If there’s one game that I can honestly say that I have followed since it’s inception, it’s the NBA Live series.

Starting back in the days of Lakers vs. Celtics and Bulls vs. Blazers for the Sega Genesis, I have witnessed the brilliant progression of graphics and gameplay that have come to be synonymous with the NBA Live franchise.

But let’s go back and recall some of the (not-so) great things about the past games:

Don't be fooled...Chris Dudley was not a good dunker.

- 720-degree alley oops on the first “true” installment of NBA Live (’95) was just flat out cool at the time it came out in 1994.  Now, looking back, the fact that Chris Dudley could dunk as good as Hakeem Olajuwon was an abomination.

- Up until the most recent versions of the series, the necessary evil of trading players and/or creating players and signing them to their correct teams was the sign of a college student who was spending too much time studying ESPN.  Now, with the inclusion of the automatic roster updates, the designers have created a desire amongst the diehard players to purchase the latest version each year.  Pure, unadulterated genius.

- The mysterious ”Michael Jordan” saga was annoying.  Early on in his legendary career, he (along with Charles Barkley) apparently signed a deal to have his own games made – refusing to have his likeness in any of the other video game series.  After the agreements expired, he appeared in later games – but no one really cared then.

- Antoine Walker must look back at his 1999 NBA Live cover and wonder: “Was there really a time when I was that good?” 

- The addition of great soundtracks by real, bonafide artists really put the game over the top.  Sometimes the anticipation of the game music actually trumps the gameplay itself.  Well, maybe just for me.

Everybody get your controllers out and find an online opponent.  But you can forget about those 720-degree dunks…Chris Dudley has retired.

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