NBA Live 09 vs. NBA 2K9

Look, I'm beyond tired of hearing that 2K9 has the best basketball sim out there. 6+ years and running and shit. Some time ago, it was true and hell, it still might be true, but not in all cases. I will have to give you a couple of things to think about.

First off, I will start by saying that I've been playing EA games since Jordan vs Bird, Bulls vs. Blazers, pick one it was early on Sega Genesis and I prolly had it. Being the big corp that EA is there have this reputation as this big evil corporation, that charges high prices for cheap games. You can liken this unto the battered spouse syndrome, they're fuckin me up all the time but I keep coming back for the cheap thrills. All jokes aside they come out with these great games each year and with the big moneymakers (ie madden, live) they only have about 8-10 months to get everything done. Thats not an excuse just something to think about.

I first played the 2K basketball games in the late Dreamcast days of 99-01. They were good, and they actually gave Live a run for the money. Me not having a memory card for months totally messed it all up but, my friends and I settle for exhibtion games. I remember posting games of 122-110 and stuff. If I'm not mistaken it was Sega Sports, they did a good job.

In 2002 Live 2003 came out and I've been playing Live each year since. Live 04 sucked, Live 05 did too, Live 06 I played for Xbox 360, it was decent, remember us trippin cuz we could see sweat beading on their faces? Live 07 was good, but the superstar moves gave the game that NBA Street exta button presses feel and when you used them your player had this dominating performance, which I didnt care for too much but I used them anyway. Then last year when Live 08 came out I played it and I liked it but, when I played 2k8 I was convinced for the first time that, yes 2K sports did put out a better game.

Since Live 06, I've been hearing everyone saying that the 2K series is a better basketball simualation, and its more realistic and brahk, brahk brahk. Even my brother who is a sore ass loser, once said after I beat him in a game of Live 07 "This game sucks, 2k7 is better anyway and you cant beat me in that." Whatever, son. I have to argue a point that the game critics themselves might not like. You guys probably never played a 5 on 5 game of basketball at the gym cuz you were at the crib playing games. You became an expert at the crib, not at the gym. So how would you know what a realest sports sim would be like? Just because its hard to score doesnt make it more realistic. It just makes it playing the game more frustrating. In most games harder=better, but in sports games that isnt always the case.

The 2K series boasts a harder defense feel, which lets me make my point clear. If you've ever played basketball you know that some of the best players that are able to score, most times have the hardest time defending because they focus much of their game on scoring. Now on the 2k9 demo, they have Ray Allen locking up Kobe Bryant, while in real life series Allen was "the" defensive liability of the Celtics. How is that more real? In basketball, different players have different skill sets and unique abilities. On 2k9 unique abilities mean higher shooting percentages. How is that more real? Yes I know that 2k9 forces you to use all the players, feed hot shooters, pass the ball, you know the fundamentals of basketball to win each game. That's fine, if it was college hoops, but we're talking about a NBA sim here. In reality it isnt always the most fundamental team that gets the W. Most time its the team who has the best player or players on the court. Listen not the best superstar, not the best scorer but the best player, cuz they cant do it all by themselves.

I have an HDTV and to me 2K9 is lacking that HD look to it. The faces are less defined, the player models look hidious, the courts are bland to say the least. Why does KG have a wide waist? When I seen a preview for it I must say that unlocking animatoins later on in the year sounds like they are trying to hide an unfinished game here. Both Live and 2k9 boast rosters that update player skills and ratings everyday, and you know what? Live even makes you pay for this as a $20 add-on via PSN. That sucks I know. I dont even know if it will be worth it. As long as I can play online, the player DNA wont matter to me. Unless someone has a breakout season, I probably will skip it. Knowing the type of gamehead I am, I will go and get it anyway.

I played both demos today and to say the least, both games lack superior responsiveness when talking about controls, but whats with the lack of a crossover button on 2k9? I dont like it. I will have to see it again to talk about the gliding effect. On the 360 last year, 2k9 was the best, but on PS3 this year, I like Live.

Slacking Off!!!

It's been way to long since I wrote a blog. Mainly cuz my wifey has to have the computer for online class, so I just get to the computer whenever I can. Last time I put up a post, GTA IV just came out, damn that's a long time ago. Considering the fact that no one reads this shit, it really doesnt matter. A lot has happened since then, Metal Gear Solid 4, Madden 09, and NBA 2k9 is almost here, just another week or so.

Metal Gear Solid 4 had to be the most realistic looking game out this year. It has a great story as always, a lot of things that could spark debates, especially when you have a story that involves the military and a Kilumanati type of group that controls the world. Im not gonna really delve into the story but it was kool. There was a weird thing though, most of the bosses where female, and after you defeated their armor suited bodies, you would have to fight them again, shoot them to death. They would constantly be walking towards you slowly dodging bullets, trying to seduce you or something. I really dont know the purpose of this. I found it kind of sexual, but maybe Im just a perve, LOL!! They had warning signs of smoking since everyone knows Solid Snake is a smoker, even dying of the FoxDie virus he was still smoking during the loading screens. It lookt so real, even when I didnt have any cigs, this made me want to go get some. I am a smoker, but I dont have to have it unless I see someone else with it. Its a visual addiction I guess. NeWay, the game was very good, graphics, story, music, voices, presentation, you really couldn't tell the CGI cutscenes from the actual gameplay. The online part of the game was a total letdown, just like the beta trial from the pre-order. The Konami servers just couldnt handle the people logging on and they kept failing until Konami just shutdwon the whole project, bummer.

Madden is always a game thats hyped to death everywhere, I still see ads for it on Tv at the store, even 7-11 sells it for all platforms. I have never actually owned a copy of NFL Madden so I decided to get one this year. I have to say I have learned a lot about football. This game has actually brought out the football lover in me. I will be a hooper til I die but, now I now more about the game of football, and I am learning more everyday, this game did more than it said it would do, making me a better player and teaching me more about the game itself. I love football now, I'm not a Bears fan yet, but I still root for the Monsters of Midway. Honestly I would've told you I suck at Madden, but at my Madden IQ wasnt under 500 on the first Madden test. It was 516 which wasnt that much better but, I knew enough to beat a few people. What I liked is I tackled this problem headfirst cuz I sucked at Madden, I mean sucked compadre. Before I got this game I probably won total of 4 games lifetime. When I watch games on TV now, I be yelling at the QB, "Its a blitz! Audible, audible!!" thats because I see it coming and you're gonna take a loss of yardage if you dont change the play. This game gave me that, it didnt just throw me in there and say here, go play. I know that Madden has its legacy problems like the tractor beam passes, and the interceptions on a hard pass to the middle, but now you can't go for that bomb on a post pattern for a spectacular catch like u used to. People used to make a living off that play. I swear. But so far im 14-11 hey thats 3 games over .500 and thats good enough for a rookie. The most points I've given up is 28 and I get at least 2 picks a game. check my stats if you want. Im getting better thats all I care about.

NBA Live 09 is about to come out, I have to say that I like Live 08 better than 2k9 I played them both for 360. This years Live looks like a dissappointment to me, they hiding bad gameplay behind DNA stat tracking type of thing where the players mimick tendencies of their real world counter parts based on stats from the previous nights. I think it handles like garbage personally so Im going to wait for the consensus review on this one. 09 or 2K9? We'll see.

Gettin Back In The Grove

Arright, I havent written a blog in I dont know how long, but I've been busy, sort of. My days have been filled with online gaming and work. I really dont write a blog at home simply because there are better things to do at my house anyway than write down my thoughts and stuff.

As everyone in the world knows, GTA IV was released last Tuesday. It had the most hype of any release I can remember, movie, TV, whatever. Mainly because the details about it were trickled out like a leaky faucet. No gameplay footage wasnt seen until the weekend before its release. It has been the best gaming experience I can remember (besides Call of Duty 4). You know what else? It has the most bugs out of any games I can remember. I mean, dont get me wrong, the game is fuckin tight. The problem is that it is so fuckin tight that any little imperfection will stand out like a Kool-Aid stain on a white tee.

First, I knew that the multiplayer wasnt gonna be up the night of its release. Which really wasnt a problem because I feel like you have to know what you're doing against the CPU before you can go challenge another player online.
Second, when I found multiplayer was up and running I had a hard time trying to actually get into a game with some "disconnected player" message popping up. When I finally did get into a game, as soon as I moved my character I got the same "disconnected player" message. So I ended up giving up on the multiplayer thing for a while.
Third, when I tried to go back and start my game off from where it was saved last, it froze on the all black loading screen where it has the name of the last mission you played. Again and again it froze, I was thinking "This is a brand new game By then, the GTA IV fix was posted on websites a few days old, but I thought what the hell. This cant hurt could it? I was tedious but I got it done with the exception of the last two on the list regarding a flicker feature and something else that they had no option for. It worked, at least thats what I thought. It didnt mess up nemore, so I was satisfied. I could relive a few previous moments in the game and make different decisions and see where they would go. A few days later, I cut my PS3 on and it told me I'd have to have an upate. Praise Jesus! So its fixed and it can only get better. The problem is now that there are streaks on the mirror from what was supposed to be a game with a perfect reflection.

Lastly, I have a question. Do you think ur wifey would get mad if you had another female (or likeness) on the back of your motorcycle while you cruise around Liberty City sniping fools? No headset, no communication whatsoever. Is that considered cheating? Does she have the right to be mad? U tell me.

Service With A......

Today at around 12 noon there was an explosion in a mall in Waukegan, about 40 min north of Chicago. There are about 5 to 6 ppl injured right now, and my prayers go out to them. Now some reports say that this might have something to do with the gas company being onsite at the mall, for who knows what reason. They had a crew on site and they didnt have the proper training?!?! I mean, we are talking about gas here, you know fossil fuel, combustible light a cigarette and thats ur ass, gas. But it just goes to show you that we live in a world (especially this city) where you can get the job and not have the right training. Now there are a lot of different reasons why you get the job, but you really dont know exactly what it is ur doing there. Its really scary when you have a person that gets a job in.... lets say...... a gas company. You got ppls lives in ur hands literally, and ur not really trained for this job? C'MON!!! This is some serious shit here! What if the same situation was applied to a different position like firefighter, policeman, hell... heres a more common one, mechanic. We're talking lost lives, loose criminals and fucked up cars, does that sound familiar?

Today at around 1 pm there was a mishap at the mini-mall in Downer's Grove. I bought a stereo from a store which i wont name, and they quoted me a price for installation, I was like "oooh that's good!" When it came time to install it in my car, he not only quoted me a different price but went on to say that the new price was a base quote and it could go up even more! Then on top of all that, he couldnt tell how the car was wired exactly so he said and I quote "It might not even work!" I was befuddled. He suggested that I went ahead with a gamble of over $150 that wasnt even close to being 50/50. I quickly asked for my keys back, of course. In their office there are certificates and plaques and shit and they couldnt figure it out. Now if I take it to the hood electrician i know in 3 mins or less he would know whats the deal with the wiring. And my new point is just cuz they have certifications and gold plaques doesnt mean they know what they are doing either. Who can u trust, I guess the Better Business book?!?!?

Dont Write Checks Ur Ass Cant Cash!

Long time to no write. After workin 12 days straight, I have only 2 days off (figures) but the pay is gonna be realllll nice. Now what do I do on my days off you ask? What else? Drink, Sleep and play video games, with some QT in between all that. So I finally hooked up the PS3 and the blutoof to the internet and what do I get? Whole bunch of sorry ass gamers talkin shit. And if u dont know its CALL OF DUTY 4. Still aint beat it yet, just no time and I bought it for the mutliplayer anyway. I cant even to begin tell u how dissapointed I was. First of all I have played 6 hrs in 2 days, making it up to a level 16, I mean, Fps's arent my first pick, nah-mean? Being the video game junkie I am, I figure I could learn the system pretty easy right? Right so Im just shootin some muthafuckas up, u know, M16, grenade launcher, Im increasing my ranks and shit. So on my 2nd hour in I got some fag his screen name Tpag (too fuckin easy!) talking shit, and I just come and take his ass out, stealth style too. You know what I know hes been playin longer than I have, and I was givin it too him, and even worse at the end of the match my score was way higher! I cant even remember his rank, but he fuckin sucked! If you're a loser what gives u the right to talk that shit, especially if ur incapable of backin it up? Can someone xplain?

On the second day man, I was winning matches?!?! For real, I was beating higher ranked ppl too, 50s, 40s, 30, and my rank was like 11 or some shit. I NEED A GAMING CONTRACT RIGHT? Well if you dont think so then I do. How can u have some 12's beatin up on some 55's and shit? What? Man, this thing is addictive too. I love multiplayer games especially sports ones. I used to play games with my brother all the time and when he got older and was still losing, he would be like, this is a waste of time. Well thanx to recent advances in the gaming community, you can get a 100,000 contract, for playing video games! So to me its like playing basketball, you play cuz you love the game, and you know ur not going to go pro, but you playin until you're too old to run. Let me tell u something, I think I have a better chance going pro-gamer then u going to the NBA.

More Hours In A Day

Working any shift but first, will have you thinking about this once a week. If there was more hours in each day, what exactly would you do with them? Working 2nd shift (3-11) my whole day is pretty much gone before it is even started. I make an alright paycheck, for what i do. But a lot times I dont even get to enjoy the benefits, I barely have time to spend the money, and when I do buy something, I barely get to show it off cuz I just dont get the time.

Recently I acquired a car that needs some TLC, just a few things, like a new stereo, really just things I need to customize it. Between shops opening at 10am and me having to be at work at 3, theres only so much I can do in a day. I basically I gotta take things one at a time which is starting to drive me fuckin nuts.

I also recently acquire a copy of CoD4, which has online multiplayer. Now im no fuckin whiz kid with the games, Im ok, it takes me awhile to get used to the games then after about 3-4 hrs it becomes second nature. Im good but I aint good to where I can just skip playing through this game (which is short and very good so far) and jump into some online battles, which im holding myself from doing. I dont wanna come out guns blastin, not hittin nothin and wasting my ammo, gettin laughed at and shit-talked to the whole time. Not winning is one of the biggest turn-offs in playing video games, losing over and over and if I gotta hear some little kid talk shit about my skills, thats compounding the situation. I dont wanna ruin the experience by going in as a novice. The problem is I rarely get the time. The next day I have off, it is going to be dedicated to beating CoD4 and gettin online to snipe some fools.

I bet my significant other is thinking about what she could do with me if she had more hours. (LOL) About this time last year, I just started to get off my butt and decided to do something with my life. Before that I would smoke that green, get a deuce and play games all day, skipping showers, haircuts and lookin all ragedy in the process, my significant other said, she misses that guy. What?!?! I responded, "He really didnt do much for you or himself for that matter" But my guess is that guy was more dependent on her, kissing a lot of ass in the process. She says "He loved me!" WHATEVER

SILLY NEGRO!

I told u that it was gonna get ugly, didnt I? I warned you. I told you that one day this was gonna happen. On the second day of the inaugural week, I came across a comments from a Silly Negro.

SEE LINK BELOW

Though he had some valid points, about Tavis Smiley doing what he can to further the black community, he made some comments that got under my skin a little. First, its enough that we call each other niggas all the time, NIGGA, but you gotta go and call us JIGS?!?! I use nigga all the time but, come on! I hope the ghost of Malcolm haunts your dreams tonight. Second, Barack Obama cannot afford to play favorites, epecially in the public eye. Think about it, if he gets the vote every last black person and mulatto, democratic or republican, he still would be assed out because, we make up less that 20% of the whole nation. He needs to be worrying about this country. Wake the fuck up. Who watches Tavis Smiley? (no offense bruh). He is running for the presidential election, not the chairman of NAACP. (again, no offense) Izrael is right, we dont need another civil rights leader right now, because if we get into the White House things will be better for all of us as a whole.

And another muthafuckin thing that I want to address, just because ur skin isnt the color of charcoal doesnt mean that your any less black. I know plenty of lightskinned niggas that will wear dashikis and African medallions. This has been pissing me off for years, like a dog barking at nothing at midnight, PEOPLE CANNOT ACT BLACK! OK?! I hate it when someone say, oh, Eminem is acting black! There is no such fuckin thing. People act ghetto, or like they have no home training, or even ignorant but not fuckin black. We had a couple of white boys in the hood and they are way more ghetto than ten speeds with systems on them. I am from Michigan (Pontiac) and I have seen that biggest, blackest dudes talk proper and carry themselves in a professional manner, what is he acting white? What the fuck yo?! Y'all need to stop that shit!

http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=19661

You Gotta Start Somewhere!

In middle school, I had dreams of being a journalist. I wrote for my middle school newspaper, which is Earvin "Magic" Johnson's alma mater, you know where he scored like 50 points and sat out the 4th quarter. (Big Ups to Dwight Rich) Writing has always been a passion for me, whether its poetry, current events or just a plain ol journal. Time and time again it has proven to be therapuetic. Though I never went to college for it, this still reamains one of my hobbies. You know people say that rappers like to hear themselves, I like to see my thoughts on a page. And you know what else? Just like music artists, when it comes from the depths of my mind, that it when it is in its best form. Thanks to advances in technology, I can type (or post) my own news and relevant events, and it can be read as if you were reading it from Chicago Tribune itself, there is even room for my glorious editorals!

This is not going to be no online diary or journal, you can forget about that. There will be real life situations posted here, and i want you to comment. There are gonna be a wide range of topics and articles posted here and here are just some of them:

• New Technology
• Sports Talk
• Nex-Gen Gaming
• Newest Kicks and Gear
• Relationships
• Music

Like I said thats jus a few of them, I have a lot of built up What the Fuck?(were you thinking) moments and there is also gonna be the "Silly Negro" section. That will delve into the muthafuckas that try to set us back another 50 years after all that the likes of MLK and Malcom X have done for us Before you open your mouth and talk that shit that you wanna talk, I am gonna let you know that I am black, educated and still in the hood so you can get cussed out and belittled and the same time. I am one of a kind, diamond in the rough, type of nigga that only comes once every 20 years. In conclusion, I would like to thank every single person that passes thru here, and if you actually stop to read, you will be enlightened (fucka comcast).