NBA Live 99

NBA Live 99 is the 1999 installment of the NBA Live video games series. The cover features Antoine Walker of the Boston Celtics. The game was developed by EA Sports and released on November 4, 1998 for the Nintendo 64, and then on November 10, 1998 for the Windows and PlayStation. Don Poier is the play-by-play announcer. It was the first NBA Live game released for Nintendo 64. NBA Live 99 was followed by NBA Live 2000.

NBA Live 99
Antoine Walker on the cover of NBA Live 99
Developer(s)PlayStation/Windows: EA Canada
Nintendo 64: NuFX
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Composer(s)Traz Damji
SeriesNBA Live
Platform(s)PlayStation, Windows, Nintendo 64
ReleaseNintendo 64
  • NA: November 4, 1998[1]
  • EU: December 1998
Windows, PlayStation
Genre(s)Sports (Basketball)
Mode(s)Single-player, Multiplayer

Summary

NBA Live 99 is EA Sports' NBA release for the 1998–99 NBA season. Some of the major additions in Live 99 include Practice Mode and multi-season play featuring player development between seasons. Although it did not feature free agency or generated rookies, it would turn out to be the forerunner to Franchise Mode.

Live 99 shipped with 1997-98 season rosters due to the NBA lockout of 1998–99, putting a hold on player movements and rookie signings during the summer of 1998. Some prominent bugs led to the NBA Live Series Center fan site submitting a patch petition to EA Sports which resulted in two official patches which included roster update for the 98–99 season.

As Live 99 kept the same file formats as Live 98, patchers were able to produce the same wide variety of patches using an updated version of the EA Graphics Editor and the NBA Live 99 Toolkit.

Features

LIVE Hoops

  • Fresh new moves, including jab steps, fake passes and aggressive rebounding, plus high-flying new dunks.
  • Real NBA stats, real NBA players, real NBA moves.
  • Create a dynasty with new multiple seasons - players evolve over time.
  • Enhanced GM mode with full NBA draft and realistic computer trading.

LIVE Technology

  • New Sports Ticker via the Internet - check NBA scores as you play.
  • Unreal 3D graphics with real-time lighting and hundreds of animations.
  • Unbelievable player detail, including fully modeled heads and facial animations.

LIVE Style

  • New Pro-Action AI includes smarter, more realistic player reactions.
  • TV presentation - moving cameras focus on player highlights.
  • New enhanced Play-by-Play and Color Commentary.

Platform differences

The Nintendo 64 version is actually an updated port of NBA Live 98, and not the same as the PC and PlayStation. The PC and PlayStation versions also featured a bug, out of the box, where players did not fatigue properly. While the PC version received a patch, it is unknown if, but highly unlikely, the PlayStation version was fixed in later production versions.

Reception

The game received "favorable" reviews on all platforms according to video game review aggregator GameRankings.[5][4][3] AllGame gave the PC version four stars out of five, saying that the game delivers "a full basketball experience. Multiple seasons could literally keep a player busy for years which makes one wonder if anyone will really need the next version."[32] In Japan, where the PlayStation version was ported for release on April 28, 1999, Famitsu gave it a score of 28 out of 40.[10]

Notes
  • Due to the NBA lockout, Live 99 featured final 1997–98 rosters accurate as of July 1, 1998 rather than early 1998–99 rosters featuring the draft class of 1998. EA Sports released two official patches, the first updating the rosters, adding the 50 game schedule and addressing several gameplay issues, while the second served as a midseason roster update.
  • Multi-season play and Practice Mode were introduced in Live 99.
  • Prior to the official roster update, Michael Jordan was once again represented by a "Roster Player" for the Chicago Bulls.

References
  1. IGN staff (November 4, 1998). "NBA Live Ships Early". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  2. Hulsey, Joe (November 10, 1998). "NBA [Live] 99 Ships to Stores". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 23, 2003. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  3. "NBA Live 99 for Nintendo 64". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  4. "NBA Live 99 for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 27, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  5. "NBA Live 99 for PlayStation". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  6. Bauman, Steve (December 14, 1998). "NBA Live 99". Computer Games Strategy Plus. Strategy Plus, Inc. Archived from the original on May 23, 2003. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  7. Salvator, Dan (February 1999). "Basketball Jones (NBA Live 99 Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World. No. 175. Ziff Davis. pp. 218–19. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  8. EGM staff (1998). "NBA Live 99 (N64)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Ziff Davis.
  9. EGM staff (January 1999). "NBA Live 99 (PS)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 114. Ziff Davis.
  10. "NBAライブ99 [PS]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  11. "NBA Live 99 - Nintendo 64". Game Informer. No. 68. FuncoLand. December 1998. Archived from the original on September 8, 1999. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  12. McNamara, Andy; Anderson, Paul; Reiner, Andrew (January 1999). "NBA Live 99 (PS)". Game Informer. No. 69. FuncoLand. p. 47. Archived from the original on May 23, 2000. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  13. Higgins, Geoff "El Nino"; Justice, Brandon "Big Bubba" (January 1999). "NBA Live 99 (N64)". GameFan. Vol. 7 no. 1. Shinno Media. p. 88. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  14. Higgins, Geoff "El Nino"; Ngo, George "Eggo" (January 1999). "NBA Live 99 (PS)". GameFan. Vol. 7 no. 1. Shinno Media. p. 88.
  15. Johnny Ballgame (December 1998). "NBA Live '99 (N64)". GamePro. No. 123. IDG Entertainment. p. 220. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  16. The GamePros (1998). "NBA Live 99 Review for PC on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 13, 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  17. Air Hendrix (January 1999). "NBA Live 99 Review for PlayStation on GamePro.com". GamePro. No. 124. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 25, 2004. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  18. Cooke, Mark (December 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (PC)". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  19. Dr. Moo (November 1998). "NBA Live 99 - PS". GameRevolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on April 8, 2004. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  20. Gerstmann, Jeff (November 10, 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (N64)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  21. Chin, Elliott (December 9, 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (PC)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  22. Gerstmann, Jeff (November 20, 1998). "NBA Live 99 Review (PS)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  23. Schneider, Peer (November 5, 1998). "NBA Live 99 (N64)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  24. Blevins, Tal (November 10, 1998). "NBA Live '99 [sic] (PC)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  25. Harris, Chris (November 6, 1998). "NBA Live 99 (PS)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved April 28, 2015.
  26. "NBA Live 99". N64 Magazine. No. 24. Future Publishing. January 1999.
  27. "NBA Live 99". Nintendo Power. Vol. 115. Nintendo of America. December 1998. p. 130. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  28. Kujawa, Kraig (January 1999). "NBA Live 99". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Vol. 2 no. 4. Ziff Davis. p. 106. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  29. "NBA Live 99". PC Accelerator. Vol. 2 no. 5. Imagine Media. January 1999. p. 102.
  30. Smolka, Rob (February 1999). "NBA Live 99". PC Gamer. Vol. 6 no. 2. Imagine Media. Archived from the original on March 11, 2000. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  31. Hopper, D. Ian (1998). "Another swoosh for EA Sports". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on April 28, 2001. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  32. Sutyak, Jonathan. "NBA Live 99 (PC) - Review". AllGame. All Media Network. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
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