I have an NBA 07 game that is still wrapped in plastic. I only like games where you can shoot people. I’ve only finished both Max Payne games, Conker: Live and Reloaded, and Halo 1 and 2. I never got drawn into sports video games except Tiger Woods.

I had to vote “other.” I think the Blazers will be as good as I am at Simpson’s Road Rage. I’m better than average. Like 62 win out of a possible 82 better than average good.

Does that last sentence make sense?

I’ve been playing it pretty heavily since I got it. I’ve found that if you set it to 8 minutes quarters, the scores and stats are pretty realistic. But what has really amazed me is the player development. Sure, the players look like the actual players (nothing too special there) but it is incredible how the players move, act, shoot, dunk, and play defense thesame way they actually do. My best example of this is Rudy. Since he is pretty new to the spotlight, I didn’t expect too realistic of a representation of him in the game. In fact, Rudy runs like Rudy, he passes like Rudy, he shoots like Rudy. I got the ball with him on a fast break and he did that two-handed, one-leg-in-front-of-the-other fast break dunk he loves so much. Awesome.

Also it helps that I seem to be able to score 30+ points at will with Roy or Oden or Aldridge or Martell or Outlaw.

NBA 2K9 is the most realistic BBall sim ever made. Playing on Hall of Fame is extremely frustrating in a good way because we have to absolutley commit to playing “hand in your face” defense. If you go for a steal and miss (which is 98% of the time) Derek Fisher will bury a three. It is one of the first games I ever did the tutorial in because I I was getting blown out on the highest setting from the get go, which had never really happened.

The best part about the game, like Joelor describes above is that the players play exactly like the do in ‘real life.’

I have to admit, I hooked the blazers up a little bit in ratings since the auto player updates don’t happen until the regualr season starts. I made Aldridge a better mid range shooter (78 from 72), improved Rudy’s passing (75 from 61) and speed (84 from 80) and gave Greg some more in strength (94 from 86).

Spoiler Alert Jarryd Bayless is starting and Luke Jackson got the final roster spot.

My gamertag is Etchasketchist.

NBA Live is garbage.

I don’t love sports games though. I just don’t think that they’re that much fun. Which makes me an even bigger nerd. :p

I am not very good yet, as I was a NBA Live Guy. Now its 2k9

I don’t have these games yet, but I will soon enough.

There goes what was left of my free time.

I think it was Kelly Dwyer who turned me onto this, blessings and cursings upon his head.

Five games. Incredibly hard, no matter how good you get, yet beatable with years of practice. Lots of sneaky ways to improve besides practice. Weekly competition against players from around the world. Click the Rankings link to see how you’re doing. I’m in there, under the name Burj.

Start with Original, then Trick, Ultimate, Extreme, and Deluxe.

Remember, “You da bomb” is a bad thing.

I’m still annoyed about Live’s predictions for the Blazers season that was posted to nba.com. Still, being as it’s the first BB game I’ve played since I had 2K4 for the PS2, I must say I’m impressed with it. The graphics are great, and the gameplay is very smooth. GO is a beast. Rudy not so much. The jury has yet to be summoned for the live update feature. I haven’t seen 2K9, so I can’t really give a comparison.

but Rudy rips shit up!

Has “living roster” updates – a real dude that actually adjusts player ratings based on their continuous 08-09 seasonal performance. That’s sweet.

Destroys the competition every year, best sports series on the market IMO

You know the only basketball game that matters is Bulls vs Blazers for SNES.

I just find that the NBA has too fluid of movements to correlate well to video games.. the games never look realistic and it becomes akward to drive to the hoop or get an open shot. Not a fan really.. Live was great for Sega and PS1 for about 2 years..
BTW Bulls vs Blazers is a great game, but Bulls vs Lakers is a BETTER game, and the Blazers team is just as good..

I can’t speak for NBA 2K9 because I haven’t had a chance to play it but I do own both NBA 09 – The Life & NBA Live 09…

NBA 09 – The Life is the NBA equivalent to games like MLB – The Show and Superstar mode in Madden. It is geared towards playing as a created player who rises from the D-League to become the clutch player on an NBA championship caliber team. Unfortunately, "The Life" is incredibly short. You play about 10 different situations with about 5 goals each and then, by some miracle, you’ve went from D-League after thought to NBA superstar… In the Franchise mode, you can’t see a player’s contract unless you’re trying to trade him and there’s no penalty for releasing a player, so immediately, it becomes a huge benefit to cut Raef LaFrentz and push the Blazers cap space to a ridiculous $26 million dollars under the cap. Normally, this would be like rolling in a pile of money, but the NBA simulation is set up so pretty much every team resigns their own players and develops them. Jamario Moon was the best player available after the 2009-2010 season.

The game play, however, is very fun. Its arcade based in that when you shoot, a little meter pops up and all you have to do is stop the meter in the green section and you’ve made a three-pointer. Additionally, there’s no real strategy on the defensive end, other than "swipe at the ball like a mad man," which makes defense kind of like playing for Mike D’Antoni – you’re just down there so that you can get the ball back and fast break…

In simulated 2008-2009, the Blazers wound up edging out the Utah Jazz by 1 game to take the Pacific Division. Jerryd Bayless starts at point guard, Roy is one of the better players in the game, and Webster is pretty deadly from beyond the arc, but beyond that, Aldridge and Oden are lost without a manageable post up game (backing down just results in an embarrassing swat by the defense) and you’re almost better off playing Zilla and Oden together, because it gives you so much rebounding power. Ironically, though, Memphis offered me Marc Gasol and a first round draft pick for Joel Przybilla, so Joel is no longer a Blazer after 2010-2011.

In short, NBA 09 – The Life leaves a lot to be desired both as a game and a simulation of the actual Blazers. The worst part by far is that there is no Rudy Fernandez and no Nicolas Batum.

NBA Live 09, although criticized frequently around these internets, does a lot right for an NBA game. The post up game makes Oden a beast as he’s able to pretty much move his defender out of the way or back him down to below the hoop for a dunk, but you will find yourself nailed with a 3-in-the-key call if you take too long. Roy is deadly from mid-range out to the three-point line. Webster is specialized to be a three-point threat, which is what he should be, and Aldridge is above average. Frye probably got hosed the worst as he starts out below Raef in overall ratings.

The only team that gives the Blazers trouble is Houston, because Yao can pretty much match Oden point-for-point in the paint, plus he usually adds a couple blocks in for good measure. Tracy McGrady is also as good as cash from any where on the floor as long as he has a step on his defender…

Sergio is the starting point guard until you activate Rudy and Nicolas Batum from the IR at which point Rudy becomes the starting point. Bayless doesn’t see much action as he’s behind Rudy, Sergio and Blake for the point guard spot. In my 08-09 season, Oden and Rudy finished 1 and 2 in the Rookie of the Year voting…

Because video games don’t include much detail regarding cap holds and such, it is almost insane to be anyone but the Blazers in Franchise mode. Without Miles and Francis, the Blazers are $9 million under the cap right off the bat. Then, you lose Raef after one season and you’re pretty much set to acquire or sign any player you could possibly want.

It’s important to point out that although the Blazers just barely clawed their way into the playoffs in both games during the 2008-2009 season, the 2009-2010 season became the Blazers versus everyone else. With younger players improving faster than veterans in both games, we finished with an average of 65 wins from 2009 – 2012.

Both versions offer online play, but no one plays NBA 09 – The Life online (11 people yesterday when I was on) and I haven’t gotten much of chance to play Live 09 online because I’ve been busy beating the Lakers over and over in Exhibition mode. There’s just nothing better than seeing Oden put up 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 blocks against Andrew Bynum’s 0, 1, and 0…

Amazon.com is currently offering pre-orders of NBA 2K9 for only $19.99!!! It is realased on Nov 3rd. Excellent deal!! 20 bucks 2K9!? Unbelievable.
I just pre-ordered mine!
Check it out…
http://www.amazon.com/NBA-2K9-Pc/dp/B001G1G9IE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1224099023&sr=8-5

LOVE statis-pro, just ran out of people to play. Best. Sim. Ever.

Oden will crush all opponents like an Elite Bouncer.

And I found live lacked flow and wasn’t half as realistic as 2K9, just flashy. 2K9 is realistic, playable and exactly what I’m looking for in a game, something to take seriously.

for a PC gamer who doesn’t own a gaming console, I’m stuck with Live. So until 2K starts making a PC version I’m not going to vote for them. To be honest though, the last good NBA Live was 2005. 2007 (the latest one I bought), all the point guard does is drive to the hoop and shoot or stop at the three point line and shoot. I’ve seen point guards like Derek Fisher put up 30 shots in a 5 minute quarter game—and the rest of the team doesn’t even have 30 between them. So, yeah, 07 is nearly useless, even with mods.

I actually thought Live 09 and Live 2K9 were the same game!! how silly of me…I haven’t liked basketball video games since NBA Jam, and before that Bird vs Jordan on the old, old, old nintendo :)

the last NBA game i got was nba live 08 for the psp. It stuck. You couldn’t change a player’s ratings, position, or even number. All the new players had the wrong number, channing frye was number 7, james jones was number 22, GO was number 20 and so on and so forth. random rookies had really high ratings. For some reason, Josh McRoberts was an 89. The ratings were awful. Brandon Roy and Adam Morrison had the same rating.

and there was no create a player.

to a complete list of overall player ratings for either game?

he kills in the game. Kobe is cheap but the Blazers own. Oden has a great jump hook, Aldridge jumper is great, Outlaw’s step back goes in every single time for me. They did the best job on the Blazers.

There is a lot of Live haters out there. I just bought live and I love it. The main screen is the Blazers practice facility where you can hone your skills and learn to play the game. Press start and you can start a game etc. The graphics are pretty good, and the game play is awesome as well. I plan on buying 2k9 as well and will probably right a review for both when I get 2k9. NBA Live 2009 rocks!