''NBA Live 2002'' is the 2002 installment of the ''

NBA Live ''NBA Live'' is a series of basketball video games that was published by EA Sports. The series, which debuted in 1994, is the successor to the previous ''NBA Playoffs'' and ''NBA Showdown (video game), NBA Showdown'' series. Beginning in the la ...

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game 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 generate visual fe ...

series. The cover features

Steve Francis Steven D'Shawn Francis (born February 21, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player. He was selected with the second overall pick of the 1999 NBA draft and was named co-NBA Rookie of the Year (along with Elton Brand) in his fi ...

as a member of the

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA) ...

. The game was developed by

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

and released on October 30, 2001, for the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

and

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

, and November 15, 2001, for the

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

. This game was commentated by

Don Poier Donald Robert Poier (February 24, 1951 – January 21, 2005) was an American sports play-by-play announcer who called telecasts of Pac-10 football and basketball games and was the radio and television voice for the Vancouver / Memphis Grizzlies. ...

and former NBA player Bob Elliot. It was a launch title for Xbox in North America and Europe.

Soundtrack

Moka Only Daniel Denton (born November 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Moka Only, is a Canadian hip hop artist and producer . He is originally from Langford, British Columbia, where he cultivated a deep passion for hip hop. Later, moving to San ...

- Crunch * Moka Only (feat

Abstract Rude Aaron Pointer, better known by his stage name Abstract Rude, is an American rapper from Los Angeles, California. He is the rapper of Abstract Tribe Unique, alongside dancers Zulu Butterfly and Irie Lion King, turntablist DJ Drez and producer ...

) - Rolling Along *

Swollen Members Swollen Members is a four-time JUNO Award-winning Canadian hip hop group from Vancouver, British Columbia, consisting mainly of Madchild and Prevail. Frequent collaborators include vocalist Moka Only (who actually helped form the group in the ...

- Lady Venom * Swollen Members - Deep End *

The Crystal Method The Crystal Method is an American electronic music act formed in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada, by Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland in 1993. They were pioneers of the big beat genre and their music has appeared in numerous TV shows, films, v ...

- The Winner

Reception

The PlayStation and Xbox versions received "generally favorable reviews", while the PlayStation 2 version received "average" reviews, according to video game

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

. '' NextGen'' said in its final issue, "This Xbox version of EA Sports' hoops series is basically the same game you can find on every other platform – in other words, chock full of uninspiring graphics, plodding gameplay, and clumsy controls." In Japan, where the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...

on January 1, 2002, followed by the Xbox version on March 7, ''

Famitsu , formerly , is a line of Japanese Video game journalism, video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage (previously known as Gzbrain), a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, Kadokawa. ''Famitsu'' is published in both weekly and monthly f ...

'' gave it a score of 29 out of 40 for the former, and 28 out of 40 for the latter. Dan Elektro of ''

GamePro ''GamePro'' was an American multiplatform video game magazine media company that published online and print content covering the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software. The magazine featured content on various video ...

''s January 2002 issue said that the PlayStation 2 version "makes up for last year's missteps and then some. The gameplay finally matches the graphics, and the result is what basketball fans want and need in a PS2 game." An issue later, he said that the Xbox version "sets a great standard for Xbox basketball", and that the PlayStation version "comes packed with all the gameplay and features you expect: lengthy season modes, a 1-on-1 streetball mode with any player in the league, and create-a-player options."

Notes

References

External links

* 2001 video games Electronic Arts games Multiplayer and single-player video games NBA Live NuFX games PlayStation (console) games PlayStation 2 games Video games developed in Canada Video games set in 2001 Video games set in 2002 Xbox games Long stubs with short prose {{basketball-videogame-stub