NBA Live Introduction Videos
Most games in the NBA Live series feature an introduction video. In early games these consisted of highlight reels compiled from the previous NBA season while later games have featured reels consisting of gameplay footage.
Contents
NBA Live 10[edit]
NBA Live 10's intro features LeBron James entering The Hangar where he is met by Dwight Howard, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade. The user then gains control of Dwight Howard and is able to switch between and shoot around with all the players in The Hangar.
NBA Live 07[edit]
NBA Live 07's intro once again was highlighted by clips of Freestyle Superstars moves. In addition to the intro video, highlight videos featuring real clips of players such as cover player Tracy McGrady, Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Duncan and Yao Ming appeared in the main menu alongside a shot of the corresponding player.
NBA Live 06[edit]
NBA Live 06's intro highlighted Gameplay/Freestyle Superstars amongst its gameplay clips, such as the new High Flyer and Playmaker moves.
NBA Live 2005[edit]
NBA Live 2005 returned to the concept of featuring gameplay footage in its intro video. All-Star Weekend, which made its debut in NBA Live 2005, was featured numerous times throughout the video including several clips of the Dunk Contest.
NBA Live 2004[edit]
NBA Live 2004 boasted around 23 different intros, each featuring an NBA player delivering the "EA Sports - It's in The Game!" slogan.
Featured players include:
- Jermaine O'Neal
- Paul Pierce
- Amare Stoudemire
- Corey Maggette
- Shawn Marion
- Antawn Jamison
- Steve Francis
- Carmelo Anthony
- Kirk Hinrich
- Chris Bosh
- Moochie Norris
- Earl Boykins
- Yao Ming
- Bo Outlaw
Commentators Marv Albert and "The Czar" Mike Fratello were also featured in a couple of intro videos.
NBA Live 2003[edit]
NBA Live 2003 once again featured a highlight reel of clips taken straight from the game. Freestyle Control, making its debut in NBA Live 2003, featured prominently in the video intro. The video concluded with a 360 behind-the-back dunk by Jason Richardson.
NBA Live 2002[edit]
NBA Live 2002's intro began with players dribbling in silhouette before transitioning into a montage of gameplay clips including Vince Carter performing a between-the-legs dunk, which made its debut in NBA Live 2002.
NBA Live 2001[edit]
NBA Live 2001's intro video was the first to abandon the use of highlight clips from the previous NBA season, instead featuring gameplay clips in between footage of Kevin Garnett in a motion capture suit and Montell Jordan performing "Unstoppable" from the NBA Live 2001 soundtrack.
NBA Live 2000[edit]
The intro video for NBA Live 2000 began with Kevin Garnett playing by himself on a urban court at night, and as he goes up for a dunk the video fades into a long list of highlight clips from the 1998-99 NBA season. The highlight reel ends with a Garnett slam that transitions back into the end of the dunk he attempts at the beginning of the video, followed by KG leaving the court.
An additional note for shoe buffs: Garnett starts off wearing a pair of Nike Air Max Uptempos but at the end of the video he is wearing a par of his own Nike Air Garnett IIIs.
NBA Live 99[edit]
NBA Live 99's intro once again featured a highlight reel featuring real NBA video clips, this time from the 1997/1998 season. At the conclusion of the clips the NBA Live 99 logo was displayed, with the camera then zooming out to reveal the logo on the big screen of a virtual stadium that served as the background for NBA Live 99's main menu.
NBA Live 98[edit]
NBA Live 98 continued the use of NBA videos in its intro with a series of highlight clips from the 1996/1997 season, punctuated by a Scottie Pippen dunk.
NBA Live 97[edit]
NBA Live 97's intro begins in a similar fashion to NBA Live 96 with shadowly clips in the background and an "EA Sports Presents" logo in the foreground, before quickly cutting to a series of clips taken from the 1995/1996 season. After the clips an empty virtual stadium (once again representing Virtual Stadium technology) materialises from the ground up, with a transparent player eventually taking shape and dunking the ball followed by each of the NBA team logos displayed in succession as a silhouette dribbles a basketball.
NBA Live 96[edit]
The intro for NBA Live 96 begins with shadowy clips of players in the background with an "EA Sports Presents" logo in the foreground, then moves to an empty stadium that demonstrates the Virtual Stadium Technology introduced in NBA Live 96, followed by a quick cut to a montage of player highlights from the 1994/1995 season and 1995/1996 preseason punctuated by a between-the-legs dunk by Isaiah Rider. The video concludes with a shot of the NBA Live 96 logo flanked by spotlights.
NBA Live 95[edit]
NBA Live 95's intro began with a shot of the EA Sports logo which quickly flashed to a television screen with static. A series of NBA highlight clips from the 1993/1994 and 1994/1995 seasons appeared on the television screen before the clips transitioned to take up the entire screen. After a Karl Malone dunk the clips faded to the side and the camera panned across the 27 NBA team logos which were illuminated one by one before coming to a stop on the NBA Live 95 logo, then fading to black.
Like many games of the era, NBA Live 95 was not designed to run on computers with faster processors that would later be developed. As a result, when NBA Live 95 is run on Pentium III or later the intro video runs in fast forward, concluding much more swiftly than originally intended.