DSM has had more than a month of game time with NBA Live 08 to this point, so it only seems fitting that we here at DSM start thinking about the future. While Live 08 was certainly an improvement over the abysmal and utterly broken NBA Live 07, there's plenty of room for improvement going into next fall, and hopefully via this wishlist and others the EA folk up in Vancouver will be able to improve upon the groundwork set in Live 08. Read on after the jump to see what I feel are some of the biggest improvements that must be made to the NBA Live series in the coming year(s).

• The quickstrike spin move allows the attacking guard to get around the defender far too easily on most occasions, and in general, defense even with the new CPU assist button (LT on 360) doesn't help in combating the quick spin move very well.

• The post moves are difficult to counter because the blocking and contest systems in place feel awkward. From a purely visual perspective, jumping on defense makes the players look very rigid; on a deeper gameplay level, it feels like most of the time just having defensive position isn’t enough to force a missed shot, but rather you feel as if you must block the shot. This helpless feeling could be corrected if it was easier to contest the shot without having to jump.

• The CPU defender assist button needs to go, or at least needs to be off by default. It really makes defense feel non-existent or like a brainless activity since little to no focus is needed to stay in front of the player on offense.

• Stealing needs to be ratcheted back a notch as well. On ball steals happen far too often, and the consequences usually aren’t dire enough since it doesn’t leave your defender out of position for constantly reaching -- also doesn’t lead to enough reaching fouls.

• The passing system needs to be overhauled. Swinging the ball doesn’t happen fast enough, and in general the passes still don’t have enough zip on them. Also the defense needs to have their heads more on a swivel so when they reach out and steal passes it looks more realistic. Other issues with the passing include the icon passing and the icon button placement. The passing icon button should not be tied to the same one as the alley-oop button. Far too many accidental oops occur because of this. On that same note, keeping the icon passing buttons consistent for each position would be great. Yes there are only 4 face buttons, but sometimes you forget what position the player you're controlling is playing, and then it takes too much time to match up the icon with the position the player you want to pass to is playing. In other words include non-face buttons so this confusion doesn’t happen. Every position should always have the same button tied to it; it shouldn’t change depending on what player has the ball. This goes for defensive icon switching as well.

• Players who help on defense need to react quicker. In other words, when the on-ball defender is beaten the other defenders need to slide into position more quickly. Though I must say it doesn't always seem like the help defense is an issue because when you beat a defender on a pump fake and try to go by him your player lacks explosiveness and won't get by him or will run into him instead of blowing right by the defender.

• Loose ball play needs to be enhanced. No one dives for loose balls, and in general when rebounds hit the floor (which is still too often) there’s no hustle aspect involved, just people reaching down to pick up the ball.

• The fastbreak also needs some tweaks. When receiving passes players frequently stop moving before continuing in motion towards the basket. Beyond the passing issue, players tend to get bunched up on the break, and without a way to quickly icon pass the fastbreaks don’t amount to baskets a lot of the time.

• The fastbreak AI is also below average since the CPU will routinely mess up a 3-on-1 break due to greed. Being the last man back almost becomes an advantage for the user since stepping up and taking a charge is a sure fire way to stop the rush much of the time. This is because AI opponents do not give the ball up quickly enough and instead barrel down the middle of the court right into a stationary defender. Basically set-up shop in the middle of the floor as the defender and await the charging call on the CPU in this year's version of the game.

• The separate shot and dunk buttons need to be removed because as it stands now, the system leads to collision detection issues and foul problems. Many times the collisions in the air will look great because the user chose to initiate a lay-up sequence rather than a shot sequence. But choosing the wrong option causes many offensive fouls which simply appear to be defensive fouls by the look of the animation. So if there was a single button press for both actions then the animation system could visually explain why something was an offensive or defensive foul.

• Most of the choices and interactions with players and prospects in Dynasty Mode is just menu based; therefore, in the future it would be great to at least take part in some mini-games where you work out prospects or help train current players.

• The trade AI between human and CPU is actually quite solid, but CPU to CPU trades are rather out of hand. Far too often you will see a Kevin Durant for LeBron James trade and in general superstars seem to be flipped between computer controlled teams far too often.

• While I've stated some Dynasty issues above, the one issue I have trouble explaining deals with the Dynasty Mode. It’s no one thing that stands out; the mode just isn’t very compelling as a whole. I just don’t feel a connection with my team, and the whole mode feels rather robotic.

• A minor issue to end my wishlist: Let me bring up the quick subs menu when a player is awaiting the ball out of bounds or at the free throw line.