Development

EA Sports announced that Joel Embiid of the Philadelphia 76ers would be the cover athlete for NBA Live 19. Changes and additions were also made to presentation elements, the most notable of which was a change to the in-game commentary team. The previous duo of commentators of Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen was replaced by the new duo of Ed Cohen and Jay Williams. EA Sports also announced that the game’s soundtrack would include twenty licensed songs, from artists such as J.Cole, Logic, Lil Pump, Migos, and Injury Reserve. NBA Live 19’s soundtrack was also made available on Spotify.

Gameplay

NBA Live 19 features several improvements to the moment to moment gameplay on the court. Among these improvements is the addition of the Real Play Motions system, to improve upon the movement, collisions, and animations of players on the court, similar to improvements made in the area in other EA Sports titles, such as Madden NFL 19 and FIFA 19 as well. At the same time, EA Sports also made improvements to one on one moments during matches. Another major addition is the option to be able to create female players from the WNBA.

Several modes are also included in NBA Live 19, of which some are new additions as well. One of the new additions is the Court Battle mode, which is a tower defence mode of sorts. Court Battle allows players to create and customize their own basketball courts, with customization options ranging from things such as the colour and look of the court floors to the patterns on the hoops. Players then set custom rules for these courts, with an example of this being only dunks earning players points (or earning more points), and assign players to defend their courts as per the rules. Players then take their teams to defeat other players’ courts. Successfully defending or defeating other courts yields more in-game currency and CP, and also unlocks new players, kits, court customization options, and more.

Returning modes include The One, NBA Live’s campaign experience. The One sees players progressing through their career, building up progress in either skill or reputation or both through playing on the streets or playing in NBA matches. The mode includes unlockables, as well as skill trees for players to progress through, and also offers player choices. Skills include things such as passing, rebounding, and dribbling, among others. Players progress by earning either XP or by enhancing their reputation (which, in the mode, is denoted as “hype”). The latter is portrayed through things such as in-game social media, such as clips of players’ exploits during game circulating online, or fans coming up to talk to players after matches, or personalities on ESPN discussing your players’ progress and exploits. The One mode features matches in various locations, including the likes of Quai 54 in Paris, Tenement Square in the Philippines, and Parque De Rio in Brazil.

Ultimate Team, a staple of most EA Sports titles, also returns in NBA Live 19. Ultimate Team features microtransactions. Card packs can only be bought in multiple of 100 points, which can either be earned by playing the game, or by real world purchases, but points can be bought in multiples of 150 only. Franchise Mode also returns, with improvements being made to things such as contract negotiations, with the inclusion of Bird Rights, and pre-draft previews. Franchise Mode, however, lacks online fumnctionality. NBA Live 19 also has a training mode where players can practice their skills and moves. NBA Live 19 also has a character creator, which allows players to create and customize both male and female players. Matches in NBA Live 19 also feature a revamped grading system, which rewards players for successful actions and skills. The cap of the grading system is no longer at 100.

There are also co-op and online options in NBA Live 19 with added head to head modes. Co-op challenges include street court games in 3v3 or 5v5 matches. Completing these challenges contributes to the larger progression within NBA Live 19, while extra customization options are also unlocked.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

The NBA 2K series is without a shadow of doubt the leading basketball franchise in the market right now. However, EA’s NBA Live series is apparently under going some sort of a renaissance. This year’s iteration of the two franchises was a close fight as NBA 2K19 just managed to edge out NBA Live 19 in certain gameplay mechanics. However, the NBA 2K series seems to be following a downward trend whereas the Live series seems to be getting better with each new entry.

This year was close not only in terms of gameplay but also in terms of visual fidelity and overall smoothness in gameplay. To begin with, NBA Live 19 has overall better animations compared to its counterpart. This advantage is not immediately apparent but is pretty noticeable in close-up replays. Players move, jump and react in a more realistic manner in NBA Live 19 compared to NBA 2K 19. This means that the overall gameplay feels quite smooth in NBA Live 19, although just by a bit.

Next up is the character models and NBA 2K19 takes the lead here with noticeable differences. The character models in the 2K series use better skin shaders and are more closely aligned to their real life counterparts. Don’t get us wrong, the character models in NBA Live 19 when viewed in isolation aren’t bad but NBA 2K19 has the advantage here with better sweat and tress effects.

And finally, we compare NPC across both games and although this may be an insignificant element of the game, it does add to the overall atmosphere and presentation. And once again NBA 2K19 takes the charhe here with slightly better models but this is something you would need to zoom in to observe.

So overall, NBA 2K19 takes the lead here but that may be fading in the future as NBA Live 19 is slowly but surely catching up.

TOP RATED PLAYERS

You can find below the top rated players in the  game, each categorized according to their positions.

Shooting Guards

• James Harden: He has an overall rating of 94 and plays for the Houston Rockets.
• Klay Thompson: He has an overall rating of 91 and plays for the Golden State Warriors.
• DeMar DeRozan: He has an overall rating of 90 and plays for the San Antonio Spurs.
• Jimmy Butler: He has an overall rating of of 90 and plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
• Victor Oladipo: He has an overall rating of 89 and plays for the Indiana Pacers.

Centers

• Anthony Davis: He has an overall rating of 94 and plays for the New Orleans Pelicans.
• Joel Embiid: He has an overall rating of 92 and plays for the Philadelphia 76ers.
• Karl-Anthony Towns: He has an overall rating of 91 and plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves.
• DeMarcus Cousins: He has an overall rating of 90 and plays for the Golden State Warriors.
• Rudy Gobert: He has an overall rating of 89 and plays for the Utah Jazz.

Small Forwards

• LeBron James: He has an overall rating of 97 and plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
• Kevin Durant: He has an overall rating of 95 and plays for the Golden State Warriors.
• Kawhi Leonard: He has an overall rating of 92 and plays for the Toronto Raptors.
• Paul George: He has an overall rating of 90 and plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• Gordon Hayward: He has an overall rating of 85 and plays for the Boston Celtics.

Power Forwards

• Giannis Antetokounmpo: He has an overall rating of 90 and plays for the Milwaukee Bucks.
• Draymond Green: He has an overall rating of 88 and plays for the Golden State Warriors.
• LaMarcus Aldridge: He has an overall rating of 87 and plays for the San Antonio Spurs.
• Kevin Love: He has an overall rating of 87 and plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• Kristaps Porzingis: He has an overall rating of 86 and plays for the New York Knicks.

Point Guards

• Steph Curry: He has an overall rating of 94 and plays for the Golden State Warriors.
• Russell Westbrook: He has an overall rating of 93 and plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
• Kyrie Irving: He has an overall rating of 93 and plays for the Boston Celtics.
• Chris Paul: He has an overall rating of 92 and plays for the Houston Rockets.
• John Wall: He has an overall rating of 90 and plays for the Washington Wizards.

COURT BATTLES

With Court Battles, players will have a chance to go up against players in the online community. In these battles, you will have to play these matches in custom courts with custom rules as you attempt to take over these courts to get some great rewards. Similarly, you will have to defend your own court as well.

In Court Battles, attack and defend phases are split into Campaigns and you will have a limited time to try and take over as many courts as possible,  while also trying to defend your own. You will be able to reach a higher reward tier with a Campaign if you manage to capture a greater number of courts. Apart from the rewards, your Court Hype will also increased based on how you perform in this mode. Court Hype is basically a ranking  for this mode, and you will start off as a Rookie and can work your way up to ICON.

The first thing you will have to focus on is setting up your defenses on your custom court. Other players will be playing your AI squad, so you will have to be strategic about this. You will have to choose your court’s Game Rules from 38 different rulesets that are currently available. You will start with  only a few rulesets to choose from but you will gain access to more rulesets as your Court Hype increases. Following this, you will have to select your Defensive lineup and you will already start off with a few players. You will also be able to use players recruited from Streets World Tour in Court Battles. You will also gain new players as your Court Hype goes up. Additionally, you will get new players by achieving controlled court tiers in the Campaign of a Court Battle. Finally, you will also be able to get new players from various Live Events that are held in the game. You should pick your Defensive Lineup based on the particular Game Rules you have chosen for your court.

You will now have to choose an Attacker’s handicap. You will be able to unlock more Attacker Handicaps as your Court Hype level increases. You will have to use a Handicap that will be balanced as per your Defensive Lineup and Game Rules so that you gain an advantage. Make sure you experiment with different combinations before you settle on one.

The next course of action is setting your Game Plan which will determine the unique behavior of your AI team. There are lots of combinations to try out, so make sure you try different ones to find what suits you best. Before you begin, a match, you will also be able to see an opponent’s combinations so that know what exactly you’re going up against. If anyone has attempted to take over your court,  challenge them and enter a battle to take your court back. When you’re going to attack a court, you will be able to choose your Attacking Lineup and also the difficulty. Playing on harder settings grants more Reward Points and Court Hype. In fact, playing on Easy won’t allow you to take over the court.

You will gain greater Reward Points and Court Hype if the opponent’s combinations are of a higher tier than yours. If you take over an opponent’s court, they have three chances to try and reclaim the court. Your reward tier will go up based on the number of courts you have under your control during the Campaign. At the end of the campaign, all of the court go back to their owners, and players will receive  rewards based on their Reward Tiers. Before you go in to take control of an opponent’s court, take note of their state which will indicate whether they can be attacked immediately, or whether their court is under the control of yet another player, or something  else. If the player is available to be challenged, then you can immediately begin a Court Battle and try to take control of that player’s  court.

HOW TO GAIN XP AND TRAITS QUICKLY

If you’re wondering how to gain XP and traits quickly in this game, we’ve got you covered. You will need XP and traits to rank up in the game. The video below will show you exactly how you can get  XP and  traits really fast in this game.

ULTIMATE TEAM

In Ultimate Team, you will have your own team that you can keep upgrading with more items and with better players as you win more matches. You will be able to customize your team’s jerseys, logo, and also determine what playbook they use for games. You can also view your Active Lineup and make any changes necessary.

Packs in the game will contains players and items and they are of utmost importance. You can get new Packs either with NBA points bought with real money, or with Coins that you can earn just by playing the game. You can use items you get from Packs in your lineup, but if you can’t make use of them, you can choose to sell these items in the community market. This year, you will be able to see pack probability in the store  which will let you see what the chances are to get different items with a given pack.

Just go into the store and click ‘View Details’ for a pack to see what the probability is to get a particular category of items. Ranges of players are grouped by OVR bands and the higher the OVR band, the lower the probability getting it from a pack. You should keep in mind that the probabilities listed are for an individual pack, and these are not cumulative in any sense. If you need any particular item and don’t want to get it through a pack, you can look for it in the community market.

You can earn extra Coins and Packs by playing games in Fantasy Challenges. Some will only be available for a limited time, and these include Weekly Challenges as well.

You will become a starter in your team when your overall rating is higher than that of the top player of your position. As for how many minutes you get to play on the court, this is determined by your role and your Performance Grade,  so make sure you get as high a grade as possible. To practice, play against Computer-controlled teams and keep up with your career’s progress by checking out Player Goals and Career Milestone Progress.

HOW TO QUICKLY AND EASILY MAKE COINS

Note: Please use the following cheats at your own discretion. Using cheats online or offline may lead to an immediate ban. GamingBolt or its staff members are not responsible for any problems arising due to their use.

If you don’t want to spend real money on the game and get NBA points, then you will need Coins which can be earned just by playing the game. If you want to know the easiest method to make coins in the game, check out the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTYqnHeh6cY

ACHIEVEMENTS/TROPHIES GUIDE

Local Legend: Complete all Games and all objectives at any Venue in World Tour

We Run The Court: Win a Live Run Pick-Up Game

Stacking crates to the ceiling: Complete a Crate Collection

Call the Doctor: Perform an ankle breaker in a game

Kidding Around: Perform every type of pass in the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0WxF_Ow88E

Hero’s Journey: Complete any Icon’s progression path

World Domination: Complete all the Key Games at EVERY Venue in World Tour

Executive of the Year: Complete GM List 2 in Ultimate Team.

Career Day: Reach Legend Status in Career Hype.

Best team in the league: Win the NBA Finals in Franchise

Climbing the Ranks: Win an Online Head to Head Game

Defense Matters: Cause 3 bumps to pickup over the course of a game

Triple, Double, Hold the Points: Obtain a Triple Double with any combination of rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks

CLUTCH: Make a game winning shot with green release

The Hero: Unlock All Trophies for NBA LIVE 19

Golden: Equip 3 Gold Traits

Shooter’s Touch: Successfully perform every shot type within a game

Joining The Elite: Win the MVP Award in The League within The One

Streetballer: Complete all the Key Games at your first Venue in World Tour

Take ’em Down: Complete an entire series of games in any LIVE Event.

Commander in Chief: Reach Legend Status in Court Battle Hype.

100 Miles and (live) Running: Reach Legend Status in Live Run Hype.

Superhero: Complete any 3 Icon progression paths

No Buckets Allowed: Hold an opposing team scoreless for 4 minutes

Beginning to Understand: Complete any Objective within The One

The Journey Begins: Create a player

Getting the Ring: Win the NBA Finals in The League within The One

Getting things done: Complete GM List 1 in Ultimate Team.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: Play and win any Co-Op LIVE Event.

Despite this entry’s visual improvements, NBA Live 19 is still well behind where it needs to be aesthetically. While it’s boasting some impressive face scanning technology for big-name players, many of the lesser-known rookies get left out of the club. Their poorly-rendered faces stand out starkly against the otherwise excellent work on display here. I wish the game offered better customization for the character creation tool as well, as I’d have loved more options besides simplistic templates, but at least players are given plenty of attire options.

Models are also improved overall over last year’s entry, though the player movement is still somewhat awkward as always. The game’s new Real Player Motion EA hyped up isn’t nearly as revolutionary as it sounds, and there are some occasionally janky animations, particularly during passing to nearby teammates. These quick and forced animation changes are jarring to the eyes. Some periodic stickiness in the controls compounds this problem at times, but never so much that I felt frustrated.

"Buttery smooth dunks and pinpoint accuracy on the defense side highlights what NBA Live is typically good at, but as with most modern sports games, the game could really benefit from toning down some of its extremely complicated control inputs."

Dunks and dribbling are also visual treats, with certain dunk animations standing among the best either of the major NBA franchises have offered. Reflections on the court are beautiful, uniform and shoe detail are especially perfect, and a clean interface makes navigation a breeze.

Of course, much of the draw of the experience lies in its mode and feature offerings, and this year’s game makes a few advancements worth noting. Most interestingly is its inclusion of female character creation within its career mode. While there aren’t many major gameplay differences between the two genders, it’s appreciated that the game allows for mixed gender showdowns.

Despite the sticky controls sometimes pestering me, I found that the moment-to-moment gameplay experience feels about the same as expected. Buttery smooth dunks and pinpoint accuracy on the defense side highlights what NBA Live is typically good at, but as with most modern sports games, the game could really benefit from toning down some of its extremely complicated control inputs. I never found them cumbersome enough to warrant exhaustion, but they still take a bit too much work for my liking.

The physics are often still sometimes wacky. This isn’t uncommon with the franchise, especially in regards to ball bouncing and rebounds. It’s something that I wish EA would take some extra time with, but I’m at least impressed with the improvements made to player collisions. NBA Live 19 finally succeeds at making controls and collision feel more intertwined, which kept me more invested in ensuring my currently-controlled player was more intricately managed.

"Sadly, modes like Franchise and Ultimate Team continue to feel completely unnecessary with such a fleshed out campaign mode."

But while player control feels otherwise functionally similar to previous entries overall, there are a few notable additions to the series. My favorite is the asynchronous online mode, Court Battles. It sees players filling a custom gym full of players to defend their court against opposing teams. Meanwhile, you battle against other players’ AI-controlled teams with the goal of taking over new gyms. Thanks to its extraordinary level of customization, you can design exciting and unique rule sets for tyour defensive team. My favorite was to set it so that only dunks earned points, then set up a solid team around that specific rule to give my team a built-in advantage. This endlessly entertaining mode breeds an exciting battle of creativity and strategy unseen in other modes.

Court Battles is one of the easiest and most fun ways to earn XP and reputation (known as “hype” here). But naturally many players are drawn to the core game mode of The One – NBA Live’s attempt at a distinct campaign experience full of skill trees, player choices, and plenty of unlockables. Much like in last year’s game, players make decisions on what kind of player they want to be through making a name for themselves on the streets or through the NBA.

The One wraps players up with immersive features like engaging in social media. Having fans show up post-game to hype you up, or catching a video shot in extremely low quality online adds a genuine feeling of both career and social advancement. I thoroughly enjoyed following my career’s growth both officially and socially throughout my climb.

Online against real players or offline against AI, The One keeps players hooked along a steady progression path, luckily never blocking anything off with microtransactions. As a matter of fact, unlike many other sports games, NBA Live 19 doesn’t offer any type of microtransactions in its single player experience. Better yet, currency comes at a brisk enough pace that I never felt as though my time was being wasted or that I needed to grind away at menial tasks. Court Battles brings in additional currency in the background once it’s set up as well to add a nice income flow.

Sadly, modes like Franchise and Ultimate Team continue to feel completely unnecessary with such a fleshed out campaign mode. Franchise still lacks features and presentation options available in other games to make it feel fully-fledged, and Ultimate Team is a boring collect-a-thon grind. It’s just a shame that none of these modes really offer anything as rewarding as The One, leaving them feeling almost directly at odds with the vision EA clearly set for the series. I can’t help but feel that wiping a few less necessary modes would clear up some time for the developers to further enhance the otherwise improving core experience.

"EA’s other sports titles have made impressive advancements in movement and core gameplay design, but I left NBA Live 19 still feeling as though it’s held back by the franchise’s rocky history."

In addition to Court Battles, NBA Live 19 introduces a court creator this year with a wonderful suite of options from baskets to court lines. There’s a lot of fun to be had personalizing a court your own way, and it’s easy to show off after the fact using the game’s accessible LIVE Run events to meet up with friends. Content creation isn’t new to video games, nor is its inclusion here a surprise, but it’s a welcomed addition that shows EA is trying to expand on its vision for the series.

Sound design is a major component of any sports game, and NBA Live 19 is unfortunate to get a raw deal this year. Commentators Ed Cohen and Jay Williams are lifeless and add repetitive, dull musings that never left me interested in anything they had to say. The music fares better, but there’s nothing about the playlist that stands out from any other major sports game. Court sounds are passable, but I couldn’t help but feel like so much more could’ve been done here.

And ultimately, the same could be said for the game as a whole. EA’s other sports titles have made impressive advancements in movement and core gameplay design, but I left NBA Live 19 still feeling as though it’s held back by the franchise’s rocky history. There’s a feeling within the game design that made me think maybe EA feels afraid to invest too much energy in a series with a history of poor sales and reception, but the game could’ve truly benefited from that extra polish that makes games like FIFA and Madden truly shine.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Despite recent promises from Electronic Arts at large that the company was taking a huge step back from the controversial loot box mechanic, EA Sports still thinks they’re just dandy. Following on from the storm of controversy instigated by their Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Lootgate, EA Sports VP Daryl Holt has come out saying quite directly that what they’re doing is sustainable.

In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, Holt declares that EA Sports is sticking to a “player first” mantra, with that good old classic “Player Choice” line that we’ve heard ad infinitum. “I can earn things in FIFA Ultimate Team just by playing the game, at whatever tier I want to play at. I can also beat you if you have a better-rated team because I’m better than you at FIFA. I don’t worry about what my rating is as a team… That aspect of choice and how we engage with EA Sports is a very different aspect with how we look at the controversy that came up around Battlefront.” Said Holt. 

While they’re sticking with their implementation, saying that it works, they’ve heard feedback and plan to implement packs properly into their 2019 lineup, which includes Madden NFL 19, NBA Live 19, NHL 19, and FIFA 19, all set to release this fall. Due to the fallout from Lootgate at the tail end of last year, EA made bold claims about their Lootboxes earlier this week.

NBA Live 19 was announced some time ago and recently, its release date was revealed along with a new trailer. Now, the cover athlete for the game has been revealed and it is none other than Joel Embiid from Philadelphia 76ers.

Embiid was drafted by the Sixers back in 2014 and he is also otherwise known by the moniker ‘The Process.’ In the past year, he led his team to the playoffs and he was even chosen to be a part of the NBA All-Star team. Embiid can be picked up by players in the game’s career mode which is known as ‘The One.’ Other reputed players will also available to choose from in the career mode.

It should be interesting to see how this game fares against the competition- NBA 2K19 which will be releasing in the same month. You can check out the cover art below. NBA Live 19 is set to release for the PS4 and Xbox One on September 7.

It was no surprise that EA Sports’ lineup of sports simulators was a major focus at EA’s E3 press conference earlier today. One of the several announcements they made was confirming the release date of NBA Live 19. The basketball sim will be launching on September 7.

Interestingly enough, EA didn’t mention what systems the game will be out on. It’s fair to assume that in the absence of any specific announcements, it’ll be launching on the PS4 and the Xbox One, just like its predecessor did. If, however, the series is indeed skipping PC once again, the decision would be quite baffling, especially in light of the fact that EA Sports’ very own Madden NFL is returning to the platform.

EA also showed off the very first trailer of the game, giving us a look at what’s in store. The footage shows off several licensed basketball players and courts, and about everything else you’d expect a trailer for a basketball game to reveal. You can view it below.