NBA 08 (Sony)
vs.
NBA Live '07 (EA Sports)
=======================
I downloaded the demos of these two games and thought it'd be fun to judge them against each other. I played a full game on the Sony game and a half game for EA's title (it's all it allows).
Both games were played on the toughest difficulty available, and I used the Spurs both times to go against the god-awful Cavs (who wouldn't have made the Playoffs in the West last year despite winning the LEastern Conference, but that's another debate).
Here are my impressions:
Menu Screens:
Both are pretty snazzy visually, but I give the edge to EA because of the music selection. Hip-hop fits the b-ball games moreso than some garage band rock found on the Sony game.
EA
Introduction (style points):
The EA game seemed to be a lot more exciting in the general "video" direction of the camera and lights to set the mood, player activity, and announcer excitement. The Sony one wasn't bad though.
EA
Announcers:
Marv Albert+Steve Kerr in EA's game is >>>>>> than Mark Jackson and whoever does the play by play for Sony's game. Both games do a decent job with the action though, I just like the personalities better in EA's game.
EA
Audio:
Both games open up with their little surround sound theater magic FX, which sound great for both. On the court,They each represent the crowd ebb and flow well enough, along with sneaker screeches and the thunks of the dunks.
TIE
Frame rate:
Both games run at 60fps during the action as you play, but (EA's drops in and out though at times). During the non-interactive sideline camera shots, both games dip. The Sony game seems to go down to 30 fps or so, while EA's starts scratching the 20s.
SONY
Resolution options:
Sony's clocks in with crystal clear 1080P while EA settles for 720P max.
SONY
Graphics (technical):
Gone is the spooky sweat sheen that appeared on last year's NBA '07 players from Sony. EA's '07 edition was too crappy to release so they pulled it before release. Sony's game is very polished... with nice AA sharp visual textures for the court and the player models seem human enough with sharp colors, along with acceptable face and uniform textures.
EA's game looks almost a generation behind technically. Washed out colors compared to Sony's, along with low rez textures on objects around the court. The audience members at times look decent, but other times absolutely horrific... during the intro, check out the crowd behind the coach of the Cavs when he gets a close up. The vbrown blobs representing "people" look like discarded nose pickings.
SONY
Graphics (aesthetics):
Players on both games look like who they are supposed to, an edge going to Sony since they simply appear more detailed. I had to put EA's game in 2nd for this the moment I saw Agent 0's eyes crisscrossed in two directions during the gym practice session that the game opens with. Zoomed out, crowds in both games look ok with Sony's replicants appearing more normal. The overall court designs match the real thing in both.
Sony
General Play Mechanics:
Both offer similar options for offense and defense - all the basics are there as expected. In a nutshell, EA's is definitely more naturally intuitive and realistic in certain situations based on limited play time with each. EA's has more little details about the sport, like how you transition from one position with the ball to a step over to an up and under... it comes out reasonably realistic. Sony's is more arcadey (again, from limited play), where actions are more like individual animations cut and pasted together instead of naturally flowing into realistic followups.
I could be wrong if I play it more, but that was the early impression. Sony's is faster paced, and the turbo button is NBA Jam style instead of sim style. The EA game seemed to do a better job at allowing you to attack angles and go therough seams with an appropriate animation moreso than the Sony game. Most players may not notice some of this, and I may learn more with extended play, but it's my honest first impression (Sony's is not as arcadey as last year's game however).
EA
Realistic gameplay:
Both games fail. But every year I think b-ball games fail because the sport is hard to get right. There's always a few super-unrealistic things that occur, and in these demos it is no different. For EA, how in the WORLD does Ilgauskus dominate Duncan on the boards so easily? After one half, Z had 7 boards and Duncan had 0! I let the CPU handle that job, so it was CPU vs CPU. EA, you fail.
And Sony? How can you call a 3-second lane violation on me (TWICE!) after the opponent blocks my shot? That penalty happens when the 24 second clock expires - NOT the 3-second clock. Sony, you fail.
TIE
A.I.: Anyone who saw the Finals knows that the Cavs only had one thing going for them... LeBron. When he hogged the ball he scored two quarters straight on nearly everything he threw up. In both games, the A.I. rarely noticed James was on the court. There may be other issues (like Duncan unable to rebound), but both games play adequate b-ball for the most part despite not knowing who needs to have the rock.
TIE
Extras:
The demo doesn't give you much, but for EA you get to play in the gym with their cross-eyed Gilbert Arenas model for solo practice. Boring. Sony allows you to replay highlights of key player accomplishments from last year. Unfortunately you only get to live your dreams (in the demo) through mike Miller and are challenged to score a bunch of points in the last two quarters to match his real feat. I don't like Miller, but the concept is fun. The final games of each have more, but this is a demo battle.
SONY
WINNER: SONY'S NBA '08
EA's game is an ugly PS2 port from the looks of it, and at times it stutters. The gameplay on the demo is nice though, and it appears to be pretty deep.
Sony's game is sharp and awesome in full 1080P at 60fps during the action. Gameplay is good, though I'm not digging the SIXAXIS for moves (2nd analog works as an alternative). Both titles offer acceptable gameplay fun for casual NBA fans, neither of them is good enough yet to be considered true action sims.
Agree with me? Yay you, share what else you noticed in the games. Don't agree with me? feel free to explain why. I might be wrong on a few items, but for playing each of them once this ain't too bad of an analysis. When NBA 2K8 demo comes out, I'll add some thoughts on it.
vs.
NBA Live '07 (EA Sports)
=======================
I downloaded the demos of these two games and thought it'd be fun to judge them against each other. I played a full game on the Sony game and a half game for EA's title (it's all it allows).
Both games were played on the toughest difficulty available, and I used the Spurs both times to go against the god-awful Cavs (who wouldn't have made the Playoffs in the West last year despite winning the LEastern Conference, but that's another debate).
Here are my impressions:
Menu Screens:
Both are pretty snazzy visually, but I give the edge to EA because of the music selection. Hip-hop fits the b-ball games moreso than some garage band rock found on the Sony game.
EA
Introduction (style points):
The EA game seemed to be a lot more exciting in the general "video" direction of the camera and lights to set the mood, player activity, and announcer excitement. The Sony one wasn't bad though.
EA
Announcers:
Marv Albert+Steve Kerr in EA's game is >>>>>> than Mark Jackson and whoever does the play by play for Sony's game. Both games do a decent job with the action though, I just like the personalities better in EA's game.
EA
Audio:
Both games open up with their little surround sound theater magic FX, which sound great for both. On the court,They each represent the crowd ebb and flow well enough, along with sneaker screeches and the thunks of the dunks.
TIE
Frame rate:
Both games run at 60fps during the action as you play, but (EA's drops in and out though at times). During the non-interactive sideline camera shots, both games dip. The Sony game seems to go down to 30 fps or so, while EA's starts scratching the 20s.
SONY
Resolution options:
Sony's clocks in with crystal clear 1080P while EA settles for 720P max.
SONY
Graphics (technical):
Gone is the spooky sweat sheen that appeared on last year's NBA '07 players from Sony. EA's '07 edition was too crappy to release so they pulled it before release. Sony's game is very polished... with nice AA sharp visual textures for the court and the player models seem human enough with sharp colors, along with acceptable face and uniform textures.
EA's game looks almost a generation behind technically. Washed out colors compared to Sony's, along with low rez textures on objects around the court. The audience members at times look decent, but other times absolutely horrific... during the intro, check out the crowd behind the coach of the Cavs when he gets a close up. The vbrown blobs representing "people" look like discarded nose pickings.
SONY
Graphics (aesthetics):
Players on both games look like who they are supposed to, an edge going to Sony since they simply appear more detailed. I had to put EA's game in 2nd for this the moment I saw Agent 0's eyes crisscrossed in two directions during the gym practice session that the game opens with. Zoomed out, crowds in both games look ok with Sony's replicants appearing more normal. The overall court designs match the real thing in both.
Sony
General Play Mechanics:
Both offer similar options for offense and defense - all the basics are there as expected. In a nutshell, EA's is definitely more naturally intuitive and realistic in certain situations based on limited play time with each. EA's has more little details about the sport, like how you transition from one position with the ball to a step over to an up and under... it comes out reasonably realistic. Sony's is more arcadey (again, from limited play), where actions are more like individual animations cut and pasted together instead of naturally flowing into realistic followups.
I could be wrong if I play it more, but that was the early impression. Sony's is faster paced, and the turbo button is NBA Jam style instead of sim style. The EA game seemed to do a better job at allowing you to attack angles and go therough seams with an appropriate animation moreso than the Sony game. Most players may not notice some of this, and I may learn more with extended play, but it's my honest first impression (Sony's is not as arcadey as last year's game however).
EA
Realistic gameplay:
Both games fail. But every year I think b-ball games fail because the sport is hard to get right. There's always a few super-unrealistic things that occur, and in these demos it is no different. For EA, how in the WORLD does Ilgauskus dominate Duncan on the boards so easily? After one half, Z had 7 boards and Duncan had 0! I let the CPU handle that job, so it was CPU vs CPU. EA, you fail.
And Sony? How can you call a 3-second lane violation on me (TWICE!) after the opponent blocks my shot? That penalty happens when the 24 second clock expires - NOT the 3-second clock. Sony, you fail.
TIE
A.I.: Anyone who saw the Finals knows that the Cavs only had one thing going for them... LeBron. When he hogged the ball he scored two quarters straight on nearly everything he threw up. In both games, the A.I. rarely noticed James was on the court. There may be other issues (like Duncan unable to rebound), but both games play adequate b-ball for the most part despite not knowing who needs to have the rock.
TIE
Extras:
The demo doesn't give you much, but for EA you get to play in the gym with their cross-eyed Gilbert Arenas model for solo practice. Boring. Sony allows you to replay highlights of key player accomplishments from last year. Unfortunately you only get to live your dreams (in the demo) through mike Miller and are challenged to score a bunch of points in the last two quarters to match his real feat. I don't like Miller, but the concept is fun. The final games of each have more, but this is a demo battle.
SONY
WINNER: SONY'S NBA '08
EA's game is an ugly PS2 port from the looks of it, and at times it stutters. The gameplay on the demo is nice though, and it appears to be pretty deep.
Sony's game is sharp and awesome in full 1080P at 60fps during the action. Gameplay is good, though I'm not digging the SIXAXIS for moves (2nd analog works as an alternative). Both titles offer acceptable gameplay fun for casual NBA fans, neither of them is good enough yet to be considered true action sims.
Agree with me? Yay you, share what else you noticed in the games. Don't agree with me? feel free to explain why. I might be wrong on a few items, but for playing each of them once this ain't too bad of an analysis. When NBA 2K8 demo comes out, I'll add some thoughts on it.
