yo great blog...good to see u the list the things u actually like about each game..I honestly dont know what game to get this year.. 2k has too many animations I cant control. Live has alot of control this year but will the gameplay hold up...Let me kno how the gameplay for Live is...Tha vid was hot too..by far the best I have seen

i just don't think the live game play is very realistic. everything just looks awkward too. it definitely looks a lot better than in the past but again, 2k is king this year (with a few bugs that definitely need to be fixed).

I just bought Live10 and have to say everything is great except some AI. Playing my first game as the lakers against the clips, on at least 5 possessions baron davis just dribbled out the clock at about 35 feet away and fired up a 3 at the 24 second buzzer, what up with that. Also I had to turn up the foul sliders all the way. I did it after playing 3 quarters at 8 min per and no shooting fouls, in fact the only fouls up until then were moving screens. Stupid. I was playing on pro, so I turned it up to all star and noticed a bit of a diff with the mavs running plays but still kidd shoots too much. One shooting foul through 2 quarters with the fouls all the way up. Hope a patch comes soon. The game is not as polished as I would have hopes. Some funky animations. The bid deal is the funny ai though. I don't understand why the pg shoot so much. First impressions at least. hope this helps.

Great write up, it was very clear and honest. I'm still sticking with 2K because I love playing Association mode and after the Draft Combine I'm looking forward to My Player mode, but Live 10 sounds like its a big improvement. I played the Live 10 demo, but it's not enough for me to really sink my teeth into. The crowd and arena sound upgrades interest me though because that's one area where most games usually lack. Hopefully a friend will pick it up and I can try it out later.

Both games do look great this year.

the Fight Night is a local Best Buy promo. If you buy any EA game you can get Fight Night for $20

I picked up Live at Best Buy this morning. I have no interest in NBA2K, anymore, outside just playing the demo and maybe even a rental for ****z and gigglez. Live got me with level of control, teams playing like their actual teams, gameplay where u actually have to call plays and figure out your next moves in order to score, among other things. I've sent NBA2K to West Palm Beach, so to speak,...or the local old folks home. Lol, but I think it's just a matter of what game suits you best. I had a nice NBA2K run for the last 10 yrs minus NBA 2K7. I got NO b-ball game, that year. Twas a bit of tired of the same ole and the fact I was going to get a PS3 sooner or later, which turned out to be about a year later.

Thanks for the comments, appreciate you guys checking out the blog

@ Hutch - Live 10 should only be played on All Star & Superstar. The difficulties are specifically tuned to a certain style of play. Rookie is for kids, Pro is just for the casual fan who wants crossovers and dunks, All Star is for sim heads and Superstar is for when you've really got the ins and outs of the game down. The CPU PG just standing and dribbling out the clock is one of a couple issues from the demo still in the final that will be patched around the beginning of the real season. When the patch is close to coming out, the Live devs will have topic on it. We know it will also fix online fatigue in ranked games, certain animations that don't look right, and player lock not really functioning correctly. Fouls do happen infrequently and the sliders do need to be bumped. Hopefully the patch will increase the foul calls on the collision shots in the paint.

@ jshmoopy - Definitely understand that, you can see on my gamercard that I had a My Player guy all ready to go from the combine to the big time. I've noticed over time that i'm not for all the manager aspects of the Association, last time i did multiple years was 2K3 (damn fun by the way). Ultimately Live reminds me of inside drive 2003 (my boy Pierce on the cover). At the time I bought 2K3 (Inside Drive was a Nov release) and as great as that game was by the end of the season I was strictly playing my cousin's copy of ID03. 2K had better features/modes what have you, and ID was light on features but the core gameplay was too solid. I said at the time that i wouldn't make that same mistake twice. Enjoy 2K10 though, great game with alot of things I wish Live had. The Live demo really grew on me over time, its light on the first impression but wow does the game open up when you realize the depth of the LS only moves and player momentums.

@ Hutch - Also, check out the NBA Live sliders thread (Forum really, but last I checked there was only one thread lol). There are some good suggestions in there for slight tweaks to increase CPU TOs and reduce blocks / steals (once you get the timing down these occur more frequently - a bit too frequently)

Well in actuality, I have 2K10 coming in the mail from yourfree360games.com. I paid about $3 bucks doing two offers. I've since decided to switch to Live, so when 2K10 arrives, i'll be taking it in to Best Buy, getting $60 store credit, then picking up Live & Fight Night. $3 for 2K10 + $13 for Fight Night = Live & Fight Night for under $20 bucks. I'd say my avenues are straight

Update: I know have been playing for 7 hours. Nba live 10 that is. Other than my earlier post I have found one glaring weakness. Offensive rebounding. I had been getting about 1 per game. I have been playing on all star level since the first game. I even bumped up my slider to all the way on offensive and defensive rebounding, and I still get like 2 a game. My computer teamates just stand outside fo the key after I take a shot. Not even Dwight Howard had more than 1 offensive rebound for me. I wonder if anyone else is seeing this trend as well. So far I have to say I am finding the game a bit lackluster. The demo actually played better I think. The ai is suspect. Teh Pg sometimes just dribbles out the clock and shoots a 30-40 footer at the buzzer of the 24 second shot clock. I think I have to get 2k10 as well. Not happy about this at all.

Oh and Best buy is selling live 10 for 49.99 and so is toys r us.

Nice write up.
Also, that video at the end was awesome.

I rented both live and 2k. 2k has more modes, but Live plays better. Also, 2k's sound is drastically overrated. The announcer's talk forever, and the stadium sounds, adds depth to the game-but is still overrated. In my opinion Live's graphical presentation is better than 2k's as well. Although 2k's presentation is awesome paused, you'll notice frame rate issues and slow down when playing. If you cant afford both; and want a basketball simulation go with LIVE. If replay value is your thing, as well as bells and whistles go with 2k.

Thanks Tha_kid. Btw I a shock that even you scored 2k10 better than Live you are going to buy Live.