NBA Live 06

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at some 90s stars who retired (or at least, left the NBA) in 2005, yet are still playable in NBA Live 06.

It’s wise not to jump to conclusions when we see coincidences that are in fact likely occurrences. Apophenia – the tendency to perceive patterns where none exist, also called patternicity – leads us to ascribe connections and deeper meaning to unrelated events. To that point, it’s hardly unusual for a player to retire (or perhaps bow out of the NBA to play overseas) around the same time as their generational peers. Sure, a few players in every generation will stick around much longer while others will have shorter careers, but most of them will retire concurrently or within a brief span.

With that in mind, there’s nothing particularly strange or suspicious about a group of players who entered the league in the late 80s to early 90s all hanging it up in the mid 2000s. Nevertheless, it’s still interesting that 2005 was the final season for a number of stars that I grew up watching in the 90s, and that they’re all available in NBA Live 06, either still on their final team or in the Free Agents Pool. If nothing else, it was a sign that their era and generation was now definitely drawing to a close, adding some wistful nostalgia to one of my favourite games. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Following the project’s launch in May, Murat and company have released a new version of the MyEra Project for NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06 PC. Inspired by MyNBA Eras in NBA 2K23 and NBA 2K24, the mod currently includes 1984-85 and 1995-96 rosters. It remains a work in progress, but to that point, some significant additions have been made in V0.1.1. Please note that it is not compatible with the console versions of NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06.

Key features of the latest release include:

• Cyberfaces and PA data for more than 500 players
• Generic dornas for 1995-96 season
• More coaches

You can pick up the latest version of the NBA Live MyEra project here in our Downloads section! For more information and previews, be sure to check out the release and support topic here in the NLSC Forum. As you may have seen, Murat has been making some excellent efforts to revive the modding scene for NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06 PC throughout 2024, as well as working on enhancing the retro gaming experience with those titles. This includes the development of some widescreen fixes that are also compatible with NBA Live 07 and NBA Live 08 PC. If you’re willing and able to give Murat a hand with the MyEra project moving forward, please get in touch with him!

As you may have seen in previous bulletins, Murat has been doing some excellent work with the last few NBA Live releases on PC, enhancing the experience for retro gamers with various fixes. To that end, he’s released a new version of the NBA Live Widescreen Fix, which is compatible with NBA Live 2005, NBA Live 06, NBA Live 07, and NBA Live 08.

V1.04 of the NBA Live Widescreen Fix adds an updated transition screen for NBA Live 2005, as well as the option to enable and disable the intro/attract mode videos that normally play while idling in the main menu. No further editing or hacking is required, and it won’t interfere with any other mods that you’re using. Pick it up here in our Downloads section!

For more information and previews of projects that Murat is working on, check out this topic in the Forum. For retro gamers who love retro season mods, I’d also recommend giving the work-in-progress MyEra Project a look. A big thanks to Murat for his work, and to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads section! Obviously we want to support modding for NBA 2K24 and future NBA 2K releases, but we’ll always advocate for retro gaming, and mods that breathe new life into old favourites.

In recent mod release bulletins for NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06, I’ve noted that Murat and other members of the community have been working on retro projects for those two games. There’s more than a taste of that work available now, as Murat and company have released V0.1 of the NBA Live MyEra project!

This initial release, which obviously takes inspiration from MyNBA Eras in NBA 2K23 and NBA 2K24, includes rosters for the 1984-85 and 1995-96 seasons. The project is still a work in progress, so you can expect to see more player faces added in the future. In the meantime though, all of the team logos, jerseys, and courts are accurate for both seasons. The rosters have also been converted from the URB 2K14 mod by skoadam and slimm44.

Download the NBA Live MyEra project here! For more information and previews, check out Murat’s topics in the NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06 sections of the Forum. It’s great to see a couple of classics receiving new mods, especially a larger project like this one. As I’ve said in articles and on the NLSC Podcast, I’m all for seeing a revival of the modding scene for old favourites, so I’m definitely looking forward to more releases. If I can find the time, I may even get in on the action myself! In the meantime though, congratulations to Murat et al on tipping off this excellent project!

We’ve got some new NBA Live 06 mod releases to share today, as Murat has uploaded a pack of retro jerseys spanning 1984 to 2005. The pack is actually part of a work-in-progress retro roster project for NBA Live 06, so definitely stay tuned for more details on that. In the meantime, pick up the pack at the link below!

Murat, b_baller86 et al
1984-2005 Retro Jerseys Pack

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

Even more good news for retro basketball gamers, as we’ve got some new fixes for NBA Live 2005, 06, 07, and 08 PC, courtesy of Murat and iceman! Murat has uploaded a mod that allows the Press Box camera to be used in Practice and One-on-One modes in NBA Live 06, while iceman has corrected the resolution of the intro videos when using Murat’s Widescreen Fix for NBA Live 2005-08. Download them at the links below!

You can download Murat’s Camera Enabler for NBA Live 06 here. Pick up iceman’s Widescreen Intro fix here. If you need the latest version of the Widescreen fix, you can find that here, along with the Windowed Mode fix here.

A big thanks once again to Murat and iceman for contributing these fixes for the last four NBA Live games on PC! We’re certainly advocates of retro basketball gaming around these parts, so mods for old favourites and enhancements to get them working better than ever on modern systems are most welcome. If you have the knowledge and enthusiasm to contribute to retro basketball gaming and modding in any way, please feel free to share your work with our community! The upload facilities  in our Downloads database are free for all to use, and only require an NLSC Forum account (which again, is 100% free). For more information on using our upload facilities, please see this video tutorial.

We have some more excellent news for retro basketball gaming enthusiasts, as Murat continues to develop his fixes for NBA Live! To that end, he’s uploaded a new version of the Widescreen fix that displays the frontend in NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06 with the proper resolution.

As Murat has explained in the release notes over on GitHub, the fix doesn’t change any original files, and will only modify the appearance of the UI if the Widescreen fix is being used with NBA Live 2005 or NBA Live 06. He’s still working on further enhancements for this fix, so stay tuned for even more improvements to the widescreen experience in the last four NBA Live games that were released on PC.

Pick up v1.03 of the fix here! A big thanks once again to Murat for his work on these fixes. It appears that there’s some renewed interest in modding and enhancing the retro gaming experience for titles like NBA Live 2005 and NBA Live 06 – including roster updates – and it’s awesome to see. If you have any fixes or mods for those games to share, feel free to make use of our hosting facilities so that we can preserve them for years to come!

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five reasons that NBA Live 06 PC is the best game in the NBA Live series.

I can’t stand manufactured, hot take-driven, performative debate, whether it’s about basketball, basketball video games, or anything really. I prefer nuanced discussion, though when it comes to basketball gaming, I don’t have many controversial opinions to begin with. However, I do have one opinion that you, my fellow virtual hardwood enthusiasts, might vehemently disagree with. Specifically, NBA Live 06 PC – and that’s an important distinction – is my pick for the best game in the NBA Live series. All personal enjoyment and nostalgia aside, I believe that it has a strong case.

Yes, even stronger than NBA Live 10, NBA Live 2000, NBA Live 2005, NBA Live 2004, NBA Live 95…you name it! It’s not that I don’t think those games rank among the best releases in the NBA Live series. They’re also all personal favourites, as I’ve previously discussed. I also won’t pretend that NBA Live 06 PC is perfect, because that’s an impossible expectation of any basketball video game, be it NBA Live, NBA 2K, NBA Jam, or another series. Once again though, I do believe that there are some compelling arguments for NBA Live 06 PC being the best game in the NBA Live series, and to that end, here are the five main reasons why it deserves that distinction.

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It’s a great time to dust off games like NBA Live 2005, NBA Live 06, NBA Live 07, and NBA Live 08, as Murat’s retro gaming enhancements continue with a 2X (i.e. double resolution) crowd update. Pick it up at the link below, and be on the look out for more great fixes from Murat!

Murat
2X Crowd Update

Thanks to everyone who continues to contribute to our Downloads database! If you need help uploading files, be sure to check out this video tutorial. For more information about downloads, the modding community, and Mod Releases bulletins, please see this FAQ in our Wiki.

As you may have previously seen, Murat (aka Badger) has been working on some great fixes to enhance retro basketball gaming, specifically for the last four NBA Live games on PC. To that end, he’s updated his Widescreen and Windowed Mode fixes for NBA Live 2005-08 PC, allowing them to look much better on modern systems and 16:9 displays.

You’ll notice that the Widescreen fix now not only increases the resolution during gameplay, but also displays the in-game overlays with the correct proportions. Windowed mode is also a handy feature, and the plugin doesn’t require any external applications. Whether you’re looking to create video content featuring one of these old favourites, or you just want to dust one of them off for your own enjoyment, I’d highly recommend checking out Murat’s fixes!

Download the Widescreen fix for NBA Live 2005-08 here, and the Windowed mode fix here. Murat is keenly working on other fixes to make revisiting NBA Live on PC even better, so stay tuned. These kinds of fixes have definitely been overlooked in our community throughout the years, so as more people take an interest in going back to their favourites, we’d absolutely welcome further fixes that enhance retro gaming, and new modding projects for the classics.

Long-time community member Murat (aka Badger) has been working on some fixes for NBA Live PC that will aid with retro gaming. They include a Widescreen Fix and Windowed Mode for NBA Live 2005, NBA Live 06, NBA Live 07, and NBA Live 08. Pick up the Widescreen Fix here, and the Windowed Mode fix here.

In addition to the Widescreen Fix and Windowed Mode Fix for the last four NBA Live games on PC, Murat has been dabbling with some other useful modifications. These include creating custom plugins for games, something that could potentially open up fantastic new retro modding possibilities. They require the FIFA Manager ASI Loader, and accordingly, Murat has uploaded both a DirectDraw and DirectX9 version in anticipation of further releases.

Helping gamers to play these classics on modern operating systems remains a goal of ours, and Murat has helped out by uploading a few more fixed executable files to the Game Fixes section of our Downloads database. If you have any retro gaming tutorials or resources to share, then we’d certainly welcome them!

A big thanks to Murat for providing these resources, and his continued research into developing mods and fixes for some classic NBA Live releases. He’s been sharing some updates in the NLSC Discord, so if you’d like to check them out, feel free to join! Be sure to head to the modding-discussion channel for the latest details.

This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m reflecting on some throwback stints, as portrayed by the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06.

Tinkering with the rosters to set up fun scenarios and minimalist modding projects has become a staple of my retro basketball gaming. I enjoy the challenge of seeing what can be done with the assets I have at my disposal, and it’s gratifying whenever I’m able to cobble together something that I can at least get a game or two out of. Some attempts are more successful than others as far as creating playable scenarios, but if nothing else, I’ll get some interesting screenshots out of my endeavours. That’s what happened while I was on my extended retro kick with NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360.

While exploring the idea of a makeshift classic teams roster – something that fell apart thanks to a roster editing glitch that can happen way too easily – I ended up placing a number of players on their former teams, and taking some screenshots. I wasn’t sure what I’d do with those screens, but I didn’t want my efforts to go to waste, and figured that they’d come in handy for an article somewhere down the line. I may find further use for them yet, but for now, here are some throwback stints that I set up in the Xbox 360 version of NBA Live 06. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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If you’re not subscribed to our YouTube channel, you’re missing out on all the fun that Dee and I are having on the virtual hardwood! As I mentioned in Episode #496 of the NLSC Podcast, I recently dusted off NBA Live 2001 PC and added LeBron James to the rosters, using a face that Barnsey made way back in 2001. I took on Kobe Bryant in 1-on-1 mode, and put together a highlight reel from the game. I also threw together a mod so that you can add LeBron to NBA Live 2001 PC yourself, which you can find here.

Meanwhile, Dee continued his journey through Domination in NBA 2K24 MyTEAM, taking on the Knicks Challenges. Dee discussed some of the bargain cards that he picked up in the latest podcast, including Ben Gordon and Kevin Durant, and you can see them getting the job done in spectacular fashion. All three difficulty levels are accounted for in the highlight reel.

We also connected to play a couple of games over Parsec. The first was a clash between the 2007 Golden State Warriors and Washington Wizards in NBA 2K17, using Dee’s Ultimate Classic Teams Roster. That “We Believe” Warriors team is a blast to play with, and Dee’s roster is a must-have if you’re still playing NBA 2K17 PC. We also took control of the Celtics and had an epic overtime showdown with the Lakers in NBA Live 06, using my 2010 season roster. Fortunately, a couple of blunders on my part late in regulation didn’t stop us from pulling out a satisfying victory!

Check out all of those highlight reels below! Be sure to subscribe to the NLSC YouTube channel for more great basketball gaming content, and as always, feel free to hit us up with any suggestions of games that you’d like to see us play.

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From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #496 of the NLSC Podcast!

Many of our all-time favourite basketball video games are still in the rotation, and this week we connected on Parsec to revisit two of them: NBA 2K17 and NBA Live 06 PC! We reflect on the strong points of each game and why they hold up so well years later, as well as the satisfying feeling of playing them with mods that we created! We’re also interested in the community’s all-time favourite hoops titles, so in this week’s mailbag, our listeners tell us which ones they still hold close to their hearts. We’ve also got some tips regarding affordable cards in NBA 2K24 MyTEAM – while advocating for No Money Spent, of course – and a couple of customary cheap plugs.

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:12:23 — 50.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!

From courtside of the virtual hardwood, it’s Episode #480 of the NLSC Podcast!

NBA Live 15 generally wasn’t well-received when it was released, but might it be somewhat overlooked today? A fun session playing the game over Parsec prompts us to take a deep dive into all of its pros and cons. Suffice to say it’s a mixed bag, but it might just work its way into our rotation! We also connected to play NBA Live 06 PC with a 2012 season roster, and were reminded of what a special release it was. In this week’s mailbag, we join the community in talking about how we play basketball in real life. Which players would we compare our style of play to, and does that at all influence the creation of our players in career modes?

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:17:01 — 53.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

To get involved with the mailbag or to provide any feedback on the show, hit us up in the comments, reach out on social media, or post here in the NLSC Forum! For more information on the NLSC Podcast including episode guides, check out this page in our Wiki. You can also find the show on our YouTube channel, along with the rest of our video content. As always, thanks for tuning in, and go get buckets!