Primed to Ignite :: NBA Live 10 | Rockets fall into 1-3 hole

[Andrew]

There's a dice roll, but ratings and level of coverage, along with ideal release point, also affect the odds. Basically as it is now, except without the option of on-screen meters and the guarantee of Green releases.

[cavs4872]

The lack of a shot meter is an issue with these older games; with how many games I've played, I feel like I only know a couple of my player's releases, and that's just a guess. Incidentally, was Sony's NBA series the first to introduce the shot meter?

[Andrew]

NBA Inside Drive 2000 had one, so the concept goes back a long way. It's one of those things that took a while to catch on and become standard, though. Even as late as 2013, we had shot feedback and sometimes a flash in the player indicator as a visual aide, but no meter. It's only been the past five or six years that full shot meters have become the norm.

[cavs4872]

I was playing Game 5, winning by double-digits in the third and the game decided to crash... NBA Live 10 hates me. I'll give it another whirl eventually because I was experimenting with 8 minute quarters and it seemed to be too low.

[Andrew]

I can't play on less than 12 minutes. It's not always ideal, but shorter quarters just don't feel right to me.

[cavs4872]

You're 100% right; it makes me feel rushed, and that the whole experience is just unauthentic.

[Andrew]

The inability to normalise stats to 12 minutes is another reason why I prefer it. That's something I really like about MyLEAGUE on this generation of 2K.

[mp3]

Pre patch Live 10 was one of the best games that EL put out in the seriea, I forgot how good the crowd looked for that date in time.

[Andrew]

I've said it before, but if there's one good thing about the amount of patches we get these days, we usually get enough to keep a good game playable with some welcome fixes, and it's rarer for the final patch to break everything (though I'd say it did happen with NBA Live 19, unfortunately). It was more common in the days when we'd get one or two patches a year, though. We knew we were going to be stuck with issues like the ones caused by Patch #2 for NBA Live 10.

[cavs4872]

I'll never forget when you started the story with the Cavs and quit because Chris Bosh was "calmly nailing fadeaway threes"... and that was over a decade ago.

[Andrew]

Sounds like something I'd say.

Yeah that's the big one, the broken plays that result in players dribbling out the shot clock and taking dumb shots. Obviously bigs taking threes is more of a thing these days, but not quite in the way it happens when the play breaks down in post-patch NBA Live 10. And of course, there's the slow motion alley-oops to players in the midrange. We really needed a third patch.

[mp3]

Chris Bosh was a problem back then lol

[Andrew]

I'd say he's underrated in general in reality.

[cavs4872]

And of course, there's the slow motion alley-oops to players in the midrange. We really needed a third patch.

So true lmao. And the rebounding/shot-blocking physics are horrible and random.

[Andrew]

That's why although we probably do get too many patches these days, and there's always the possibility that too many changes will be made, I do mostly prefer it to the days when we got one or two and a bunch of stuff didn't get fixed (including new issues introduced by the patch). To me, a lot of patches is the lesser of two evils, demonstrating that developers are both willing and able to try to keep improving games after launch. That's not to justify Day 1 Patch culture either, but I also prefer that to having a broken game for several weeks.

[cavs4872]

Was playing Game 5, got bored by halftime... might as well call this story scrapped. Still have the story bug but I feel like this game is too limiting: it's all about exploiting animations, players can't get injured in games... stuff like that. I was thinking of an alternative so I scooped a 2K9 copy off Mercari. Game has aged well and looks hella good by today's standards; I've always had a soft spot for it. So stay tuned I guess. Not sure if I'll use the Rockets again as that was the year they actually had the Artest team or try to rewrite history with the Cavs. Probably can't go wrong either way tbh.

Funny thing is in the past I could never stick with one team but now I can't stick to a game. But I mean, who can blame me given how inferior Live and The Inside were compared to 2K. It's literally fucking astonishing going back in time and comparing 2K9 to 09: The Inside. Given how successful The Show is, I would really be eager to see what type of NBA product Sony could come up with in 2021.

[Andrew]

The lack of injuries and sim engine quirks do mar what was otherwise a very good game in NBA Live 10. Gameplay-wise I still prefer it to NBA 2K10, mostly because of the dribbling controls. With that being said, I can definitely understand wanting to call it a day on this one. When you can have your entire roster play 82 games without any issues, it doesn't feel very challenging.

[kibaxx7]

Always liked 2K9 and still got a copy! Have a soft spot for it too. With time I got used to 2K14 controls, so I'm finding it a little hard to replicate play.

[cavs4872]

The lack of injuries and sim engine quirks do mar what was otherwise a very good game in NBA Live 10. Gameplay-wise I still prefer it to NBA 2K10, mostly because of the dribbling controls. With that being said, I can definitely understand wanting to call it a day on this one. When you can have your entire roster play 82 games without any issues, it doesn't feel very challenging.

The dribbling is nice and the size-up moves where you hold down the right trigger still look amazing by today's standards, but that rebounding though... or lack of a rebounding mechanic in general lol: move your player by the ball and hope they just jump up and grab it, cause pressing Y they just attempt a block every time.

[Andrew]

NBA Live 09 was even worse in that regard, with that predetermined little hop when you weren't going to get the board. Funnily enough, it's an issue in NBA 2K21 as well. Games have actually regressed in recent years.

[cavs4872]

I realized I would actually love to start a 2K21 story but there's too many issues that I don't want to: the positives are obvious (save & quit option for 12 minute quarters among others), but the biggest drawback is not being able to import your story into next year's game. You simply can't do a story in a year, and I'd feel silly playing 2K21 when 22 is out, but for some reason with the nostalgic appeal and outdated nature of 2K9 I would rather go back and live in that space instead. I got my copy yesterday; game has aged hella well (the only thing I think I had to adjust out of the box was decreasing the game speed a bit)... I feel like there's enough depth that I can make it work.

But really; it's 2021 and we can't import our franchise modes into future installments? That seems like it would be incredibly easy to do, but they don't just cause franchise isn't as popular as MyTeam or MyCareer. Even with MyCareer, it is incredibly silly to expect someone to complete an entire career in a year; they're really behind with this stuff.