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Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
NBA 08 for PlayStation 2
NBA 08 for PlayStation 2 combines games featuring real NBA teams with a story about life within a basketball team. The Life: v.3 centres on Coach T.'s final season. You try to make his farewell a successful year by playing more than sixty different game scenarios. You experience all five starting positions, so an assignment as a point guard demands something different from a task close to the basket. The team's result is therefore linked to what you do in a particular position.
During games, you look for room to pass, choose when to shoot and try to grab the rebound after a missed attempt. Without the ball, you protect the route to the basket and switch to another defender in time. The real clubs and players give these actions a recognisable NBA setting. Alongside the storyline, there are individual games and short minigame challenges. These let you play a particular basketball activity separately instead of immediately starting a whole story session.
The PS2 edition supports up to eight participants playing locally at the same time. Everyone needs a separate controller; eight players require two PS2 Multitaps. Two players can face each other without these expansions. With several people on one team, agreements about moving into space, passing and defending become important. The original network features are not offered as a service that still works today.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
NBA 08 for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of NBA 08
Sony introduced NBA 08 in North America in 2007; the European PS2 edition followed in 2008. Development brought SCE San Diego Studio together with contributions from A.C.R.O.N.Y.M. Games. Sony's basketball series then appeared on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP, but those versions emphasised different things. On PS2, The Life remained the recognisable storyline. It was a way to connect an annual sports game not just to squads and individual results, but also to the people within a team.
The Life: v.3 built on the previous chapters and used Coach T.'s farewell season as its central thread. The opportunity to play all five starting positions broadened the assignments. You did not see the court from just the same role, but also had to understand what another position demands from teamwork. More than sixty scenarios gave that story a series of separate objectives. An individual action and the team's development could therefore both acquire significance at the same time.
For this PS2 instalment, Sony also worked on commentary, computer-controlled players and the sounds on the court and in the stands. The short minigame challenges offered a different length from an ordinary game. This combination of story, official NBA games and smaller assignments defined the edition's own place. The network options were part of its original presentation, but the story and local multiplayer form independent parts of the game on the console.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
NBA 2K6 on PS2 also lets you develop an individual basketball player alongside games with full NBA teams. Its 24/7 route revolves around a created player, training and challenges, whereas The Life in NBA 08 follows a written team story centred on Coach T. NBA 2K6 also adds The Association for long-term club management. Both give basketball a longer thread, but you develop a different relationship with your own player, a club or a fixed cast within a story.
NBA 2K7 on PS2 shares the attention to passes, shots and the division of responsibilities within an NBA team. The Association connects those games to decisions about the squad and future seasons. NBA 08 instead uses The Life: v.3 to guide you through story scenarios and different player positions. If you want to connect a game to a larger whole, the choice is therefore between a club's management and the events surrounding a team and its departing coach.
NBA Street on PS2 also uses familiar NBA players, but places them in smaller teams on street courts. Tricks and dunks fill a Gamebreaker meter that can change the score. NBA 08 keeps full teams and the responsibilities of five starting positions in view. The shared importance of passing and finding space therefore has a different setting: Street rewards visible style in short matches, whereas The Life links your actions to a team story.
NBA Street Vol. 2 on PS2 again gives you three-on-three basketball with tricks and NBA players from different generations. You can save a Gamebreaker to reach a second level. NBA 08 does not use a comparable street game as the basis of The Life, but lets you experience different positions within full NBA teams. Both connect striking basketball moves to progress; in Street this revolves around style and the score, and in NBA 08 around assignments within the story.
NBA Live 2004 on PS2, like NBA 08, lets you play with full teams in the ordinary basketball format. Dynasty gives those games a longer club structure in which you work on a squad's future. With The Life: v.3, NBA 08 places more emphasis on scripted events and separate objectives for different positions. The similarity lies in teamwork on the court; what you follow between games takes a different form.
