NBA 2k8 (360 version) preview

[Eaglesfan27]

I've been posting a few items in last year's thread, but this new article sounds so great that it deserves it's own thread. Last year, NBA 2k7 and College Hoops 2k7 were the best console sports games in my opinion. NBA 2k7 had excellent gameplay, great simulated stats, realistic gameplay stats, but the franchise was lacking. Still, it was a great game. This year, it seems like the association is getting a bit more attention. Players are going to have different personalities assigned, and they won't be "A", "B", "C", etc like a few years ago which was a pain in the ass. Instead, guys will be "neutral, "laid back", "expressive", or "unpredictable." Also, all guys will have roles such as starter, 6th man, end of bench etc. Personalities will effect how guys handle their roles as well as their abilities. For example, Tim Duncan is laid back, so he might not mind being a 6th man, but if the team is losing with him on the bench then even he'll grumble and the rest of the team will be unhappy as well. However, Rasheed Wallace who is "Expressive" will immediately become angry if that is done with him and it can hurt the entire team's performance. Here is the IGN preview detailing it a bit more:

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/818/818513p1.html?RSSwhen2007-09-06_180300&RSSid=818513


Assuming no big bugs get introduced, this should be my favorite sports console game again this year.

[Eaglesfan27]

Kleenex please:

- You can set how many minutes you want each player to play in a simmed game (one of my biggest wish list items for last year!)

- This paragraph makes it sound like the trade AI is really revamped: This also factors into signing and trading players. Let's say you decide to bench Paul Pierce for a few games. He may become so upset that he demands a trade. In fact, you can damage the relationship so much that it will be very difficult to regain Pierce's trust. What can you do but trade him? Problem is, the AI knows Paul Pierce is demanding a trade. So, with your hand forced, Pierce's trade value plummets. And should you keep Pierce, it will cost you quite a lot of cash to convince him to resign.

Heck, this paragraph has me reaching for the box as well: When signing free agents or even re-signing players currently on your team, you'll have to do more than just offer cash. You can also include a no trade clause, player and team options, and define the role/sub-role. You can try and over-promise a player a role to get them at a lower value, but you may end up screwing yourself later if they don't get the minutes. In this way, players are called on their BS signing tactics that allowed them to easily overload a team with talent.

- Age and a player's history also play a part in contract negotiations. Younger players are usually more interested in getting a big pay day, even if it means playing on a sub-par team.But an older player who hasn't won a ring may take less money and a reduced role to be on a good team. And yes, you team's winning percentage does factor into player decisions. So Golden State will have a tougher time attracting a superstar than Phoenix.


And yes, my biggest problem with last year is supposedly fixed. The human could offer players and get them to sign before the AI even was involved:

Free agency is going to be a bit tougher on GMs this year. In the past, you had first dibs on every player out there. Now there are days and weeks of negotiations where a player weighs a variety of offers. Your Lakers may be able to offer Gilbert Arenas more cash than the Pistons, but will you risk promising Agent Zero a role equal or greater than Kobe's? Doing so could create a major disaster by mid-season.


*Drool* October 2nd can't get here fast enough.

[Eaglesfan27]

Double Dola -

Also from the IGN article, each rookie will have his own personality as well.

The following is a post from an assistant producer of the game over on OS. I can't imagine they would mind me copying it here as it can only help the game sell (he was replying to another poster who was praising the franchise improvements.):


I thought you, of all people, would be pleased to read about the Association additions. On the topic of discussions taking a while, the superstars of the league tend to drag out their negotiations while the mid-tier players tend to sign rather quickly (MLE signings). When I'm playing and I have the cap room, I'm always debating whether the best strategy is to go for the superstar or fill out my team with solid mid-tier players. If you go for the gold and miss out, you'll find that you #2 through #10 options have all signed elsewhere leaving you out in the cold! It's the game GMs play every summer when the moratorium is lifted...

For the rest of you, after reading the IGN piece (which I thought was well written), I can say that there were new features that weren't even covered and finer details of the Player Roles feature that weren't mentioned. I imagine these pieces will get highlighted in future articles from other sites, so keep your eyes peeled.

Here's a couple minor tidbits that surely won't get any press, but I know you guys can appreciate; generated rookies will no longer have generic shoes, shot types, etc. You're now going to see rookies coming out with various shoes and a host of shot types. Also, shoe colors will change to match the colors of the new team after a player is traded. We managed to address a number of "little things" such as these; you'll surely come across plenty more as you play the game.

On the topic of CAP slots, since I've seen a fair amount of debate on it, 200 is the magic number this year.

[Icy]

Definitely the nba game to pick up again this year. Loved 2k7 gameplay but the franchise mode was lacking a bit, with the new player personalities additions, this could be so fun.

[Eaglesfan27]

Oh yeah, 3 new videos are up on IGN. Gameplay looks great in all of them:

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/866/866314/vids_1.html

[RedKingGold]

Yup. NBA2K7 got the most attention from XMas until May (when I finally picked up College Hoops).

Looking foward to the new version.

[Calis]

Excited about this one, 2k7 got a lot of play time last year.

Any word on College Hoops yet? I'm a little more excited about that, but it seemed a bit behind 2k7 last year so I'm not sure what to expect.

[Eaglesfan27]

Excited about this one, 2k7 got a lot of play time last year.

Any word on College Hoops yet? I'm a little more excited about that, but it seemed a bit behind 2k7 last year so I'm not sure what to expect.

No, 2ksports almost never hypes or talks about more than 1 product at a time, so I wouldn't expect to hear anything about College Hoops (which is due in early-mid November) until after NBA 2k8 is out on October 2nd.

[TroyF]

Ugh. . . Still a month away. . . :)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

This is easily the best NBA game available. I got it last year for the PS3 and it will likely be a first day purchase this year as well.

[Eaglesfan27]

There is a HUGE thread that popped up over night on OS evaluating those IGN videos. Since, I'm sitting at home in pain from my tooth, I decided to read through it. Here is another interesting post from the main game designer in which he talks a bit about the bars underneath the players (there was a question what they do) as well as a few other things including some new ratings:


just gonna chime in on a few things. first off, since I've posted this the past 2 years, guess I'll post it again. don't expect to be able to fairly evaluate our game (or any game for that matter) based on a few short video clips and trailers. remember people saying how much 2k7 looked like 2k6 when the first vids were released? it's a completely different experience when you get your hands on the thing. there's so much stuff we've done both cosmetically and under the hood in 2k8 that you're never going to get a good feel for until you actually spend some quality time with the game. from the animation content to the AI, you guys are just going to love the depth that we've put into this title as you work your way through your seasons. I mean, I work on the thing every day and I still look forward to playing a few games every night before I go to bed. I don't like building up hype and I don't want anyone to have unrealistic expectations, but man... 2k8 really makes 2k7 look and feel... old.

about the cell phone bars. the number of bars represent a player's proficiency from that given range, not tendency... although the 2 are usually very closely related. the color of the bars represent the player's streak status (neutral, hot or cold.) the hotspot data from nba.com is also incorporated into this system. so for example, if bruce bowen has 3 bars from 3PT range, he might get up to 4 bars when he's set up behind the arc in the corners. for 360, we also rumble the controller very subtly when a player is in a hot zone for further feedback.

and yes, we've added logic for non-PGs like Lamar Odom and Bron Bron to set up the offense.

lastly, since several people have inquired... we've added other attributes that you guys requested to help further differentiate players. Along with Shoot in Traffic & Shoot off dribble, we've hooked up Quickness, Vertical, Hustle, Strength, On-ball Defense, and Standing Dunk. There might be a couple more but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head. you don't think I started that thread for nothing did you? http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/images/smilies/smile.gif

please don't turn this into a Q&A. just wanted to shed some light on some things. now if you'll excuse me, my bulls are waiting for me. http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/images/smilies/cool.gif

[Icy]

and yes, we've added logic for non-PGs like Lamar Odom and Bron Bron to set up the offense.

This part sounds great and was needed, 2k7 was too PG oriented.

[rjolley]

I hope they get the player import from College Hoops right this time around.

That has to be my favorite console combo...leading a team in College Hoops, having them graduate and get drafted, then scout them in the pros and draft as many as I can. Only problem last year was the schools in NBA2K7 were off (XBox version).

[Eaglesfan27]

I hope they get the player import from College Hoops right this time around.

That has to be my favorite console combo...leading a team in College Hoops, having them graduate and get drafted, then scout them in the pros and draft as many as I can. Only problem last year was the schools in NBA2K7 were off (XBox version).

I'm sure you know this, but the Xbox version may not be much different than last year and may not have the above improvements. 2ksports seems to be focusing development on the 360 and PS3.

[rjolley]

Yeah, I've been waiting until NBA2K8 and CH2K8 to get a 360...that and a price drop. :)

[Groundhog]

Here's a couple minor tidbits that surely won't get any press, but I know you guys can appreciate; generated rookies will no longer have generic shoes, shot types, etc. You're now going to see rookies coming out with various shoes and a host of shot types.


Love that rookies now have shot types... I usually go through and edit my opponents 1st rounders to give them shot types. I just hope they are realistic, and that hot-shooting rookie SG you draft doesn't have Shaq's shot animation!

I like the sound of the FA changes too. I hope we no longer see mid 70s rated players sitting in FA all season because no one can afford them and they won't accept less cash.

[Eaglesfan27]

Gamespot preview was posted today. Not much different from the IGN, but two bits stuck out to me from the full article:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/nba2k8/news.html?sid=6178435&om_act=convert&om_clk=newlyadded&tag=newlyadded;title;1


The morale isn't just going to affect simmed games. Anger a guy and he'll take plays off even if you are trying to control him. I know that will annoy some gamers, but that sounds cool to me. Here is the excerpt:

Back to Carmelo. In NBA 2K8, Anthony's got an "unpredictable" personality, which means it won't take much of a change to get him talking mess about your management style. In the game, you'll be able to pinpoint exactly how many minutes you want every player on your team to player, thanks to an easy-to-use slider system that will divide playing time from an available pool of 240 minutes against your starters and bench players. Reduce a guy like Carmelo Anthony's role from the face of the Nuggets to pine rider, and he's going to be ticked off in a hurry. Indeed, simming just a few weeks into a fictional season in NBA 2K8, and you can see that Anthony's morale has dropped to zero his statistics have taken a dive and, perhaps more importantly, his ratings have taken a significant hit too. In other words, if a guy isn't happy on your team, it's going to show in every aspect of the game. As producers put it, if you go ahead and play out a game with a low morale player (as opposed to just simming through the game), you'll actually see him physically take plays off, merely jogging up and down the court, instead of getting after it.


The animations were already very good, but this paragraph caught my attention as well:

With more than 1,000 new animations in the game (including the infamous "watch the NBA player's momentum take him into the first row of seats), NBA 2K8 is looking like another sharp entry in the long-running 2K hoops series. The only remaining question is: What do we do with ourselves while we wait for the game's October 2 release date? Stay tuned for more on the game in the coming weeks.

[stevew]

Damn Eaglesfan and his game mad hype skills.

:)

[Balldog]

Yeah, I've been waiting until NBA2K8 and CH2K8 to get a 360...that and a price drop. :)

Those two games alone last year were worth the purchase of a 360 for me. I'm still playing CH2k7 and I'll probably still play it after 2k8 comes out. I hope someday you can convert your franchises/legacies, etc to the last version.

[Eaglesfan27]

Those two games alone last year were worth the purchase of a 360 for me. I'm still playing CH2k7 and I'll probably still play it after 2k8 comes out. I hope someday you can convert your franchises/legacies, etc to the last version.

Me too on both points. I'm attached to my dynasty and I'm going to keep playing it occasionally, but it would be great if I could somehow convert it into 2008.

[wade moore]

I thought NCAA Football/Madden were going to make me want a 360. They didn't. CH2k7 on the other hand, may do me in. Not that interested in the NBA version (although it does sound pretty good), but it's quality is usually an indication that the NCAA game will be good too.

[TroyF]

Gamespot preview was posted today. Not much different from the IGN, but two bits stuck out to me from the full article:

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/nba2k8/news.html?sid=6178435&om_act=convert&om_clk=newlyadded&tag=newlyadded;title;1


The morale isn't just going to affect simmed games. Anger a guy and he'll take plays off even if you are trying to control him. I know that will annoy some gamers, but that sounds cool to me. Here is the excerpt:

Back to Carmelo. In NBA 2K8, Anthony's got an "unpredictable" personality, which means it won't take much of a change to get him talking mess about your management style. In the game, you'll be able to pinpoint exactly how many minutes you want every player on your team to player, thanks to an easy-to-use slider system that will divide playing time from an available pool of 240 minutes against your starters and bench players. Reduce a guy like Carmelo Anthony's role from the face of the Nuggets to pine rider, and he's going to be ticked off in a hurry. Indeed, simming just a few weeks into a fictional season in NBA 2K8, and you can see that Anthony's morale has dropped to zero his statistics have taken a dive and, perhaps more importantly, his ratings have taken a significant hit too. In other words, if a guy isn't happy on your team, it's going to show in every aspect of the game. As producers put it, if you go ahead and play out a game with a low morale player (as opposed to just simming through the game), you'll actually see him physically take plays off, merely jogging up and down the court, instead of getting after it.


The animations were already very good, but this paragraph caught my attention as well:

With more than 1,000 new animations in the game (including the infamous "watch the NBA player's momentum take him into the first row of seats), NBA 2K8 is looking like another sharp entry in the long-running 2K hoops series. The only remaining question is: What do we do with ourselves while we wait for the game's October 2 release date? Stay tuned for more on the game in the coming weeks.

Every superstar should have that "unpredictable" personality. There isn't a single one of them who wouldn't throw a fit at being thrown on the pine. I love the feature, I just hope they use it right. Tim Duncan, for example, would be mightily pissed off if Pop threw him on the bench for 5 games for the hell of it. He's a nice guy, but even he would go nuts at that. Obviously, others should have the unpredictable trait as well. (Bonzi Wells)

Not that it matters much with a star. You are playing him 35+ minutes a night anyway.

[markprior22]

This game sounds fantastic. I am a baseball fan first, fb second and basketball 3rd but the 2K bb games seem to be the best console games year after year. Really looking forward to 10/2

[Eaglesfan27]

One of the developers just started a thread at OS with some of these tidbits:

- Subs: you can now use the bumpers to quickly cycle between your pre-set lineups (3PT, bench, starters, quick, etc.) we display foul count now too.

- on offense, if you press UP on D-Pad, it'll bring up a "Heat Check" overlay. gives you a quick view of who's hot/cold and shooting stats (FGM/FGA) for your current on-court players.

- on defense, if you press UP on D-Pad, you can adjust your player matchups. Re-assign who guards who and set pressure (tight, sag, DT, etc.)

- and my personal favorite, if you press LEFT on D-Pad, the first option is Coach Mode. if you enable it, the AI will play for you while you control subs, call plays, or other OTFC tasks. handy for when you want to make some OTFC changes without having to worry about getting burned on the court, need to go to the bathroom during garbage time but don't want to pause the game, or when you just want to admire the beautiful AI play. http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/images/smilies/smile.gif


Also I saw this nugget in another thread about my biggest pet peeve with the game last year:

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD class=alt2 style="BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset">Originally Posted by Kashanova http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?p=2037738417#post2037738417)
now as long as my player doesnt do lay ups behind the backboard i;ll be happy


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Answer by developer:

i tried to fix as many of these as I could... it's actually a pretty complex problem. it's WAAAAAAY better than 2k7 though. all the new layup content and contact shots are actually some of my favorite additions to 2k8.<!-- / message -->

[TroyF]

With all due respect, you need to take a break from the message boards. Stop posting this stuff. Time is going slow enough as it is. :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Aw, shit, Microsoft certainly won't have my 360 back to me by the time this game comes out. Grrrr.

[Eaglesfan27]

Troy, you might not want to check out this link ;):

http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/866/866314/vids_1.html


Upper left corner is the ultimate fan trailer #2. I really like the collisions that are shown in the trailer as well as little details like the ball handler throwing it off the defender when trapped as well as some of the interior defensive improvements. October 2nd can't get here soon enough.

[Eaglesfan27]

Steve, the owner at OS, is reporting that a demo will be released tonight around 2:00 AM Pacific time for the 360. A PS3 demo should be available about a week later.

Also, they have a bunch of new pictures up there from yesterday and today.

[TroyF]

Over/Under on how many times I play the demo.

I'll start the bidding around 500.

[Eaglesfan27]

I've already set aside time tomorrow evening to start playing it.

[stevew]

Oh shit....it should be a Cavs/Spurs demo too.
Fuck yeah.


Hopefully they make Gibson half decent, so it at least gives the Cavs a usable PG.

[Icy]

Demo is out, impressions here at OPS:
http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=221320

[Anthony]

One of the developers just started a thread at OS with some of these tidbits:

- Subs: you can now use the bumpers to quickly cycle between your pre-set lineups (3PT, bench, starters, quick, etc.) we display foul count now too.

- on offense, if you press UP on D-Pad, it'll bring up a "Heat Check" overlay. gives you a quick view of who's hot/cold and shooting stats (FGM/FGA) for your current on-court players.

- on defense, if you press UP on D-Pad, you can adjust your player matchups. Re-assign who guards who and set pressure (tight, sag, DT, etc.)

- and my personal favorite, if you press LEFT on D-Pad, the first option is Coach Mode. if you enable it, the AI will play for you while you control subs, call plays, or other OTFC tasks. handy for when you want to make some OTFC changes without having to worry about getting burned on the court, need to go to the bathroom during garbage time but don't want to pause the game, or when you just want to admire the beautiful AI play. http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/images/smilies/smile.gif



you had me at "hello".

[Kodos]

Does it have any more legends like Jordan and Barkley?

[stevew]

Holy shit, this is downright amazing. Just played my first game. Other than Franciso Elson looking way too good, it was really fun. This year I notice LeBron will actually come and get the ball to dribble it up. Meaning you don't have to put him in at PG to have him be the primary ball handler. Guys seem like they actually get forced to pick up their dribble a lot more often. I found Gibson wide open for 3 a few times, cause LeBron was getting a ton of attention. The jump Ball system is a lot better as well...no more mashing X and instead you time you jump.

[Eaglesfan27]

Does it have any more legends like Jordan and Barkley?

I don't think NBA 2k series has ever had legends. However, the game does allow up to 200 players to be created and saved by users.


My initial thoughts after about a dozen games with the demo. They fixed or at least vastly improved 5 of my biggest gripes with the game:

1. Rebounding - Last year, the CPU seemed to get the majority of rebounds unless you were in the exact perfect spot on the floor where it was going to land. The ratings really didn't seem to matter. This was fixable with sliders, but it never felt right. At least in the demo, rebounding seems much user friendly and intuitive. Also, some great rebounding animations are now present that seem to be smart and context sensitive.

2. Too many turnovers via steals - My first two games with the demo, I didn't see either side have a single steal. Most I saw was 2 steals when we both started running up and down the court, and the CPU seemed to make much smarter passes.

3. FG% was too high due to inside shooting being too effective - This was fixable with sliders as well, but guys just missed more shots inside. Now, interior defense seems much better in the demo (unless you have a great inside finisher like LeBron throwing it down.) Also, last year the CPU didn't try to work it inside enough. Now, they do.

4. Not enough differentiation of speed among guys. Plodding C's could sometimes keep up with guards. Parker and LeBron seemed much faster than most players on the court in the demo.

5. They got rid of the annoying tip off system from last year.

Very impressive demo. Less than 2 weeks to go :)

[Groundhog]

My 360 is in the shop. :(

[TroyF]

Question EF27. When the PG was coming up the court, I went man to man on him with Parker. When I got close, I saw some little red square to the right of the other PG's name. You have any idea what that is?

[Eaglesfan27]

Question EF27. When the PG was coming up the court, I went man to man on him with Parker. When I got close, I saw some little red square to the right of the other PG's name. You have any idea what that is?

I'm not sure. It almost sounds like the lock down symbol, but that is for the defender. By the way, I love the lock down system. I thought it might be cheesy, but an excellent offensive player will beat it even against a good defender, and it seems the bad defenders will still get beat a lot. A lot of the time Bowen was at least staying in front of LeBron when I locked down on him, but a few times he spun away and drove to the hole for a monsterous dunk.

Edit: Also, LeBron used a lot of screens which helped him get away and beat the lockdown defender much quicker.

[stevew]

Most importantly, Drew Gooden still has the reverse hitler.

[Kodos]

I don't think NBA 2k series has ever had legends. However, the game does allow up to 200 players to be created and saved by users.



I could've sworn they had them last season, but that Jordan and Barkley were missing.

[Calis]

I could've sworn they had them last season, but that Jordan and Barkley were missing.

Yeah I'm fairly certain there's legends at least in the "Street" mode, if you play 2 on 2 or something along those lines. I think there's a couple of legends teams also. No Jordan or Barkley though.

There's also an assorment of hip hop ballers in there, though I can't imagine who cares.

[Eaglesfan27]

Yeah I'm fairly certain there's legends at least in the "Street" mode, if you play 2 on 2 or something along those lines. I think there's a couple of legends teams also. No Jordan or Barkley though.

There's also an assorment of hip hop ballers in there, though I can't imagine who cares.

Could be. I never played street mode.

[Big Fo]

First time I've read through this thread, I've always liked the NBA2k series but this year's version sounds awesome.

[Eaglesfan27]

A post on OS from the developer regarding the demo that answers some of my questions as well as other users questions:

Originally Posted by Beluba http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/images/buttons/viewpost.gif (http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?p=2037751875#post2037751875)
a few notes and answers to PMs:
should've warned you guys that the demo was locked on Pro. game plays much better for sim guys on all-star and above. also, post spin and hop step moves are tougher to score with on the higher levels.
not sure why the LB mechanic is not working in the demo. that's like 80% of my offense. that's also how you call for a pick. sorry.
to spin out of the post, hold RT and push LSTICK in the direction of your dribble hand
triple threat works like 2k7. hold LT+RT, use LS for moves. explode out of triple threat by releasing both triggers and jacking LS while in the jab step or hold ball away animation.
to throw quick inbounds, hold down the pass button as your inbounder is taking the ball out. as soon as he crosses over the line, he'll throw the pass. inboundee has to be within reasonable range though.
for teardrops/floaters, pull the shot stick away from the basket while driving. if you hold RT while doing this, your player will perform a reverse or 360 dunk... if he can.
quick breakdown of iso moves:
throw LS toward offhand: crossover (+RT: hez cross)
roll LS in circle motion from ballhand around back: spin (+RT: behind back)
throw LS toward offhand then immediately back toward ballhand: in & out (+RT: double cross)
tap LT: while standing = sizeup move (while moving = stepout move)
tap RT: neutral LS = drifting sizeup, LS toward ballhand = stutter drive, LS toward offhand = stutter cross
throw LS away from moving direction for stepback move. some players can chain a stepback into a drive by throwing LS back toward the basket during the stepback animation.

[Eaglesfan27]

One of the main mods on OS has posted a long preview of NBA 2k8.

Here is a link:

http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=222128


A few small excerpts that I particularly liked:

- Anthony Chau from 2K paid a visit to Washington D.C. today and I got a chance to play an 85% version of the NBA 2K8. Let me start by saying that this version was much better than the demo version we are all currently playing.

- In NBA 2K8, you can decide which one of your four teammates sets a pick or works to get open. When I first heard about this feature I thought it sounded a bit complicated and wasn’t going to be user friendly but after playing the game I think it’s a great feature that adds a new level to the game.

- The on-court play diagrams are also a great addition. I think most people are like me in that they want to call plays but they hate having to memorize all the steps it takes to run a play correctly, especially with the large number of plays that are in the game. The on-court play diagrams make it extremely easy to run a play and will allow you to play exactly like your team would in real life.

- NBA 2K9 will focus more on presentation and they hope to add “NFL 2K5” like presentation with pre game, post game and weekly shows. Anthony stated that he feels that 2K almost has the gameplay perfect and will begin to focus on other aspects of the game.



The preview is long and those are just a few tidbits from the preview. Only 1 week to go (but release day is my wife's birthday so I won't be playing on release.)

[markprior22]

I'm excited for this too but just received my coffin...errr box for sending my 360 in for repair. I don't expect to be able to play for 3-4 weeks. Oh well, it'll be fun when the time finally gets here.

[CraigSca]

More importantly, the Stone Roses' "Fools Gold" is on the soundtrack :)

[Galaxy]

EF,

You are making me want to open my wallet and rush out to pick up a 360. :(

How is the franchise mode (it would be cool if the draft lottery and draft had a whole process, ect.)? You can import players for the college game to NBA 2k8?

When does College come out?

[stevew]

If you like basketball a lot, and were a fan of basketball games, this should easily be a system seller. Hell, 2k7 was amazing, hopefully this just fine tunes it up a bit.

Franchise mode is okay, but the gameplay is more worth it than anything.

[Icy]

- The on-court play diagrams are also a great addition. I think most people are like me in that they want to call plays but they hate having to memorize all the steps it takes to run a play correctly, especially with the large number of plays that are in the game. The on-court play diagrams make it extremely easy to run a play and will allow you to play exactly like your team would in real life.


This is huge for me as i'm one of those lazy guys who can't remember all the moves for every play. I have prerdered it already.

[Eaglesfan27]

EF,

You are making me want to open my wallet and rush out to pick up a 360. :(

How is the franchise mode (it would be cool if the draft lottery and draft had a whole process, ect.)? You can import players for the college game to NBA 2k8?

When does College come out?

The franchise mode was good last year, but my biggest gripe was that you could sign FA's before the AI even started bidding. That has been fixed. There is an unveiling of the lottery, it's nothing earth shattering, but it's decent. The draft is ok, nothing spectacular. The AI seems solid in the draft, but not a lot of presentation. Hopefully, those things get improved next year. However, the stats are very good and overall, I'd say NBA 2k7 has the best franchise mode of just about any console sports game. Yes, you can import players from College Hoops, although there have been glitches in previous versions with this process (guys changing color, guys changing appearance in other ways, etc.) College Hoops should be out in mid November, and from what little has leaked out, it sounds like they have made some huge improvements to that as well.

[Eaglesfan27]

This is huge for me as i'm one of those lazy guys who can't remember all the moves for every play. I have prerdered it already.

Me too. At most I'd remember 2 or 3 plays and run them when I didn't just freestyle. This is a huge addition for me.

[Pumpy Tudors]

My busted 360 should be arriving at the repair center in Texas today. I'm hoping for a miracle and that they get a replacement to me next week. Not bloody likely. I would be all over this game on release day if my 360 hadn't died.

[TroyF]

Me too. At most I'd remember 2 or 3 plays and run them when I didn't just freestyle. This is a huge addition for me.

Add another person to agree here. I can't remember all of the plays and usually ended up trying to set a pick when I wanted a specific guy to get a shot off. This is going to make things A LOT easier on me.

Note: For those who have never played the series, this is not a game where you can just have your star take 45 shots and win. You'd better move the ball around and take good, open shots. If you don't, your winning percentage will rival the Blazers last year.

[Galaxy]

The franchise mode was good last year, but my biggest gripe was that you could sign FA's before the AI even started bidding. That has been fixed. There is an unveiling of the lottery, it's nothing earth shattering, but it's decent. The draft is ok, nothing spectacular. The AI seems solid in the draft, but not a lot of presentation. Hopefully, those things get improved next year. However, the stats are very good and overall, I'd say NBA 2k7 has the best franchise mode of just about any console sports game. Yes, you can import players from College Hoops, although there have been glitches in previous versions with this process (guys changing color, guys changing appearance in other ways, etc.) College Hoops should be out in mid November, and from what little has leaked out, it sounds like they have made some huge improvements to that as well.

Let me know how the 28k version compares.

[Eaglesfan27]

Let me know how the 28k version compares.

Will do. I'll probably get to it fairly quickly since I suspect I'll be simming quite a bit of the 1st season with my Sixers needing so much work to build them into a team that can be somewhat competitive.

[Terps]

Traded in Madden, APF, and MLB The Show on LionGames.com, got ~$80 in trade in credit, got NBA 2K8 paid for with that, and still $12 owed to me after shipping.

[Galaxy]

Will do. I'll probably get to it fairly quickly since I suspect I'll be simming quite a bit of the 1st season with my Sixers needing so much work to build them into a team that can be somewhat competitive.

Sounds like a good dynasty report. ;)

Just curious, do you have next-gen systems?

[Icy]

nice, the Ps3 demo will be out in today's PSN update, looking forward to try it while i wait for the game to be shipped to Spain. Btw, it seems to be out in some USA/Canada stores as reported in OPS forums.

[TroyF]

nice, the Ps3 demo will be out in today's PSN update, looking forward to try it while i wait for the game to be shipped to Spain. Btw, it seems to be out in some USA/Canada stores as reported in OPS forums.


I always want to be the one who finds the big deal early and gets the game a week before anyone else. I never, ever do.

At least being the reviewer means I get a game like NBA 08 a week early. Have to finish the review on that tonight if I can stop laughing long enough to type it.

[Icy]

I always want to be the one who finds the big deal early and gets the game a week before anyone else. I never, ever do.

At least being the reviewer means I get a game like NBA 08 a week early. Have to finish the review on that tonight if I can stop laughing long enough to type it.

At least you can buy the game in the release day, i need to wait an extra week to have the game shipped to Spain from the Canada online store that ships it. It's really hard to wait a week for it while you guys start to write here about how good it is :)

[Eaglesfan27]

Sounds like a good dynasty report. ;)

Just curious, do you have next-gen systems?

Only a 360. I'll probably be getting a Wii for Christmas. You know me and dynasties... ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

When does College come out?

OS just posted their first preview of College Hoops 2k8:

http://features.operationsports.com/features.aspx?game=ch2k8indc


A few summary points:

- It will have all of the NBA 2k8 improvements such as diagrams on the floor, the bars to show where guys can shoot effectively from, etc.

- It will allow you to create your own plays.

- Maximum passing in which you can press different buttons to dictate a chest pass, bounce pass, lob pass, lead pass, etc. This is being touted by the previewer as adding an unprecedented level of control to the game.

- New home team momentum system called the "6th man" that can be countered with judicious timeouts as well as just by the visiting team playing well and scoring.

- It will run at 60 fps on both the 360 and the PS3.

- No PAL version as 2k doesn't feel there is enough of a market outside of the USA.

- There no longer is a need for roster transfer devices as 2k states that both 360 users and PS3 users will be able to upload and download rosters, created plays, and created chants.

- The game is due out in "mid November."


There is a lot more information at the above link on OS.

[rjolley]

OS just posted their first preview of College Hoops 2k8:

http://features.operationsports.com/features.aspx?game=ch2k8indc


A few summary points:

- It will have all of the NBA 2k8 improvements such as diagrams on the floor, the bars to show where guys can shoot effectively from, etc.

- It will allow you to create your own plays.

- Maximum passing in which you can press different buttons to dictate a chest pass, bounce pass, lob pass, lead pass, etc. This is being touted by the previewer as adding an unprecedented level of control to the game.

- New home team momentum system called the "6th man" that can be countered with judicious timeouts as well as just by the visiting team playing well and scoring.

- It will run at 60 fps on both the 360 and the PS3.

- No PAL version as 2k doesn't feel there is enough of a market outside of the USA.

- There no longer is a need for roster transfer devices as 2k states that both 360 users and PS3 users will be able to upload and download rosters, created plays, and created chants.

- The game is due out in "mid November."


There is a lot more information at the above link on OS.

No create-a-recruit sucks, but I never used it, so I won't miss it.

Create-a-play will be great, though. I always look for plays to get the ball to my shooters off screens and my post players isolated on the blocks with a good shooter to kick out to. Now, I can put in some.

Man, I need to get a 360 so I can pick up CH2K8, NBA2K8, and NCAA2K8. Oh, and maybe Halo 3....maybe. :)

[Icy]

WOW just played the PS3 demo and i'm really amazed. The framerate is incredible, looks way more fluid than 2k7. I like also how the post moves look easier to make this year. I love also the bars that tell you how good is your player shooting from that position. I can only dream about a franchise without any big bug and i'm going to be in heaven.

Can't wait for the full game, i'm going to be so jaleus at you USA guys that will get it a week before me.

[MizzouRah]

The Sports gamer blog.. now has a forum.

If you head over.. there are impressions from someone who has the retail game.

Just thought I'd pass it on to you EF:

http://forums.sportsgamerblog.com/viewtopic.php?t=67

[Eaglesfan27]

The Sports gamer blog.. now has a forum.

If you head over.. there are impressions from someone who has the retail game.

Just thought I'd pass it on to you EF:

http://forums.sportsgamerblog.com/viewtopic.php?t=67

Thanks for the link, but that guy posting in the 2nd thread actually thinks there is a competition between live and NBA 2k8? Insane. Live may have made some strides, but it was so putrid last year that I don't see how it can be even close to NBA 2k8. I probably won't get to play it until Thursday or Friday night, but I can't wait.

[MizzouRah]

Thanks for the link, but that guy posting in the 2nd thread actually thinks there is a competition between live and NBA 2k8? Insane. Live may have made some strides, but it was so putrid last year that I don't see how it can be even close to NBA 2k8. I probably won't get to play it until Thursday or Friday night, but I can't wait.

I'm not into pro ball, so I didn't read it.. sorry.

[TroyF]

Thanks for the link, but that guy posting in the 2nd thread actually thinks there is a competition between live and NBA 2k8? Insane. Live may have made some strides, but it was so putrid last year that I don't see how it can be even close to NBA 2k8. I probably won't get to play it until Thursday or Friday night, but I can't wait.


Strangly, I'm hearing some amazing things about Live this year. The demo actually wasn't horrible. I can't see how in hell it'll be close to 2K, but I am hearing a lot of positive buzz from some pretty unexpected places. I'm actually intrigued. (No, not enough to buy the game. I'll be playing NBA2K8 til late at night on Tuesday.)

[Eaglesfan27]

Strangly, I'm hearing some amazing things about Live this year. The demo actually wasn't horrible. I can't see how in hell it'll be close to 2K, but I am hearing a lot of positive buzz from some pretty unexpected places. I'm actually intrigued. (No, not enough to buy the game. I'll be playing NBA2K8 til late at night on Tuesday.)

If Live made huge leaps, that just makes me hate the NFL exclusivity deal even more. It will show that EA can put forth huge improvements when properly motivated, which I'm sure they might have been since NBA 2k7 outsold Live, which I believe is the first time that has ever happened.

[Galaxy]

If Live made huge leaps, that just makes me hate the NFL exclusivity deal even more. It will show that EA can put forth huge improvements when properly motivated, which I'm sure they might have been since NBA 2k7 outsold Live, which I believe is the first time that has ever happened.

Hell, they have the NCAA license and put forth a solid product this year.

[TroyF]

If Live made huge leaps, that just makes me hate the NFL exclusivity deal even more. It will show that EA can put forth huge improvements when properly motivated, which I'm sure they might have been since NBA 2k7 outsold Live, which I believe is the first time that has ever happened.

No need to worry. After some of the early impressions on OS, it looks like a typical EA game. One guy said he played against the Celtics and Rondo lit him up for 25, while KG went 1-2 for three points.

I still hate that NFL exclusive deal. Forget the competition. . . there is no doubt in my mind 2K would have had a superior game afte 3 full years in development. That deal just sucks for everyone.

[Galaxy]

No need to worry. After some of the early impressions on OS, it looks like a typical EA game. One guy said he played against the Celtics and Rondo lit him up for 25, while KG went 1-2 for three points.

I still hate that NFL exclusive deal. Forget the competition. . . there is no doubt in my mind 2K would have had a superior game afte 3 full years in development. That deal just sucks for everyone.

When does the NFL license deal expire?

[stevew]

Strangly, I'm hearing some amazing things about Live this year. The demo actually wasn't horrible. I can't see how in hell it'll be close to 2K, but I am hearing a lot of positive buzz from some pretty unexpected places. I'm actually intrigued. (No, not enough to buy the game. I'll be playing NBA2K8 til late at night on Tuesday.)

Probably just message board plants.

[Icy]

Preorder status: Shipped

WOOOOT! Now to wait a full week for the pack to come to Spain :(

[A-Husker-4-Life]

When does the NFL license deal expire?

Never, I bet EA signs it up for a long time the next opportunity they get.

[Eaglesfan27]

Never, I bet EA signs it up for a long time the next opportunity they get.

I'm afraid they will as well.. However, the current deal expires in 2010.

[Galaxy]

2k Sports should just lock up the other three sports and the NCAA license, just to piss them off.

I never want to see that however.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

No need to worry. After some of the early impressions on OS, it looks like a typical EA game. One guy said he played against the Celtics and Rondo lit him up for 25, while KG went 1-2 for three points.

Saw this on the Sports Gamer forum:

Just played a 9 min. quarter game on NBA Live '08 against the Heat on All-Star.

Wade, 12 shots
Shaq, 8 shots
Jason Williams, 42 shots

Ummmmm, maybe next year.

[heybrad]

I will be purchasing NBA2K8 at lunch today and then spending the rest of my work day thinking of ways to go home early.

[Pumpy Tudors]

White Chocolate got skillz, yo.

[Deattribution]

Picked up the game earlier, played around with it a bit and then simmed through an association season with the Blazers to see how it worked -- it seems deep but I already found a potential game stopping (atleast career wise) bug. The team finished 31-51, second to last in the entire league and we still made the playoffs. We also got reward points for winning the division, which we were dead last in.

That was the first and only season I've done yet, so maybe it's a freak occurance but it doesn't exactly instill confidence into the franchise mode for me.

[stevew]

I think White Chocolate would easily fire up 43 fastbreak threes if given the opportunity. Maybe the AI is better than we think?


I'll be down for some H2H action on live tonight if anyone is interested(10pm or later).

waldorfsalad

[Pumpy Tudors]

Picked up the game earlier, played around with it a bit and then simmed through an association season with the Blazers to see how it worked -- it seems deep but I already found a potential game stopping (atleast career wise) bug. The team finished 31-51, second to last in the entire league and we still made the playoffs. We also got reward points for winning the division, which we were dead last in.

That was the first and only season I've done yet, so maybe it's a freak occurance but it doesn't exactly instill confidence into the franchise mode for me.
Well, this is discouraging. :(

[Eaglesfan27]

Picked up the game earlier, played around with it a bit and then simmed through an association season with the Blazers to see how it worked -- it seems deep but I already found a potential game stopping (atleast career wise) bug. The team finished 31-51, second to last in the entire league and we still made the playoffs. We also got reward points for winning the division, which we were dead last in.

That was the first and only season I've done yet, so maybe it's a freak occurance but it doesn't exactly instill confidence into the franchise mode for me.


That is very odd. There weren't any noticable bugs like that last year. I'm still looking forward to trying this out on Thursday which is the first day I'll have the free time as Mrs. EF's birthday is tonight.

[Eaglesfan27]

Dola -

That bug is also being reported on OS. However, some people are reporting it doesn't happen to them. If it is a sporadic or inconsistent bug, I imagine it might be difficult to track down.

[Deattribution]

Having done another season (a completely new association) it didn't happen again - so maybe I just got unlucky enough to run into it on the very first try.

[Kodos]

Wow. Guys at OS get really worked up about shoe colors, sock lengths, missing equipment.

[TroyF]

Yikes. . . that's horrific.

But. . . I'll still buy the game. The gameplay is so freakin good. Hope they get this fixed.

[TroyF]

Having done another season (a completely new association) it didn't happen again - so maybe I just got unlucky enough to run into it on the very first try.

I wonder what would happen if you saved it about a week before the end of the playoffs and then ran it through 5 or 6 times. Does it do it sometimes and not others? If that's the case, it could be a fairly easy fix. If it's something during the season that causes it that makes it entirely random, it's gonna suck.

[stevew]

They probably could make a decent amount of money with "shoe packs" and "alt jersey" packs for this type of game. I think people would pay for downloadable content like that.

Oh, and now that they did the "All Pro" concept for football, it would be great if they would do it for Basketball. Even if it was just a budget title, it would still be great to have gold/silver/bronze legends available.

[Deattribution]

I wonder what would happen if you saved it about a week before the end of the playoffs and then ran it through 5 or 6 times. Does it do it sometimes and not others? If that's the case, it could be a fairly easy fix. If it's something during the season that causes it that makes it entirely random, it's gonna suck.

I'm not really sure, since it happened on the very first try I didn't think it would be hard to duplicate and didn't think to save it. I'd like to see it duplicated for a fix, but maybe it's just one of those sun aligned with the moon and the wind blowing in a certain direction kinda things, and it never happens again.

[Calis]

Just picked up my copy. Excited to fire it up.

So I was anxious about the game this afternoon at work, but most every site is blocked...but I could get to the official 2k forums, and I wished I hadn't. It seemed about every other thread was a complaint about 2k consistently bringing "weak shoe" game, and things along those lines. On top of that I could even understand 90% of the posts. I don't think I'm "balla" enough for those forums.

Pretty discouraging about that franchise bug though, I hope I don't run into that. Although it's highly unlikely I'll actually make it through a whole season before deciding to switch teams. I'm a fantasy draft addict when it comes to basketball games. I just have to continuously do it.

[Icy]

That bug is really weird, i really hope it's a rare issue and that only happends if you fast sim a full season, that i won't ever do as i enjoy playing the games.

[TroyF]

Just picked up my copy. Excited to fire it up.

So I was anxious about the game this afternoon at work, but most every site is blocked...but I could get to the official 2k forums, and I wished I hadn't. It seemed about every other thread was a complaint about 2k consistently bringing "weak shoe" game, and things along those lines. On top of that I could even understand 90% of the posts. I don't think I'm "balla" enough for those forums.

Pretty discouraging about that franchise bug though, I hope I don't run into that. Although it's highly unlikely I'll actually make it through a whole season before deciding to switch teams. I'm a fantasy draft addict when it comes to basketball games. I just have to continuously do it.

I've never understood the "Oh my God, his shoe isn't right, his sock length is so off, his tatoo is on the wrong spot on the arm, etc." attitudes. Just tell me it plays like it always has with the new tweaks. That's all I want to see. And see I will in about five minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Just as a warning:

There is a glitch where the computer starts intentionally fouling at the end of the game and it doesn't react appropriately. It seems to be triggered by going into Blacktop mod and then playing a regular game afterwards. So you might want to avoid Blacktop mode for the time being. Beluba on OS has already said that 2ksports is aware of the issue now, and that they have started work on a patch to address it (as well as any other issues that can be fixed that get reported.)

[Galaxy]

Just as a warning:

There is a glitch where the computer starts intentionally fouling at the end of the game and it doesn't react appropriately. It seems to be triggered by going into Blacktop mod and then playing a regular game afterwards. So you might want to avoid Blacktop mode for the time being. Beluba on OS has already said that 2ksports is aware of the issue now, and that they have started work on a patch to address it (as well as any other issues that can be fixed that get reported.)

So it sounds like it is getting fixed? All the bugs?

[Groundhog]

I have a lot more faith that 2K will fix the bugs quicker than EA "fixes" theirs.

[DeToxRox]

I heard in NBA Live that Josh McRoberts is rated an 89 while Oden is a 79. Can't confirm but if so, that's hilarious.

[heybrad]

I've played a couple of games now and I really enjoy it. Having the play diagrams on the floor really helps although I still have to work for it. I was the Lakers and it felt like the Lakers (Kobe, Odom and 10 piles of crap).

It felt like Houston was really trying to push the ball inside and when they did, Yao abused Bynum, Kwame and Mihm. And true to form, my big men couldn't finish a play to save their lives.

One minor annoyance that happned about 3 times... when returning from a stoppage of play, the ref would hold the ball and start pointing down to the other end of the court while we waited for him to hand over the ball. He'd never hand it over. I paused the game and when coming back he finally gave it up.

I could see the ticker being useful on a Saturday afternoon to get football scores. That was kind of cool.

I can see that the play by play will be a bit repetitive. Just about every time Kobe scored they talked about how disgruntled he is. HA!

[Groundhog]

I can see that the play by play will be a bit repetitive. Just about every time Kobe scored they talked about how disgruntled he is. HA!

I don't know, that's pretty much exactly what we'll hear each time he scores this coming season.

[TroyF]

I'm liking it a lot. Having a problem with fast breaks as the Nuggets. (as in not nearly enough of them) That'll probably be a slider tweak. (or I might just get more as I get more comfortable with the defense) As usual, it's imperitive you work for good shots and make sure you aren't a moron.

One note: the manual sucks ass. Go to Operation Sports forums for a listing of the iso moves, the triple threat moves and the post up moves.

[Anthony]

One note: the manual sucks ass. Go to Operation Sports forums for a listing of the iso moves, the triple threat moves and the post up moves.

ooof, i thought it was just me. if you read the back of the box it tells you about all these signature moves and whatnot, and you look at the manual and it hardly mentions what you can do.

you have a link?

one thing i noticed was if you play blacktop version (i started a quick 3 on 3 game just to get the timing and buttons down), if you press B the ballhandlers (i guess the ones with the good handling skills) will do funkier moves akin to what you'd see in a "And One" video. nothing you'd see in a NBA game (you can't do those moves if you play NBA mode), but i like how since it's more of a "street" setting they give you the option to do crazier moves.

question - why would i use to shoot button instead of the shot stick? what's the difference between using either? i thought i would like the play diagram on the floor, but i found myself looking at the floor more for the directions than watching/playing the game. to me it makes it too "paint by numbers". you have to go to a precise spot on the floor in order for the play diagram to activate, and i don't want to run the risk of not ad-libbing a play to find the open man/mismatch just cuz i'm looking at the floor more than the players. it's a good idea in theory.

[heybrad]

i thought i would like the play diagram on the floor, but i found myself looking at the floor more for the directions than watching/playing the game. to me it makes it too "paint by numbers". you have to go to a precise spot on the floor in order for the play diagram to activate, and i don't want to run the risk of not ad-libbing a play to find the open man/mismatch just cuz i'm looking at the floor more than the players. it's a good idea in theory.
That's kind of what I thought made it cool. In real life I'd imagine they're only running a real play maybe half the time. The other half is a bit of improvising based on what the defense is doing. I found myself having moments where I'd feel like... "Just settle down and run the play" and other times I'd see a lane and just drive, quickly see the mismatch or whatever.

[Anthony]

that's cool, but you have to be in a certain spot on the floor for it to activate. i didn't realize that until i noticed that once i hovered a player over a blue circle the play diagram appeared. i thought it'd be more something like you hit a button and no matter where you are on the floor that's where the play starts and you see the diagram on the floor.

still, it's better than nothing. i'm just setting my playcalling to auto, and take what the defense gives me. i used to be a manual play call type of guy, but auto playcall works just as well.

[heybrad]

I agree that it is a little unforgiving in the sense that the blue circle you need to be in isn't that big. I'd rather see it where you need to just be in a general area.

[TroyF]

HA,

I don't have access to the site at work, but I'll post the moves tonight.

I need to play around with some sliders and get better fast breaks. Everything else is incredible.

[Anthony]

I agree that it is a little unforgiving in the sense that the blue circle you need to be in isn't that big. I'd rather see it where you need to just be in a general area.

exactly. make it so that you just need to be at the top of the key rather than rather than a precise spot at the top of the key. minor gripe, again, cuz what we have is better than nothing.

i like the movements of the players. very human-like. not herky-jerky or robotic.

[Anthony]

HA,

I don't have access to the site at work, but I'll post the moves tonight.


i have access and i tried to find it but couldn't. if you could remember where it was i'll post the link here for everyone else.

[TroyF]

A thread titled ISO moves or something like that. I think the guy who started it had his name start with God.

[Galaxy]

That is very odd. There weren't any noticable bugs like that last year. I'm still looking forward to trying this out on Thursday which is the first day I'll have the free time as Mrs. EF's birthday is tonight.

Big plans? :)

Anyways, what are your impressions (all of the people here) so far?

[Calis]

So far I'm impressed. It's not a giant leap from last year but I don't feel cheated. The biggest thing I've noticed so far is that you really need to work for your shots a lot more than last year. The defense is very tough, unfortunately it doesn't feel like my AI defenders are helping out quite as much, but maybe I'm biased. :) It's tough to score, but man when you have a superstar and he gets going he's really a force. The computer seems to be smarter about using it's superstars as well, and in general is much better at post play than it was last year. I was just mauled by Ilgauskas....Ilgauskas! I was running a small team though and he was just overpowering guys. I was able to use my speed advantage some as well which you couldn't seem to do last year. Last year it seemed like a big guy would roll over a small defender, but a small guy would have a helluva time getting around a big defender.

The play thing I also am slightly underwhelmed just because of how sensitive it is, so I don't find myself using it as much as I figured I would. I'm still not grasping exactly what the hell lockdown defense does, and I wish they had a new features section that walked you through all the new stuff. I'm sure I'm missing tons of stuff.

I'm really enjoying the highlights for each player at the end of the game, I'm sure I'll stop looking at it at some point but it's a nice feature.

Great animations as well.

I'm happy with it so far though, I've only got three games in so far and two of them were real close, and good games with both teams shooting about 34-35% or so and pretty realistic, and the other one I was completely manhandled in and the computer shot closer to 50% and I was closer to 20%.

[heybrad]

I'm still not grasping exactly what the hell lockdown defense does, and I wish they had a new features section that walked you through all the new stuff. I'm sure I'm missing tons of stuff.
Not knowing for sure (because I agree that the manual is worthless), what it seemed to me last night was that when I pulled the trigger for lock down mode, the game kind of took over the defender. I could still reach for steals but the game was keeping him in front of his man. The one thing that seemed cool (and again, this is only based off of a couple of games and not fully understanding how it should work) was that if I went into lock down with Derek Fisher, he'd back off a bit and do what he could to keep his man in front of him, but he was still giving up the jumper. When I used lock down with Kobe he was all over his man and right up tight on him. I'd assume the defensive ratings decides how the defender reacts in lock down mode.

[heybrad]

I was just reading some more about lock on D from the IGN review. The reviewer took Shaq, put him on Lebron and used lock on D and it totally shut down Bron. According to the reviewer (and some at OS) they think it's a game killer which brought the review down to a 7.9.

I don't know about that as I suppose I'd never find myself in the position of putting Shaq on Lebron. I suppose an exploit could be there, but being that I try to play a bit realistically I'd never encounter it.

[TroyF]

I was just reading some more about lock on D from the IGN review. The reviewer took Shaq, put him on Lebron and used lock on D and it totally shut down Bron. According to the reviewer (and some at OS) they think it's a game killer which brought the review down to a 7.9.

I don't know about that as I suppose I'd never find myself in the position of putting Shaq on Lebron. I suppose an exploit could be there, but being that I try to play a bit realistically I'd never encounter it.

I'm doing something wrong I guess. I tried to use the lock down with Chuckie Atkins on Deron Williams last night and was just tore to shreds. Williams would hesitate, bob and weave and still get by. Or he'd pass the ball off and they'd run a play for him. I had no choice but to switch off Diawara on him to try and slow him down. (no, it didn't work) Williams went for 26, Boozer 28 and I lost by 6.

Maybe I'll get better and it'll actually become to big of an advantage. If that happens, I'll just stop using it. Problem solved.

[heybrad]

I tried to use the lock down with Chuckie Atkins on Deron Williams last night
Maybe our opinions will differ on this but I remember from Chuckie's Laker days that he was basically a turnstyle on defense. He was horrific. From my experience last night, Derek Fisher was pretty bad even with lock down. Kobe on the hand was awesome.

What's Chuckie's defensive rating in the game?

[heybrad]

Here's the link to the ISO moves..

http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=222692

And the post...

Seems like a lot of people are having trouble getting the hang of isomotion. I'll explain every move and how to do it here.

Basic Crossover. This is just a simple flick of the stick to the side opposite your dribble hand. No trigger required.

In and out. You can do this with any crossover, including the hesitation crossover, and the stutter crossover. This is done by immediately throwing the stick back towards the original dribble hand. So if the balls in your left hand, attempt to crossover right, but b4 the ball actually touches the ground, throw the stick back left. No trigger is required for this.

Step back dribble. This is a pretty easy move, and it can create a little space between you and the defender, you might get enough space for a jumper, you might break some ankles. No trigger is required, simply flick the stick opposite the direction you are moving..

Size up moves. Tapping the L trigger while standing in place will activate a size up move, which can be chained into a drive or crossover. Tapping the R trigger while standing will also activate a stutter size up move, which can also be chained into a drive or crossover.

Stutter. To do a stutter, you simply tap R, and from there you can do a stutter cross, or a stutter drive. Tap R, then hold, and move the stick towards your dribble hand for a stutter drive. Tap R, then throw stick towards off hand for a stutter cross.

Step out/Side step move. This is used to sorta step out and drive around a guy who might be a little too close. You have to be moving to do this. Simply tap L while moving, and your player will attempt to step out and go around his man.

Spin. This can be a little trickier for some. If you do it correctly, it'll always work. This also does not require the use of a trigger. The easiest way to learn the spin, is to chain it with a stutter drive. So stutter drive right, with the stick held down hard right, spin the stick hard left, be sure to make a circle motion, or it wont work.

Ok, here are the advanced moves that require the trigger.

Behind the back. This done the same exact way you do a spin, except your holding R to execute the behind the back.

Half spin. You do this the same way you do the step back move, accept your holding the R (flick stick opposite of moving direction).

Double crossover. This is done the same way you do the in and out (start a crossver, throw stick back to original dribble hand) accept again, your holding R.

Hop Step/Spinning hop step. First off, don't even think about abusing this, because it wont work this year. hahah suckers. To do a step back hop, you simply press triangle or Y while on the perimeter. This creates a little space so that you can possibly get an open jumper. A regular hop step when driving inside, is simply done by pressing triangle or Y. To do a spinning hop step, you hold R and press triangle or Y..

Last move is the hesitation crossover, something that was kinda hard to do at times in 2K7. This is done the same way as last year, but itz much easier to pull of. This requires that you hold both triggers (L and R) and simply flick the stick in the direction of the off hand (hand your not dribbling with)..

I think thats all, if I forgot anything, let me know, or if you need to know something else, just ask...

[TroyF]

Maybe our opinions will differ on this but I remember from Chuckie's Laker days that he was basically a turnstyle on defense. He was horrific. From my experience last night, Derek Fisher was pretty bad even with lock down. Kobe on the hand was awesome.

What's Chuckie's defensive rating in the game?


Chuckie is horrible on D. A complete and total sieve. That's why I was trying to do the lockdown thing to have any chance. :) I doubt I'd ever use a bigtime defensive player to do the lockdown on. I figure if their defensive rating is high, I shouldn't need to use the feature. With that in mind, it works for me.

[TroyF]

Following heybrads lead, he is the same poster talking about post and triple threat moves: (the posters name is GodDson770, thanks to him for all of this information)


The post moves are pretty much the same as last years, accept for a few things. Spinning out of the post is done by holding R and flicking the left stick in the direction of the dribble hand. To turn your back to the basket, and have the defender lean on you, press L, when the players back is turned and hes in the post position.

Here are the triple threat moves, which I totally forgot about.

To activate triple threat moves, you hold both trigger. I beleive, once you move a foot, the opposite will be the pivot, so pay attention to that.

Protect ball is done by holding L and R and holding the stick back, you can explode out of this by flicking left or right, and releasing both triggers at the same time.

Jab step is done by flicking the stick opposite the direction of your pivot foot, exploding out of this is done by releasing both triggers, and flicking left or right.

Step in/ step over. Flick stick up to step in to the defender, flick stick towards pivot foot to step over. They are basically the same move, step over takes up more space though.

[Eaglesfan27]

Big plans? :)

Anyways, what are your impressions (all of the people here) so far?

Just went to a nice romantic restaurant for dinner and then a quiet evening at home last night.. Now she is sick with a cold or something. That isn't good for my confidence. However, it does mean that I should be able to play NBA 2k8 in a few minutes.

[Groundhog]

I hate everybody who gets to play this game before me.

[TroyF]

One more note I forgot earlier for those new to the game: Double tap the pass button to throw a lead pass. The break and back door cuts will work a lot better as your guy won't have to stop before he gets the ball.

Tweaked the sliders just a tad. Played a little better. (I dropped computer defensive awareness down a few points) I still love this game. A lot.

[Eaglesfan27]

One more note I forgot earlier for those new to the game: Double tap the pass button to throw a lead pass. The break and back door cuts will work a lot better as your guy won't have to stop before he gets the ball.

Tweaked the sliders just a tad. Played a little better. (I dropped computer defensive awareness down a few points) I still love this game. A lot.

I'm halfway through my first game, and I'm just amazed at how good it is playing. The CPU is shooting a bit too well inside and my Sixers are struggling, but I think that is an issue with the lack of talent on the Sixers and not a game issue. All I've changed is bumped up fouls and lowered game speed to 40, and it is playing a very realistic 1st half of basketball. Sixers are down to the Bobcats 44-32.

[Galaxy]

How's the franchise mode, and presentation of that?

[Eaglesfan27]

On Default All Star sliders, I was just blown out 111-68 as our defense got really sloppy in the 2nd. I tried playing Korver a lot in the 2nd half as he was my one consistent scorer besides Iguodala and he was getting torn up on defense. I tried controlling Korver to see if that could help, and I tried using the "lockdown" mode. It was a joke with Korver as guys were blowing right by him. Mostly against him, Jason Richardson scored 33 as the CPU seemed to try to isolate Korver, our maybe that was just dumb luck. Shrug. I'm looking forward to starting my franchise tomorrow or this weekend. Should be a long first season or two with the Sixers.

The only thing that I saw that I didn't like was that there seems to be a slight hiccup (or maybe it is intentional) that makes hitting the first or two FT's really difficult (the controller also throbs gently which is more distracting to me than the heavy rumbling.) I'll probably lower FT difficulty a bit (it's great that they made this a separate slider) or even turn on "real FT %" for players.

Edit: Dunking truly seems much harder. I only had 3 all game, all of them with Iguodala (including 1 very spectacular reverse.) I really like the post game wrap up which includes the top 3 plays of the game, the hot zone, signature highlights (pick a player and see all of their highlights including rebounds, steals, etc from throughout the game) as well as the player of the game.

[Galaxy]

Jeez...I'm betting a high lottery pick is likely. :)

[Groundhog]

I always play with real FT %, mainly because there are too many players with wierd FT animation styles that I can never master.

[stevew]

I always play with real FT %, mainly because there are too many players with wierd FT animation styles that I can never master.

It's freaking impossible to hit a FT with Drew Gooden.

[Eaglesfan27]

Reading threads on OS, it seems like a fair percentage of people are playing on the default pro level. Since, I was crushed by the Bobcats last night on All-Star level, I'm considering dropping down to pro myself tonight or tomorrow (whenever I have a chance to play again.) What level are most of you playing on? Does pro seem to play a "smart" game still?

[Calis]

Reading threads on OS, it seems like a fair percentage of people are playing on the default pro level. Since, I was crushed by the Bobcats last night on All-Star level, I'm considering dropping down to pro myself tonight or tomorrow (whenever I have a chance to play again.) What level are most of you playing on? Does pro seem to play a "smart" game still?

You know I played pretty much exclusively on All-Star last year, but I dropped down to pro to learn the ropes this year and I've had some very good games. I got trounced once even, badly, and the other games have been close.

I think it plays a very good game. Now once I learn the ropes a bit better I will probably need to move up but for now I think Pro plays very well.

[Pumpy Tudors]

WHERE THE HELL IS MY XBOX 360??? UP YOURS, MICROSOFT!!!

That damned red ring of death. :(

[heybrad]

Reading threads on OS, it seems like a fair percentage of people are playing on the default pro level. Since, I was crushed by the Bobcats last night on All-Star level, I'm considering dropping down to pro myself tonight or tomorrow (whenever I have a chance to play again.) What level are most of you playing on? Does pro seem to play a "smart" game still?
I think pro plays a good game although I'm getting a bit tired of my own 4th quarter collapses. It's most likely my own suckitude.

[Calis]

I think pro plays a good game although I'm getting a bit tired of my own 4th quarter collapses. It's most likely my own suckitude.

I'm actually having the exact opposite effect which I've never had in a basketball game. I've played two games in a row now where I was losing throughout the first 3 quarters, at time badly..and then just really turned it on in the 4th and pulled of the win.

It's nice to be on the other side of that for once. :)

[TroyF]

I think pro plays a good game although I'm getting a bit tired of my own 4th quarter collapses. It's most likely my own suckitude.


I'm getting my ass handed to me on all star and figure, what the hell, I'll give pro a shot. I start an association with the Nuggets and open against the Sonics. At halftime I'm up 64-42 (10 minute quarters) and I'm thinking to myself "this is ridiculous, I'm going to have to bump it back up." Then I start to struggle scoring. I mean really, really struggle. Some of it is my fault and some of it is just my players coming back down to Earth and missing shots. The Sonics claw back and tie it at 90 with 30 seconds left.

I get the ball in the post with Melo and am able to break free for a score. Durant misses a 14 footer and a eek out a 92-90 win.

I need to bump fouls up a bit (Sonics had 7 foul shots, I had 12, a little low for both) But everything else played great. Durant had 31 points and the CPU ran plays that made sense. I also found some fast breaks that had been lacking on all star and had 12 fast break points. (and others that it didn't call fast break points that actually were, like times I was able to move the ball up the court and get easy shot attempts before the D got set)

I ended the game shooting 52%, they shot 50%. All in all, I was thrilled with it.

A few tweaks to those fouls, maybe slow down the game to 40 or 45 and bump the minutes up to 12 and I have my settings locked in I think.

[Cringer]

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/forumdisplay.php?f=16

[TroyF]

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/forumdisplay.php?f=16

Did you post that link for every console thread we have here or just this one?

Was there a point to it?

[Anthony]

i'm getting blown out on Pro level, so that's where i'm gonna stay for now. great game.

[Eaglesfan27]

I get the ball in the post with Melo and am able to break free for a score. Durant misses a 14 footer and a eek out a 92-90 win.

I need to bump fouls up a bit (Sonics had 7 foul shots, I had 12, a little low for both) But everything else played great. Durant had 31 points and the CPU ran plays that made sense. I also found some fast breaks that had been lacking on all star and had 12 fast break points. (and others that it didn't call fast break points that actually were, like times I was able to move the ball up the court and get easy shot attempts before the D got set)

I ended the game shooting 52%, they shot 50%. All in all, I was thrilled with it.

A few tweaks to those fouls, maybe slow down the game to 40 or 45 and bump the minutes up to 12 and I have my settings locked in I think.

I'm playing with game speed at 40 and 12 minute quarters, and I think that is going to be very good. Hearing your report as well as everyone else's, I'm just going to dive into my association tonight on pro level. If I start beating too many teams that I shouldn't, I'll bump up to All-Star. In my only game, I had all fouls at 75 and that seemed still too low. I'll probably bump charging up to 100 as I hear there is a lack of offensive fouls and bump everything else up to 80, but I doubt I'm going to need to touch the other sliders much from what I've read here and on OS.

[Icy]

Grrrrrrr mailman, where the heck is my game??? You know the torture that is to read this thread while waiting for the game? Only Pumpy knows it while he waits for his 360 from microsoft.

[Anthony]

this is the 1st time in a LOOOONG time where instead of immediately exiting a game once it's over, i'm actually taking the time to see the highlights and hotspots of some of the players and the top 3 plays of the game. i really do feel like i'm watching an NBA game on TNT or something.

trading is hard. i'm having a very difficult time unloading some of my Knicks' bad contracts. Jerome James, Jeffries and Quentin Richardson are proving hard to get rid of. was trying to get Shawn Marion from the Suns and had i included my 1st round pick they would've shown more interest but since i'm still learning the ropes i'm gonna not do an Isaiah Thomas move and trade a valuable high pick. i'm 0-2 on Pro, was keeping up with the Nuggets but decided to go call it a nite. the stars on each team really do play like stars.

one thing i don't like, and was my gripe for the last version, is when you do the player matchup and you want to double team Lebron, if he moves to another position you'll wind up double teaming the person who takes his spot in the roster. so annoying, i may just wind up going auto matchup on all positions to avoid that.

one great way to go on a roll is to check who's heating up/who's hot. keep feeding them the ball and try to stay away from the guys that are cold. you have to press a certain direction on the D-pad, it'll show who's hot and who's cold. it really works, i had Marbury listed as cold during one stretch and it just wasn't dropping for him. Richardson got cold and while he made one 3 pointer he wound up going 1-6 around the rim. right now i'm trying to get him the rock a lot so i can showcase him and get him off my team.

[TroyF]

this is the 1st time in a LOOOONG time where instead of immediately exiting a game once it's over, i'm actually taking the time to see the highlights and hotspots of some of the players and the top 3 plays of the game. i really do feel like i'm watching an NBA game on TNT or something.

trading is hard. i'm having a very difficult time unloading some of my Knicks' bad contracts. Jerome James, Jeffries and Quentin Richardson are proving hard to get rid of. was trying to get Shawn Marion from the Suns and had i included my 1st round pick they would've shown more interest but since i'm still learning the ropes i'm gonna not do an Isaiah Thomas move and trade a valuable high pick. i'm 0-2 on Pro, was keeping up with the Nuggets but decided to go call it a nite. the stars on each team really do play like stars.

one thing i don't like, and was my gripe for the last version, is when you do the player matchup and you want to double team Lebron, if he moves to another position you'll wind up double teaming the person who takes his spot in the roster. so annoying, i may just wind up going auto matchup on all positions to avoid that.

one great way to go on a roll is to check who's heating up/who's hot. keep feeding them the ball and try to stay away from the guys that are cold. you have to press a certain direction on the D-pad, it'll show who's hot and who's cold. it really works, i had Marbury listed as cold during one stretch and it just wasn't dropping for him. Richardson got cold and while he made one 3 pointer he wound up going 1-6 around the rim. right now i'm trying to get him the rock a lot so i can showcase him and get him off my team.

Yeah, another one of the joys of the ridiculous documentation, you have no idea what a lot of the things the directional pad does. (BTW, for those interested 2K has said they will be releasing an online manual. I'll keep you posted as to when it is released. I believe some guys on operation sports are planning on some video tutorials as well)

I think it's hitting up on the directional pad that shows the hot/cold guys HA. I usually set everyone to auto until the end of the game. Then I'll pause the game and change those options to make sure who I want is doubled, when I want them doubled.

[Anthony]

Yeah, another one of the joys of the ridiculous documentation, you have no idea what a lot of the things the directional pad does. (BTW, for those interested 2K has said they will be releasing an online manual. I'll keep you posted as to when it is released. I believe some guys on operation sports are planning on some video tutorials as well)

I think it's hitting up on the directional pad that shows the hot/cold guys HA. I usually set everyone to auto until the end of the game. Then I'll pause the game and change those options to make sure who I want is doubled, when I want them doubled.

i think one direction will show hot/cold. another direction is for substitutions. another direction is for coaching stuff (crash boards vs. look for the fast break, etc). another direction is for quick plays (offensive and defensive). i just keep forgetting which direction does which, guess it'll take a couple more games to be intuitive.

iso-moves are still very difficult for me. i struggle to do basic crossovers. and post moves? forget it. i can only do the hop-step thing. i suck in this game but it's plays so wonderfully i don't mind losing. besides, i'm the Knicks so it's not like i'm supposed to be blowing teams out.

and i absolutely LOVE that you can sim a game using 12 minute quarters. so you can play 10 min quarters (like i do) if you want, but sim a full game's worth of stats. i may go down to 8 min quarters, it takes just under 1 hour to play a game.

[Galaxy]

I'm playing with game speed at 40 and 12 minute quarters, and I think that is going to be very good. Hearing your report as well as everyone else's, I'm just going to dive into my association tonight on pro level. If I start beating too many teams that I shouldn't, I'll bump up to All-Star. In my only game, I had all fouls at 75 and that seemed still too low. I'll probably bump charging up to 100 as I hear there is a lack of offensive fouls and bump everything else up to 80, but I doubt I'm going to need to touch the other sliders much from what I've read here and on OS.

Long games. How long do they take to play in real time? Look forward to the dynasty reports.

If you play 5 minute quarters, do all the teams play 5 minute quarters? That's one thing I hated about most sports games (they don't adjust to the same playing time, creating stat problems).

You'll be able to import the players from the college hoops game to the NBA game this year, correct?

[Calis]

Long games. How long do they take to play in real time? Look forward to the dynasty reports.

If you play 5 minute quarters, do all the teams play 5 minute quarters? That's one thing I hated about most sports games (they don't adjust to the same playing time, creating stat problems).

You'll be able to import the players from the college hoops game to the NBA game this year, correct?

You set them separately. You can set your games to 5 minutes for instance and the CPU games to 12 or down to 5.

[Eaglesfan27]

Long games. How long do they take to play in real time? Look forward to the dynasty reports.

If you play 5 minute quarters, do all the teams play 5 minute quarters? That's one thing I hated about most sports games (they don't adjust to the same playing time, creating stat problems).

You'll be able to import the players from the college hoops game to the NBA game this year, correct?

I'm looking at somewhere around 1:15-1:20 to play a 12 minute quarter game which means I'll only be playing on weekends, but that is true of most of my console games at this point. As Calis already said, you can play 5 minute quarters if you want and sim 12 minute quarters. Yes, you can import college guys to the NBA game, but if it is like last year, you can only import them at the beginning of the season (since you can scout the college guys all year long.) I've heard reports of College Hoops 2k6 classes importing into NBA 2k7, but since they've added new attributes to players I imagine it would create problems to try to import from College Hoops 2k7 into NBA 2k8. I'm going to start an association tonight and I will start a dynasty thread because it will help me organize my thoughts on the roster, but I may restart my association once College Hoops 2k8 has some classes, or I might just roll with fictional draft classes. Of course, a patch may require a re-start of the association anyway, once it is out, to fix the playoff bug.

[Calis]

One annoyance.

If I have to hear the announcers have an orgasm about a simple bounce pass I made being an amazing pass, I might puke.

I had them scream at 4 passes in one game last night that was a perfectly normal nothing fancy move it around the perimeter pass.

It seems like the commentating actually gets worse from year to year, but that's the only thing..and I'd prefer that to something else, still needs a lot of work though.

[TroyF]

One annoyance.

If I have to hear the announcers have an orgasm about a simple bounce pass I made being an amazing pass, I might puke.

I had them scream at 4 passes in one game last night that was a perfectly normal nothing fancy move it around the perimeter pass.

It seems like the commentating actually gets worse from year to year, but that's the only thing..and I'd prefer that to something else, still needs a lot of work though.

I'm finding commentary quite bad as well. Every Nuggets game I get "Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson started to gel at the end of the year. . . blah, blah, blah, blah, blah"

I'm thinking the announcers are going off, all the ambiant sounds are going up and music is going to be played in the background for me.

[Eaglesfan27]

As I'm starting my Association, I just discovered a neat trick. Last year's College Hoops draft files from 2k7 will not load, but you can keep the "import draft" option turned on and then back out of the import screen when it actually asks you to load the class. It will then generate a draft class. I'm assuming that it will still ask you to load draft classes for future years. If so, this can be a good option for those that want to import college hoops players in future years but are too impatient to wait for College Hoops to come out before starting your association and don't care if the 1st year (or 2) of rookies are fake players.

[Galaxy]

As I'm starting my Association, I just discovered a neat trick. Last year's College Hoops draft files from 2k7 will not load, but you can keep the "import draft" option turned on and then back out of the import screen when it actually asks you to load the class. It will then generate a draft class. I'm assuming that it will still ask you to load draft classes for future years. If so, this can be a good option for those that want to import college hoops players in future years but are too impatient to wait for College Hoops to come out before starting your association and don't care if the 1st year (or 2) of rookies are fake players.

Do you get international players with the created files? I'm guessing all players imported will all be from the college game (no additional players are added)?

[Eaglesfan27]

Do you get international players with the created files? I'm guessing all players imported will all be from the college game (no additional players are added)?

I don't know if they add players when you import, but I would guess not.

As far as the game created draft class, yes it has international players. I haven't scouted him yet, but the 6th best player on my scouting board is a 6'4 210 pound PG from Mexico. The 15th best player is a 6'4 195 pound PG from Argentina. About 20% of the players on my board are from international countries including Slovenia, Mexico, and Turkey as well as the 2 players I mentioned.

Edit to add: Unlike last year in College Hoops, the international players seem to have country apporpriate names as well. The player from Slovenia is named Dario Bilic for example, while one of the guys from Mexico is Alejandro Diaz.

[Anthony]

this game is awesome. started out 0-4, then i made some big trades (brought in Odom, Payton, Grant Hill, Kwame Brown among others) and won 2 games in a row. we beat the Suns by 5, in what was a very close game and the most fun i've had playing a sports game against the AI in a long, long time.

i'm slightly more interested in my Knicks dynasty than i am playing multiplayer, which was the exact opposite of Madden. i highly recommend this game.

[Terps]

Finally got the game in the mail today, just got done playing my first game and got my ass handed to me by the Knicks on pro level. 108-90. I pulled to within 10 after I went on a 12-3 run, but couldn't hit anything the last 2 minutes of the game.

Came up 2 assists shy of a triple double with Arenas, 32 points, 11 boards, 8 assists.

I like the on court diagrams for the plays, when they work that is. It seems very touchy to where you have to stand and I usually only get to the second step and then can't get it to keep going.

Presentation is good, crowd gets loud when they should, probably going to turn off the announcers though. I also like the post game wrap up.

Plays very well, I just need some practice, since I skipped NBA and College Hoops last year. I'll probably head over to OS to find some updated rosters to download, and get my Wizards association going.

[Sweed]

this game is awesome. started out 0-4, then i made some big trades (brought in Odom, Payton, Grant Hill, Kwame Brown among others) and won 2 games in a row. we beat the Suns by 5, in what was a very close game and the most fun i've had playing a sports game against the AI in a long, long time.

i'm slightly more interested in my Knicks dynasty than i am playing multiplayer, which was the exact opposite of Madden. i highly recommend this game.

Agreed the game is awesome. I'm curious, who did you give the Lakers to get Odom and Kwame? When making your trades did it seem the AI teams got fair value in the deals?

[TroyF]

For those struggling with the controls, there are a slew of tips/hints/videos popping up. Operation sports has a video turorial and there is a solid online one at this link:

hxxp://www.sportsgamer.com/content/1180/nba-2k8-breaking-down-your-defender/

[Eaglesfan27]

For those that hate sliders (yes Todd, I'm thinking of you - too bad you don't like any NBA games), this game is a dream. Even dropping down to Pro, I'm finding only very slight slider tweaks are needed to get very realistic results. I've knocked all shooting sliders down one slot to 49 and I've knocked steals up to 70 for both sides. Last year, there were too many steals and I think the development team overcompensated this year. I've also knocked down the clutch and dunk in traffic to 25. With those few tweaks, I've just finished two of the best games I've ever played in a console sports game. Portland's defense was poor in the first game as Oden was out injured for a few weeks, and I had a 100-85 game. Now, I just finished playing the Pistons and it was a defensive slugfest (the Sixers are rated pretty good for defense) as both teams struggled to crack 70.

[Sweed]

For those that hate sliders (yes Todd, I'm thinking of you - too bad you don't like any NBA games), this game is a dream. Even dropping down to Pro, I'm finding only very slight slider tweaks are needed to get very realistic results. I've knocked all shooting sliders down one slot to 49 and I've knocked steals up to 70 for both sides. Last year, there were too many steals and I think the development team overcompensated this year. I've also knocked down the clutch and dunk in traffic to 25. With those few tweaks, I've just finished two of the best games I've ever played in a console sports game. Portland's defense was poor in the first game as Oden was out injured for a few weeks, and I had a 100-85 game. Now, I just finished playing the Pistons and it was a defensive slugfest (the Sixers are rated pretty good for defense) as both teams struggled to crack 70.

Agreed, like last year a good set of sliders really puts polish on this game.

I used Bizcanos' All-Star sliders last year (they played a great game) and he just posted some for 2k8 yesterday here..
http://forums.operationsports.com/vBulletin/showthread.php?t=223786

There new so maybe he'll tweak them some more but I just played my first game with them and the game felt very good. Lakers (me) at San Antonio, lost the game 120-103 with 12 minute qtrs. Duncan despite foul trouble and only playing about 24 minutes had 19pts and 9 boards, Parker cut me up with 15 assists, and Ginobilli (sp) shot the ball real well making up for Duncan not being on the floor.

SA FG% was on the high end of acceptable at 54% but Parker and Ginobilli were able to drive and of course Duncan was a force down low when in the game. I think once I'm used to the touchiness\feel of the controller I'll be able to tighten up the defense in the lane a little more and make opponents take a few more jumpshots. The only other number that stuck out in the game to me was I was only called for 16 fouls (a bit low but it does happen IRL), other numbers looked very realistic ala FGA, steals, TO, rebounds, etc.
Only a one game sample though so I'm anxious to get in a few more games to see how they hold up.

Sure it would be nice to have games play great out of the box and this one does do a pretty good job of it. But if you find a guy that makes a good set of sliders year after year for your game of choice it takes little effort to get your game tuned to a very good real life simulation.

[Neuqua]

I just got a 360 and picked up this game yesterday and boy, I suck. I lost my first association game with the Bulls by about 40 to New Jersey. I'm hoping it's due to my not playing this series for a couple years now. I'm pretty clueless on offense.

Having a lot of fun though.

[Terps]

I suck also. I played at the Celts, and thought I was going to do well since I hung around with them for 3 and a half quarters. Nope, I was wrong. At the half, they were up 10, and I kept cutting their lead, finally going up 65-64 at one point. They went on a little run and I got back to within 2, 72-70. Then, they went on a 27-7 run to end the game, winning 99-77.

Still having a blast (losing) though. Also, still having a hard time running plays with the play diagrams, and I always get outshot in total FG attempts. I think I was in the 70's for that Celtics game and they had around 90.

I'm horrible with backing anyone down and scoring in the post, and I know Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood aren't great players by any means, but I should be able to do SOMETHING with them.

[Groundhog]

I know Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood aren't great players by any means, but I should be able to do SOMETHING with them.

I respectfully disagree. :D

[Anthony]

Agreed the game is awesome. I'm curious, who did you give the Lakers to get Odom and Kwame? When making your trades did it seem the AI teams got fair value in the deals?

i believe i gave up Stephon Marbury, David Lee, Quentin Richardson and 2nd round pick for Odom, Kwame Brown and Vladimir Radmanovic. it valued David Lee a ton and didn't seem to value Kwame Brown all that much. i don't value Kwame Brown all that much, he's only rated 68 overall i believe and when i use him he's useless, missing a ton of easy shots around the basket. i use him for 6 fouls and just to have an extra tall body to put on the floor. Odom is awesome in this game, i really like how when i played my 1st game with him the AI had him be the primary ballcarrier. you might want to consider picking up Nate Richardson. he's friggin small, but his ratings are great especially if you start him. right now he's rated 78+3, getting a bonus for being named a starter.

the AI makes me WORK for the trades. you also have to be mindful if the finiancial aspect of the trade will work, cuz i came across a lot of trades the AI was willing to do but the contracts were too unbalanced.

[Galaxy]

Can you get draft picks via trades? Or is near impossible? And how far ahead can you trade picks?

[Anthony]

Can you get draft picks via trades? Or is near impossible?

i haven't tried to aquire anyone's 1st round picks or any other picks, so i don't know. i threw in my 2nd rounder in one trade to sweeten the pot. since you have to worry about contracts and any one team can't give away/take on big contracts it kinda makes it hard to aquire a 1st round pick cuz they don't have any financial value. the Knicks starting out don't really have anyone another team would give up a 1st round for. maybe now that i have Odom, but he's awesome in the game so i'm not planning on moving him anytime soon.

you can only trade current and next year's picks.

[Pumpy Tudors]

RAAAWR WHERE THE HELL IS MY 360

[MikeVic]

I played this at a friend's house yesterday... The slam dunk mode is super fun as all get out. Seeing Vince Carter try to jump over a car, clip his knees and come crashing down... then holding his leg as he goes to the side... it was so funny. Or Andrei Kiralenko busting his head on the backboard. Funny I tell you.

[Eaglesfan27]

Can you get draft picks via trades? Or is near impossible? And how far ahead can you trade picks?

Yes, you can trade up to 2 years worth of draft picks. I don't know how difficult it is because I haven't tried too many trades yet. I worked hard to try to get Daniel Gibson from the Cavs after they put him on the block, but I couldn't get them to do it for anything cheap and I wasn't willing to add a 1st rounder as I think it will be a lottery pick, although that would have gotten me Gibson.

Also, the game has 3 team trades which I think might be new.. I haven't tried any of those yet either.

[Galaxy]

I can't wait to pick up a 360.

[Neuqua]

Game 2 I showed a little bit of improvement on the road against the Bucks. Michael Redd just lit me up for 20+ points with his quick release and I lost by about 15 or so. I still don't know how to play offense, I am going to have to sit down and print out basic instructions from somewhere so I can have an idea what I am supposed to be doing on set plays. As of now, I hope to get lucky on a fastbreak or just end up settling for jump shots, not very pretty basketball.

Next up on the schedule, the Detroit Pistons. *Gulp*

[Ironhead]

Haven't followed basketball in many years and I never really grasped the strategy beyond go from one end of the court to the other and try to score. Sounds like this will be hard to pass on eventually.

[Galaxy]

Do you see the computer employ different strageties and take have a "plan" in building its team? Does the computer change gears throughout the game

[Eaglesfan27]

Do you see the computer employ different strageties and take have a "plan" in building its team? Does the computer change gears throughout the game

I'm not sure about the strategies that the computer undertakes throughout a season yet. However, there are owners with different priorities. Mine just wants me to improve the talent level on the team. Others seem to want the team to win right now.

As far as throughout the game, I definitely see the AI adapting. If Iguodala is hot, they start double teaming him. If he finds open men and they nail their shots, they'll back off the double team. If they are falling behind, they'll use timeouts to disrupt our tempo and momentum. They'll change it up and press more, etc. I had one game where Iguodala was blowing by his man, double teaming wasn't working as he was finding open men who were hitting their shots, and they switched to a zone defense. Similarly, I've seen them mix it up offensively to get stars going. I think teams and players play more like themselves than any previous version. Arenas was insane with some of the shots he took when I played him and he was jacking it up more than any other star despite being cold. Eventually, he got hot and it was almost impossible to stop him. His range in the game where he has 3 bars or more is impressive.

[TroyF]

Game 2 I showed a little bit of improvement on the road against the Bucks. Michael Redd just lit me up for 20+ points with his quick release and I lost by about 15 or so. I still don't know how to play offense, I am going to have to sit down and print out basic instructions from somewhere so I can have an idea what I am supposed to be doing on set plays. As of now, I hope to get lucky on a fastbreak or just end up settling for jump shots, not very pretty basketball.

Next up on the schedule, the Detroit Pistons. *Gulp*

There are a lot of tips at operationsports.

I'll give some of mine:

1) Pass, pass, pass.
2) Look for mismatches. I play as the Nuggets a lot and if Carmelo or Nene are picked up by a G, I get the ball to them for a back down post move instantly. If AI is picked up by the center, I call the quick play isolation clear out and break him down.
3) The set plays are terrific, but don't forget those quick plays. Calling for a pick, using the pick and roll, the isolation or the quick post up are all very effective when used at the right time. The beauty of the game is that it will adjust to what you do and you can catch the AI in mistakes because of it. EX: Last game I was against the TWolves. Nene was owning any PF they had and I was running the pick and roll on them like crazy. they adjusted on one play and an AI defender went over to help on the P&R. I was able to throw a cross court pass to JR Smith who had a wide open three pointer from the corner.
4) Just like real life, don't force a shot early in the shot clock. You can always take the fade away 20 footer with the PG. Keep poking and prodding the defense and see if you can find a weakness.
5) The Pistons or the Spurs? Good luck. Just like in real life, those teams are like freakin amoebas. You think you are open and then you have three guys on you. Be patient, run lots of screens and iso's and always look for the open man when they rotate. Also try a couple of exotic lineups against them for short stretches. See if you can get a powerful SF or quick PG on Rip. Other than that? Prepare for a long night and for your stars to shoot 40%. Short of playing on rookie, there isn't much you are going to be able to do about it.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'll add one thing to Troy's list of tips:

Pay attention to the bars. They really let you know where a guy prefers to shoot from. For example, Thaddeus Young prefers the left corner behind the arc the most, and the left side of the court in general it seems. He can shoot ok on the right side, but if I can get him the ball in his preferred zones, he is a more dangerous shooter.

[Anthony]

i didn't even know what those bars were for.

[Eaglesfan27]

i didn't even know what those bars were for.

They also change color to shades of blue if he is cold or ice cold and orange if he is hot.

[Neuqua]

I didn't know about the bars either, that helps out a lot.

Appreciate the tips fellas, hopefully I can keep it someone respectable tonight when I get back to my game.

Unfortunatly my owner is a "tyrant" so he isn't going to be satisfied with my losing by double digits every game. Luckily I am undefeated in the games I have simmed (simming every other game.)

Looking forward to trying out suggestions tonight, great game.

[Pumpy Tudors]

As of this past Saturday, Microsoft submitted billing information for the return of my Xbox 360 (or a refurb or whatever). I assume that I'll have the machine by Friday. as soon as it shows up, I'm going to run out and buy this game. Yaaaay!

[SunDevil]

I swear to God. This thread and this game are pulling me ever close to buying a 360. I have not picked up a new generation console yet, and was not planning on getting one for a while, but you guys are doing a great job selling this game. I think that I will have the strength to resist, but none the less you guys are doing a great job discussing this game.

[BrianD]

I swear to God. This thread and this game are pulling me ever close to buying a 360. I have not picked up a new generation console yet, and was not planning on getting one for a while, but you guys are doing a great job selling this game. I think that I will have the strength to resist, but none the less you guys are doing a great job discussing this game.

+1

[TroyF]

If you guys had told me that a basketball game could be a system seller before the NBA2K series, I'd have laughed at you. I'm probably one of the biggest basketball fans there is (despite the horrific reffing in the NBA) :) Still, I'd have laughed at you. A football game? Maybe. Baseball? Possible. Basketball? Ummmm. . . not a chance in hell. For what, DoubleDribble or NBA Live?

EF27 and I have been fans from the very start. (I know others have as well, but EF27 and I have been babbling non stop about this (or the college version) for a long time.

Simply put: IMHO, this is the best console sports sim ever made and easily ranks in my top 5 games of all time for any genre. (so you have an idea what that means for me, the rest of my top 5 looks like this: Football Manager, Front Office Football, Bioshock, the GTA series)

Never have I spent more time with a console sports game.

That wasn't a sales job, it was just a fact. :)

[Sweed]

I'm loving this game too, but two things are annoying me.

Like in previous years if a player fouls out or is injured the cpu immediately puts in a sub (yes I have subs set to manual). And to top it off it not only subs for the player that fouled out or was injured but adjusts your whole lineup. The other night I had Odom at PF and he turned an ankle while being fouled on a shot driving the lane. Radmanavich was on the bench and fresh, does the cpu put him in the game? No, the cpu goes with Chris Mihm at PF, wtf? Why can't this be programmed to go to the sub screen so you can select who you want if your subs are set to manual?

Coach settings (and maybe I'm missing this somewhere), I have to go in at the start of every game and set subs and timeouts to manual. Why isn't that saved with all of my other settings?

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm loving this game too, but two things are annoying me.

Like in previous years if a player fouls out or is injured the cpu immediately puts in a sub (yes I have subs set to manual). And to top it off it not only subs for the player that fouled out or was injured but adjusts your whole lineup. The other night I had Odom at PF and he turned an ankle while being fouled on a shot driving the lane. Radmanavich was on the bench and fresh, does the cpu put him in the game? No, the cpu goes with Chris Mihm at PF, wtf? Why can't this be programmed to go to the sub screen so you can select who you want if your subs are set to manual?

Coach settings (and maybe I'm missing this somewhere), I have to go in at the start of every game and set subs and timeouts to manual. Why isn't that saved with all of my other settings?

I agree. Both of these things annoy me. I also agree with Troy. Even though I haven't spent a lot of time with the game yet, I feel confident declaring it the best sports console game I've ever played, and I feel confident that 2ksports will patch the bugs that are present.

[Pumpy Tudors]

The Xbox 360 will be back in my house on Thursday. I'll be picking the game up on the way home from work. Fabulous!

[rjolley]

Coach settings (and maybe I'm missing this somewhere), I have to go in at the start of every game and set subs and timeouts to manual. Why isn't that saved with all of my other settings? Hmmm, on the original XBox for CH2K7, these settings are saved. Thought they would've rolled that into the NBA lines as well.

And I agree, I hate when they do that, especially when a player fouls out in the last minute of a game. I usually want to sub with a 3pt shooter, not my big man who hasn't hit a shot since last season.

[Galaxy]

This game sounds like it almost as good as sex.

[Sublime 2]

Damn! I started my Association with the Bobcats, and was at .500 with some tough/quality wins, and thought I had another one in the books when we played the Heat. Down by 10 going in to the 4th quarter, Gerald Wallace gets hot and scores 9 straight for us, while Wallace also holds Wade to an 0-3 stretch. Back and forth for the final 3-4 minutes, then we take a 3 point lead on an and-1 dunk by Okafor with 48 seconds to go. Heat come back down go inside to Shaq who kicks it to Jason Williams for the tre. We come back down, look for Wallace but he can't get a good look, so it goes back in to Okafor who gets swatted by Shaq. 20 seconds to go the Heat call timeout, JWill comes down the court, goes in to Shaq who kicks it back out to Wade who proceeds to break Jason Richardson's ankles get wide-open and nail a 15 footer with .1 seconds left. Man I love this game!

[Anthony]

i think i have to bump this up to 9 minute quarters (currently playing 8 min). not enough scoring, a good scoring nite for me is high 70's. just not enough time to score a lot of points.

Lamar Odom and Nate Robinson are unbelievable in this game.

on another note, one glaring head scratcher was one simmed game between the Knicks and the 76ers, final score of 49-40 (76ers won). i'll look past that one, otherwise its been a phenominal game and my favorite sports game of all time, which is saying a lot.

[Galaxy]

i think i have to bump this up to 9 minute quarters (currently playing 8 min). not enough scoring, a good scoring nite for me is high 70's. just not enough time to score a lot of points.

Lamar Odom and Nate Robinson are unbelievable in this game.

on another note, one glaring head scratcher was one simmed game between the Knicks and the 76ers, final score of 49-40 (76ers won). i'll look past that one, otherwise its been a phenominal game and my favorite sports game of all time, which is saying a lot.

What were the shooting percentages for both teams?

BTW, here are some screen shoots for the college game:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/collegehoops2k8/images.html

[Radii]

BTW, here are some screen shoots for the college game:
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/sports/collegehoops2k8/images.html


*drools* I cannot wait for this.

[rjolley]

Anyone have the post moves for the original Xbox, either NBA or College Hoops? I've just found out about the drop step (hitting Y) and it's been very useful. I've got the hook and fadeaway, but it's nice to have some other moves to use. Also, is anyone able to explode out of the triple threat jab step? Couldn't get that working last night.

[Neuqua]

**FINALLY!**

Took me to my seventh game but finally I feel what it's like on the winning end of a blowout. With each passing game I was improving more on offense and the losing deficit was decreasing so I knew things were improving.

Then the Hawks came into town, and their complete inability to play any sort of defense was welcome in Chicago. Hinrich went 4 of 5 from 3pt land in the first half and had 20 pts in the half alone. Then with the towers down low (Thomas, Wallace, Noah) swatting away any weak drives, our defense held Atlanta down. I was up 30 at some point in the 4th quarter before Atlanta made a few meaningless layups in the end to make the final score 101-81. Hinrich had 22 pts, 7 reb, 5 ast. Gordon had a hot 4th quarter and ended up with 18 points and Deng finished with 17.

I'm so relieved to finally have gotten my first win out of the way.

[mrsimperless]

So is the college version usually just as good? I can't see myself buying a system mainly for an NBA game, but for an NCAA hoops game? Possibly...

Plus GHIII is coming out soon and my PS died on me, so I need to do something. I'm guessing 360 is the way to go?

[Karlifornia]

This game will force me to break down and buy a 360....Thanks guys.

[Terps]

Finally picked up my first win, 101-91 over Indiana. I was up by as many as 20 at one point, and they even crawled back to within 4 before I put them away.

[Balldog]

So is the college version usually just as good? I can't see myself buying a system mainly for an NBA game, but for an NCAA hoops game? Possibly...


Last year I thought College Hoops was better, a few people that have had the chance to play a preview of this year's game are saying its better again. They seem to add all the NBA stuff and fine tune it.

I just hope they don't change the control scheme, I'm to clumsy to use the stick for my crossovers and what not.

[Eaglesfan27]

So is the college version usually just as good? I can't see myself buying a system mainly for an NBA game, but for an NCAA hoops game? Possibly...

Plus GHIII is coming out soon and my PS died on me, so I need to do something. I'm guessing 360 is the way to go?

In previous years, I believe the College game has been even better than the NBA game. Usually it has all of the new features of the NBA version along with one or two additional features/tweaks. Of course, it plays more like the college game. All of the previews indicate this year won't be an exception, and the game does recruiting very well.

[Neuqua]

I'll say one thing, hearing the College game is even more of an improvement from the NBA game is hard to believe. With the College game's smaller schedule, it'd be more of an ideal fit for me. I just don't have any time!

[Terps]

Started up an association with the Wiz, 2-1 so far. A blowout (30 some points) over Indiana, a loss to the Celts, and a 103-98 win over the Magic (I was up at 22 at one point.) I'm sure I'll start over once rosters are set and a new roster comes out, though.

Also bumped up to All-Star level for now. Got some good sliders from OS. I think in my last game I shot 44% and they shot 40%. I still get murdered on offensive boards though. I think the Magic had 18 to my 5.

Edit - I had Arenas get injured in the Celtics game with shin splints, but he was still able to play. His rating dropped down to a 75, and I still put up 34 with 10 assists against the Magic.

[Pumpy Tudors]

I bought the game last night, played a little of the dunk contest (I loved trying to dunk over a car and misjudging the leap). Then I played against Hell Atlantic, and he beat me by a point. I like the game a lot, but I want to tweak the camera angle and some of the sliders before I try playing again. The dunk contest was so much fun that I just kept doing that.

It seems like a really fun game, as expected. I'll try to play a bit more this weekend, but I have a lot of playing to catch up on after having been out of commission for the past month or so.

[Eaglesfan27]

I bought the game last night, played a little of the dunk contest (I loved trying to dunk over a car and misjudging the leap). Then I played against Hell Atlantic, and he beat me by a point. I like the game a lot, but I want to tweak the camera angle and some of the sliders before I try playing again. The dunk contest was so much fun that I just kept doing that.

It seems like a really fun game, as expected. I'll try to play a bit more this weekend, but I have a lot of playing to catch up on after having been out of commission for the past month or so.

I recommend the classic 2k view. It's not quite as pretty as some of the other views, but it is the most playable for me by a significant margin. That is another great thing about the game for those that don't know - there are dozens of camera views to choose from to play.

[Kodos]

But wouldn't you prefer just one camera view that you didn't even get to choose? ;)

[Eaglesfan27]

One of the things that make this game great is that it does so many of the little things well...

For example, I've been mostly scouting US college players and it takes 5-7 days. Now, I just my scouts to look at a guy in Mexico and it is going to take 10 days. A guy in Croatia is going to take 13 days. A very nice little touch.

[sooner333]

Just got the game. Played on default sliders on Pro level and played a pretty good game. The cool thing was that Chris Paul was in foul trouble for most of the game and sat out. When he came back in the fourth, you could tell that he was a lot more rested and quicker than the other guys on the court and dominated the fourth quarter.

This game is the first one that I've seen do screens and getting around them really well. It's just fun to see a game so true to the game.

[heybrad]

I'm looking forward to getting back to my Association tonight with the Lakers. I was 4-3 when leaving for this god awful trip from Costa Mesa to Louisville to Memphis, back to Louisville and finally going home tonight.

[Galaxy]

Anyone do or see a 3 way trade yet? It's cool the game has contract options (both team and player?).

[Eaglesfan27]

Anyone do or see a 3 way trade yet? It's cool the game has contract options (both team and player?).

I mentioned it in my dynasty thread, but it is worth posting here as well. Yep, the options are for both teams or player depending upon how the contract is structured. Also, you can put a no trade clause in the contract. Player options and no trade clauses make a guy more likely to sign with your team.

[Galaxy]

I mentioned it in my dynasty thread, but it is worth posting here as well. Yep, the options are for both teams or player depending upon how the contract is structured. Also, you can put a no trade clause in the contract. Player options and no trade clauses make a guy more likely to sign with your team.

Amazing. All this game needs is an online franchise mode.

Here the lastest on the college game on 2k's website:
http://www.2ksports.com/games/choops2k8/

Can you go online and get roster updates with the real names of the players?

[Eaglesfan27]

Amazing. All this game needs is an online franchise mode.

Here the lastest on the college game on 2k's website:
http://www.2ksports.com/games/choops2k8/

Can you go online and get roster updates with the real names of the players?

Yes, and for the first time ever, a transfer kit will not be needed for the 360. 2ksports will allow the exchanging of roster files, saves, etc through their online service, reportedly.

[Ironhead]

Alright, I caved and bought this today. Been several years since I followed basketball so I will have to learn who all the good players are. Probably going to start up an association with the Magic.

[Galaxy]

Yes, and for the first time ever, a transfer kit will not be needed for the 360. 2ksports will allow the exchanging of roster files, saves, etc through their online service, reportedly.

Take note EA Sports.

[Galaxy]

One of the things that make this game great is that it does so many of the little things well...

For example, I've been mostly scouting US college players and it takes 5-7 days. Now, I just my scouts to look at a guy in Mexico and it is going to take 10 days. A guy in Croatia is going to take 13 days. A very nice little touch.

Can you scout a player more than once? I wonder if you scout him more, the more information you get and the lower your scouting error is (in connection with the talents of your scouting staff). You assign an individual scout to each player, correct?

[Eaglesfan27]

Can you scout a player more than once? I wonder if you scout him more, the more information you get and the lower your scouting error is (in connection with the talents of your scouting staff). You assign an individual scout to each player, correct?

Yes, I think you can scout a player up to 5 times. I'm scouting most of mine 3 times right now and if I've scouted everyone I want, then I'll start doing more times with guys I'm most interested in. Yes, it reveals a bit more info each time you scout a player. And, yes, you assign a scout to each player. You can send one scout one time, and a different scout the next time.

[Ironhead]

If I don't take the time between games to run practices and do the other coach options will I be missing out on the chance to significantly improve my team?

Enjoying the game so far - surprisingly won my first three games but I haven't faced any really good teams yet.

[Eaglesfan27]

If I don't take the time between games to run practices and do the other coach options will I be missing out on the chance to significantly improve my team?

Enjoying the game so far - surprisingly won my first three games but I haven't faced any really good teams yet.

I would probably do the development drills each month as they only take a few minutes and they can give modest permeant boosts to players if you can successfully complete the drills which can be challenging to do. The practices you don't actually run, you just tell them to run. They give slight boosts or moderate boosts to different attributes depending upon what drills you choose to do and what intensity you choose to run. Higher intensity practices lead to more injuries and fatigue on game days. I tend to just choose light intensity practices and set them up 2 or 3 times a week depending upon the number of games that week. It only takes a second to set up.

Edit: The Magic are one of the best teams in my association. You have two star young players in Dwight Howard and Rashard Lewis and a lot of good roleplayers around them.

[Ironhead]

Thanks Eaglesfan27. I would have probably avoided doing them but like you said they went by pretty quickly.

Just played the Suns. I was whipping them 96-71 through 3 quarters on some really hot shooting by Lewis. I was starting to think maybe it was time to bump the difficulty level up to All-Star but then the Suns woke up in the 4th quarter. I only held on to win 109-106.

Are you still playing on Pro?

[Eaglesfan27]

Thanks Eaglesfan27. I would have probably avoided doing them but like you said they went by pretty quickly.

Just played the Suns. I was whipping them 96-71 through 3 quarters on some really hot shooting by Lewis. I was starting to think maybe it was time to bump the difficulty level up to All-Star but then the Suns woke up in the 4th quarter. I only held on to win 109-106.

Are you still playing on Pro?

Yeah, pro is challenging me still. I've thought of bumping to All-Star when we've played a few teams close that we probably shouldn't have, but I'm still getting blown out on this level by very good teams and playing a lot of close games. I'll probably bump to All-Star as I get a bit better but not yet.

[Ironhead]

Is it just me or does it seem like some of the starters on the CPU teams aren't getting enough PT? I have had several games in a row where star players that weren't in foul trouble and have great stamina are only playing 25-30 minutes a game.

Howard just had an impressive showing against the Celtics. He pulled down 24 boards, 13 on offense and added 30 points.

[Eaglesfan27]

Is it just me or does it seem like some of the starters on the CPU teams aren't getting enough PT? I have had several games in a row where star players that weren't in foul trouble and have great stamina are only playing 25-30 minutes a game.

Howard just had an impressive showing against the Celtics. He pulled down 24 boards, 13 on offense and added 30 points.

I've seen a few games like that, but most of the teams seem to play their stars 30-35 minutes against me and I've had a few play about 40. Big men definitely seem to fatigue quicker (even if they have high stamina) and seem to play a bit less.

[SunDevil]

Alright, I caved and bought this today. Been several years since I followed basketball so I will have to learn who all the good players are. Probably going to start up an association with the Magic.

You know that they know no longer have Penny and Shaq right? :D

[SunDevil]

dola,

That joke would have been funny a couple of days ago, but since I was gone this weekend....

[MikeVic]

You know that they know no longer have Penny and Shaq right? :D

Oh, if you want Penny and Shaq, use Miami instead. They just moved to another Florida team, no worries.

:cool:

[markprior22]

Hey EF27, now that you've been playing for a while, what type of slider settings did you settle on?

[Ironhead]

You know that they know no longer have Penny and Shaq right? :D

Heh, it's been a while but not that long. If I had not had a briefly renewed interest in the NBA a couple of years ago it probably would have been though.

Anyone on the 360 up for some online play this week?

[Anthony]

i'll battle you. 11pm tonite, give or take 30 minutes.

[Eaglesfan27]

Hey EF27, now that you've been playing for a while, what type of slider settings did you settle on?

I'm playing on Pro and was blown out by the Lakers last night, so it is still challenging.

For both sides:

Close shooting down 2 to 48. Medium shooting down 1 to 49. Dunks in traffic down to 25. Clutch down to 25 for both sides. Steal success up to 70 for both sides (and I might increase this a bit more.) No other changes that I recall for gameplay. For fouls, charge up to 100. All other fouls up to 80. Game speed down to 40. I'm playing on 12 minute quarters and getting realistic scores and stats for the most part.

[markprior22]

Thanks

[Galaxy]

Does the game have all the exceptions and sign-and-trade deals? Can anyone explain a traded player exception to me? I though you can trade a big player for players (with much smaller salaries) or straight up draft picks as along as both teams remain under the cap? Basically, does the game have all the rules and luxury tax of the real system?

[Eaglesfan27]

Does the game have all the exceptions and sign-and-trade deals? Can anyone explain a traded player exception to me? I though you can trade a big player for players (with much smaller salaries) or straight up draft picks as along as both teams remain under the cap? Basically, does the game have all the rules and luxury tax of the real system?


I'm not sure if it has all of the exceptions since I don't understand all of those rules myself. I know that if a team is over the cap, it seems to follow the rules for valid trades in which I believe the salaries have to be within 10% of each other. It also has the luxury tax as part of the expenses of a team, if they meet that threshold.

[Icy]

Finally got he game!! The wait and this thread have been killing me, but it was fnially today in my mail box, good bye real life!

[korme]

Would this game be worth it for the measely PS2? I am itching to play some bball.

[Terps]

Just played my best game yet against the Nets in my association, and it was in a losing effort. I was down by as many as 18 at one point, before slowly clawing back and tying it in the 4th. With less than 2 minutes left I was down 98-93, inbound to Arenas (40 points, 9 boards, 9 assists, he singlehandly brought me back in this game), nail a 3 to cut it to 98-96. We intercept the inbound with less than 20 seconds left, but I wasn't expecting it and my shot misses the mark. We foul Kidd and he makes one to make it 99-96. One last chance for us, inbound to Arenas (who else?), launches up a 3 that goes in and out. Nets win 101-96.

[Icy]

What level are you plays playing it at? I tried "All star" and lost by 25 points, then when i was going to go down to "Pro", i read in OPS forums that the game plays great in HOF with adjusted sliders, that HOF looks easier and more realistic than "All star or Superstar", I tried it and wow, amazing game. I was Memphis and lost by 3 vs Indiana (yeah i know they suck, but O'Neal burned me) in a really close game, i think i'm going to start my franchise with these settings.

[Eaglesfan27]

Would this game be worth it for the measely PS2? I am itching to play some bball.

I've heard that the PS2 version is very similar to previous versions. That being said, if you haven't played this series for 2 or 3 years, it is probably worth it. It just won't have all of the features that the 360/PS3 versions have.

What level are you plays playing it at? I tried "All star" and lost by 25 points, then when i was going to go down to "Pro", i read in OPS forums that the game plays great in HOF with adjusted sliders, that HOF looks easier and more realistic than "All star or Superstar", I tried it and wow, amazing game. I was Memphis and lost by 3 vs Indiana (yeah i know they suck, but O'Neal burned me) in a really close game, i think i'm going to start my franchise with these settings.


I'm just sticking to Pro because that is playing a realistic game without adjusting sliders except for slight tweaks. Also, from what I've read HOF mode makes the fast break almost non-existant. At pro level, the fast break still isn't easy, but I see a few a game at least.

[Anthony]

Pro is all i need. i'm in a 3 game slide, so its not like i'm abusing it. Knicks still got a lot to work to do.

right now i'm befuddled as to why my starters are so fatigued. i thought i was doing a good job of subbing in my bench players. guess this accurately reflects how as the season goes on you just start to break down and tire.

[Galaxy]

Pro is all i need. i'm in a 3 game slide, so its not like i'm abusing it. Knicks still got a lot to work to do.

right now i'm befuddled as to why my starters are so fatigued. i thought i was doing a good job of subbing in my bench players. guess this accurately reflects how as the season goes on you just start to break down and tire.

Doesn't your practice and scheduling (if you back-to-back games, ect.) have a role in that?

[korme]

On All-Star for PS2, I'm murdering teams with regular sliders... it's too easy to drive to the hole.

[Terps]

What level are you plays playing it at? I tried "All star" and lost by 25 points, then when i was going to go down to "Pro", i read in OPS forums that the game plays great in HOF with adjusted sliders, that HOF looks easier and more realistic than "All star or Superstar", I tried it and wow, amazing game. I was Memphis and lost by 3 vs Indiana (yeah i know they suck, but O'Neal burned me) in a really close game, i think i'm going to start my franchise with these settings.

I'm on All-Star. It's working out pretty well with stats and shooting percentages. That game I was talking about against the Nets we both shot 43%.

[Eaglesfan27]

On All-Star for PS2, I'm murdering teams with regular sliders... it's too easy to drive to the hole.

Yeah, I think you are going to need some PS2 specific sliders. The game engine has evolved a great deal on the 360/PS3 and sliders are going to be much different.

[Ironhead]

Still having a blast playing my association. I had to bump up the rebounding sliders for the CPU though as I was pulling down too many on both offense and defense and the CPU wasn't pulling down enough offensive boards.

[Anthony]

Doesn't your practice and scheduling (if you back-to-back games, ect.) have a role in that?

i think you're right. i run practices on every day we don't play a game. it just dawned on me right now i can give the players a day to recoup by not scheduling a practice. i'll try that.

i do know that i concentrate on Kwame Brown a lot in my practices, and his play has been significantly better. still not worth his contract, but if you're gonna use him off your bench he's really fast for his height and it probably wouldn't take much to get him from the Lakers.

[Galaxy]

i think you're right. i run practices on every day we don't play a game. it just dawned on me right now i can give the players a day to recoup by not scheduling a practice. i'll try that.

i do know that i concentrate on Kwame Brown a lot in my practices, and his play has been significantly better. still not worth his contract, but if you're gonna use him off your bench he's really fast for his height and it probably wouldn't take much to get him from the Lakers.

Have you tried it yet? I wonder if length of a quarter will adjust the "fatigue" level.

Anyone see any blockbuster deals yet?

[Ironhead]

Don't know if Howard can do this in real life but damn was it fun.

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[Eaglesfan27]

Nice play, Ironhead! I've thought about posting a few of the alley-oops that Iguodala has finished in the dynasty thread.

[Rich1033]

Gamefly needs to hurry up and send me this game.

[Johnny93g]

rented the game and played against my buddy. 12 minute quarters. Very fun, realistic stats. I just can't play 90 minute games. It takes too long. Ill have time to play one game a week. I will have to pass. Other then that, it's a great game.

[Ironhead]

My favorite name of any prospect for the draft: Herb Gardner.

[Terps]

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[Anthony]

how do you upload those videos? that's awesome.

how do you do alleyoops, too?


and btw, i literally spent an hour last nite trying to pull off a 3 way trade with the Lakers to aquire Kobe Bryant. not happening. between making the finances work and getting a 3rd team enough to make it worth their time, just too friggin hard. i wound up with the 2nd overall pick in the draft, and i couldn't not draft a 7'1" center. he was so fast when i played him during the draft workouts, truly the kind of guy you want to be the rock of your team. really needed a PG, but you can get PGs anytime, superior athletic 7'1" Centers...not so much. so now Eddie Curry is expendable. i'm also trying to just get under the cap cuz it's no fun not being able to participate in free agency. but Lakers were being pricks and i just couldn't get the pieces to work. but it is really fun trying to work out all these scenarios. i'm still gonna try, i need to have Kobe on my team.

i thought you could renogotiate with players and have their salaries add on to your cap? i wasn't able to resign Kwame Brown (i developed him into a stellar backup Center) cuz his contract expired, but i thought the Larry Bird rule let you go further over the cap to keep your own guys.

[Eaglesfan27]

how do you upload those videos? that's awesome.

I'm not sure since I've haven't done it, but I know it involves the Reel Maker tool.

how do you do alleyoops, too?

Left Trigger plus A and players have to be in the right position. Left trigger plus A will also throw it off the backboard sometimes for a guy who has a breakaway, but the one blowout I tried that in he missed it.


i thought you could renogotiate with players and have their salaries add on to your cap? i wasn't able to resign Kwame Brown (i developed him into a stellar backup Center) cuz his contract expired, but i thought the Larry Bird rule let you go further over the cap to keep your own guys.

Players have to have a certain number of years with a team. I can't recall the exact number right now. You can click on a player's card and go the contract details to see if he is eligible for a Bird extension.

.

[Anthony]

thanks for the 411.


dammit, had i known that i woulda traded Kwame Brown at the trade deadline. he went from a 66/67 to a 73, from a bum to a guy who could finish around the basket. best game was when he scored 19 off the bench.

Kobe is gonna wind up on my team tonite, i'm not budging until it happens. and when it does i'm winning 2 out of the next 3 championships. fwiw, trading in this game is ultra realistic. i have to work for every single trade i make.