It's finally here; the contest to see which game is better. Each side will be awarded a point for each category they win. The most points at the end wins. Fair enough? All right then.
Graphics:
As far as players are concern, 2K10 seems more photo-realistic and pays more attetion to the lesser known players, but for some reason, the white players still look like freaks (i.e. Steve Nash). At least Live gets that right (sorta). 2K also has better crowd and sideline graphics. My problem will both games is when the ball goes out of bounds, there's this invisible barrier blocking the ball from going into the crowd. I don't know why that bothers me, but it does. Anyway, 2K10 wins this one, but that doesn't mean that Live doesn't look great either.
Point: NBA 2K10
In-Game Presentation:
By that I mean the stuff you see in the game and not stuff like menu layouts or the gym when you boot up Live. This is strictly game time stuff. When the game begins, both games have animations like teams warming up and talking to each other. You know, shit we've been seeing for years. With Live though, player rituals (like Lebron and his stupid ass chalk) are accurately recreated for the most part. Live also does a better job displaying the starting 5 line-ups for both teams, depending on the game's setting. Speaking of which, you can set the game to have a regular season, playoffs, or finals feeling to it, and the crowd's reaction matches the feel you choose. Sadly though, the crowd isn't as good as 2K's no matter the situation. Again, Live still doesn't have a halftime show, but since 2K half-assed theirs, I guess it doesn't matter. 2K postgame wrap-up is still my favorite, showing up...pretty much everything you wanted to see and not just mere stats. I like how 2K ends, but I like how Live begins.
Point: Both
Commentary:
I fuckin hate Clark Kellogg, but he and Kevin Harlan are better than Marv Albert and Steve Kerr because they at least seemed to be into the game they're watching. Yes, the guys at Live sound more knowledgeable and provide more info, but that also means they're late on A LOT of plays, especially during fast paced games. Yes, 2K miss calls too, but they sometimes cut themselves off when a big play happens (something Live used to do). The big difference though is that some of the commentary in 2K is sometimes contextual. What does that mean? Well, if you're connected to Xboxlive, NBA Today will update you on scores. The cool part about it is that it's presented in-game, and spoken about by the commentator. So if they're a series of games coming on on TNT tonight, the game and commentators will makes a note of it during a dead ball. Also, during your Association, let's say you need to win the next 4 games to gets into the playoffs. Kevin will actually make a note of it during the game. Kick ass.
Point: NBA 2K10
Controls:
The shot stick sucks ass! Yea, I said it. When taking a jumpshot, it doesn't fuckin matter which direction you flick it; it's the same damn jumpshot. Okay, you can fadeaway, but you can accomplish the same shit with X and the left stick. The one thing that pisses me off about it is it makes driving through the lane a pain, even as Kobe. When I wanna dunk, I should be able to fuckin dunk. It seems like the stick register your commands as somewhat as a suggestion. Alot of times when I have a open lane and want to either dunk or lay it in, the stick will make my guy stop and pop. And you know what, I normally MISS those! I should be able to do what I want when I want (if the opportunity presents itself), and that's something Live gets right. The controls can be complicating...okay, they are complicated, but when you learn them, you do exactly what you want. You're not hoping the controls will register correctly. Live's analog control passing also makes things easier.
Point: NBA LIVE 10
Offense and Defense:
Defense has certainly beefed up this year. Players get all up in your face a lot faster and more often when you try to drive into the lane. They also attempt more steals too, so don't even try to sit in the paint. 2K's defense plays tighter, but Live generates more turnovers, so it balances out. As for offense, 2K wins hands down. With Live, players wait for passes out of bounds, they don't take good advantage of mismatches, and they don't pass to the open guy in the paint every time. In 2K, if you screw up on defense, the offense killed you for it, and that's on fuckin Pro difficulty (second easiest). When playing offense in Live, sometimes you get the ball stolen and don't know how, or maybe you get pushed out of bounds and forced to give the ball up. That's fuckin annoying. In both games, you can get caught in animations and have no control over your guy. When I bump into a player, sometimes it does this little dribble move out and away from the defender, and I'm flicking the absolute hell out of the left stick wondering why I can't move. Next thing you know Brrrrrrrrrr! Shot clock violation. Fuck....you! Well, I guess 2K wins because overall, the offense flows better while Live seems a bit sloppy.
Point: NBA 2K10
Game Modes:
2K has more, and they're all fun to play. I could get into it, but what's the point? Both have fun games modes, but 2K has more. Why get into specifics?
Point: NBA 2K10
To be fair, Live gets a point for importing players from March Madness to the draft pool. So what if 2K Sports don't have the NCAA license anymore? It's their own fault because they decided not to make anymore NCAA games. Well, technically they couldn't afford it, but again, their fault.
So the score is:
NBA 2K10 - 5 Points/ NBA LIVE 10 - 3 Points
Looks like live is getting back up there, but still inferior. Well, at least they've rebuilded back to respectability because when your basketball game is worse than Sony's, you got a huge fuckin problem (*cough cough Live 07 cough*).
NOTE: Yes, I've played both Association mode and Dynamic Season, and despite being very different, I didn't think one was better than the other, so it was a wash.
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