NBA Live

This article is about the video game series. For the TV program on NBA TV, see NBA Live (TV show).

The NBA Live series of basketball video games, published by EA Sports, is currently one of the leading National Basketball Association simulations on the market.

History

The game is descended from the NBA PLAYOFFS series, starting with Lakers vs. Celtics, released first in 1989 for MS-DOS-compatible PCs and later adapted for consoles in 1990 for the Sega Mega Drive/Sega Genesis. This game was played from a horizontal view (while later versions moved to an isometric view before ultimately moving to 3D on newer consoles). The game was one of the first to feature an NBA license, containing both real NBA teams and player likenesses and signature moves. For example, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's goggles are clearly visible, and Michael Jordan's "Air Reverse Layup" is animated with very high accuracy. Detailed player numbers were also visible. The game featured only eight of the sixteen teams that made the NBA playoffs that year, as well as both NBA All-Star teams.

The next game in the series was Bulls vs. Lakers, released in 1991, followed by Bulls vs. Blazers in 1992. Unlike the first game, these two releases were titled after the two teams who were in the NBA Finals the previous season, while the original release apparently chose the Lakers and Celtics due to both teams' historical success. Each revision added more teams and players, as well as more signature moves. The series also included an Olympic basketball game, Team USA Basketball (1992) which uses the same engine. The final game in the series was NBA Showdown 94 for SNES before the transition to the NBA Live series.

Year	Game Title	Features
1990	Lakers versus Celtics	NBA team and players, signature moves in team game.
1991	Bulls versus Lakers	Instant replay in team game.
1992	Team USA Basketball	International player licenses.
1993	Bulls versus Blazers	Basketball game officially by EA Sports, custom team
1994	NBA Showdown 94	Multiple custom team, 3rd party in game advertisement, white box cover, all NBA teams.

NBA Live

Originally, the NBA Live series was released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and SNES with NBA Live 95. The naming was changed from utilizing the last two digits of the year to the entire year number from 2000-2005, but returned to the original naming convention with NBA Live 06.

The Create-A-Player feature was not available in the 1995 versions of the game, but have been a mainstay since NBA Live 98. NBA Live 98 in 1997 was the last NBA Live game for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and the SNES. NBA Live 98 also was first NBA Live series game to support 3Dfx graphic cards. Only first generation Voodoo and Voodoo Rush cards were officially supported. Starting from NBA Live 2000, the series featured NBA Live Legend All-Stars Teams, that included some biggest names from five decades (50s to 90s). These teams could be used instantly, but to use the players as regular players (e.g. traded, played on regular NBA Teams) they needed to be unlocked. Along the series, some of the rosters were changed due to many reasons.

NBA Live 2005 brought the addition of the Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Shootout, and Rookie Challenge.

NBA Live 06 introduced "Freestyle Superstars", giving certain players the ability to perform unique moves based on their abilities and attributes.

Superstar Style	Abilities	Noted Player
Outside Scorer	Clutch jumpers, running layups	Lebron James
Inside Scorer	Difficult shots inside the post	Kevin Garnett
Highflyer	Seemingly impossible dunking	Vince Carter
Playmaker	Make tricky passes	Steve Nash
Power	Thunderous dunks, ability to break through defenses	Shaquille O'Neal
Shooter	Precision aim, accuracy, and quick release	Ray Allen
Outside Stopper	Quick steals, tough defense on perimeter	Ron Artest
Inside Stopper	Blocking, tough defense in post	Ben Wallace

NBA Live 07 was released for the Playstation 2, Xbox, PC, Playstation Portable, and the Xbox360. The major new feature for this year was an evolution of the freestyle superstars system.

NBA Live 08[1] was released October 2nd, 2007 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii and PC. NBA LIVE 08 features for the first time eight international teams, including 2006 World Championship winners Spain, runners up Greece and USA, as well as France, Germany, Italy, Argentina and China.

NBA Live games have been released for the Sega Genesis, Super NES, PlayStation, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Windows, PlayStation Portable and most recently with the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

Game Title	Cover
NBA Live 95	Seven player action shot from 1994 NBA Finals, Knicks vs. Rockets
NBA Live 96	Tip-off before unnamed game of 1995 NBA Finals, Rockets vs. Magic (SNES and Genesis) Shaquille O'Neal (PC and PlayStation)
NBA Live 97	Mitch Richmond
NBA Live 98	Tim Hardaway
NBA Live 99	Antoine Walker
NBA Live 2000	Tim Duncan
NBA Live 2001	Kevin Garnett
NBA Live 2002	Steve Francis
NBA Live 2003	Jason Kidd
NBA Live 2004	Vince Carter
NBA Live 2005	Carmelo Anthony Tony Parker
NBA Live 06	Dwyane Wade Yuta Tabuse, Tony Parker, Pau Gasol
NBA Live 07	Tracy McGrady Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker/Boris Diaw [2], Pau Gasol
NBA Live 08	Gilbert Arenas[3] Dirk Nowitzki, Andrea Bargnani, Pau Gasol, Tony Parker/Boris Diaw, Vassilis Spanoulis
NBA Live 09	RICARDO MONTALBAN

Additional information

• The Thomas & Mack Center makes its second appearance in an EA Sports game, this time as the site of the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. The first time was in EA Sports Arena Football.
• Smush Parker, a point guard in the NBA who currently plays for the Los Angeles Clippers, is nicknamed "NBA Live."

NBA Live 2002

• Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are among the 20 legends playable in the game.
• Houston Rockets Steve Francis is featured on the cover. Francis was also on the cover of NCAA March Madness 2000, making him the second player to be on both covers (Tim Duncan was on the cover of NCAA March Madness 99 and NBA Live 2000).
• The patented 'Air Jordan' crossover layup was reanimated and added to the game.

NBA Live 2003

• This was the final game for the announcing team of Don Poier and Bob Elliott.
• This was the last Live to feature Michael Jordan, John Stockton, & David Robinson as active NBA players, as all 3 retired at the end of the 2002-2003 season.
• NBA Live 2003 featured then-New Jersey Nets player Jason Kidd on the cover.
• PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions of NBA Live 2003 came with a bonus CD that contained the game's music and bonus commentary. No other editions of the game had a bonus CD.
• Yao Ming is called Ming Yao in the game.
• Rap artists Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous, Just Blaze, Lil' Flip, DJ Clue and Hot Karl are unlockable characters who have songs in the game.
• The player can change the settings by choosing an exhibition game.
• Franchise mode is just about the same as Season mode, albeit the NBA Draft.
• Patrick Ewing is a free agent in the game.
• The song "Full Moon" by Brandy Norwood is in the game.

NBA Live 2004

• Rap artist Jermaine Dupri appears in the game as an unlockable free agent.
• NBA Live 2004 featured then-Toronto Raptors guard Vince Carter on its cover.
• Marv Albert and "The Czar" Mike Fratello debuted as the broadcasters in NBA Live 2004.
• This was the first game that had the "My Favorite Team" feature where the player can choose his or her favorite team and it appears on screen.
• The game had the NBA Store, which allowed the player the opportunity to purchase retro jerseys and shoes.
• NBA Live 2004 is the only game of this date to feature the Basketball Hall of Fame.
• The Charlotte Bobcats made their debut on NBA Live 2004, but they consist of only eight unnamed players, and their attributes cannot be edited like most of the regular players.
• This was the final edition featuring the name and likeness of Michael Jordan. The five-year contract originally signed prior to NBA Live 2000's release expired and Jordan chose not to renew. He appears as a member of the 2003 All-Star Team and is removed once a player goes online to update their rosters.
• In dynasty or season mode, if one of your players is up for the MVP and has the ball toward the end of the 4th quarter the fans will chant "MVP! MVP! MVP! MVP!" This also occurs in NBA Live 2005 and 06.
• Introduced a "2-Shoot Button" scheme where 1 button was used for Jump Shots and another for layups.

NBA Live 2005

• NBA Live 2005 featured sophomore Carmelo Anthony on its cover. Anthony was also featured on the cover of NCAA March Madness 2004, making him the third player (Steve Francis and Tim Duncan are the others) to be on covers of NBA Live and NCAA March Madness. Furthermore, Anthony appeared on the cover of NBA Street Homecourt, making him the first and only player to appear on all three EA Sports basketball franchises (NBA Live, NCAA March Madness and NBA Street).
• This was the first game to feature All Star Weekend, complete with the All Star Game, Rookie Challenge, Slam Dunk Contest, and 3 Point Shootout.
• Numbers can be retired in Dynasty Mode.

NBA Live '06

• Featured Dwyane Wade on the cover.
• Was the last in the series to appear on the Nintendo GameCube.
• In this game, Steve Kerr took over announcing duties when Mike Fratello went to coach the Memphis Grizzlies as a coach in the game.
• Introduced the Freestyle Superstar attributes & controls allowing players finally separate the Superstars of the league from the rest of the pack.
• The foul shooting in the game is extremely hard. The odds of making a free-throw shot are very bad. Even if the free-throw shooting difficulty is put down to 0, a free-throw is still extremely hard.

NBA Live 07

• Featured Tracy McGrady on the cover.
• New features include Total Freestyle Control, new Free Throw Shooting, The X-Factor and ESPN Integration.
• In some releases, the first round of the playoffs is called the "Quarterfinals."
• One of the gyms where the player scouts potential prospects is the same recreation center that is a playable court in NBA Street V3.
• The PC version of the game had a bug that prevented players to fatigue and substitute. A patch was eventually delivered by EA Sports, fixing the problem.
• Only NBA Live game that had separate buttons for dunk/layups.
• Was the last in the series to appear on the original Xbox.
• The Xbox 360 version features an achievement ("Online with 1000 people") which requires the user to be online in the game simultaneously with at least 999 other users.

NBA Live 08

• Features Gilbert Arenas on the cover.
• Commercials feature Gilbert Arenas and the #2 overall draft pick of the 2007 NBA Draft, Kevin Durant. [4] [5]
• New features include "Go To Moves," "Hot Spots," "Quick Strike Ballhandling" and also "Own The Paint."
• Exclusive rights to FIBA players and 8 national teams (Argentina, China, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain and the USA).
• First basketball game to be featured on the Wii console.
• The PC version of the game could be played online using Hamachi.
• "Freestyle Superstars" feature was removed from the game, as well as the X-Factor feature.
• The PC version of the game has a bug that prevented players to fatigue and substitute.