I'm feeling bad about the feedback on 2k3, though I know I'll still grab the game. My question is, have you tried moving the slider so shooting percentage is up, all the other stuff as well is up? If you do, will it not in fact make it more arcade like with similar feel like the old 2k2? I would think that is what the sliders are for. Can someone can crank the sliders up and give us your feedback again?

Yao Ming isn't in the game, presumably because he hasn't yet been signed by the Rockets and thus isn't in the NBA Player's Association, which licenses out the names. I'm sure he'll be in a roster update.

I do have a question. Someone on another board mentioned that the latest roster update took out Alonzo Mourning from the Heat (which is realistic). Is he just put on the injured list? The default roster has him, so does he just disappear, or can you still use him if you want to?

The coolest thing about franchise in NBA 2K3 looks to be the free agent signing thing. Was this in past games? I've never played more than one full season...

Anyway, I guess I'll try Live for the first time in 6 years or so...

Just for you DVDGamer, I messed with it. :D

On default, the sliders are at half way full. I decided to to put close, medium, and 3 point shooting percentages for home and away at 3/4's way up.. That was kinda too much though. Both teams were making everything. hehe.

The beauty though is that you can change it in-game also.. so you can find the best settings.. I found sliders at 60% full is best.. So yeah, you can adjust it to be like 2K2.

Appreciate your quick reply. Thats what I was thinking. I'm sure SEGA realizes lots of people like the arcade feel of basketball as well. I like both arcade and sim style, so that works for me. Maybe what they missed on was setting several quick default settings where the sliders are at specific spots, and labeling this as arcade, jam, sim, true sim and such.
Anyway, I'm off to get the game this weekend. And with the good reviews for Live, I'll surely get it too. Oh, on the other hand, maybe I should wait a couple more weeks. I remember this month last year when all the buy 2 get 3 and a lot of other video game deals were available. Hmmm... Thanks again!

NP DVDgamer.

fujishig, I didn't realize he didn't sign yet. I can't answer your roster update question though.. I didn't even realize there was a roster update for the game already.

Free Agent signing has always been there.

When I want arcade bball, I play NBA Street. 2K3 is where it's at for the sim. I really prefer games that have the realistic run of the sport, and Sega has that down better than any company out there. Granted, Live 2003 is a marked improvement from last year's debacle, but I want to be able to feel like I'm out there playing in the NBA. Freestyle mode on Live really doesn't do it for me. Too arcadey...So I guess that's the issue here...

If you want an awesome sim, 2K3 is the only way to go...

If you want something more arcadey, go with Live...

Okay then...

BTW, if you're looking for a pretty good deal on both NBA games (or any two games, for that matter), KB toys has a special deal starting today until Sunday.

Buy 100 bucks of product, get 20% off. Plus, you fill out completely one of those KB Club cards, and get 20% off your next purchase. Your initial purchase can't be for a game system, though.

So you can buy both NBA 2K3 and NBA Live 2003 for:

50+50=100-20=80 bucks, plus tax, give or take a little. Still pretty good.

So I've been giving 2K3 a shot - I must be playing in some "slo-mo" mode, or all my players are stuck in molasses. Everything is so slow and deliberate. I like a sim-styled game (although since when did "arcade-like" become such an insult? It's like we have a bunch of sim-snobs running around here) - but I'd like to play a simmed version of today's basketball, not 1950's basketball, which is the feeling I get playing 2K3.

Graphics are great - I don't think I've seen better in a bball game, but the feeling I had over 2K2 last year still remains: just like 989Sports did with NFL Gameday - Sega has taken a great product, and through "enhancements", actually made it worse.

Daryl

Did you try adjusting the game speed settings?

So people like the arcadish feel of bball but when it comes to football, "arcadish" is a real setback for a game?

WTF?

OK, so everyone's making a big deal about the sliders. The funny thing is they don't change the game as much as they need to. Sliders don't make the lob passes stop, sliders don't improve the horrible camera work and jagged players, sliders don't help improve terrible controls.

I put the speed way up, made the game speed faster and everything and my players still lob the ball around, still stop for a pass on a fastbreak, still play like they're in the 50's. Ugh.

Sliders are great and all (I guess) but if you think about it they shouldn't even be necessary. Just make the game right, that's all there is to it.

I prefered NFL 2K3 to Madden. Madden was considered the more sim like game and I felt it moved too slow for my liking.

So yes I guess I prefer a bit more of an arcade feel to my football and bball games, but not so far to the arcade extreme as NBA Street or NFL Blitz.

I guess that really nails it on the head. Even with the sliders, the animations are still slow and deliberate. The "stop and receive the pass" kills the fastbreak, plus the fact the still haven't fixed it where all the CPU needs to do is pull alongside you and that's enough to slow you down.

I'm not saying the game is not good, it has some very original features, but again - throwing out a bunch of useless enhancements and making graphical improvements overshadows the fact that the game has some flaws that should have been addressed in this iteration.

Exactly.

2K3 is far from a bad title. It's still a good basketball game, but you can obviously tell the areas they focused on and the areas they didn't change a damn thing in. The player's faces, the sweat...very nice. But I would trade all that away for some freakin' realistic gameplay. From what I've seen in Live (as arcadey and fast as it is) it's still a much more realistic game.

I personally like sims better for both, but I do like arcadey basketball games like NBA Street and dislike arcadey football games like NFL Blitz.

I'm not sure why. I just don't find aracadey football games enjoyable.

Maybe it's because basketball (especially the NBA) is a fast paced sport with tons of scoring, and football is a little more slow and strategy orientened?

That just nailed what's bugging me about NBA 2K3. I want to move fast in a basketball game. I want the play fast paced, up and down the floor, with lots of fast breaks. This is the area where 2K3 is very weak and probably the reason I don't like it.

2K3 is a good game, but not what I wanted. I'm renting Live and Inside Drive this weekend to see how I like them.

But the fact is, all of us don't have the same opinion about the game. The sliders are a great feature in a game like this. Reason being, I think the game is fine on default and you don't. You can adjust the sliders to adjust to your needs.

If it was setup to the way you liked it, and I couldn't adjust the gameplay, then I would be the one complaining. So what is right for one person, wouldn't be right for the next person.

Eh. So I went back with my 2 day old NBA 2K3 copy and got my $50+ back. That was nice, I was glad to get rid of this piece of poop.

OK, that being said, the game had unbelievable hype to live up to as well as a fantastic basketball series. But simply put, 2K3 didn't improve on the same nagging problems it has had for years. The fact that in it's freakin' fourth year, it still can't comprehend the sensation of NBA basketball, with fast breaks, fast passes and an assortment of moves.

Looking forward to giving Live a whirl when it gets in Blockbuster. All those thinking about 2K3, rent before buy.

Oh and something I read on the Operation Sports boards...on Live 2003, switch the mode from simulation (default) to arcade. I guess in "Arcade" its a LOT slower, much more sim-style.

Looks like EA got it backwards. If anyone can test this to see if it is true, I'll be all over Live.

I'm also going to exchange 2k3 for GTA: Vice City. Thank goodness for the 14 day return policy. So much hype behind it and the 2k1 for the dreamcast is still better. The graphics for 2k1 is much more sharper and the resolution is high. With 2k3, the graphics are a little bit blurry and you can't really tell who's who. Plus it's annoying when you get a defensive rebound and try to pass it to your teammate who cherry picked and he just stops for no apparent reason. The sweat? What sweat? you can barely notice it. I didn't even notice it until I read a review that mentioned it.

I just bought NBA Live 2003 on Wednesday and I'm very impressed. I have never owned a Sega basketball title, but I have played them several times and had made up my mind to buy Sega 2K3 this year. That is until I saw all the positive stuff being said about NBA Lives' Freestyle control. After playing several games, the Freestyle control is pretty cool, but it is tough to master. You get the basic stuff down fast like crossovers and spin moves, but some players can't do certain moves with it. Allen Iverson was a blast to play with using Freestyle, but other players would just do a crossover and spin move. Allen Iverson would run up court and with a push of the analog stick, he would stop and take a step back and put up a shot. Totally realistic looking. There was one play where I ran up court with AI and did a cross over in front of the defender. I then moved the stick back and to the right and he put the ball behind his back and then spun away from the defender! I was so amazed I didn't even complete the play. I just sat there looking at the controller trying to figure out what I did to make him do that. So now the majority of the my time playing is trying to learn all the moves available to you. I'm not regretting my purchase one bit.

Cat

I played a couple of games to test this out...arcade was definitely slower. Threes were harder to make and the computer did not fast break as much. But, blocks were super exaggerated.

I like more of an uptempo game, so I'll stick with simulation mode.

Well I finally got them babies. At KBToys, of course, for that extra mileage for my wallet! I've just finished playing 4 five minute quarter games of NBA 2k3 for Xbox. And I hear you with your complaints. But as I do like both sim and arcade bball games, I can't say I can complain. 2k3 improves a lot of last year's version. And though it may be less of an arcade with the default settings, I can't really complain. I love it as it is. The graphics, the new moves, the competition, wow, its sweet for me! I haven't even really tried out the new stuff, just gave a quick scan of the manual. So I'm of the opinion that 2k3 is much much better than last year's version. I didn't have good percentages with my shots in the first two games I played, and lost them both. Third game I played using the Dallas Mavs, and Hey, I blew out Utah Jazz. Wanting more competition, I then played San Antonio, and certainly had a tougher match. But I won as well by a close call this time. I've also been getting good percentages in my shots. Dirk scored 31, and a couple of 3's. That was cool.

So yes, the game is sweet for me. Its more realistic with the moves, and knowing I'll be learning more of the game, I can't wait to play a season! Hopefully the updated roster becomes available soon enough!
Also did get NBA Live 2003, this time for PS2. Only reason of course is the PS2 has some online competition, otherwise it would have been xbox version as well. I haven't even played this one yet, but with your glowing reviews, I know I can't miss. If I love a game thats being panned, I know I'll love the other one even more!
So cheers to the basketball gaming fans out there! See you online sometime!

I've played both.
NBA 2k2 is better than 2k3.

Live 2003 is better than 2k3.

Live 2002 sucked badly.

Graphics aren't everything.

OK, I just played some Live 2003. It feels like the same game to me as the past ones. I can win the game by just cherry picking. This is why I dislike games with easy fast breaks. I must say though, EA really did well on animation this year. It's a lot more smoother although I still prefer NBA 2K3's graphics over it.

Freestyle control is cool, but not too big of a deal for me. I'll mess with it a bit more. Rebounding is alot easier this year. Blocks are out of control. Not as bad as NBA Inside Drive 2002's blocking though. To give you an idea, I used Orlando Magic and got a team total of 16-18 blocks in simulation and arcade mode (all-star difficulty). All on jump shots. The computer got about the same amount. That really turned me off. And yes, the players still jump like 5 feet in the year to block shots.

The game is OK, but it still has all of the stuff that ruins the fun for me. May be fun for people who like super fast gameplay on crack. ;) I'm serious, if you have a quick player, then you can race up the court in 3 seconds. I don't to want to even imagine playing this game with multiplayer. Out of control basketball lol. I still prefer NBA 2K3 since I think it's MUCH more realistic.