What makes all this easier to gloss over is the game’s overall presentation. It’s not quite up to the high level of NHL 08, but both the stadium atmosphere and commentary –done by Marv Albert and Steve Kerr- are far and away better than what you’ll find in NBA 2k8. The crowd is actively into the game and the intensity increases as is appropriate, likewise the commentary is, ironically, far more fluid than the game itself.

Off the court, the game is very much unchanged. You still hire coaches, assistants and scouts to help manage your team. Each of them has a role to fill, whether it’s setting priorities for team practices or choosing which players to take a look at in advance of the next year’s draft. There is, however, no multiplayer for dynasty mode, on or offline. (You can play in online leagues, but like NHL 08, there are no playoffs at the end of the season. It’s all determined by the final record.) What is both a blessing and curse is the simulation engine, which allows you to see simmed games progress and, if you want, take over at any point in the game. What isn’t so nice is that once a simulated game starts, you can’t just skip to the end and move on to the next game. Sure, you can speed up the simulation, but when you’re just trying to get past it, even the fastest setting is nowhere near adequate.

While NBA Live 08 is still not a game for the hardcore hoops fan, it is a decent and much improved game that less-demanding players can get a lot of enjoyment out of. If EA Sports can smooth out the gameplay, continue to improve ball physics, do something (please!) about the game’s load times, and hold onto their edge in the presentation department, they’ll have a game that can truly compete with NBA 2k8, something that would’ve been unthinkable a year ago.