NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

[Steve_OS]

NBA Live 19 is a game that's frozen in time as it is currently the last...

Written By: Colin Mieczkowski

Click here to view the article.

[Sausage]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

Definitely enjoyed my time with this game.

[GhostPandaStorm]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

Definitely enjoyed my time with this game.

I bet, it's definitely good fun. We'll see if EA decides to hop back into the console NBA scene again.

[sheredia]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

what a hidden gem.....can definitely scratch my street ball itch with this game. they have all of the best street ball courts in the world included and they all look great. it's no 2k, but it's not trying to be. i think if EA just concentrated on the street ball portion of the game, it definitely could have been a viable alternative to 2k. my idea of the perfect alternate to 2k would be a street ball/fiba combination. EA would have really had something if they went that route. just keep the street ball portion and add fiba (tournament and teams). it would be perfect.

[blvrc]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

The gamel looks great, courts also but the gameplay is unfortunately miles away from 2K.

[pslieber]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

Very happy to see this article, and concur. I may be an anomaly, but I still find NBA Live 19 infinitely more playable than 2K. I see 2K too right stick heavy and shooting/play execution staccato, IMHO. Same reason I always preferred PES over FIFA.

Granted, 2K is gorgeous, as is FIFA...

[TarHeelPhenom]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

I think in terms of gameplay, 18 may have been better. That game is still fun as well.

[CujoMatty]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

I downloaded this again on ps5 after reading this article. I forgot how fun this game is. I played one game and was instantly interested in starting a new franchise. I was not thrilled with what I found so I decided to make a different list. I'm still going to enjoy the game but these do hamper the experience.

Here is 5 reasons why the game can be hard to enjoy 4 years later:

1. No roster share feature. Obviously this is a big deal if a game can establish longevity. If anyone wants to play with current rosters, each individual would have to update the roster themselves. Many sports games keep people playing years later by having dedicated fans create yearly rosters.

2. Only 135 create player slots. So even if you did decide to update your roster it's near impossible to get all the players added that are missing from a 4 year old game.

3. You've come to terms with the roster limitations and can compromise not having 100℅ accurate rosters. Let's get it as close as possible. Nope. There was unfortunately a create player glitch that started in Live 18 and continued in Live 19 where after a certain amount of created players were made, in game they would revert to the 1st created player face on the list. Essentially you get a bunch of chunky bald white guys. The game gave a warning that it would happen if there were more than 8 created players on a team but it actually was happening with far less. I read about a user that had reported it after only creating 3 total players.

4. Cpu lack of 3 point attempts. This was an issue back in 2018 when the game first released and the issue hasn't gotten better. The NBA continues to be a 3 point league more and more every year so it can be hard to come to terms with the shockingly low amount of cpu attempted threes. That especially rings true in 2023.

5. No shoe editor. Ok this one is a bit of a reach and it really doesn't hamper ones enjoymenent but for me having everyone running around with shoes from 2018 that all match their uniforms is weird. In the real NBA 90℅ of players wear shoes that aren't team colors. I love in NBA 2k having that level of authenticity which is possible with a shoe editor. In all fairness to EA though, they did include an impressive amount of shoes.

I did struggle to find 5 severe enough issues to make me not want to play. The game is still really fun and I've been enjoying it a lot again. The first 3 issues though are bad enough that unfortunately it will probably only be a short visit to the return of Live 19 into my life.

It's a shame. Classics become more classic when they are the end of an era. Many people still play college hoops 2k8, NCAA football 14, NFL2k5, and MVP 05. All of those games have something in common. They are the last versions of the series and dedicated fans keep them updated, current and relevant. Hopefully when PS4 emulation becomes readily available and modding becomes possible, NBA Live 19 joins that list and is worthy of a consistent spot in someone's rotation but as of now NBA Live 19 isn't worth much more than a temporary visit for short term nostalgic fun.

[GhostPandaStorm]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

That's a brilliant idea. If they called it FIBA Basketball with a street mode like Live then that would be cool. And you're 100% right, it doesn't have to be 2K and I hope that's not the reason why EA is on a hiatus again because they were trying to be better than 2K. Of course the goal is to be better than your competitor but sometimes you just have to roll with what you have and you'll see an audience. And a lot of 2K players want something new so this is a great opportunity for EA. Having the real streetball courts alone is just so awesome.

what a hidden gem.....can definitely scratch my street ball itch with this game. they have all of the best street ball courts in the world included and they all look great. it's no 2k, but it's not trying to be. i think if EA just concentrated on the street ball portion of the game, it definitely could have been a viable alternative to 2k. my idea of the perfect alternate to 2k would be a street ball/fiba combination. EA would have really had something if they went that route. just keep the street ball portion and add fiba (tournament and teams). it would be perfect.

[GhostPandaStorm]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

The gamel looks great, courts also but the gameplay is unfortunately miles away from 2K.

Yes indeed, I agree. Everything about is great except for the gameplay, which is still fun but animations and rebounding among other things could use improvement. Live arguably has better courts, apparel, presentation, etc but 2K is still king gameplay wise. That said, many players in the 2K community are tired of the game and want to see something new so if EA were to bring back an NBA game, it would be interesting to see what kind of audience they build.

[GhostPandaStorm]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

Very happy to see this article, and concur. I may be an anomaly, but I still find NBA Live 19 infinitely more playable than 2K. I see 2K too right stick heavy and shooting/play execution staccato, IMHO. Same reason I always preferred PES over FIFA.

Granted, 2K is gorgeous, as is FIFA...

Thank you, pslieber, I'm glad you liked the article. NBA Live 19 is a lot of fun. I love the shooting and dribbling and the dunks feel powerful (did a nasty poster with Anthony Edwards the other day). Some improvements to animations and other gameplay aspects and it would've been truly amazing. But even the way it is, it's still so fun and I love the real street courts and apparel selection as well.

And yes, 2K is a beautiful game but even for its time, Live 19 looked quite good. Been playing it lately and it's a pretty good looking game, especially the street courts.

[drugsbunny]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

I certainly enjoyed this game, I felt the franchise mode was a little too bare bones though. I enjoyed The One and how you could organically grow your character simply by playing good basketball. I just felt that they took a lot of 2K's control scheme, which is ok in my book, but left out some of the control scheme that should've been actually used to make the gameplay better. If you are going to jack their scheme, Go the whole 9 yards. Don't leave out little aspects because you don't want to seem like you are stealing their moves. I actually enjoyed Live 18 a little bit more though.

[GhostPandaStorm]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

I downloaded this again on ps5 after reading this article. I forgot how fun this game is. I played one game and was instantly interested in starting a new franchise. I was not thrilled with what I found so I decided to make a different list. I'm still going to enjoy the game but these do hamper the experience.

Here is 5 reasons why the game can be hard to enjoy 4 years later:

1. No roster share feature. Obviously this is a big deal if a game can establish longevity. If anyone wants to play with current rosters, each individual would have to update the roster themselves. Many sports games keep people playing years later by having dedicated fans create yearly rosters.

2. Only 135 create player slots. So even if you did decide to update your roster it's near impossible to get all the players added that are missing from a 4 year old game.

3. You've come to terms with the roster limitations and can compromise not having 100℅ accurate rosters. Let's get it as close as possible. Nope. There was unfortunately a create player glitch that started in Live 18 and continued in Live 19 where after a certain amount of created players were made, in game they would revert to the 1st created player face on the list. Essentially you get a bunch of chunky bald white guys. The game gave a warning that it would happen if there were more than 8 created players on a team but it actually was happening with far less. I read about a user that had reported it after only creating 3 total players.

4. Cpu lack of 3 point attempts. This was an issue back in 2018 when the game first released and the issue hasn't gotten better. The NBA continues to be a 3 point league more and more every year so it can be hard to come to terms with the shockingly low amount of cpu attempted threes. That especially rings true in 2023.

5. No shoe editor. Ok this one is a bit of a reach and it really doesn't hamper ones enjoymenent but for me having everyone running around with shoes from 2018 that all match their uniforms is weird. In the real NBA 90℅ of players wear shoes that aren't team colors. I love in NBA 2k having that level of authenticity which is possible with a shoe editor. In all fairness to EA though, they did include an impressive amount of shoes.

I did struggle to find 5 severe enough issues to make me not want to play. The game is still really fun and I've been enjoying it a lot again. The first 3 issues though are bad enough that unfortunately it will probably only be a short visit to the return of Live 19 into my life.

It's a shame. Classics become more classic when they are the end of an era. Many people still play college hoops 2k8, NCAA football 14, NFL2k5, and MVP 05. All of those games have something in common. They are the last versions of the series and dedicated fans keep them updated, current and relevant. Hopefully when PS4 emulation becomes readily available and modding becomes possible, NBA Live 19 joins that list and is worthy of a consistent spot in someone's rotation but as of now NBA Live 19 isn't worth much more than a temporary visit for short term nostalgic fun.

Yeah, Matty, I'm with you 100% on the roster thing. 2K and Madden allow you to download rosters but not Live 19. If the series stuck around for another year or two then I can see them adding a feature like that. Would've definitely came in handy now and keep the game more fresh.

I went ahead and tried to put certain players on their correct teams and create some of the key young stars like Ja, Zion, and Ant but didn't go further than that aside from Patrick Williams and Coby White because I'm a Bulls fan but despite the manual changes, it's not as perfect as it would've been if there were downloadable versions.

Also agreed about the lack of threes. It's pretty wild you don't see them much in the game. Funnily enough, the other day, the CPU team beat me on a three-pointer after they avoided shooting them most of the game lol.

As for the shoes, yeah, I agree, a shoe editor would've be amazing. I do love the shoes they offer though. In fact, I'm about as impressed with the apparel options as in 2K. The styles are real vibrant and if they had a new Live, I feel they could crank that up.

And yes indeed, it's like a cycle. When a popular game ends, it becomes a nostalgic cult classic. All of those games you mentioned were iconic. You also had NCAA Basketball 10 as well. And even All-Pro Football 2K8 was great, just was horribly low with content. I still play College Hoops and All-Pro to this day just not all the time.

Seeing NCAA Football come back next year will be great and should be a good sign for the college games. Would also be awesome if EA or 2K brought back college basketball as well. And if that were to happen, then the best bet would be with EA to make it as I think 2K is much too focused on riding the success of NBA 2K to consider making another College Hoops.

[GhostPandaStorm]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

Definitely enjoyed my time with this game.

I bet, yeah, it's a fun one

[GhostPandaStorm]

Re: NBA Live 19: Five Reasons Why the Game Is Still Fun Today

I think in terms of gameplay, 18 may have been better. That game is still fun as well.

Yeah, it was good fun for sure. I haven't been on it in a while. Might need to fire 18 back up as well.