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Wayback Wednesday: NBA Live 10 Demo Impressions

Wayback Wednesday: NBA Live 10 Demo Impressions

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 reposting my impressions of the NBA Live 10 demo, originally published way back in 2009.

As I note in the introduction of every Wayback Wednesday, one of the goals of this feature is to repost old articles, particularly ones that are no longer accessible in our archives thanks to switching content management systems a couple of times over the years. It’s probably my most-overlooked Wayback Wednesday concept, as there are plenty of old titles to profile, as well as other topics related to retro basketball gaming. Still, it’d be a shame to leave these early attempts at original content rotting away in the archives. They’re a part of our history, and cover some interesting topics, too.

One such article is my original impressions of the NBA Live 10 demo. NBA Live 10 is a game that I’ve come to appreciate even more in recent years, after initially souring on it due to issues with its second patch. I’ve spoken at length about losing interest in the game, and my subsequent change of heart as it entered my retro basketball gaming rotation, but what were my first hands-on impressions of the NBA Live 10 demo? How do they differ from my post-launch impressions, and how I feel about the game today? Let’s take a look back…way back…

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Wayback Wednesday: Freestyle Air in NBA Live

Wayback Wednesday: Freestyle Air in NBA Live

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 Freestyle Air in NBA Live.

The entire history of basketball video games provides us with countless examples of developers striving for deeper controls. From the addition of sprint and steal buttons, to right stick dribbling and advanced shot types, the games have evolved to give us more and more control over the action. In the early to mid 2000s in particular though, we saw major additions and frequent changes as developers attempted to implement mechanics that were long-term solutions, or could pave the way for them. Dual analog gamepads becoming the standard peripheral also freed up buttons for new functions.

When NBA Live 2003 introduced us to right stick dribbling with Freestyle Control, it was indeed a revolution. The ability to perform specific moves on cue instead of just having to hope for the best with our press of a generic dribble moves button changed basketball gaming forever. However, while it was vital that we had more control over fundamentals such as dribbling, stealing, and stance, we also needed to direct the action when we left the virtual hardwood, and that’s where Freestyle Air comes in. Let’s take a look back…way back…

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