NBA Live 15

EA has released some telemetry data on gamer engagement and habits from October to December last year. The infographic includes the Top 5 Most Played Teams in NBA Live 15, which are as follows:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers
2. Golden State Warriors
3. Chicago Bulls
4. Houston Rockets
5. Oklahoma City Thunder

Given the strength and/or enduring popularity of those teams, the results shouldn’t be too surprising. It’s also clear that gamers follow LeBron James, as the Miami Heat have previously been one of the more popular teams to use in basketball video games.

You can check out the NBA Live 15 infographic below, and as always, feel free to join in the discussion of NBA Live 15 here in the NLSC Forum.

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Congratulations to mp3, who is the winner of our NBA Live 15 PlayStation 4 giveaway! We’ll be sending you your prize shortly.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. As I said in the previous bulletin, we’ll try to get our hands on a few more copies of the game for some more giveaways, ideally for both PlayStation 4 and Xbox One next time. Stay tuned, and remember you can click the Contests link at the top of the page to keep track of any contests that we’re running.

A new roster has been pushed through for NBA Live 15, which includes updated lineups and ratings. At a glance, it appears as though the rosters are more or less completely up to date, save for a couple of players who are on 10 day contracts and haven’t played a game yet.

James Harden and Brandon Jennings are two of the players who have received significant boosts in the latest roster, as Harden is now rated 91 overall, while Jennings’ overall has been increased by two and now sits at 83. Conversely, Dwight Howard’s overall has dropped by two points to 88.

A full list of the changes in the latest roster update can be seen in this spreadsheet. If you have any feedback on the rosters, please feel free to post it in this thread in the NBA Live 15 section of the Forum.

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! This is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to basketball video games, the real NBA or another area of interest to our community, either as a list of five items or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.

Last week, I talked about the ways in which basketball video games have improved over the years. I still stand by that, and believe it to be true; beyond the advances in graphics and technology that have benefitted video games in general, basketball games have come a long way in replicating the sport. However, there are also still areas in which they leave something to be desired.

That’s what I’m taking a look at this week: five ways that basketball games haven’t improved, or at the very least, haven’t improved to the extent that we would like. They’re the nagging, lingering issues that I believe detract from games that we otherwise enjoy. Issues such as…

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Episode #107 of the NLSC Podcast is out now! Arcane and I are your hosts this week, as we catch up on the latest news, start our Wishlists for this year’s games, and discuss the past week in the NBA.

• We recap the latest content updates for NBA Live 15, which include new rosters and Ultimate Team Legends.
• Da_Czar has posted another NBA 2K15 play improvements video, this time focusing on handoff plays.
• In a bizarre turn of events, we’ve both released updates for NBA Live 08!
• Since it’s a while before NBA Live 16 and NBA 2K16 news starts coming out, we begin our Wishlists.
• Which features would we take from NBA 2K, and put into NBA Live? Which NBA Live features would we add to NBA 2K?
• Moving on to the real NBA, both of our favourite teams are struggling. Clearly, we jinxed them.
• The Rising Stars Challenge is adopting a USA vs The World concept. Do we like that change?
• Potential participants for this year’s dunk contest have been revealed…but does it matter, if the format is the same as last year?
• Brandon Jennings has registered the first 20+ point, 20+ assist game since Steve Nash in 2009. Meanwhile, the Playoffs are actually looking like a realistic goal for the Pistons.
• The Knicks have finally won again. In fact, they have a winning streak going!
• Shawn Marion has announced his retirement at the end of the season. Will Kobe Bryant join him?
• Will Ferrell films a movie at a Pelicans game, and Not Bill Walton provides us with another gem to end the episode.

Click Play to listen to the show!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:13:10 — 37.3MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Have some thoughts on the latest episode? Sound off in the comments below, or here in the Forum. Mailbag submissions and topic suggestions are also welcome, so feel free to hit us up in this thread.

The next three Legends who will soon be available in NBA Live 15’s Ultimate Team have been revealed: Tom Chambers, Larry Johnson, and Drazen Petrovic.

DRAZEN PETROVIC, NEW JERSEY NETS G
After a successful European career, Petrovic was well on his way to NBA stardom when he was tragically killed in a car accident at the age of 28. Petrovic averaged 22.3 PPG in his final NBA season.

LARRY JOHNSON, CHARLOTTE HORNETS/NEW YORK KNICKS F
The first overall pick in the 1991 NBA Draft, “Grandmama” made two All-Star Games with the Hornets before moving on to the Big Apple, where he helped lead the Knicks to the 1999 NBA Finals.

TOM CHAMBERS, CLIPPERS/SUPERSONICS/SUNS/JAZZ/HORNETS/76ERS F
Chambers was a four-time All-Star, with three of those appearances coming as a member of the Phoenix Suns. He averaged more than 18 PPG and 6 RPG in his career.

All three players will be randomly available in packs starting this weekend. As always, feel free to join in the discussion of Ultimate Team here in the NBA Live 15 section of the Forum.

EA Sports are definitely going old school with the next couple of NBA Legends who will be added to Ultimate Team in NBA Live 15: George Mikan and Bob Pettit.

GEORGE MIKAN, MINNEAPOLIS LAKERS C
One of the game’s pioneers, Mikan was among the first (and best) big men in league history, winning five titles with the Minneapolis Lakers prior to their move to Los Angeles.

BOB PETTIT, MILWAUKEE/ST. LOUIS HAWKS F
Pettit was a two-time NBA MVP and led the Hawks to the NBA Championship in 1958. He averaged 26 points and 16 rebounds per game in his illustrious career.

You can discuss the latest Ultimate Team content and challenges here in the NBA Live 15 section of the Forum.

If you fire up NBA Live 15, you should notice a new roster being downloaded. The latest roster features transactions through January 12th, although a couple of those players currently aren’t available in Tip Off mode, as they haven’t yet played for their new teams. However, if you start a new Dynasty Mode game with the latest roster, those players will be available.

The new update also adjusts some player ratings, as first overall pick Andrew Wiggins and Brandon Jennings have both received boosts. Damian Lillard’s first signature shoe, the D Lillard 1, has also been added to the game, ahead of it being available in stores on February 6th.

A full breakdown of the changes since the game launched can be found in this spreadsheet. If you have any feedback on the NBA Live 15 roster updates, be sure to post it in this thread in our Forum.

We’re back! A new season of the NLSC Podcast tips off with Episode #106, hosted by Arcane and myself. In this episode, we recap the news since the final show of 2014, and discuss some topics suggested by members of the community.

• We open the show with a rundown of all the NBA Live 15 news since Episode #105, including the latest roster updates, the second title update, Ultimate Team content, and our giveaway.
• The Android version of NBA Jam has received another roster update, along with new audio provided by Tim Kitzrow. Boom-shaka-laka!
• NBA 2K15 news items include the third title update (now available everywhere), Arcane’s shoe glitch workaround, a new video from Da_Czar, and a complete guide to earning Badges.
• Have we gotten into some NBA 2K15 modding yet?
• Moving on to the real NBA, we discuss Kobe Bryant’s future, and whether he’ll accept a smaller role.
• As we approach the halfway point of the NBA season, who are our top contenders? Can the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors stay on top?
• Is LeBron James in decline, and can the Cleveland Cavaliers bounce back? We make our predictions.
• We discuss the rumoured sale of the Atlanta Hawks, and the possibility that they could end up being the new Seattle Supersonics.
• Cutting Josh Smith has worked out quite well for the Detroit Pistons (and not too bad for the Houston Rockets). The New York Knicks’ trade of J.R. Smith hasn’t had quite the same effect.
• Mo Williams becomes the latest unexpected player to tally a 50+ point game.

Click Play to listen to the show!

Download or play on your mobile device/tablet: CLICK HERE (Running time: 1:32:56 — 47.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify

Have some thoughts on the latest episode? Sound off in the comments below, or here in the Forum. Mailbag submissions and topic suggestions are also welcome, so feel free to hit us up in this thread.

I’m a little late in posting this as I was out of town all weekend, but a new roster has been pushed through for NBA Live 15. It features all of the trades and signings that had taken place through January 9th, 2015, placing Josh Smith in Houston, J.R. Smith in Cleveland, and so on. It would appear that all of the players have their correct numbers, as well.

As always, the new roster will be downloaded automatically as long as your PlayStation 4 or Xbox One is connected to the Internet. For a complete list of changes that have been made in the latest roster, including player ratings and accessories, you can check out this spreadsheet. If you have any feedback on the rosters, be sure to post it in this thread in the NBA Live 15 section of our Forum.

If you have a PlayStation 4 and haven’t picked up NBA Live 15 yet, we’re giving you a chance to get your hands on the game. We have one copy of the game on PS4 to give away, so if you’d like to pick up NBA Live 15 absolutely free, just enter our latest giveaway!

To enter, all you need to do is correctly answer three easy questions about the NBA Live series. Post your answers in the comments below, and we’ll draw a winner at random!

1. What is the first game in the NBA Live series?
2. In which NBA Live did All-Star Weekend mode make its debut?
3. Which NBA Live was the first to feature Ultimate Team?

Please see below for the full terms and conditions. The giveaway ends January 24th at 12:01 US EST, so get your entries in ASAP. My apologies to Xbox One users, we’ll see if we can get some more copies of the game to give away in the near future, so please stay tuned!

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Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! This is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to basketball video games, the real NBA or another area of interest to our community, either as a list of five items or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.

In years gone by, a few people have been upset that our Wishlists for NBA Live haven’t really paid much attention to online features. There are a couple of reasons for that: first of all, a lot of improvements to the online experience also fall under the category of gameplay fixes, and thus don’t bear repeating in another section of the Wishlist. Secondly, I have to admit that improvements related to online play don’t spring immediately to my mind, because I’m still mainly an offline player. As such, I encourage anyone who is primarily an online gamer to post their feedback, as it’s an area of the game that I’m prone to overlook.

Given the popularity of online play, the strong desire to see proper online leagues implemented, and the outcry when there was dissatisfaction over Crew Mode, I’m guessing the preference that I and many others still have for single player/offline play may be puzzling to a lot of online gamers. So, in this week’s Friday Five, I’m listing the five reasons that I rarely play online.

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Three more Legends are coming to Ultimate Team in NBA Live 15. Dubbed the “Talls and Smalls”, the upcoming Legends are Manute Bol (7’7″, 84 overall), Muggsy Bogues (5’3″, 84 overall), and Rik Smits (7’4″, 88 overall).

RIK SMITS
The Dunkin’ Dutchman played all of his 12 seasons with the Indiana Pacers, making an All-Star Game in 1998 and helping the Pacers reach the 2000 NBA Finals. The 7’4 Smits averaged 14.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG, and 1.2 BPG in his career.

MUGGSY BOGUES
Standing just 5’3, Bogues is the shortest player in NBA history. That didn’t stop him from averaging 7.7 PPG, 7.6 APG, 1.5 SPG over his 14-year career.

MANUTE BOL
A stark contrast from Bogues, the 7’7 Bol is one of the tallest players to ever lace them up in the NBA. Bol ranks second in NBA history with 3.3 BPG.

Remember you can discuss Ultimate Team here in the NBA Live 15 section of the Forum.

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! This is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to basketball video games, the real NBA or another area of interest to our community, either as a list of five items or in the form of a Top 5 countdown.

Another year is almost over, and with next Friday being January 2nd, this week marks the final edition of The Friday Five for 2014. It’s certainly been a fun and interesting year here at the NLSC, so I wanted to use this week’s column to reflect on the past twelve months, throw out a couple of “Best Of”/”Editor’s Picks” lists, and look ahead to what’s in store for 2015.

Before I go on, a big thank you to everyone who checks out The Friday Five each week, spreads the word about it on social media, and comments on the articles themselves. I enjoy writing the Five and (hopefully) giving you all something interesting and entertaining to read every week, so I really do appreciate your support of the feature. With that said, let’s get started with the Year In Review of 2014!

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An article detailing the changes in the latest roster update for NBA Live 15 has been posted here over on the official NBA Live website. The new update includes the latest trades, placing Rajon Rondo on the Dallas Mavericks and Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, and Jameer Nelson on the Boston Celtics. The Houston Rockets’ and Minnesota Timberwolves’ swap of Troy Daniels and Corey Brewer is also included, though Josh Smith is still on the Detroit Pistons’ roster as of the latest update.

Player ratings and accessories have also been updated, with the Chicago Bulls’ Jimmy Butler and Philadelphia 76ers rookie K.J. Daniels being two of the biggest movers in the latest roster. For a complete list of changes in the new update, check out this spreadsheet.

As always, be sure to post any feedback on the rosters in this thread in the NBA Live 15 section of the Forum, as NBA Live producer Fernando Rodriguez is keeping tabs on it.