Editors Note: This article originally ran last September on DigitalSportsMania, but due to it's continued relevance and quality, we are publishing it again here at Operation Sports for you to read and enjoy.

The Greek philosopher Plato once wrote, "Necessity (is) the mother of invention." If your back is up against a wall you better think quickly on how to turn the situation around.  It's safe to say if you have no pressure on you, there's no need to develop the notorious "Plan B."  NBA Live 08 and it’s main competitor NBA 2K8 are due to release next week (Along with Sony’s own brand of ball, NBA 08) and I cannot think of a more appropriate quote then the one above to illustrate just how good competition is for all of us sports gamers. When we get multiple titles specific to each sport that are produced by more than one company, a few things happen. First, the games are better. Second, we’re able to pick a game that fits our tastes. And third, no developers are left out of the moneymaking process. In other words, everybody wins. Competition, for lack of a better word, is good.

Going back to the three basketball titles coming out within the next few weeks, competition in this market has led to the development of three quality titles for the first time in years.  Last year NBA 2K7 was the sales winner across all consoles and was widely regarded as the best game.  According to vgchartz.com it sold 750,000 units on the PS3 and Xbox 360 with an average rating of 82 at metacritic.com. 

Meanwhile NBA Live 07 sold fewer than 250,000 units on the 360 and the PS3 version was scrapped all together.  EA Sports claimed that they didn't want to rush the title to make the PS3 launch date, but that seems a bit puzzling considering they had already developed and released the game for the 360 and the people at 2kSports had no problem getting 2k7 out at launch and neither did Sony with it's game. NBA 07 came up just short of 2k7 sales totals (180,000 units) but scored much lower in reviews with an average of 63 again according to Metacritic. 

The bottom line was that NBA Live 07 was a serious disappointment, NBA 07 was a decent title but NBA 2K7 ruled the roost.  I’m only speculating here, but I’m willing to bet this didn’t sit well with EA Sports.  They were used to having the best-selling basketball title but now they had been upstaged by 2kSports and a bit embarrassed by not even releasing a title on a next-gen console because it was so lackluster.

So what did EA Sports do?  They got their stuff together and produced what seems to be a much-improved game.  While recently playing the demo I was shocked at how well it played.  The animations were nice, the graphics were solid, and it played like a basketball game should play.  I was a 2K7 junkie but even I can see that EA Sports isn't fooling around with Live this year.  It probably won't over-take NBA 2K8 in review scores but it should see a resurgence in sales as it slowly gets back into contention.  I also played the NBA 08 demo and while it also seems to be improved, it's not as drastic as Live’s comeback.  But even then, NBA 07 was a solid title so any tweaks and fixes will help to improve the game.

OK then, why are we getting three quality basketball titles?  Competition.  2k Sports needs to stay on top, EA Sports needs to rebound and Sony is looking to establish first-party titles in any way, shape, or form at this point.

This same scenario can be seen in the recently released skateboarding titles.  Tony Hawk has been the only game in town for years and while it has always done well, the series had become a bit stagnant.  With the upcoming release of EA’s skate., the developers of Tony Hawk had to step up their game and they did so by introducing some really nice new features  for Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (Seen in the recently released demo) that should reinvigorate people like myself who've soured on the game because of it's lack of innovation. 

On the other side skate. looks to be very promising especially for a debut title.  So in the years to come expect those titles to improve because of the competition.  Sticking with the theme of recently played demos, FIFA 08 is looking like a very nice game thanks in-part to the emergence of the Winning Eleven series.

Necessity (is) the mother of invention...

So what happens when there's lack of competition?  Well you can look at everybody's favorite whipping boy, Madden NFL Football.  This year's version isn't nearly as bad as many people are claiming (Can we agree that organized protests and flooding the Better Business Bureau with complaints isn't necessary?) but the series has become a little stale. There are also some bugs and glitches that have reared their ugly head and this is just a guess, but maybe these things wouldn't be happening if EA Sports had someone pushing their football monolith.  All-Pro Football 2K8, Madden 08's only direct competition, pleased the fans of 2k Sports' old NFL series but it didn't sell very well and that's led some to speculate about whether we'll see another version of the game. 

Another genre that's suffering from a lack of titles is golf.  Tiger Woods is obviously the go-to title but a lot of the same complaints levied against Madden have arisen against Tiger Woods.  Does EA Sports need serious competitors to reinvent their games that people have started to criticize more and more?  It’s hard to argue against the results of true competition, isn't it?  I wonder what Plato would think about this?  Maybe...

"... The larger stones do not lie well without the lesser."