Sure, there's a bit of arcade flair with great dunks, sky-high alley-oops, and violent shot blocks, but you have to earn every bit of it. Kobe and KG are physical, pushing and bumping, trying to keep good shooters from feeling comfortable on the court. Shaq is instantly double-teamed and even hacked when he has the ball in the post. They'll push it inside, try and collapse the post and then kick it to the open man on the perimeter. The AI on both offense and defense act like a real NBA team. I'd pretty much given up hope for a good sim basketball game to play over the holidays. Live, which I'd long thought of as NBA Jam without the flair, never had a chance. Last year I didn't even play a franchise mode, I just spent my time on NBA Street 2 and ESPN NBA Basketball's 24/7 mode. Sorry Sega, but I just ran out of 2K steam two years ago. But the past two years, I really haven't had a true basketball sim I could enjoy. The State of Basketball Games In the early 2000s, my basketball dimes were spent on Sega's NBA 2K series. If you're a hater, perhaps I can convince you to give NBA Live 2005 a chance. Now, with so many cool touches, good AI, and solid game mechanics, Live 2005 has my attention. To be fair, Live 2004 took some solid steps towards leaving the fast-paced arcade feel of previous Live games, but I just couldn't be sold. Yes, the old school Live games from the Genesis era were great, but the arcade-posing-as-sim versions of Live on the current generation of consoles just haven't been my thing at all. You see, I haven't cared for any version of NBA Live this millennium. Yes, EA has made a great basketball sim and I am suffering from symptoms of shock.