NBA Live 07

• Platform: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox, Playstation 2, Sony PSP, Playstation 3
• Published by: EA Sports
• Developed by: EA Sports Canada
• Release Date: Sep 25, 2006
• Genre: Sports
• Multiplayer: Yes
• Online: Yes

Screenshot Gallery

Trailers and Footage

NBA Live 07 Q&A

Regular Shacknews readers know I've been playing NBA Live for several years now, logging far more hours than I have in games like Counter-Strike. The majority of my time has been spent with current-gen releases, and that certainly didn't change with last year's NBA Live 06 release for the Xbox 360. It was very pretty, but missed quite a number of features. NBA Live 07 looks to be much improved when it comes to that. I had the opportunity to ask next gen producer Tim Tschirner about this year's changes and additions.

Shack: NBA Live 06 was a pretty solid Xbox 360 launch title, but it was missing several features found in the current-gen release and wasn't perhaps as polished as it could have been. When NBA Live 07 development started, what were your main goals?

Tim Tschirner: For NBA LIVE 06 we created the whole game from scratch to deliver a truly Next Gen experience with a true Next Gen look and feel. It was necessary in order to lay the proper foundation for the game, but unfortunately this strategy didn't give us the time to implement all of the feature depth that we wanted to have. So for NBA LIVE 07 we focused on Gameplay innovation and Feature depth. We have completely re-written the AI and Animation system and created a new Gameplay experience centered around Athletic Performance. We added a full-featured Dynasty Mode, a new Next Gen All-Star Weekend and we will introduce an ESPN integration package that will have everything like the Ticker, ESPN.com articles, PodCasts, and ESPN Motion (Video).

Shack: One thing that last year's release lacked was the Superstar moves that were put in the Xbox and PS2 release. We know its in this year's version, but you've expanded upon it quite a bit right?

Tim Tschirner: We've definitely made some major upgrades this year. For starters, players can now be multiple superstar types. So, a player like LeBron isn't just a High Flyer or a Scorer or a Play Maker. Now he can be all three. A simple button press in Gameplay will change his Superstar type so that you have ultimate control over his actions. By enabling players to be multiple types we have been able to differentiate players from one another in greater detail than the pas. We've also been able to separate the Superstar types into three levels this year.
Level 1 Superstars are those up and coming players in the league who can pull off the occasional highlight moves.
Level 2 Superstars are potential All-Star players who wow the crowd on a regular basis.
And Level 3 Superstars are those players who are a fixture on ESPN highlights every night. The T-Mac's, Wade's and KG's of the league.

As each level progresses so does the number of moves that the player will have in their arsenal. So, a Level 1 player will have 4 moves, a Level 2 will get 4 more for a total of 8, and Level 3 Superstars get yet another 4 moves for a total of 12. These players can also get 'In the Zone'. Basically, we track momentum internally, based on made shots, missed shots, assists, blocks, rebounds, made Freestyle superstar moves, etc. Once a team is deemed in momentum their Level 3 Superstars will have access to a few more highlight caliber moves to pull off. For example, our High Flyers will be able to pull off some former great dunks in the NBA. Think Dee Brown ‘Eyes Shut' and JR Smith's ‘Behind the Back'. However, you won't be able to pull these off too easily in traffic, so you'll need to create a Fastbreak situation with these players to be successful.

Finally, from a control standpoint, we've moved all controls onto the Right Stick this year for a number of reasons. First off, it allows us to add a ton of new moves since we can add a variety of inputs to pull them off. We're no longer limited to tap versus hold on the button. Now we can add ¼ circles, ½ circles, full circles, etc. Second, it is much more organic and will feel like you have way more control over your players. The best example is for a Play Maker. Instead of pressing a button to trigger a behind the back pass, now you sweep the analog stick down from right to left to simulate the player's arm when making this pass. It's a lot of fun once you get the hang of it. There is a learning curve to Superstars this year, which will reward those players who practice it more. Level 1 controls are the easiest to perform, as they are simple straight actions (up, down, left and right). Level 2 are more complex as they are quarter circles (up and right, up and left, down and right, and down and left). And, level 3 are even more complex with half circles (Right Up and Left, Right Down and Left, Left Up and Right, and Left Down and Right). Finally, when your player is 'In the Zone' you need to do a full circle with the Right Stick by starting with Up and then going clockwise all the way back to Up. With all of these changes to Superstars this year no single player is alike.

Shack: We'll also see Dynasty Mode in 07. What kind of new features will we see here.

Tim Tschirner: This year, you will see the deepest and most authentic Dynasty Mode in the history of NBA LIVE. Everything you do will revolve around the Team Chemistry logic. We all know how important it is for a team to get along well on and off the court. We have seen in the history of this sport some very strong teams on paper disappoint the fans due to poor team chemistry, or vice versa.

For NBA LIVE 07, we have managed to grasp this dynamic and translate it into a very deep and meaningful feature for Dynasty Mode. Indeed, having good team chemistry increases your team ratings, which allows you to win more games, and naturally bad team chemistry will go the other way. As a GM, your role will be to make sure you build and maintain strong team chemistry. In order to achieve this, you will have to hire a strong staff first. The addition of the Assistant Head Coach will be a critical piece of the puzzle, as he will be in charge of scheduling off-day events or researching rumors in the league. These two tasks, like all other tasks in LIVE 07's Dynasty Mode, will have a direct or indirect impact on your team chemistry, so make sure you pay special attention to them.

Another new feature this year is the Player Rotation. This allows users to specify the Playing Time and Start % for each of their players. So if they want to see their favorite player shine in the league, even though by default this player does not get a lot of playing time, they have the ability to control this by putting him on the team's front line.

Another other great feature we have put in is the ability to start the Dynasty Mode under different conditions:
1. The regular way that starts in pre-season with Staff Hiring.
2. The Fantasy Draft, which allows you to build your fantasy team from scratch by signing existing NBA players.
3. The 2006 NBA Draft option, which allows you to start the Dynasty Mode by re-living the 2006 NBA Draft that took place in New York, and change the course of events.

Finally, there are the Dynasty Mode Help screens. We have created 50 screens worth of information that speaks to what is contained in LIVE 07's Dynasty Mode and how to best use all of this information to be successful throughout a 25 year Dynasty.

Shack: All-Star Weekend is also back. Is there anything in here that the current-gen versions didn't already have, or is this another feature sync?

Tim Tschirner: There are several new changes to the mode. First, like the 5on5 practice gym, there is an All-Star practice gym where you can access the All-Star Weekend Menu, take the Dunk Tutorial or just shoot around in a cool environment.

Second, the entire mode has a Vegas visual theme, in honor of the 07 All-Star Weekend location. We wanted to have an over-the-top feel to the game modes, so you will see some really cool visuals like fireworks when you make a big dunk or hit a money ball in the 3 Point Shootout. We are really happy with how the look of the mode came to life this year.

Third, there have been some Gameplay modifications. All of the dunks that existed in past iterations were re-captured to fit our new dunk system and you will find that the gather part of the dunks are much shorter than in the past. As a result, it is more challenging to cue up tougher tricks like the 540 and 720. We have also thrown in a Nate Robinson toss that reproduces his behind-the-back, under-the-leg lob from the 06 Dunk Contest. For the 3 Point Shootout, signature shots now come into play and you will have to learn the different release points for each player to be successful. For example, Ray Allen's release is earlier in the shot window, to account for his quick release, while Dirk's release is a little later as he tends to fade a bit while shooting from high above his head. In the past, all of the signature shots in the mode were timed the same, so if you got the timing for one, you had it for all of them. Now there is more of a learning curve which we think the users will really appreciate.

Finally, the audio for the mode has been completely re-done with Greg Anthony joining Ernie Johnson in the booth for some speech that is very entertaining. As usual, they will call you out if you struggle but they will also give you your due when you do well. Their dynamic commentary adds a lot to the mode and users will definitely break out in laughter during various competitions.

Shack: Tell us about the signature moves and shots that you've added to NBA Live 07.

Tim Tschirner: We have a ton of signature jumpers in the game this year. We spent a couple of days at Mocap focused on getting these to look as authentic as possible. For example, we have T-Mac, Pierce, Kobe, Brand, KG, Prince, Ginobili, Walker, Webber, Allen, Bosh, Arenas, Vince, Camby, AI, Bibby, Yao, Marion and a whole lot more. We've also been able to bring in a couple NBA players to Mocap this year and have been able to get their signature jumpers, freethrow routines and dunks in the game. So, when you're playing with D-Wade, Melo, Pau and Boris Diaw it's actually their shots and actions. We also have a ton of freethrow routines this year as well. From Rip to J-Kidd we have a number of routines, all with signature facial animation. It's pretty cool to see players taking deep breaths and have their cheeks billow out.

Shack: The AI system is brand new in this year's release. Why did you decide to go this route?

Tim Tschirner: Re-writing the AI was a necessity for us to be able to get LIVE to the level we know it should be at. We wanted the players to look and feel like real-life athletes that play true to life to their NBA counterparts. These players need to not only move like NBA players, but think like them as well. The old AI system would not allow us to achieve this vision, so it was necessary for us to re-write everything. From shots, to dunks, to rebounds, to passing, to offense, to defense, to the way players move, everything is new. We've been able to lay the foundation for taking LIVE to where it needs to be.

We also took on a new animation tool, ANT, which has allowed us to do some pretty amazing things with animations that had not been possible with our old tool. The biggest impact this tool has given us is with our player movement - now our players move like human beings. They have an understanding of their weight and momentum, and will have to plant and cut when changing directions. No longer are they able to warp around the court like a water bug. We're quite excited about what we've been able to accomplish with our AI this year. And we're even more excited about what we'll be able to do in the future.

Shack: Freethrows..a lot of people had problems with the new system. Have you done anything to clarify what people are supposed to be doing when shooting freethrows? Of course, there's no helping Ben Wallace...

Tim Tschirner: The biggest change we've made to free throws this year is to give you feedback after they've shot the ball. We let you know if you shot too early, too late, missed right or missed left. We will also show an overlay with a meter showing the path the analog stick took when shooting the shot. You'll see how close you were to the sweet spot, and will also see how different players like Nash and Shaq have different success windows. At any point during the free throw you can press the Y button to pop up the instructions on how to shoot the free throw. We've also done a few under the hood changes to make them easier and more responsive to shoot.

Page One   Page Two   Comments