Lots of good suggestions, but I doubt EA will even listen. I've been playing NBA Live since the very first Lakers vs Celtics on the Genesis over 10 years ago. I've been coming to NLSC for the past 5+ years and I see the same things asked for every year that don't get addressed.
I remember in 1996 or so, the option to auto-sub was always on. We kept pleading with EA every year in a wish list to save our profiles so that auto-sub and our other settings would be saved and loaded automatically depending on what profile we picked. Year after year, this didn't get fixed, auto sub stayed on. What do they do for NBA Live 2003? Instead of saving our defensive strategies, auto sub, and other options to a profile, all they do is just make auto sub off by default. It took years just to get that, and that's not even a real solution. It's just a workaround.
Same goes for the asking for more injuries/having injuries not occur just on a flagrant push foul. How many years have you guys asked for this already? I'd like to see better fouls implemented like pulling someone's jersey or wrapping them up while they are going up for a layup instead of trying to push them which doesn't even work everytime.
As for commentary, I'm ready to accept that's forever going to be bad and inaccurate and I'd much rather they spend more time tweaking the gameplay then the announcing.
On harder difficulty, have the CPU win due to intelligent plays, not by cheating (unrealitic FG%, you suddenly cannot hit a shot, etc)
I don't know how many years that's been in NBA Live. The computer AI is horrible and if they are losing all they do is jack up 3s. They don't even play intelligent D. They will have a wide open shot under the basket and they will make a beeline right out to the 3 point line to do a fadeaway turn around 3 over 2-3 people and it goes in??? How about swinging the ball to the open man at least?? In this year's version I notice they don't even have to be losing and they don't run any real offenses. When you play the Lakers, their offense should run through Shaq and Kobe and those 2 players should get 20-30 shots a game each. HOWEVER, Derek Fisher constantly brings the ball up the court and just immediately launches a 3, even if he's being double teamed. And if you are playing Superstar, the 3s go in almost every time no matter what unless you block the shot. And since the computer is so stupid, he shoots shots that are easily going to be blocked so you end up with 20 blocks a game (and on superstar, those 20 blocks are probably all of the misses the computer had).
I'd like to see on Superstar level a smarter computer opponent, rather then 1 who just makes almost every impossible shot there is. Things like passing out of the double team, finding the open man, and swinging the ball around or running pick and rolls and give and gos.
Speaking of cheap AI, on Superstar, when I miss a shot, I'll notice the computer purposely send their guys on a fast break but that my computer teammates won't even care and will let them run by and get easy dunks. But when it's my turn to fast break, a lot of times my guys will stop and come back to the perimeter instead of going in for a layup.
Also, I think everyone will agree how ridiculous the blocks are. Not only do they occur far too often, but 90% of them are all monster rejections that fly all the way across the court. Tmac can pretty much shoot over anyone in the league but when AI was guarding me, I got blocked everytime they both jumped at the same time. AI is at around 8 inches shorter and is not exactly known for his blocking ability.
In real life, players like Tim Duncan, Kobe, Mcgrady can hit shots with people in their face trying to block them even if both people jump at the same time. In NBA Live 2003, even with 5 feet of separation between 2 people, you can still get blocked. In the next version, they should have partial blocks, swats, and least often, monster swats.
One thing I didn't see in the wish list is modifying of the Fantasy draft option in the game. I don't know if anyone here plays Yahoo Fantasy NBA but, say there are 10 teams drafting. The team who picks last in the first round will pick first in the second round and then this order keeps changing each round until the draft is finished. In the current game, the team that picks 10th in each round will pick 10th for all 12 rounds and that makes the 10th team have a big disadvantage.
Also I'd like to see the ability to throw bounce passes, or if that's too difficult, at least make the computer determine when a bounce past or lob pass is most effective. All my teammates constantly do is try to throw chest passes that get intercepted when it would be smarter to throw bounce passes. Also, the computer's defenders being able to intercept passes with their backs turned to me is very stupid and unrealistic. How many times have you been double teamed and you try to swing it to the open guy on the other side of the court and a guy in the middle not even facing you sticks his arm up in the air and the ball sticks to him like glue and he steals it?
It's kind of hard to describe this next point I'd like to make. When you are posting up someone on superstar and your back is to the basket and them, they can reach in and poke the ball away. But instead of the ball flying away from you like it should, it flies through your body and backwards towards the guy defending you???
I wish they would also implement little floating shots like the ones Gary Payton and Tony Parker do all the time so little guys can drive the lane and not get blocked. They have a running layup now but that's not the same.
I probably have so many more things I'd like to say but I know I've made this post very long already and apologize for that.