Madden 08 roster update coming this week

A new roster update for Madden 08 is expected this week.

It appears that EA is meeting their goal of releasing them more frequently this year. They had hoped to have updates out on a bi-weekly basis.

As with the previous roster updates, once it is out I should have the full list of changes to post up.

NBA Live 08 full game: Bobcats @ Hawks

This game has the Charlotte Bobcats visiting the Atlanta Hawks on All-Star difficulty.

In this one I took over controlling the road team. Where some games have been dominated by the point guard, this one was not. Speedy Claxton did have 12 points but only attempted seven shots. It was Joe Johnson who carried the scoring load for the Hawks.

Continue on to view the videos as broken down by quarter.

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NBA Live 08 full game: Bulls @ Lakers

This game features the Chicago Bulls vs LA Lakers on All-Star difficulty. Watch to see how Kobe Bryant compares to other players seen in the videos. Can he dominate in the game like he does in real life?

Current plan is to post a Charlotte @ Atlanta on Sunday, and Golden State @ Phoenix on Monday. I’ll also try to record an online game to compare head-to-head to the ones I’ve played against the CPU.

Continue to view the videos broken down by quarter.

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NBA Live 08 full game: Heat @ Celtics

This game features the Miami Heat facing off against the new look Boston Celtics and is played on All-Star difficulty.

A couple notes:

I’ve seen comments in different places about the aggressiveness of point guards and that is true to a certain extent. You’ll need to play good defense on them otherwise they’ll drive the lane or pull up on you. However there is a big difference depending on who the PG is. Face Jason Kidd and he’ll terrorize you when you’re controlling Earl Boykins (trust me on this one) but here Jason Williams wasn’t really a big concern of mine.

I noticed a few auto-subs made in this game for the CPU. I doubt it was necessary given the little fatigue that comes off with the default settings, but that should mean you’d see more in longer games, or especially if adjusting sliders.

I’m going to attempt to get up one game video tomorrow, Sunday, and Monday. I’m looking at Chicago @ LA Lakers and Charlotte @ Atlanta. If you have requests for the thrid matchup make them in the comments. Sorry that I won’t be able to get everyone’s teams in obviously but I’ll choose at random from the suggestions.

I’ll also try and add some more responses in the questions/answer posting (added a few regarding dynasty today). I hope to record at least one online game as well, possibly tomorrow.

Continue on to view the videos.

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NBA Live 08 online impressions

I had the chance to play a handful of NBA Live 08 online games with Shawn from over at 5w-g last night. Here are my thoughts on the online performance, details on some of the options for online play, and the results.

The first thing to address would be overall performance. All three games were practically flawless. There was absolutely no difference between online and offline in terms of lag or frame rate. I don’t know if I’ve ever been able to say that before. Now of course there were only the two of us playing so there was no stress on the servers and it’ll have to be monitored come release. However it is certainly very encouraging.

Options wise I noted in a previous posting that there are few different modes. Versus is the traditional head to head game and you can have up to three guests on your console. Quick Pick Play allows you to choose any 10 players for your team and can be ranked or unranked. The Online Leagues are identical as far as I can tell to the ones found in NHL 08. There is also the addition of the EA Locker for sharing roster files and created scenarios. You can use all teams including the All-Stars, Rookies, Sophomores, Team Adidas, and FIBA in both ranked and unranked.

Ranked games are locked in with five minute quarters on All-Star difficulty. We played one ranked and the other two unranked with the same setup.

Again it seems you can not challenge someone on your friends list to a ranked game which is unfortunate. You have to go into a lobby room to do that. In the lobby you can challenge to the normal ranked games but not to the Quick Pick Play games. So any Quick Pick Play games you wish to play against friends will have to be unranked.

Continue on for more details, notes on the games, and a recap of general thoughts.

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NBA Live jersey creator contest

The announcement that has been hinted at over the past week or so in relation to Live is the EA Sports NBA Live 08 jersey contest.

Using the jersey creator program on the website you can design your own completely unique jerseys. Entries will be accepted through November 16th. The winning submission may become downloadable content for Live 08 in addition to the top three receiving prizes.

If you create any jerseys and upload them to the gallery feel free to post a link to them in the comments or email it to me and I’ll feature them in a future posting.

I suspect there may be more to the contest than what has already been revealed. There should be a blog on the EA website today (Friday) going over all the details.

NBA Live 08 full game: USA vs Germany

Here is another full game broken down by quarter. In this FIBA matchup Germany faces off against the United States. This one is played on All-Star difficulty and to me is by far better than the two games I have posted previously. I made sure to do a few go-to moves in there as well.

Of note, these are the default FIBA rosters. EA has stated they will release roster updates which will include adding Kobe Bryant to the US roster around the release date.

This will probably be the last significant update for today (Thursday). Continue to check the question/answer posting which I’m updating when I have the opportunity to do so, and tomorrow and through the weekend when I’ll have more new content.

Continue through to view the videos.

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Answering some questions about NBA Live 08

*Last updated in afternoon of Friday 9/28

So through the comments many different questions and requests have been made. I’ll try to respond to some of them here. I’ll add some as I go over the coming days (haven’t got enough time in playing to answer certain ones) but wanted to get some up now.

First some online related info:

They have added the EA Locker. It states you can share rosters and scenarios with those on your friends list. The roster sharing from the Locker was great for March Madness last year so it’s nice to have it here. It sounds like you can create scenarios and put them in your locker for other people to download and attempt which could be interesting.

The online modes are: Versus (head to head play with up to 3 guests on a console), Online Leagues which I believe are identical to those in NHL 08 in terms of how they operate and options, and Quick Pick Play which allows you to choose any 10 players for your team (these can be ranked also). I hope to have impressions on each of these over the next few days and possibly a video of them.

Throwback uniforms? Did it make it in this year? No, most teams have a “second road” or “second home” uniform but no throwbacks.

does the rebounding (ai) still seem nonexsistant? It seems way to easy to get offensive rebounds because the defense doesnt even attempt rebounds. So far it has seemed to me to be improved in that the defense is boxing out well. There is still the issue of players selectively going for the ball, letting it hit the ground first, ect.

How has the perimeter defense been improved? It wasn’t that bad in the demo but a lot of times it was to easy to get in the lane because the jostle system favored the offensive player to much. Much better compared to the build at the community event. On Superstar as you could probably see in the videos, the defense works to keep you out of the lane and makes it pretty tough. Not sure how it will be in head to head play.

Also if u have time please caron butler’s dunk rating and jamison’s 3pt shot. 75, 71

Please give me the complete roster of the Golden State Warriors and maybe ratings if you have time. Andris Biedrins (72), Al Harrington (75), Stephen Jackson (75), Monta Ellis (74), Baron Davis (88), Brandan Wright (69), Marco Belinelli (71), Sarunas Jasikevicius (68), Kelenna Azubuike (67), Adonal Foyle (61), Patrick O’Bryant (58)

Continue on for more…

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NBA Live 08 Go-To Moves video

Here is the video I put together displaying the Go-To Moves of many players from the practice gym. After finishing it up I realized how dark the gym is so it may be difficult to make out the player. At the very least you should be able to get an idea of their moves through the video that plays in the upper right corner (for some reason no video plays for Steve Nash or Allen Iverson).

Included are 24 different players: Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki, Carlos Boozer, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Carmelo Anthony, Gilbert Arenas, Baron Davis, Yao Ming, Jermaine O’Neal, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Redd, Chris Paul, Tony Parker, Lebron James, Vince Carter, Chauncey Billips, Shawn Marion, Elton Brand.

Continue on to view the video.

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NBA Live 08 Full Game: Pistons @ Magic

Here is another full game from NBA Live 08, this one has the Detroit Pistons facing off against the Orlando Magic on Superstar difficulty.

I’ve gone over a lot of what I like about the game through my community event and demo impressions so it would be redundant for me to talk more about those things right now. I do have a few comments to make on the first couple games I’ve played. As I’ve mentioned in the comments it’s difficult for me to assess the game very well when I’m recording because I have to play through my computer monitor. This adds some challenge as I have more trouble identifying pass icons, telling which player is which, and so on. Once I play more on my TV I’ll add additional impressions of the game, and clarify if I still find these things to be true.

-Compared to what I played back at the community event the fast breaks don’t seem to flow as well. I had opportunities where I’d pass to a guy I figured was going to continue to the basket but he’d stop and wait to receive the pass, thereby ending the fast break.

-The crowd reactions and volume have impressed me. They really get loud for big dunks, or in the case of this Pistons-Magic game, even making critical free throws.

-With all the default settings and the five minute quarters, it seems fatigue doesn’t factor in much if at all. Here I had it on auto-sub, yet it never subbed anyone out as far as I remember.

-The pressure the opposing team puts on your PG after crossing the court is a little frustrating in how aggressive they are. You’ll get swiped on occasion if you’re not extra careful and it makes it a risky proposition to call a play.

-I haven’t had much success with the pick and roll. I’ll keep working on that though.

This will be the last set until late this evening when I should be able to get up the Go-To Moves video displaying them for several players (I already have 20 of them recorded). Additional impressions, answering questions, and possibly more videos will come tomorrow.

Continue on to view the game videos.

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