NBA Live 2005

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Amazing new Freestyle controls let players create their own dribble moves, highlight-reel dunks
• Powerful graphics engine bring new heights of realism to your game
• Exciting new player animations give you more realistic player movement
• Deeper Dyansty Mode makes General Manager/player interactions more realistic than ever
• Go online and compete with the best players from around the country

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0002FGFHK
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Media: CD-ROM
• Release Date: October 26, 2004
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #29,702 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: PC

From the Manufacturer

Elevate your game and dominate the court with NBA Live 2005!

Key Features:

• EA Sports Freestyle Air: Become an offensive All-Star with new moves including all-new jams, jaw-dropping alley-oops, and adjustable mid-air lay-ups and dunks. New user-controlled put-back and tip-in technologies reward players who box out, wipe the glass, and go back up for a quick bucket. On defense, own the paint by taking more control over shot blocking.
• NBA All-Star Weekend: From slam-dunk competitions where you take complete control of every dunk to 3-point shootouts against the clutch shooters in the league, prove yourself in each electrifying All-Star event. You can even take on All-Stars around the country in the world's greatest online tournament.
• New Graphics Engine: With increased resolution of player faces, jerseys, shorts, skins, and tattoos, NBA Live 2005 raises the bar and offers the most visually immersive NBA game to date.
• EA Sports Freestyle Control: Hit the court runnin' with a collection of brand new moves that puts even more control in your hands. With further player differentiation and more signature moves, your game has been personalized.
• 10-man Freestyle: The innovative 10-man motion-capture technology yields authentic plant-and-cut animations, backdoor cut scenarios, new in-air collisions and box-out scenarios, and off-ball animations that offer new spacing and eliminate on-court crowding.
• Comprehensive Dynasty Mode: Become the architect of your own unstoppable dynasty and watch your franchise flourish for up to 25 seasons. Jump into games with simulation intervention, enjoy all-new free agency logic that puts your contract negotiating and salary cap managerial skills to the test, and use the customizable PDA to stay up to date with important league news, team information, special announcements and more.
• 'Ball' Coast-to-Coast: Go Freestyle against opponents anywhere in North America. Meet, greet, chat, set up tournaments, download roster updates, and play head-to-head from the online lobby and see if you can maintain your place as the best gamer--anywhere, anytime. (Internet connection required.)
• The NBA's Top Announcing Team: The voice of NBA basketball, Marv Albert, teams with on-air TV partner Mike Fratello--these two veterans dish out the most authentic commentary available.

Product Description

NBA Live 2005 delivers lightning-quick steals, monster shot blocks, and crossover dribbles that make NBA basketball great. It's definitive basketball gaming, for hardcore fans who want action from the second you hit the court!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Horrible..just horrible I almost forgot, July 31, 2005

By 

Typicalexbf "Why..WHYYYYY!!" (In the John) - See all my reviews

= Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NBA Live 2005 (CD-ROM)

Yes, I know it is old, but I forgot how much I hated it >.< It is the only PC basketball game that I know of, unless I have missed when ESPN 2k made the hop. Lets start from the top: The first two levels of play are too easy, even if you cripple yourself and get horrible players no better than 50!! So up the ante to all star level and superstar and you will find yourself getting outrun on a fastbreak by 340 lbs. Shaq. I had no idea Shaq had the speed and quickness to not only chase Steve Nash down the court but to run alongside of him, and get in front of him stopping him completely. This is one of many bugs in the game, it is either too easy, or too hard. Even with the slider adjustments you will find yourself frustrated at the none middleground in playability. How about the blocking in this game! Jesus christ I didn't know Tracy Mcgrady could not only block a two handed dunk under the basket by Shaq but he could also knock him off balance in the process! And as with all CPU blocks they kindly end up in the hands of the CPU, you know, cause you can CONTROL where a blocked dunk goes. And trust me you will get many, many blocked dunks under the basket, and from behind??! How the heck do you block a dunk from behind! I can see in some situations yes but when you are a full body away from the person and you can block a one hander from behind??! Wouldn't the blocker have to hit the dunkers hand to even accomplish that?? And don't be fooled by freestyle control-it is crap. I can make up a fake player in his golden age of 70's with a rating of 1 and it would take Allen Iverson 15 seconds just to dribble past him. The analog freestyle is a joke, and needs to be fixed-it only gets in the way. One button for dribbling is fine-and hold down that button and push the analog stick in a different direction to get a different dribble. See how much more simpler that would be than 2 analog sticks? Those are just one of the many, many annoyances. The biggest (believe it or not) being the menu. Please tell me why I have to click like 20 times or hold the mouse button down to make my college LSU instead of getting a drop down box? Try to change a players rating from 30 to 80 and you will sure get a workout. But alas, this is the only Pro Basketball game on the pc, therefore I have to reccomend it by default. But you have been warned.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best Live since 2000..., May 25, 2005

By 

Matthieu P. Raillard (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: NBA Live 2005 (CD-ROM)

I have been playing Live in its various EA sports incarnations since the Sega Genesis days, when the hoops titles were called "Bulls vs. Lakers" and so on. I still believe that NBA Live 2000 is the greatest hoops game ever made, but curse modernity, I still buy the new versions (and Sega Sports ESPN titles, too) every year. I can say after having put in numerous hours with Live 2005 that it is the best since that watershed year of 2000. The graphics are generally well done, though EA still lags behind Sega in that department. The addition of the slam dunk contest is fun but a bit frustrating, and the tutorial is weak. On to the meat and potatoes: the Dynasty mode. The interface is a bit cluttered (I hate virtual PDA's in games; I'm already on a PC, don't simulate some chincy piece of plastic, just give me clear menus!), but generally works pretty well. All of the options are there, although the create-a-player is unusually weak in its graphical options. Why is it that games like "NBA Courtside 2002" (Gamecube) had a more complete create a player feature than a game 3 years later? Boggles the mind.

The gameplay, the core of the game, is solid. The freestyle controls are generally not very effective against the CPU (though, as always, you can adjust the sliders) and the idiotic pro-hop step is back (traveling, to purists like myself). The separate dunk and shoot buttons are a good idea, but take some getting used to. The players move well, independently, and there aren't too many silly animations. The problems are the same: rebounding is difficult and hard to gauge (no hoops game EVER has managed to solve that problem), there are too many blocks, and players often stop and jump to catch a pass, making fast breaks more difficult than necessary. The computer defense is generally very good, shadowing you everywhere, to the point that it can get frustrating. A 99-rated player shouldn't have too many problems with a sub-par defender, but you will in this game, because everyone plays like Bruce Bowen or Ron Artest.

This is a fun game, and the addition of "tasks" which are rewarded with points is a good idea (get a triple double, score 20 points, etc). These can be redeemed with extra coaching boosts, or in the EA Sports "My NBA Live" which is cool, and you can retire Jerseys, etc. I see this version of Live as returning a bit more to the simulation roots of basketball, and away from the cheesy arcade game that it had become. Let's hope it carries over into 2006!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Either too easy or impossible., December 2, 2005

By 

lostinboston "lostinboston" (US) - See all my reviews

= Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: NBA Live 2005 (CD-ROM)

My first, and major grievance, is that the "sliders" have little to no effect on the gameplay. I found rebounding to be a chore, even on the lowest difficulty. The main issue is that the PC is tracking the ball, while you need to depend on a visual method, which is often inaccurate.

I tested the sliders by pushing the CPU rebounding to 0, and the user rebounding to 99. I then upped my center's rebounding to 99 as well, and I squeaked out a few more rebounds than the PC.

However, when the difficulty is at its lowest, you can have players reach triple figures in scoring while still only getting 20-25 team rebounds per game. As for blocked shots - there are just certain centers that you don't want to face.

Yao Ming, for example, will easily rack up about 10-15 blocked shots. Most of these are, as another review stated, in ridiculous situations.

The foul calls are horrendous. I was averaging a 6/1 ratio for foul calls (against me). So after 30 fouls had been called, 24 went to the PC, 6 went to me. I have yet to see a PC run player even break the top 30 for Free Throw Attempts.

The only real thing I noticed about moving the difficulty sliders was how often they'd steal a pass. At the lower difficulties, you can pass right through traffic, where at the higher difficulties, you better make sure you have a clear passing lane.

This is the kind of game you install, bang your head against the desk, then put away.

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