Wednesday, April 17, 2013

The Non-Canonical Seasons: Live 99

As 2008 rolled on, I continued to improve at online poker and life was good. In the early spring of that year, three newcomers moved into the house in Austin where I'd previously lived with one other guy. This involved a big step up for me, as I moved into the master bedroom (with large private bathroom and jacuzzi) downstairs to make room for the new guys. One of the guys, whose online nickname is "bones", turned out to have been a fan of NBA Live games in the past. The subject of playing a short season ala the Colin and Anish seasons came up. I had already owned NBA Live 99 at least as far back as November '07 - my best guess is that I came across it really cheap at a game store and bought it even though I wasn't done with 98 yet.

Now, since my roommates and I were all professional gamblers, bones wanted to put money down on our season. I didn't like the idea. To me, the fun comes from the game itself and the narrative that is created. It doesn't need the prospect of monetary reward or loss to make it interesting. Still, since bones wasn't willing to do it without betting, I agreed. I had played 100+ hours of NBA Live 98 and dominated it against the computer, and I expected that NBA Live 99 would be more of the same. It seemed to be a bet I'd win more often than not.

The terms were something like $10 per game for any difference in records at the end of the season, and another $30 or so for whoever made it further in the playoffs.

We allowed for a couple of practice games before starting the season. I was the Knicks, he was the Pacers. Live 99 does not have Latrell Sprewell as a default Knick (the game was released before that real-life trade), but bones would have allowed me to put him on my team. I did not accept that offer because of some weird desire on my part to play with what the game gave me.

NBA Live 99 turned out to be very different from Live 98 from a gameplay perspective. You could penetrate and get to the basket easily enough, but finishing at the rim was very difficult. The player would usually just take a 2 foot jump shot instead of dunking or laying it up, and those shots often missed. I stubbornly stuck to this strategy that had worked in Live 98 even against all the evidence that it wasn't working. I wasn't doing horribly, but bones was clearly better. His strategy was to take medium to long-range jump shots with his great shooters like Reggie Miller and Chris Mullin.

We of course played the All-Star Game as teammates. At the end of the season his record was better, though not by a ton.

I had Miami in the second round and was still sticking with my stubborn and outdated strategy. Down 2 games to 1, I was up by 1 with several seconds to play in Game 4. After forcing a 2-2 tie I would still be in okay shape.

With around 0.2 seconds to go in Game 4, Tim Hardaway shot a 3 pointer that bounced off the rim and went in to give Miami the lead. I went down 3-1 in the series and eventually succumbed to the Heat.

I'm not sure how the season ended up, because bones didn't want to play the Finals (he may have played the Eastern Conference Finals and definitely won if he did). He saw the game as over once I was out and the wager was completed. I wound up owing him somewhere between $30-$70.

My NBA Live dynasty went back on the shelf for over two years.