Wishlist Offshoot: Features from previous games

We often complain about features that disappear and as such, recent Wishlists have not only included things we'd like to see added or brought back but also kept in the game. What are some of the things from previous games in the NBA Live series that you'd like to see brought back?

Remember, these are existing features from previous games you want to see brought back, though feel free to note any important changes or improvements you'd like to see. For anything new or stuff that needs to be fixed in general (simulated stats, trade logic, gameplay issues), use the main Wishlist thread.

Since some features are recurring, I've tended to note why I've included certain features under certain games. Sometimes it's the earliest appearance, other times it's the most recent appearance before their disappearance and other times a feature is under the game I felt did it best. See the end of my post for the BBCode if you want to copy and paste it for your own list.

NBA LIVE 95

• Team rankings (scoring, defense, rebounding, ball control, overall) as well as the overall ratings.
  
  
• The "player card" approach in the View Player menu, with career stats in a table along with all the bio data.
  
  
• Flagrant fouls.
  
  
• Starting lineup intros onto court (obviously brought up-to-date)
  
  
• Ability to create custom teams
  
  
• Tracking user stats

NBA LIVE 96

• The ability to export rosters from a saved season. I don't think any other game in the series has had this option (possibly NBA Live 97, it's been a while). While it's not too difficult to do in the PC version, it'd be a handy feature to have in-game for Dynasty Mode etc.
  
  
• Ability to trade players from an empty roster slot when editing rosters.
  
  
• Have all the rookies & legends as hidden CAPs
  
  
• Expansion franchise draft

NBA LIVE 97

• Animated play diagrams. They do appear in other games as well, but I needed something from NBA Live 97 and can't think of anything else at this time.

NBA LIVE 98

• Ability to save a game in progress. NBA Live 99 and NBA Live 2000 were the only other two games in the series that allowed this. NBA 2K does it, EA's game desperately needs to bring it back.

NBA LIVE 99

• Single player Practice Mode.

NBA LIVE 2000

• Custom teams. Also featured in earlier games but probably done best here. Just needs to be a bit more detailed and have a better selection of generic basketball themed art.
  
  
• Legendary players and All-Decade teams.
  
  
• Ability to confirm/cancel trades in Dynasty Mode, so that players can effectively be shopped.
  
  
• Teams give reasons when they decline a trade, so the user has an idea why it wasn't accepted and how they could possibly make a trade work.
  
  
• Ability to trade players for an empty roster slot in Season/Dynasty Mode if the other team has the cap space, essentially completing a "trade for cash".
  
  
• One-on-One Mode
  
  
• Humourous prospect scouting reports (plays defense like a sieve, as quick as my grandmother etc)
  
  
• Face in the game. (Could use gameface from EA Sports World)

NBA LIVE 2001

• Ability to fake a pass.
  
  
• A multi-team trade interface; at least three teams would be fine, four teams would be great. Even more would be fantastic but those trades are a little rarer in real life so four would be sufficient and three would still be better than two.
  
  
• Ability to save replays in video format.

NBA LIVE 2002

• Tough to pick something for NBA Live 2002. Uh...well, Michael Jordan was in that game. His contract with 2K Sports not withstanding, it'd be cool if we could get him back in the game at some point in the future.

NBA LIVE 2003

• Ability to switch between different practice courts.
  
  
• Multiplayer/multi-team Dynasty Mode. Allow the user to switch teams and re-assign control of teams to the CPU.
  
  
• Beach Street Court

NBA LIVE 2004

• Standalone Season Mode in addition to Dynasty Mode. A feature of earlier games too with Franchise Mode, but mentioned here since NBA Live 2004 was the year they re-branded to Dynasty Mode.
  
  
• Ability to trade draft picks. Allow trades during the Draft, too.
  
  
• Dynasty Cutscenes
  
  
• Magazines in Dynasty Mode
  
  
• Import Draft Classes from NCAA BB game (would require a reboot of that franchise)
  
  
• Teams retiring player jerseys in Dynasty mode

NBA LIVE 2005

• All-Star Weekend Mode, along with the Slam Dunk School
  
  
• Freestyle Dunk and Three Point Shootout - just for something a little different, a mini-game to kill five or ten minutes.
  
  
• Freestyle Air, specifically the rebounding mechanic (tip-in, tip dunk, regular rebound)
  
  
• Quality layup/dunk/follow-up animations
  
  
• Ability to export boxscore stats for both teams

NBA LIVE 06

• Use the traditional re-order roster screen in Dynasty Mode to manage the starting lineup and bench order. Mentioned here because it's the last time that option was available to us.
  
  
• Option to play 29, 58 or 82 game seasons in Dynasty Mode.
  
  
• The best approach to team staff was also introduced in NBA Live 06. It could stand to be revamped including the inclusion of the ability to hire and fire head coaches but being able to hire staff with different abilities and then manually assign them tasks was better than hiring average rated staff and then having to earn and spend "Dynasty Points" to upgrade them, as in more recent games.
  
  
• The right analog controls from this time were also pretty good. I'd leave out Freestyle Superstars because the game has evolved beyond the concept, but the offensive and defensive controls using the right stick are probably still my favourite of the series.
  
  
• Probably the last game with enough sliders to really customise the game to the level desired (and even then, a few more sliders wouldn't have gone astray). A lot of these sliders need to come back, we need to be able to tweak the game to our satisfaction.
  
  
• Player body growth/development for young players in Dynasty Mode.
  
  
• Triple threat moves from XBOX/PS2/PC versions were nice. There were a few special ones for players with certain high ratings that you could perform using a quarter circle or other combination on the right analog stick.
  
  
• T-Meter for free throw shooting

NBA LIVE 07

• Signature jumpshot styles. Lots of them.
  
  
• ESPN integration in the menus (and the radio content too, it's not that important but the deal is in place so might as well make the most of it).
  
  
• X-Factor Players (PC)
  
  
• Footplanting Technology (360)
  
  
• Team Chemistry
  
  
• League Rumours

NBA LIVE 08

• PC RELEASE! Though ported from the Xbox 360 version and with the patching flexibility of some earlier versions, like 06 which had better support for larger resolution patches.
  
  
• Go To/Signature Moves that are simply executed and effective in beating defenders, but not overpowering. I thought they did a pretty good job with them in the 360/PS3 version of NBA Live 08.
  
  
• "Push" Dynasty approach. Dynasty Mode needs a lot of enhancements and fixes to existing features like simulated stats but the concept they introduced in NBA Live 08 360/PS3 was headed down the right track. That also means avoiding using a PDA interface for signings and trades so negotiations can be completed in "real time". The free agent negotiation mini-game introduced here was also a good addition.
  
  
• Online Team Play using NBA teams.
  
  
• That fake-spin move that was performed by pressing up on the right stick.
  
  
• Ability to break out of and string together animations.
  
  
• Show the pause menu between quarters instead of immediately going into the next quarter, so that we can make substitutions.
  
  
• Own the Paint rock, paper, scissor post game.
  
  
• Play-by-play Simulation Intervention

NBA LIVE 09

• Pick and Roll Control
  
  
• NBA Academy, will practice drills for the user to master the game and in game modes, develop players. Just needs to be expanded upon (and drills added so that ALL skills can be developed).
  
  
• Online Team Play leagues and clubs.
  
  
• Trading block in Dynasty Mode. Would also be better if we could actively shop players.
  
  
• Player DNA, tendencies, all that. Everything that goes into the players playing like their real life counterparts. Scoring distribution needs to be a bit better to avoid point guard domination, though.
  
  
• In-game injuries, ideally not dependent on shooting fouls.
  
  
• Ability to specify whether you want to call a 20 second or full timeout AND show how many you have left in all on-screen displays and on the pause screen.
  
  
• Control Scheme (X Dunk, B Shoot)
  
  
• The Mutlicourt Practice Arena to shoot around in
  
  
• Hot Spots (with the NBA Live 09 display)

NBA LIVE 10

• Turbo button. Was in previous games of course, but mentioned here since they sought to eliminate it the following year.
  
  
• Dynamic Season. Good concept to play some more meaningful exhibition games that NBA 2K also does with NBA Today and another alternative to the more traditional Dynasty and Season modes.
  
  
• adidas Live Run
  
  
• Size-up Moves (with signature size-ups)
  
  
• Signature dribbling moves.
  
  
• Standalone Playoffs Mode. A feature of a lot of the earlier games too but mentioned here since they made a point of bringing it back in NBA Live 10.
  
  
• Retro and special jerseys. The ones we've already had and more.
  
  
• The substitution logic in NBA Live 10 was pretty good in the way it used secondary positions and moved players already in the lineup over to other positions to accommodate subs. That's what needs to happen. Default fatigue effect could be better, though.
  
  
• Atmosphere choices (Season, Playoffs, Finals)
  
  
• Away team's fans in the home team's crowd
  
  
• EA Locker to share game saves
  
  
• Home team booing specific players
  
  
• Multiyear Roster Updates
  
  
• Ability to shoot around while the game is loading.

NBA ELITE 11

• Elimination of the "dice roll" approach to shooting, leaving it up to the user's timing and skill (with the window for a good release depending on player ratings). That concept was good, the controls could've been better.
  
  
• Pro-Hop and Euro Step controls.
  
  
• Become Legendary. Hopefully it'll be fleshed out a bit more over the two year lay-off but the game needs an individual career mode in addition to Dynasty/Season mode.
  
  
• Online Dynasty/EA Sports Basketball Association.
  
  
• ESPN integration in the broadcast.
  
  
• Real time physics. Needs polish as we saw in the demo, but the concept itself and desire to move away from canned animations is the right idea.
  
  
• Free throw shooting method.

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[b]NBA LIVE 95[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 96[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 97[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 98[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 2000[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 2001[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 2002[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 2005[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 06[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 07[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 08[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 09[/b]

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[b]NBA LIVE 10[/b]

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[b]NBA ELITE 11[/b]

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That's about all I can think of for the moment off the top of my head. I'm sure there's other stuff though and that other people have a different take, so let's hear it.

NBA LIVE 2003

• Beach Street Court

NBA LIVE 2004

• Dynasty Cutscenes
• Import Draft Classes from NCAA BB game (would require a reboot of that franchise)

NBA LIVE 2005

• Freestyle Air, specifically the rebounding mechanic (tip-in, tip dunk, regular rebound)

NBA LIVE 07

• X-Factor Players (PC)
• Footplanting Technology (360)

NBA LIVE 09

• Control Scheme (X Dunk, B Shoot)
• The Mutlicourt Practice Arena to shoot around in

NBA LIVE 10

• Atmosphere choices (Season, Playoffs, Finals)
• Away team's fans in the home team's crowd
• EA Locker to share game saves
• Home team booing specific players
• Multiyear Roster Updates

NBA ELITE 11

• Free NBA Jam?

Can't believe I left some of those out, well remembered.

Judging by what Ronnie said in regards to booing specific players in future NBA 2K games, EA got in trouble with that in NBA Live 10 so we're probably not going to see it happen again. Still, that makes me wonder how they got it in the game in the first place.

I've copied a handful that Andrew & Jao mentioned since I agree with them.

NBA LIVE 95

• Starting lineup intros onto court (obviously brought up-to-date)
• Ability to create custom teams
• Tracking user stats (not sure if this is still around but was great)

NBA LIVE 96

• Have all the rookies & legends as hidden CAP's (I know it would create legal issues but it was great for lockout affected rosters)
• Ability to trade players from an empty roster slot when editing rosters
• Expansion franchise draft (I'm pretty sure Sega Mega Drive version allowed you to do so since Raptors & Grizzlies weren't filled up although I could be mistaken)

NBA LIVE 98

• Save game feature

NBA LIVE 2000

• Humourous prospect scouting reports (plays defense like a sieve, as quick as my grandmother etc)
• Legends & All-Decade Teams
• Teams give reasons when they decline a trade, so the user has an idea why it wasn't accepted and how they could possibly make a trade work

NBA LIVE 2002

• Multi-player/team dynasty

NBA LIVE 2004

• Dynasty cut scenes
• Teams retiring player's jerseys in Dynasty mode (a must)
• Importable NCAA classes

NBA LIVE 2005

• Quality layup/dunk/follow-up animations
• Enjoyable & fun experience playing human vs CPU
• Ability to export boxscore stats both teams

NBA LIVE 06

• Player body growth/development for young players in dynasty mode
• Traditional roster re-order screen

NBA LIVE 08

• Console port for PC

NBA ELITE 11

• Skill based shooting (but with more intuitive controls)
• Free NBA Jam

Some more obvious ones that I overlooked in my list. Good looking out.

I used to track my user stats all the time in NBA Live 96, it'd be nice to have that back.

You guys have covered a lot.

NBA LIVE 2000

• Face in the game. (Use gameface from easportsworld)

NBA LIVE 06

• Triple threat moves from XBOX/PS2/PC versions were nice. There were a few special ones for players with certain high ratings that you could perform using a quarter circle or other combination on the right analog stick.

NBA LIVE 08

• Own the Paint rock, paper, scissor post game

Those dynasty cut scenes got old quick. A snapshot from a magazine or newspaper article or something would be fine.

They had the magazine in NBA Live 2004 too, that'd be a nice re-addition.

Agreed on the triple threat moves from 06. The moves and controls that were in Freestyle Control remain my favourite, though the animation blending/breaking out of animations in subsequent games (the ones using the "Quick Strike" system) were better. I'd definitely like to have those controls combined with newer tech.

one thing I've realized since playing 2k the past few years is how much I hate having a simple up flick on the right stick doing a way to powerful spin move. I want to slap myself everytime I watch one of my old mixes where I have a spin move to dunk.

so yea, I really really dont want to see that return (and if/when I return to the PC Live series, that crap is getting removed from the AIACT)

I never could get that spin move to go the right direction.

one thing I've realized since playing 2k the past few years is how much I hate having a simple up flick on the right stick doing a way to powerful spin move. I want to slap myself everytime I watch one of my old mixes where I have a spin move to dunk.

so yea, I really really dont want to see that return (and if/when I return to the PC Live series, that crap is getting removed from the AIACT)

What about hold up to spin, tap/flick to fake spin (as in NBA Live 08 360/PS3)? As I said, I loved that fake spin move.

oh I liked the 360's scheme, and the move was much less powerful in those games, but I was referring directly to the spin spin dunk cheese in Live 03-08 on PC/PS2/Xbox1 (and Live 06 360)

Ah, fair enough. Yeah definitely none of that, just the controls with balanced moves and the newer tech.

I liked the elite 11 spin control. Simple quarter circle from ball hand to back, with a modifier for the half spin.

Yeah, that was OK too.

Was the deep team chemistry that was I think present in Live 07/08 is still present in the later versions of the Live? The one where you will see how a player feels about the roster changes you made, if he wants to stay or not, how he feels about his teammates as well.

It is one of my favorite features in Live that is not that good in the 2k games.

The display was there but it wasn't really a factor after 07/08.

I've copied a handful that Andrew & Jao mentioned since I agree with them.

NBA LIVE 95

• Starting lineup intros onto court (obviously brought up-to-date)
• Ability to create custom teams
• Tracking user stats (not sure if this is still around but was great)

NBA LIVE 96

• Have all the rookies & legends as hidden CAP's (I know it would create legal issues but it was great for lockout affected rosters)
• Ability to trade players from an empty roster slot when editing rosters
• Expansion franchise draft (I'm pretty sure Sega Mega Drive version allowed you to do so since Raptors & Grizzlies weren't filled up although I could be mistaken)

NBA LIVE 98

• Save game feature

NBA LIVE 2000

• Humourous prospect scouting reports (plays defense like a sieve, as quick as my grandmother etc)
• Legends & All-Decade Teams
• Teams give reasons when they decline a trade, so the user has an idea why it wasn't accepted and how they could possibly make a trade work

NBA LIVE 2002

• Multi-player/team dynasty

NBA LIVE 2004

• Dynasty cut scenes
• Teams retiring player's jerseys in Dynasty mode (a must)
• Importable NCAA classes

NBA LIVE 2005

• Quality layup/dunk/follow-up animations
• Enjoyable & fun experience playing human vs CPU
• Ability to export boxscore stats both teams

NBA LIVE 06

• Player body growth/development for young players in dynasty mode
• Traditional roster re-order screen

NBA LIVE 08

• Console port for PC

NBA ELITE 11

• Skill based shooting (but with more intuitive controls)
• Free NBA Jam

man you guys are saying all the good stuff lol but there is one thing i remember from Live 09 was being able to sim a dynasty game and watch the sims play out and if the game is to close or your player is about to get 40 the game will let you join in i really like that and just that one feat help me play more seasons in that yrs game.

Elite 11 skill based shoot 4sho, single player mode they had but please make the single player mode more like a career mode, what i mean is not like 2k11 where everything is done in one yr have new things happen for you your whole career like, match ups, milestones that you break thru your career that the announcers will talk about throughout your career, bad games you had, records you break, etc. the announcers where good on Elite 11 but not loud enough. the plays where good in Live 09,10, and Elite 11 but the only thing i didnt like was i didnt know if i needed to set a pick or run off a pick it just shows spots maybe put a little message in the left or right corner that tells you what you need to do in the play, like set a pick for Kobe or Kobe will set you a pick. Also i LOVE how you could steal the ball and still move back at the same time PLEASE bring that back.

Yes, sim intervention is great, although I don't think we listed it because I'm pretty sure it's still a current feature.

I wish 2k had sim intervention. If they did, I would play 82 game seasons rather than 29 game seasons like I do now.

We did note other features that are currently in the game so it is worth mentioning sim intervention, for sure. The play-by-play style of intervention with simulation scenarios (player approaching a triple double, team is down five with two minutes left, etc) that was featured from NBA Live 08 360/PS3 onwards is definitely a good idea.

I copied what I like from the Previous Games and Posted Them. God Bless

NBA LIVE 2003

• Ability to switch between different practice courts.
  
  
• Multiplayer/multi-team Dynasty Mode. Allow the user to switch teams and re-assign control of teams to the CPU.

NBA LIVE 2004

• Standalone Season Mode in addition to Dynasty Mode. A feature of earlier games too with Franchise Mode, but mentioned here since NBA Live 2004 was the year they re-branded to Dynasty Mode.
  
  NBA LIVE 06
  
  
  • Use the traditional re-order roster screen in Dynasty Mode to manage the starting lineup and bench order. Mentioned here because it's the last time that option was available to us.
    
    NBA LIVE 07
    
    
    • Signature jumpshot styles. Lots of them.
      
      
    • ESPN integration in the menus (and the radio content too, it's not that important but the deal is in place so might as well make the most of it).
    
    NBA LIVE 08
    
  • Go To/Signature Moves that are simply executed and effective in beating defenders, but not overpowering. I thought they did a pretty good job with them in the 360/PS3 version of NBA Live 08.
    
  • Online Team Play using NBA teams.
    
    
  • That fake-spin move that was performed by pressing up on the right stick.
    
    
  • Ability to break out of and string together animations.
    
    
  • Show the pause menu between quarters instead of immediately going into the next quarter, so that we can make substitutions.
  
  NBA LIVE 09
  
  
  • Pick and Roll Control
    
    
  • NBA Academy, will practice drills for the user to master the game and in game modes, develop players. Just needs to be expanded upon (and drills added so that ALL skills can be developed).
    
    
  • Online Team Play leagues and clubs.
    
    
  • Trading block in Dynasty Mode. Would also be better if we could actively shop players.
    
    
  • Player DNA, tendencies, all that. Everything that goes into the players playing like their real life counterparts. Scoring distribution needs to be a bit better to avoid point guard domination, though.
    
    
  • In-game injuries, ideally not dependent on shooting fouls.
    
    
  • Ability to specify whether you want to call a 20 second or full timeout AND show how many you have left in all on-screen displays and on the pause screen.
  
  NBA LIVE 10
  
  
  • Turbo button. Was in previous games of course, but mentioned here since they sought to eliminate it the following year.
    
    
  • Dynamic Season. Good concept to play some more meaningful exhibition games that NBA 2K also does with NBA Today and another alternative to the more traditional Dynasty and Season modes.
    
    
  • Size-up Moves (with signature size-ups)
    
  • Signature dribbling moves.
    
  • Standalone Playoffs Mode. A feature of a lot of the earlier games too but mentioned here since they made a point of bringing it back in NBA Live 10.
    
    
  • Retro and special jerseys. The ones we've already had and more.
    
    
  • The substitution logic in NBA Live 10 was pretty good in the way it used secondary positions and moved players already in the lineup over to other positions to accommodate subs. That's what needs to happen. Default fatigue effect could be better, though.

NBA ELITE 11

[*]Online Dynasty/EA Sports Basketball Association.

[*]ESPN integration in the broadcast.

Anything that you would like to add that we didn't cover? There was no reason to repost something others already posted unless you wanted to discuss it further.

Something that just came to mind that we haven't touched upon yet is free throw shooting. What's everyone's favourite method? Which one would you prefer to see future games use?

To be honest, I still wouldn't mind the T-Meter method being brought back, the way it was implemented in NBA Live 06 PC: on the backboard during a free throw, get both lines to intersect the rectangle, size of the rectangle and speed of the lines varies according to a player's free throw ability. Failing that, the method they were going to use in NBA Elite 11 (along with the on-screen display for aiming) would be alright as well.

god i hate the right stick down/up more than anything. the live fill up bar to the cyan box was ok, but i really liked elite's method. it was like a hybrid of the two since you still needed to shoot straight, but there was still a meter aspect to it. in hindsight, the live 2005/06 lines on the backboard wasnt that great, especially when in american airlines arena, the target white box blended right with the lights behind it.

and to add to the list
NBA Live 2005
-PERFECT jerseys. every aspect of the jerseys were spot on this year. from the wide shouldered jerseys of philly & houston down to the numbers and letters on the back & front of each jersey. the mitchell & ness throwbacks were also all spot on with no incorrect number designs.
NBA Live 10
-PERFECT pre-game loading screens. i can't believe it was changed in elite 11. in the next game, allow the player to shoot around, then the stadium shows up with the music with pictures of superstars from both teams (all still technically the loading screen) and then seamlessly go into the game with Mike Breen introducing himself & Van Gundy.

I'd like to be able to control the shot arc trajectory, power and amount of ball spin, while a highlighted ball path bounces back and forth to the left and right of the rim. Combines timing and coordination of physics. The highlighted ball path could bounce faster and farther to the side of the rim for poorer shooters. These right stick methods make it too easy to shoot straight since most people don't push to the left or right. That's where the highlighted ball path comes in. Either that or try to match the highlighted ball paths movement timing with the right stick which makes it move slower and closer towards the middle of the rim each time.

I'd rather see a choice between T meter, right analog down and back, and 2k's try to figure out when the exact point to let go.