I've never thought of that second option before. I think of it in the same way we say something on TV is live. Sims Live. :p

You build for the sims, you buy for the sims, but you don't live (in-game) for them, hence when clicking live mode the sims will be going live, begin to move around etc.

Wow...I never thought it was pronounced any other way. I've always said it Live, long I. Like a video shoot.

I always thought it was Live like alive because when you are in build/buy mode the game is paused but once you un-pause the game it's back live. When I heard him save live like give I thought there goes the English language with much left up for interpretation.

Although this seems to be the less popular opinion I've always thought of it as the verb version of 'live' (rhyming with 'give'), which makes sense to me because 'build' and 'buy' are both verbs, so why would 'live' be an adverb (or possibly adjective, I suppose) rather than another verb?
Then again, I am excessively analytical by nature and it makes no real difference to the playing experience, I suppose it just depends on what the voices in all of our heads say!

EDIT: I did also just see AmyPond's argument and must say that makes sense too, so the 'verb' thing isn't really a given.

Uh...well...I could see how it would be [a]live, as if you're playing the game live...but I'm of the opinion that Live Mode is playing with Sim lives, and you are controlling their living. This is a LIFE simulator, after all.
Besides, everyone says it's [a]Live mode because then everything is unpaused, but that's not comepletely true, is it? It's not fully live, you can pause and fast forward through it. So, the Sims are living, but what we see is not exactly live.
...this is going to morph into something akin to the Zelda annunciation wars, isn't it?
We're all doomed.

Everyone saying it rhymes with "alive" is wrong. If that was the case, live mode would be translated differently in other languages. As an example: the Dutch translation. In Dutch "live mode" is translated as "leefmodus", in which "leef" is a conjugation of the verb "leven" which translates to "to live". If live would rhyme with "alive", the translation would be "livemodus", because "live TV" translates to "live TV" in Dutch. This basically proves the developers intended the "live" in "live mode" to be a verb, and thus it rhymes with "give".

Who cares about how some crazy moon language translates stuff? We are talking about the original English version here.

I always thought it was live like "alive"...because live mode is the game in action, or live (like a tv show).

I would believe its live, like alive because you always hear on news cameras " here's a live shot of the action" or whatever. because you're witnessing it happening

My post on the official T4 forums was deleted, I think. I haven't seen it since the day I started this issue over there. I named it Live -vs- Live, in case anyone here had seen it. I cannot believe this has taken off to the point of causing a poll to be published. LOL! I think this is a riot! ;-)

Oh! Over there I'm windweaver

Breaking news! We are coming to you live from the scene...
Or... Live Nude Sims
Or... LIVE ACTION! {{yeeyeeyeeyeeyeeyeeyeeyeeyeeyeeyee}}
Or...

Yeah.. you get the picture...

*queue Symphony*
Live free and beauty surrounds you
The world still astounds you
Each time you look at a star
*warbling on * As an asteroid plummets to the ground where you are standing and you die

I remember this part of Sims update and development, its where you get to burn a lot of everything I have to get the new one now.

I have always said live as in alive and never hesitated because the game is live as in its happening right now.

I believe the statement, "The sims live while they are live." sums it up nicely.

Also, you must take into account that this is American (USA) english. We can verbally mangle anything here!

I live therefore I am alive...errrr is it wherefore or maybe heretofore...crap...hellifino...ahhhh...mmmm the third button, yeah that's it,door number 3. geez live sux.

I figured since you can pause and fast forward the clock, it would be "Live" as in "alive," "live action," etc.

Live as in alive, but i get why people would say "live" as in give. It also makes sense.
Omg. You know how when you say or hear a word a zillion times it just starts to seem really weird??
After reading this thread "live" doesn't even look like a legitimate, correct word any longer, regardless of pronunciation xP
sims community= word destroyers. hell yes.we conquered this word.

For me I think of it this way:
Buy-ing their stuff.
Build-ing their home.
Live-ing Their life.

Ever since I was a kid, myself and those around me all call it live as in "Living". I never thought of it as "alive". Since you can have ghosts and undead Sims, it makes even less sense to call it that (even though "alive" in this case is more synonymous with "animated")

Live, like alive

I thought it as 'live', as in, "We're going live in 5 seconds!". But, maybe i'm wrong, maybe Graham is wrong.

'Live' as in 'Clive' since you're live in game.

I've always said it like alive, because it sounds less stupid. But every once in a while I catch myself wondering why? Good to know this is a debatable topic. Not gonna change how I say it, though.

Live from New York... It's Saturday Night Live

As in, everything else is just set-up/practice... now you're live!
I can see where people might go with live (give) mode, but it's always been live (alive) mode to me.