As you know, the past decade hasn't been kind to the NBA Live franchise, especially after Jesus Bynum and the disastrous NBA Elite 11, which now sells between $4,000-10,000 on Ebay depending on if you have the real PS3 cover that comes with a "Free NBA Jam" sticker on it or if you have the promotional display cover like mine (above). Me personally, I will always have more love for EA's basketball games than NBA2K because I grew up playing NBA Live and the EA hoop games before it, like 'Bulls vs Lakers,''Team USA' and 'NBA Showdown.'
I remember when NBA players were excited to see themselves in a NBA Live game, EA was putting out some awesome Live commercials and a new release was a big a$$ deal. Unfortunately, I'm in the minority, especially among the gaming community that includes a lot of YouTube personalities (what's up Jesser!) making a lot of money playing 2K. But, I've noticed a lot of people have been getting frustrated with the last couple of releases of 2K and if there was ever a time to convert some disgruntled 2K fans and/or recruit some gamers who only watch NBA2KTV to look at Rachel DeMita, it's now.
Enter NBA Live 18! Here's their reveal trailer, which was released at E3 this weekend.
The latest release from the back from the dead series looks pretty good and has some cool new features like being able to play at Rucker Park, Venice Beach and the Drew League. The best moment from the trailer is when a player, named The One -- part of a new story mode feature in the game, not a reference to 'The Matrix' -- drops Drew League legend James Harden with a crossover.
The only thing that would have made The Beard sliding across the floor better was if they had this trash talker from the Drew talking $#it at Harden afterwards.
And they should have had a Ballislife Videographer recording the ankle breaker. Actually, I'm still shocked EA or 2K hasn't partnered with us to add a Ballislife mixtape feature in the game. Oh well, maybe 2019!
I was such a huge fan of NBA Live in the 90s, I even made a mix back in 2003 called "NBA Live or How I Would Oversleep & Almost Flunk Out of College From Playing NBA Live & Watching Sportscenter Reruns Till 4 In The Morning." That's a true story.