staff at any time. And then after that cutoff date, you can sign Free Agents at any time. The only thing that's really there for only a certain ammount of time is the draft, when you can start to sign FA, and when you can do those rookie workouts that can help you scout a player in the upcoming draft, besides that, it's prety non linear (as people have complained about before).
Holy crap I went on and on.

[FlipzLive07]

Ya i have played both games but what always brings me back to live is simple--ULTIMATE PLAYER CONTROL..in 2k,u pretty much gotta sit and witness a ton of animations take over ur players while in Live u do as u please on both offense and defense..the only thing i really like about 2k is their presentation,the halftime highlights and the recaps,it just adds a nice touch to the game but other than that while ppl say its a dunkfest in Live,in 2k its a layup fest...u can pretty much get 2 easy points anytime as it is in Live too but the dunkathon is toned down this year(because of the defenders riding on u--NO LANCE) as u drive towards the bucket,it slows down your momentun...2K is a great game on the 360,but on the current gen,Live07 is much better than it..considering i only play basketball games, i have spent nuff time on both games and Live is the better simply because of player control and the AI is great this year

[volsey]

Once you know the controls, you can choose which animations to do, so actually you are in control. Theres tons of different layups, hop steps and shots and such, and once you know how to use the shot stick, you can control which one to do. And I don't know which 2k game your playing, or on what difficulty, but I find it really hard to even get by my defender, let alone adjust my layup so that I don't get blocked and then still make the basket. For the collision thingy, I've seen the videos of it, and it looks nice, but 2k6 and 2k7 had like almost the identical collision thing, where your defenders rider along side of you. But then again I haven't actually played the PS2 version of Live07, so maybe there is more to it than that.

[FlipzLive07]

Once you know the controls, you can choose which animations to do, so actually you are in control. Theres tons of different layups, hop steps and shots and such, and once you know how to use the shot stick, you can control which one to do. And I don't know which 2k game your playing, or on what difficulty, but I find it really hard to even get by my defender, let alone adjust my layup so that I don't get blocked and then still make the basket. For the collision thingy, I've seen the videos of it, and it looks nice, but 2k6 and 2k7 had like almost the identical collision thing, where your defenders rider along side of you. But then again I haven't actually played the PS2 version of Live07, so maybe there is more to it than that.

you are not new to the 2K series so im assuming u should know how to at least get by defenders,this year in 2k u have players breaking ankles at least 3 times every game...and by the animations controlling the game for ya, i mean as in, u cant pass execute another move without a particular animation finishing, if u dribble with ur player in 2K, u gotta wait for him to complete his dribbling animation and what not before moving on to the next phase, there are auto fadeways amd no real user control of shots etc..all those things among other stuff are just reasons why im not so big on the 2kseries ever since the mighty game 2k3

[volsey]

I guess I'm not new to it, I play on Hall of Fame difficulty, and honestly it is very hard to get by. The only sure way to get by a defender is with a pick, but then usually your met with help D. If I isolate with Kobe, I can probably get around the defender within 24 seconds about 3 out of 10 times. And of course, nobody spends 25 seconds dribbling trying to get around a defender in the NBA. The best way to get around a defender is to either pump fake, jap step, or the step over (triple threat moves), and then drive. Otherwise just doing crossovers all day will rarely get you by defenders. You really have to watch the CPU defender, where his feet are, which way his bodies angled. There's a video on this with some guy demonstrating how hard it is on youtube, the guy's got a really annoying voice, but it's a good video. As for the animation thing, i guess I know what you mean, but how often are you going to want to pass the ball half way through a spin move. I think this makes it alot more realistic, it'd look gay if you could do a spining hop step half way through a crossover with the ball already leaving your hand to crossover. As for the auto fadeways, the only time it automatically fades away, is when your running up using the turbo button, it's a thing called momentum. NBA players can't run full tilt up the court stop on a dime and jump shoot without moving forward. That is the ONLY time it'll fadeaway without you telling it to. The shot you take depends on where your facing on the court (back to basket, triple threat etc.), and which direction you push the analog stick, (and also this year the camera angle effects which direction you push the shot stick, which I think is stupid).

[FlipzLive07]

Ive seen that mometum video your talkin about, its by Czar explaining how momentum plays out in 2k...07's gameplay has considerably improved, i could get by defenders easily in 05 and 06 with the spin moves but now i gotta rely on setting picks and such but occasionally i do crossover players but not to the extent of breaking their ankles..ur rite about the shotstick being relative to whichever camera is being used and really i just find it a big deal not being in 100% control of my players when playing a game. 2K's animations do get in the way at times, an example being, if u press the dribble control the player goes into this animation where he does like 5 dribbles but sometimes all u need is just one dribble to elude the defender and just move on with the play...the autofadeaways is too much of an occurence and it happens 99% of the time especially when posting up with guards on the block

[ThaLiveKing]

I have both games for the Ps2. . .I don't even play Live . . .I'm still getting used to 2k7, but I'm liking it. . I still think Live 06 is better than any 2k game. There's no good post moves in 2k7. . .No good plays to run. . but overall, this year. . 2k7 is a better game. I'm sure it's even better on the 360, cause they seemed like they spent more time on next gen than current. Actually it's so obovious they did lol

[artestfighttrainer]

2k7 all the way baby! Live 07 is gathering dust and I think I'll never play it but only listen to the music.

[maceo24]

The chemistry point made earlier was really good. maybe a brief synopsis of what type of player gets along with the others on the team would be nice. Maybe playes from a certain region on the country, or from certain college conference should be able to play better together. Better than that, get former college teamates together and watch them wreak havok together. That would be SICK. Primadonnas and malcontents like should be just that, unable to fit in wherever they play. Doesnt necessarily affect their performance, but know that signing means your chemistry and synergy will be thrown off.

I'd love to see where they go with this next year. On second hand, given EA penchant for breaking things that arent broken, maybe I should retract that statement...lol

[J@3]

Since this thread has actually had some thought put into it I won't lock it, but for the love of God can we please quit with the Live vs 2K threads in future. They are getting ridiculous.

[Dan's Brain]

maybe we could sticky one and be done with them? i'm joking, honestly.

[Robutix]

This thread has not done anything bad, yet. But as far as I read this thread, there's positive exchange of ideas going on. All for the plain head-to-head comparison of this year's franchise. It wouldn't be bad for us to expose the strengths and weaknesses of each among the other. It's very informative actually for someone like me who is currently in doubt on how those two actually differs. Although this is a NBA Live Series Forum, it wouldn't hurt if we consider talking about product comparisons in here. We aren't suppose to protect a certain game's reputation just because we're die hard fans for it, right? I just find this conversations really useful, much like most of the stickies in here. Although this is not essential for everyone else's reading.

[J@3]

It's very informative actually for someone like me who is currently in doubt on how those two actually differs. Although this is a NBA Live Series Forum, it wouldn't hurt if we consider talking about product comparisons in here.

Since this thread has actually had some thought put into it I won't lock it

Regardless, 99% of these threads have been "SHOOD I GET 2K OR LIVE CUZ I HEARD LIVE SUX N I CANT USE MA OWN BRAIN 2 FINK FOR MYSELF". We don't need a sticky on this, there has to be room for independant thought somewhere.

[Robutix]

Good thing this one's the 1% we're looking for.

Yeah, I agree this thread need not to sticky.

[fjccommish]

Feature wise 2K7 is head and shoulders better than Live. Live also has a lot of bugs, including losing player lock and players freezing on the court that haven't even been mentioned as addressed on the PC fix.

Live has good points, things 2K7 doesn't have. But overall 2K7 has far more features, is far more polished, and feels more like basketball than NBA Live.