NBA 2K8 (Xbox 360)

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Last year, 2K Sports continued its dominance on the 360 court with a solid sophomore effort. Its NBA 2K8 faces tougher-than-usual competition this time around, as EA Sports' Live series has finally seemed to have gotten on track after an eternity of just plain badness. This year's Live is the best it's been in years, but 2K -- like the game's top ballers -- seems to raise its game to the competition. Simply put, you will not find a better way to do your 360 hooping.

On the court, the game's controls are really what make it stand out. Already tight last year, they're spot-on this time around. The key is the shot stick. Unlike EA's game, which splits the shooting duties between the X and the B buttons for jump shots and dunks, here it's all done with the right stick. (You can still use the X button to shoot, but once you get the hang of the stick, you won't. We promise.) It gives you an ultra-realistic feel of shooting the ball, and it forces you to get your timing down. There are very few more rewarding gaming moments than throwing up a three-pointer and knowing -- as soon as it leaves your hands -- that it's going in.

In addition to the overall more responsive feeling of the controls, this year's version delivers new post moves. These will help you either become invincible in the paint or force the defense to pay more attention to your big man and, as a result, give everyone else on the court a little more breathing room.

One thing we found a bit odd considering the relative complexity of the controls was the lack of any explanation of them in the manual. Last year's booklet spent almost 10 pages covering everything from right-stick defensive work to posting up to using the shot stick to dunk with style. This year's manual gives you your basic moves and that's it. It's an odd decision. Two of the biggest games of the year, Bioshock and Halo 3, are both 360 exclusives and will bring a lot of gamers over to the system. Considering how tight the controls can be in 2K8 -- if used correctly -- to send folks onto the court with just a bare-bones description of their capabilities is just goofy.

Another thing that's absent -- but in a good way -- from 2K8 is the 24/7: Next mode. In case you blocked it out, this was an oddball drama that had you make your way up the ladder earning cred by playing and interacting with pros and unnatural, lousy-dialogue-spouting locals. we recently replayed through a bit of it, and after having spent more than our share of time bringing it as Master Chief in Halo 3, having to go up against Shaq in an FPS free-throw shootout was laughable. If you really need an element of drama in your balling, check out 'The Life, Volume 3' in the PS2 version of Sony's NBA 08.

That's not to say that all goofiness has been exorcised from the disk. New this year is a dunk competition -- and you'll end up spending a ludicrous amount of time here. Like the dunk competitions in other games, the way you put it in the net bears little resemblance to the way you do it the regular game modes. Here, the dunk is broken into the gather and the in-air phase. Fiddling with the right stick lets you be creative during each of the dunk stages. For even more fun, the game lets you sky over props like benches, ball racks, and cars.