Author Topic: NBA Live 07?  (Read 3425 times)

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Offline jasonditz

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NBA Live 07?
« on: December 21, 2006, 10:49:09 AM »
EB lists NBA Live 07 for the Wii as coming out 3/1/07. Yet I've seen no previews or anything of the game.

While I know the Live series has been very forgetable the past few years I'm just fascinated to see how they Wii-ify professional basketball. It's quite a challenge, as I see it, perhaps moreso than Madden (which from what I've seen was done quite well), but if they pull it off they might have a truly amazing title on their hands.
 

Offline BlackNMild2k1

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RE: NBA Live 07?
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2006, 11:14:24 AM »
As long as they don't make you manually dribble(like Mario 3 on 3) it should be fine.

Offline jasonditz

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RE: NBA Live 07?
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2006, 11:19:29 AM »
manual dribbling might be useful to rhythm in a realistic sim. The ability to manually pass the ball could be amazing, provided those new wrist straps are up to the task.

Offline BlackNMild2k1

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RE: NBA Live 07?
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2006, 11:26:57 AM »
I would imagine that with manual dribbling, passing and shooting, you WILL need to be an NBA star to play NBA '07.

Offline WuTangTurtle

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RE: NBA Live 07?
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2006, 11:42:41 AM »
I would like to see passing to be determined by aiming with the wiimote.  Free throws could be changed up a bit with some wiimote lovin.  Hmm or maybe the ability to direct players to spots by pointing.  A lot of possibilities, lets just hope EA actually attempts something otherwise I'll be looking at the 2k series to keep the crown in NBA games.

Offline jasonditz

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RE: NBA Live 08
« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2007, 06:06:48 AM »
We never did get a 07... but Gamestop/EB are listing the Wii version of NBA Live 08 as coming out this week with all the other versions.

What's weird is that the store ads for this week that I've seen don't list it... they only have the PS2, PS3, PSP and 360 versions. And the TV ad I saw didn't mention the Wii version either, though I think it may have been a Sony commercial because I didn't see a 360 version mentioned there either.

There seems to be next to no fanfare for this game, and I'm not sure why.  After the ad campaigns for Madden and Tiger Woods, you really had to have been following closely to even realize that the Wii is about to get its first basketball game.  

Offline BranDonk Kong

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RE: NBA Live 08
« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2007, 07:16:16 AM »
NBA Live sucks, and has sucked for a good 5 years now. The NBA2K series has always been better.
I think it says on the box, 'No Hispanics' " - Jeff Green of EA

Offline jasonditz

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RE: NBA Live 08
« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2007, 08:00:12 AM »
I agree, but there isn't going to be a Wii version of 2K8... or is there?


Offline jasonditz

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RE: NBA Live 08
« Reply #8 on: October 02, 2007, 09:11:19 AM »
Can I just say... eww?

I just got live 08 today, and for all the effort that went into Madden and Tiger Woods, I can see why EA didn't feel the need to advertise this one coming out. Its atrocious, not just bad... atrocious.

The visuals are smooth, that's the only good thing I can say about it. But they're ugly, ugly as the face of Satan himself... the players look cartoony, and they don't move anything like human beings. The game is played in an over-the-shoulder 3rd person view (sort of like World of Warcraft), and your Mii keeps appearing on the screen with tips like "Dunk now".

And the controls are majorly wonky, clearly designed for the "family play" experience. You go into a jump shot by tilting the Wiimote up, and release by tilting it back down. You pass the ball with A, or if you want to get really clever, directional pass the ball with the D-pad. Move with the joystick, crossover by tilting the nunchuck. I thought well... that's great, my dad could do that, then I spent 20 minutes in game looking for instructions on how to do advanced controls before I realized, to my horror, that this in fact was the advanced controls, and the sum total of what its possible to do in Live 08. The family style controls, near as I can tell from the half-screen tutorial, basically amounts to the game playing itself while you sit there and hold the wiimote. You might be able to call plays or something (not that there's any depth to the playbooks) but that's literally all the family mode player is doing.

And to make matters worse, EA managed to trim down their already anemic franchise mode offering. And when I say trimmed down, it would be more accurate to say "cut out", because there is literally no franchise mode left in the game. Instead you get a single season mode option, though to be honest I can't imagine playing 82 games of this monstrosity anyhow.

I'd get into what a joke the player rankings are (the Boston Celtics, one of the favorites in the eastern conference this year, are the worst ranked team in the entire game, even worse ranked than the national teams of crappy countries), but frankluy if you were looking to see if this would be a good sim, you probably stopped a long time ago.

I'm literally longing for the days of NBA Live 2003 for the Gamecube... hell, I'm longing for the days of Celtics versus Lakers in the NBA Playoffs for the Sega Genesis. Is this what almost two decades of work has left us with EA? Is this really the best you can do with basketball anymore?


Offline IceCold

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RE: NBA Live 08
« Reply #9 on: October 02, 2007, 11:03:35 AM »
Ugh, that's terrible.. I don't usually play basketball games, but I did own Live 2003 for the Cube. I wonder if EA Canada developed this game too - they've done a commendable job with their other Wii ones.

You seem like a big sports game fan - have you tried out Tiger Woods 08 for the DS? Apparently it's really good.

I'm just holding out for a hockey game.
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Offline jasonditz

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RE: NBA Live 08
« Reply #10 on: October 02, 2007, 12:55:57 PM »
I checked the credits, and yeah, this was EA Canada's handiwork.

They really did do an impressive job on Madden... I know I complain a lot about the imperfections in Madden's motion controls but it really does feel like a huge step forward in football game playability that's just still a bit rough around the edges. Live feels like an enormous step back from the traditional control system.

I'm not going to totally shelve the title until I can get a few people together and try playing the party mode and the 4v4 online mode. While the game is really awful as a basketball title, it may not be totally worthless.

One other thing though that struck me funny: In the printed manual, Analog Stick - Move Player is listed under "Advanced Controls".

I haven't tried Tiger Woods DS... I was leary of EAsports DS titles after Madden 2005. I'll have to check it out though.