NBA 2K8 (PS3)

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2K Sports has been dominating the next-gen hoops era since, well, the dawn of the next-gen hoops era. Across the street on the Xbox 360, its game has run the table for three straight years, and last year, its PS3 debut spent the season beating up on a woeful NBA 07 offering from Sony. This year, the plot thickens for the Sixaxis crowd. Not only has development over at Sony managed to dislodge its head from wherever it's been jammed for the past few years, but the folks at EA Sports have finally entered the PS3 court melee. The result is nothing but good news for gamers. In a bizarre twist, there are no truly awful basketball games available for the system. Each of the three has something a little bit different to offer. That said, if you're looking for the ultimate way to put the ball in the hole, you should probably be doing it with 2K8.

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 both EA's and Sony's games, which split the shooting duties between the square and circle buttons for jump shots and dunks, here it's all done with the right stick. (You can still use the square 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. Hopefully, in the future, development will try to make use of the motion-sensitive aspect of the Sixaxis controller. Sony's game uses it a bit -- and it can be clunky -- but as developers get more and more comfortable with the technology, it could definitely have a place here.

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, flair, and charisma. This year's manual gives you your basic moves and that's it. It's an odd decision. It's cool that 2K has gone all Al Gore on us and wants to save the trees, but at least put in an in-game tutorial or a menu option that lets you read about how to do stuff.

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 my 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.