I see that both games have been pushed up and will both be in stores tomorrow(Sept 28).EA's b-ball game got a heck of a nice review over at ign.com saying its a huge improvement over last years but i havent read anything yet on Segas game.Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Sega's game has always been the best by far. Its doubtful EA's $40 game will be better than Sega's $20 offering. No brainer which one to get for me.

Just a heads up. EA Sports is apparently starting a buy 2, get 1 free promo. I don't know the exact dates, but you might want to make sure of the purchase dates allowed before you pick it up.

Last year, the general verdict was that they were very close with different approaches towards the game. Sega was sim-like, while EA was somewhat arcadey.

Both games are going to be great this year, but my feel is that Live will get the nod this year because of it's improved realism and fantastic dunk mode.

I will buy 2K for the price though and for the fact I want Sega to survive. This is assuming 2K is still a great game.

Last year Segas game had some problems that need to be fixed for me. Camera was to far out and I could not find a good compromise. 24/7 mode had some merit but if you did not play for a while your skills would deteriorate. Skill points were hard to come by too. Game was still good.

I like EA's basketball too. Hate the price though.

ESPN NBA Basketball I've always thought the better franchise, affordability is a bonus, I would've paid $50.

I just checked gamestop.com and the date for the XBOX version of NBA 2K5 has been pushed back to 10/5 The PS2 version shows 9/29

EA's live last year was not arcadey. the year before last was too arcadey though. U have your years mixed up

They are showing it as available now.

I want to pick up ESPN NBA 2K5.....I hope I can tomorrow. I have it preordered at GameRush, but the guy was like...it's not coming in until 10/29....I was like, but they changed the release date. We'll we cannot release it before that he says....I was like ok, I would like to cancel it.

I checked Best Buy here in Ontario Canada today and they had not yet recieved either game.

Just to throw out any confusion, Sega/Take Two rolled out a press release yesterday confirming that the game already had gone gold and was shipping 9/28.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/...t_6108969.html

It was also announced on the frontpage of the website too.

http://www.espnvideogames.com

Ginsu, they made a ton of changes for this year's edition.. it might not be enough to pull you away from the NBA Live franchise, but might be enough to catch your interest. From what I understand, they made the camera fully customizable due to preset camera complaints they've been getting. I think skills still deteriorate in 24/7 mode, but they've adjusted the skill point earning mode. You will always have the ball now rather than playing full one on one against the CPU to earn points.

Franchise mode has been given big features with Full Authority in simulating games. You can still control the game even when simulating it. You can control which direction your double clutch goes. You get an up and under move while in the post now. Momentum has been added to movement now. Your player can't do instant cuts now. Hops steps have been added. There should be more as well.

You can check out some videos here:
http://www.espnvideogames.com/news/m...hive.php?gid=9

BTW, I am not a Visual Concepts employee. Just a big fan.

Good points Khai. I am going to buy ESPN again this year as the price makes it a no brainer. Hopefully it will be good enough to skip NBALive. EASports needs to drop their prices or they wont even get a look from me.

Live got an 8 at Gamespot thats worst then last years, so im gonna get 2k5 for sure.

I'm hoping to find a review for 2k5. I have always been impressed with the series, and this year, I'm even more impressed with the price. I kick myself for being such a Madden fan that I couldn't take advantage of NFL2k5.

Wish Granted
IGN gave it an 8.1. For them, that's a pretty low score. Still it sounds OK and for the price, I'll pick it up.

Hmmmm...from that review they call it Segas worst sports game of the year and considering im only mildly happy with their problem filled NHL2K5 game i think i will just rent these 2 b-ball games out and see if either one is worth buying.

I'm going to have to give Live a shot. I really wasn't thrilled with the ease of driving to the basket in the 2K4 versions of Segas BBall games and it sounds like the 2K5 version of NBA is even worse.

It's a good review, we never hear these things before the game comes out, but they're always there. It's usually "the best game yet!", and it's not till next year's review that you find defense was wacky or the AI couldn't make you face the right way for a rebound. It sounds a lot like the past few 2kx's...they add some cool things, fix some things, but then break others.

I would take that review with a grain of salt, since the Live ad is right on the same page...

I have Live but haven't actually played a game yet. I've spent over 3 hours doing the slam-dunk contest from the All-Star Weekend mode. I can confirm that at least that part is great!

Got live at lunch, came home, played a game. Now I'm ready to trade it back in.

Why can't they get a NBA game right anymore? NBA2K on dreamcast was the pinnacle for these games...

By the way, Live is NOT widescreen or 480p, so you have to "gray bar" it.

Are you talking about the xbox or ps2 version?

I wonder what the problem is at EA?

Def Jam FFNY (which I love) is 480p but not WS.

NHL 2005 (which is garbage) has no WS.

James Bond EON is 480p only if you disable 1080i.

For being the worlds largest publisher and makers of a lot of great titles they seem to be pretty sloppy.

It makes me really mad that review sites never mention this sort of thing and the back of the boxes can't be trusted.


I bought NBA2K5. Sega Sports has got it right again. 3 for 3 this year and the first time in as long as I can remember that I have bought not one EAsports title.

I have not played NBA2K5 enough yet to give a definitive opinion but I paid $16 and I know it does WS 480P and does not suck.

I'll just play the true successor to NBA 2k1 and 2k2... Inside Drive 2004... until either of the last two giants standing can top it.

Based on early reactions at numerous forums, neither one did this time.

My non-widescreen copy of Live is for Xbox.

I agree with snowmizer -- Inside Drive is THE BEST basketball series of this generation, and it got cancelled! ARGH!

Luckily, with the crazy Gamerush deals, I can trade NBA Live back in for $40 when I was able to pre-order it for only $30. Thanks Gamerush!