Screenshot comparison: NBA Live 08 vs NBA 2K8

Live owns

ill stick with 2ks gameplay.... live's gameplay is 2nd rate.... game over

Live looks too cartoony

whats with Lives bell-bottom shorts? lmao

I'll give 2K the benefit of the doubt. I can't remember the last time Live put out a game that played remotely similar to actual basketball.

I don't know why is everybody picking on the 2k shots. The player models are far superior than the ones in last year's game. Live is looking good as well. I think both games will deliver this season.
ps.: Chris Paul is a Jordan Brand guy and he has Nikes on his feet in these screenshots. Poor atention to detail by Visual Concepts.

Dante, I think 2k will pass on buying rights to have them in the game.. they were asking for to much paper.

Live looks much better then 2K. Look at the Chris Paul pic, that is all you need to see. Their coverboy doesn't look even close to what he actually looks like.

I don't know about that Mike. Look at the 2K8 Slam Dunk screenshots and you'll see tha Bobbito Garcia is wearing Jordan Brand gear. I think developers don't give a **** about making sure the players wear their proper equipment. This also applies for Live since their players sported their 06 version of equipment (headbands, armbands, sneakers, etc) in the 07 game and the 08 is following the trend judging by the screenshots.

not feelin the baby oil effect on the 2k8 graphics...looks horrivble and unrealistic...like sdot said, Live owns....and you know the grapics suck when the fanboys are sayin "but the gameplay blah blah blah"...lol

First of all, i think LIVE 08's graphics is overrated. Look at the players' shorts...is Tony Parker wearing a skirt? F* rediculous. Look at the shot of Baron Davis compare to his real life shot. You might think that LIVE's version look a lot similar to his real life counterpart with the darker beard but if you honestly ask yourself which one actually represent Davis real life counterpart, you would pick the NBA2k8 one. WHY?? Well look at the head...the size of the head...it's similar and show a sense of resembling to his real life counterpart than the LIVE version. Forget about the skin tone...both are off anyway..but just the figure and the head...NBA 2k8 look more real. Bottomline is, NBA LIVE's models show more clarity but that does not mean they're better.

I'm sorry but Live kills 2K's player models. How can you compare the head sizes reptile? The Live shot is from below so of course the head size will look a bit different. I don't think you can make an accurate comparison there.

My Take:

Live
(+)Faces look pretty good
(-)Legs are a bit thin, no?
(-)Did the owners only pay half of the electric bill. go past like the 5th row and the crowd is in black.
(-)What's with the parachute shorts lol

2K
(+)Court gloss looks pretty tight
(-)Faces are BAD. Face it. Even the cover boy looks wack
(-)They over did the sweat. I know guys perspire during a game but they look like they oiled up their legs before stepping on the court.
(-)The ball looks a little weird or worn out. Where are the black lines? I know a bit picky but it looks funny to me.

I think the jersey textures/effects and the crowd models are about even. I want to see the games in motion and see who really wins the battle. Animations can make or break graphics you know.

Live's shorts may be a little long, but what is with 2K's bunching effect in every screen? Thats just as unrealistic. It appears their cloth physics are still overdone.

So neither is perfect on the shorts lol.

live has better faces and skin textures, but 2k's body proportions and anatomy are more realistic...

live's players are too skinny and their knees look really awkward and don't bend properly.

live's clothing is horrible...it looks stiff...it doesn't flow and fold right...

2k's cloth looks perfect.

i see what your sayin'. It's like they're shorts are riding up every step they take lol. yea so cloth physics could probably use some work on both parties too. also in addition to Live's thin legs, i think 2K's guys are a bit bulky. Picky i know but some middle ground should be established between the two.

Live's graphics won't be worth anything unless they're done something to fix the gameplay and physics.. how can Live "pwn" with just graphics. that Live 08 video of kobe making a turnaround shot just looks horrible.. does anyone really thing that looks like kobe's signature move? animation is stil not very far from this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvnv4rCtm2Y

but even with improvements, 2K is still years ahead, and it will be a while before Live gets back on track.

go get Live and oggle at its graphics... there wont be much else there... when you're done and want to play a good basketball game, go get 2K

2k8 b-diddy is better then live's b-diddy. especially in the jersey's

Cleric you shouldn't go that far at this point, I played Live 08 for a full 6 hours and it is much improved. The problems that we pointed out to them they stated they would address. And apparently we're going to have a chance to actually see how they worked on those things in the near future.

2K...well we don't know what they've done. They chose to unveil the game with their big new feature being a slam dunk contest.

The game may not have caught up to 2K all in one year, but it wouldn't surprise me if it at least has gained a ton of ground.

and yes live's graphics are too cartoony. look at b-diddy's leg in 2k8 pics and the real pic. identical. the entire body of b-diddy in 2k8's pic looks real. all accept his face and head. i agree that the shorts rinkling in the b-diidy pic looks unrealistic but 2k8 is 60% done and b-diddy already looks real. they just need to finsih up the faces and they got players thatm look way more real then live's player models.

I've heard every year that Live "is improved". Then play it and its still not very good gameplay wise. We'll see how different it is this year.

I still like 2k, but i must say that live looks dope... But the gameplay will tell the story... Not screenshots.

Live has always looked better than 2k series, but it falls short in the gameplay catagory each year. It looks like 2k stepped it up this year with the graphics, making an already amazing game even better..nuff said..

To me the live models have better facial details but that's only because the 2K models are hella sweating and the live models do look pretty accurate except kobe. I agree on the knees and the general physique of live models they look skinny. screenshots of the 2k basketball games for the next gen always looked funny to me but i still love the gameplay and it always looked better in motion. they might have put the sweating overboard this time though. hopefully live's gameplay has been fixed, because i never liked playing it after i purchased nba 2k5. i dont think the cloth physics this time are too over exaggerated just a little pay attention to ur net shorts the next time u play basketball

My money is on 2k. Live08 models have better faces. Thats about it. Other then that their models are too skinny and cartoony as everyone has already pointed out. By the way, i'd rather have over done wrinkle animations then chicken legs and cardboard shorts. NBA LIVE animations are WACK. It makes me think that EA's live 08' development team employs no real basketball fans. Just programmers.
P.S. If you want a solid NBA title that plays well and looks great from the camera angle you actually play from, grab 2k8. If you want a game that might be good if they can fix:

-defensive play
-realistic animations
-rainbow court when people are shooting
-Crappy franchise mode
-and the TRUMP CARD!!!! ONLINE PLAY (which ea's sucks at)

Even if EA fixes every problem they have, that might bring them about even with 2k7 not 2k8. Granted 2k7 has its own problems, but they have already accomplished many of the same things EA is striving to do with Live08.

Enough with all of this BS that EA will make it competitive with live 08'. People want to play the best basketball game and the majority will not buy both.
At best, Live 08 has a shot at being 2nd fiddle in the basketball gaming world. The only way EA could pull off a miracle is if they were 2ksports.

live looks like the games take place in dark caves...when you go to a basketball game, that's not what it looks like, you can see fans in the 40th row on tv and in reality, i live they are hidden in 'darkness' good for same fisher, but not mr. nosebleed seats. The graphics are slightly better overall for 2k but animation is where it counts and last year there was no point in a comparison since live was terrible.

I'd take 2k7 over Live any day.
I used to be a Live fan..It got old..and boring. Too arcade-ish. Last year..I picked up 2K7 AND Live.

2K7 straight up owned Live.
It played like a REAL basketball game.
As for the sweat...It looks realistic to me.
You ever see Shaq at the free throw line late in the 4th quarter? lol

I think Cleric and Dr.Logic nailed it.

2k has developed a series that real basketball players will appreciate, and it feels like it was developed for those who play by those who play actual basketball.

EA it seems, put a whole lot of resources into the graphics. Thats fine - but thats not what keeps you playing the game. They better back this all up with gameplay. EA has all the resources for an overhaul(to be developed from the ground up is what it needs!) so they could be making a statement this year, but development-wise 2K is way ahead.

I'm set on 2K still...... but anything can happen... let's see if EA will pull an upset..

If u are a nba live fan, u are probably going to jump on 2k's band wagon after this year.. seriously... nba live 08 is doing everything 2k7 had last year.. honestly i think Nba 2k7 will stil look and play better then Nba live 08.. Live 08 has cardboard fans, no features, alot of ice skating on the court, bad defense awareness, the arenas are set like its a cave cause u barely see fans, and the list can go on and on.. Nba 2k8 will destroy nba live.. so easport fans do urself a favor and jump on the 2k sports bandwagon cause u'll get off the easports wagon after this year

Riko you got it right, i completely agree with you. Did you notice the pics the one with baron davis on the bottome pic for 2k8 and tony parker for Nba live 08. first thing i noticed the fans all seem to look 3d in 2k8 unlike the cardboard objects in the crowd like nba live 08 has. another thing look at barons shorts wrinkle as he is running up court, looks really realistic, unlike tony's short which looks like a skirt attached to him

I don't understand why Live's shorts keep getting picked on specifically. Yeah they're probably on the long side and a little wide at the bottom. But 2K's bunch up an extreme amount in the same way in each screen. I don't think I've seen the shorts they wear in the NBA look like that, they're not the type of material that naturally does that. It just looks odd and makes me think that once again their cloth physics are overdone.

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/2007/writers/chris_mannix...


So really replicating the shorts correctly probably falls somewhere in between what Live and 2K have done. Not a big deal either way but I don't see how one would get criticism for it over the other.

You must really

Let me join to Cleric, dude and Riko. I give my vote to 2k8.
About the clothes: that is one thing, I extremely enjoyed the previous game, 2k7, the jerseys and the shorts looks so realistic, the sweat-patches on the back. You can realize it during free-throws. Cloth-physics makes 2k games much better. I appreciate it veeeery much!
Live player faces, and skin textures are amazingly pretty, but the anatomy of the players are way too thin, no muscle.

A little bit off-topic, but I have just found an interesting article about EA-2K sport-battle. It is EA CEO's JOHN RICCITIELLO's opinion about the 2K's sport frenchises:

"When you've got a competitor like Take-Two on the sports side, and they launch a football title using some of the industry legends, you want to make sure that ends up being a blip and is not repeatable, because we like to defend our franchises aggressively."

You can find the full story here, its title is IT IS JUST BUSINESS: http://www.gamespot.com/users/UnnDunn/show_blog...

Wouldn't it be nice if EA actually focused on improving Madden and defeating 2K on the field of consumer satisfaction?

I would be curious about your reactions, I personally hate the big huge dead fish, who eats the little golden fish...

EA SPORTS just plain sucks.. ok i'll give it to them on ncaa college football 08 and the madden also which is supposivly going to be good.. but when it comes to basketball they should just give it up and let 2k sports do the work.. nba 2k8 is going to make this years nba live look like a joke and game u just rent to see and return back.. nba live wont be even in the same leauge as nba 2k8, and no nba live 2008 is not worth the 60 dollars, mabey 10 to 20 dollars is fine

Man do you people read. Look at all the blogs and articles for live 08,then look at live 07. Live will do big things this year, 2k will just screw up like they have been doing this whole year with their titles.

JBLAZE you must never played nba 2k7 cause it killing nba live 07 and it will beat nba live 08 in gameplay.. u must like playing fake video games cause if u are looking for something realistic u will pick up the nba 2k8.. easports always overhype a game and then they disappoint u when u play it.. all those articles and blogs are bull shit u will see that nba 2k8 will be the better game, and there college will be sick as hell 2

Live looks pretty good right now with their new features but nba 2k is to deadly if you played 2k7 compared to live 2007 you will never look at an another live game again. For sure 2k is the superior game and on october we will all see it.

Young king you got it right.. live 07 made me never want to look at another easports basketball again

yall are cazy, i played 2k7 on xbox360 it was horrible everything looked fake (when your really playing) the dunks were fake and it hard to crossover. live on ps2 was better.

chris paul looks like a monkey on 2k8, live 08 is going to be the better game, gameplay and all.