[Question] NBA 2K7 versus NBA Live 07 for XB360

Anyone seen or played these titles and can offer an opinion? I've seen one review from IGN aout NBA 2K7 and it seems to have a decent score. No reviews yet on NBA Live 07 even though both titles came out on the same day.

I'm looking forward to basketball gaming this year and have an open mind though I thought NBA 2k6 completely OWNED NBA Live 06 to the degree I could barely play Live 06.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Having looked at a few images of NBA Live 07, I can say it's done one heck of an upgrade from last year. I rented 06 recently and what a complete mess of a game. :doh: Visuals were something else and the controls were quite sloppy. I've been a big fan of the 2K sports series and after having played the demo, I decided to just rent 2K7 instead of making a purchase. Problem with these sports titles is it's updated every year with new rosters, dunks and other features. That didn't stop me from adding the game to my queue list so it should be in the mail either tomorrow or wed so hope to see ya online over the weekend. :eyebrow:

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I can tell that all of 2 people in GF gives 2 shits about basketball gaming on the XB360.

Got impatient yesterday after *0* media reviews of NBA Live 07 and just picked up NBA2K7. Well I looked a bit at the Gamefaq boards and from what I can tell that 2K7 is the better package.

Will be playing it all this weekend so feel free to friend/msg me if anyone wants to do a game. I'll add you Jeff if you dont mind.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Be sure to post a review in this thread. I know I, for one, would be interested in seeing it.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by TonyDaTigger

I can tell that all of 2 people in GF gives 2 shits about basketball gaming on the XB360.

Got impatient yesterday after *0* media reviews of NBA Live 07 and just picked up NBA2K7. Well I looked a bit at the Gamefaq boards and from what I can tell that 2K7 is the better package.

Will be playing it all this weekend so feel free to friend/msg me if anyone wants to do a game. I'll add you Jeff if you dont mind.

Feel free to go ahead and add me to the list, just be sure that you jot something down. I usually prefer having some sort of message description before adding users on my friend's list. The game just shipped from Gameznflix, no idea as to why it took so long but it should be here tomorrow. I'll have it all to myself tomorrow, classes were cancelled.

I was speaking idiomatically.

What I suspected is true - EA didn't send out review copies to editors before launch. Looking at the various net reviews, 07 is being clobbered and the edge definently went to 2K7.

Having spent some time this weekend on it, I am loving 2K7.

I don't know how much anyone has played of 2K6 but they took the game and pretty much improved on everything that was wrong with it in order of severity:

1.) Dunk festing. You can't just throw the rock inside and score 80 points in the paint every single game now. It's just not possible anymore to dunk from the free throw line or throw down over Ben Wallace or when 2-3 other defenders are beneath the basket.

2.) Player personality. Very low variety of moves in 2K6. Most of the PG's had the same moves going to the basket. Dunks were the same, shots were the same, etc. I'll elaborate more on this later but this is probably 2K7's biggest improvement over 2K6 behind the fundamental gameplay changes.

3.) Substitutions. Substitutions were horrible in 2K6. If you tried to play a non standard lineup such as moving someone listed as SF to the SG position, the game would just autosub the person you moved to SG with a true SF as soon as possible even though you built your starting lineup a certain way. 2K7 won't autosub to that extreme but it is kind of dumb to where when the game is tied with 1 minute left, it will sub out tired starters and run a sub in the critical moments.

On to the 2K7 Pros:

Graphics - Pretty amazing. Probably the first Basketball game that looks next gen to me. Players, stadiums, cheerleaders, everything has a much higher polygon count. Everything is smoother, pretty much a straight up upgrade from 2K6.

Sound - It's ok. Nothing that strikes out as awesome but nothing that annoyed me either. All the reviews mentioned that the music sucks compared to 07. <shrug> I personally don't really play sports games for the soundtrack.

Gameplay - Night and day difference between 2K6. 2K6 was fun as hell but not too realistic. It was far too easy to repeatedly dunk the ball. It was also way too easy to make crazy passes and uh score in the paint. 2K7 ::feels:: more like real basketball. Some players like Kobe, T-Mac, etc are capable of creating their own shot. If your favorite team has no real superstars you have to move the ball around and go for open looks as much as possible. No repeatedly pounding the ball inside.

Coaching strategy and substitutions are way better in 2K7 as well. All the subs, game tempo, timeouts are mapped to the dpad. Before you had to hit start and pause the game to make those changes.

Defense:

They added a dedicated steal button (X) and changed the right stick so you have more options defensively. R stick down to slap the ball, left or right to do cuts and up to raise your hands and contest a shot.

Individualistic Styles:

This is what 2K sports advertises the most even though I prefer the gameplay tweaks by far. They really took the time to individualize a lot of the players.
Best example I can use is how they handled Shaq.

In 2K6, even though Shaq has a superior inside game statatistics, so did Tim Duncan. Shaq couldn't easily post on Duncan because their game stats are pretty much the same. In 2K7, Shaq can post up anybody. He has his ugly outside shot, his little drop step layin, all the things that make Shaq shaq.
Hell he even has the cheating free throw where he crosses the line. Unlike 2K6 where you could shoot FT's almost 100% with Shaq - it's not happening in 2K7. He sucks bad, and its a stroke of luck to actually get the ball in there.

Even the minor players have had some individual moves put in. Bibby's jumpshot looks like his shot. Wells has the reverse Jam he always does. Stojacovich throws his arms out after a jumpshot.

Cons:

My biggest gripe about 2K7 now is playing defense. It annoys me to no end that you can not play someone "tight". (Or if someone knows, please let me know). Your only options it seems is you either jump to try and block the shot or it is otherwise completely uncontested. It's easy enough to do defensive cuts but you are immobile when raising your hands to contest a shot. Realisticly, you should still be able to move and keep your hands up. This makes the computer annoying because I typically play the PG position and due to my "lapse" in defense, the opposing PG makes 20 FGA per game.

Free Throw Shooting:

I dont have the same trouble that most reviewers seem to have with FT shooting but I can see it being a hassle. Every player has a different FT timing and shot animation. This means your FT's vary a lot player to player, team to team. Expect to miss tons at the begining.


Overall, an incredible game.

How ya doing, buddy?

EA should just give up making basketball games now. Me and a few friends tested both games yesterday (Of course we downloaded them ;p ). 2K7 kicks ass while Live looks like a sloppy ass ps1 version. Like they never took their time with it. Too much pixels XD.

edit : sorry. You're talking about the xbox 360 versions >.>. Still looks like shit anyway. Live 07 that is

FELIPE NO

Gameznflix totally screwed up, they sent me the Xbox version of 2K7 and I didn't bother to play it. Just wrapped it back and ran up the block to the mailman to send it back. Not only that but they're system is not working as it should be...according to their records, I have returned games that I have sitting at my doorstep. :eyebrow:

As for cons, I'm surprised nobody mentioned the soundtrack. That party people track, I don't know what on God's green earth was that?

Update: Got the game in yesterday from gameznflix and it seems the creators of the game were concerned with loading time most of all. There are some player models on 2K6 which actually look better than certain 2K7 models. Yeah I know, I'm still scratching my head over that one. The game features no main menu which was odd and not only that but after a quick game, should you choose to alter the game settings, there is no way to accept these settings and go back. Basically a slap and pack job was done here and passing it off for a quick $60. The achievements for the most part should keep you busy but that's if you can make it out without pulling all your hair from listening to the horrible 2K7 soundtrack. Thank God for my Zen Micro. While the game does feature some motion capturing, you'd figure by now that would be an actual standard when it comes to basketball games, heck it was done on PSOne games. I'm just glad I didn't pay for this. When I think of it, Live 07 must be one hell of an awful game for players to praise this as the next gen BB fix. That's something I won't be renting but overall, I'll grab a few achievements over the weekend and send this game back.

Oh yeah TonyDaTigger, if you're interested in those online achievements, we could set up 1 minute games and swap wins back and forth. Easiest way I can think of. :lolsign:

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?