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.
| NBA Live |
|
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | EA Canada |
| Publisher(s) | EA Sports |
| Aspect ratio | 720p |
Contents |
NBA Playoffs
The predecessor of the NBA Live series was the NBA PLAYOFFS series, which featured Lakers vs. Celtics, released first in 1989 for MS-DOS-compatible PCs and later adapted for consoles in early 1991 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. Details such as 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 qualified for 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 1992, followed by Bulls vs. Blazers in 1993. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Lakers versus Celtics | NBA team and players, signature moves in team game. |
| 1992 | 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 96. 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 the 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, and Rookie Challenge.
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 2, 2007 for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Wii and PC and Gilbert Arenas is the cover athlete.
NBA Live 09 was released on October 7, 2008 and Tony Parker is the cover athlete. The game is available for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Wii. It features the first concept of daily updates changing stuff like tendencies, rosters, and hot-cold streaks.
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, Wii, iPhone, and iPod Touch.
| 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)
|
| 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 Arvydas Sabonis,  Pau Gasol |
| 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 |
| NBA Live 09 | Tony Parker[4] Luol Deng, Andrea Bargnani, Pau Gasol |
| NBA Live 10 | Dwight Howard Luol Deng, Andrea Bargnani, Pau Gasol |
See also
References
External links
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