''NBA Inside Drive'' is a series of
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...
s based on
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
, published by
Microsoft Studios
Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000 ...
. Its main
competition
Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, ind ...
was ''
NBA Live'', a series from
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...
.
Games
NBA Inside Drive 2000
The first game in the series, ''NBA Inside Drive 2000'', was released for
Microsoft Windows on August 26, 1999.
Reception
''NBA Inside Drive 2000'' received "favorable" reviews according to the
review aggregation
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
GameRankings
GameRankings was a video gaming review aggregator that was founded in 1999 and owned by CBS Interactive. It indexed over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 video games. GameRankings was discontinued in December 2019, with its staff bei ...
.
[
]
NBA Inside Drive 2002
After an almost two-and-a-half-year hiatus, NBA Inside Drive was brought back as ''NBA Inside Drive 2002'' and was released in 2002 for Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by th ...
. The game's development time was 18 months.
Reception
''NBA Inside Drive 2002'' received "generally favorable reviews" according to the review aggregation website Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
.[
]
NBA Inside Drive 2003
Less than one year after the ''2002'' installment, ''NBA Inside Drive 2003'' was released for Xbox.
Reception
''NBA Inside Drive 2003'' received "average" reviews according to Metacritic.[
]
NBA Inside Drive 2004
The last entry in the series, ''NBA Inside Drive 2004'', was released in 2003. It launched with other XSN Sports titles that featured a website where players could organize their own tournaments, seasons, or games.
Reception
''Inside Drive 2004'' received "average" reviews according to Metacritic.[ In Japan, where the game was ported for release on January 22, 2004, '']Famitsu
formerly ''Famicom Tsūshin'', is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the ...
'' gave it a score of two sevens, one six, and one seven for a total of 27 out of 40.[
]
Discontinuation
Following Microsoft's release of their 2004 professional sports titles, all of them were discontinued including '' NFL Fever'' and ''NHL Rivals''. In February 2005, Microsoft sold ''NBA Inside Drive'' and its other sports franchises to Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...
.
See also
* NBA ShootOut
* NFL Fever
* NHL Rivals
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{Xbox Game Studios
Xbox games
Windows games
National Basketball Association video games
Microsoft franchises
Microsoft games
Basketball video games
Video game franchises
Video game franchises introduced in 1999
Xbox-only games
Windows-only games