Every once in awhile, complaining will get you somewhere. We griped loudly last season at the way-too-tough shooting mechanics that the PS2's NBA Live 07 threw our way, to the point of agony. While we may be overstating the impact that our kvetching had on EA's design of this year's hoops effort, one thing is for sure - it's gotten a lot easier to put the ball in the basket. If nothing else, our controllers are feeling a bit less threatened these days.

No longer will you feel like your shotmaking skills have completely eroded; this season, shooting and scoring is infinitely easier from the perimeter, the paint, and every spot in between. Decent shooters will pop open jumpers with regularity so long as your release is smooth, unlike last season when you'd have to nail it down to the finite millisecond of their jumping apex. You also won't be sweating those low-post shots either, since throwing down hellacious dunks and fast-break layups doesn't require completely perfect timing either. The Freestyle controls are a thing of the past, and we couldn't be happier about this development. After all, it's a lot more fun to run and gun than stumble and clank.