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
NBA Live 07 Q&A Continued..
-- September 7, 2006 by: Maarten Goldstein
Shack: What about graphics. NBA Live 06 was a fantastic looking game, but with an extra year of 360 knowledge under the belt, has the team been able to squeeze more polygons or performance out of the hardware?
Tim Tschirner: Last year we pushed the hardware to the limit to get the player and environment models to look fantastic, but this year we pushed it even harder to bring the players and the environments to life. We focused a lot of effort on facial animation and a technology we call 'Procedural Awareness' which gives each player physical and emotional reactions to the events around them. The players will focus their attention on the ball and other players, as well as other points of interest like the backboard or the coach, depending on the situation. Procedural Awareness also drives facial animation, so you can actually see how a player feels about what is happening in the game. We also pushed the player appearance even further this year, with vast improvements in player shaders and textures for very lifelike skin and uniform fabric, and a new muscle deformation system. The environments have also seen some serious improvement. Last year, each arena was built from scratch specifically for Next Gen after an extensive reference gathering project involving dozens of photographers and every NBA arena in North America. This year we continued to improve on them with new crowd, lighting and effects. Environments for All Star Weekend are all-new and very Next Gen, complete with pyrotechnics!
Shack: You've also added a range of emotions for the players right?
Tim Tschirner: Yes - this falls under the realm of Procedural Awareness. While the game is going on players will be aware of their surroundings and look at appropriate targets to show this off. So a ballcarrier will look around to his teammates, look up at the hoop and look at his check. As that check gets closer he will focus more on his check than his teammates. This applies to all other players, as off-ball defenders will look back and forth from their check to the ball and offensive teammates will focus on the ball while trying to get open. Players will also show emotion when the whistle blows and these are all context sensitive as well. At the beginning of the game you'll see players chewing gum, breathing, and occasionally talking. As the game progresses and becomes more intense, the players attitudes will display this. Players will look angry when a call is made against them, and will look happy when the call is in their favour. As the intensity increases so do their reactions. This also applies to coaches, they will get more animated as the game goes on.
Shack: Let's not forget about online features. Anything new here?
Tim Tschirner: Yes - this year we added the Multiplayer Co-op mode. Up to 4 users can now form a team on one console to play online against a team of up to 4 other users on a different console.
For the more competitive groups, we also have a Leaderboard system specific to this game mode which tracks wins and losses. This will add a lot of depth for online battles, as a team of 4 can be extremely challenging to play against if they have enough experience. We also added the EA Locker which is essentially an Online storage device. It allows you to upload Rosters and individual Created Players which you can then share with other users. You can also download Rosters and Created Players from the EA Lockers of other users.
Shack: Marv Albert and Steve Kerr teamed for new commentary last year. Did they record any additional lines for 07?
Tim Tschirner: Absolutely. We booked the same amount of recording time with Marv and Steve as we did last year and got about 12,000 more lines to build on the brand new speech foundation from a year ago. Like last year, we rarely used scripts for Marv. Steve has never read from a script for any of his color commentary. As a result, you will find that our speech is very natural and not contrived since the comments are coming from Marv and Steve themselves. We have added a number of new speech events like a detailed half-time summary and some really cool fourth quarter speech that provides accurate and entertaining end-of-game analysis. There are a lot of other small situations that we have accounted for this year (like color commentary on turnovers, second chance points and blowout speech etc.). Also, like last year, we focused on getting performances from our audio talent that mimics their broadcast style as closely as possible and there are many occasions where you will Marv and Steve giving each other a hard time just like they do on the air. The most noticeable additions to speech are the player specific comments. We have in-depth, insider speech from Marv and Steve about over 120 players in the league. We think you will appreciate the insight and stories that Marv and Steve have regarding the best players in the league ranging from Kobe's number switch to Dirk singing Hasselhoff at the line. Some comments are triggered in game, but most are heard when players are at the line shooting free throws.
Shack: Let's talk achievements. Like many of last year's launch titles, Live 06 didn't have the most challenging ways to get a thousand points. Have you added more achievements for this year's release?
Tim Tschirner: Yes - we have 15 achievements this year which range from having to be achieved through reaching certain goals during regular Gameplay to having to compete online against other users.
Shack: Last year's loading screen where you could immediately take the virtual court to practice was extremely well done. Have you made any additions to this?
Tim Tschirner: Thanks, glad to hear that you liked this feature. We felt it was really important for the Next Gen feel of the game. The feature is still in NBA LIVE 07 and we have turned the Practice Gym into a fully transformable one. You can practice in the main Gym and when you go to the All-Star Weekend it transforms into an All-Star flavored Gym complete with spotlights and pyrotechnics. When you go into Dynasty Mode it transform into a Dynasty Mode Gym with the banner of your team and big screen that folds up from the ground.
Shack: On to ESPN integration. What will we be seeing here? Pretty much everything from a news ticker to video streaming right?
Tim Tschirner: Yes, there are four major components to the ESPN integration:
1. The ESPN Sports Ticker keeps you informed of scores and news, including all worldwide sports. You will also be able to filter this information to match your preferences.
2. The ESPN Radio broadcasts articles from various ESPN programming. You will be able to listen to these articles while navigating the menus or playing Dynasty. In addition to this, the ESPN SportsCenter Updates will bring you fresh ESPN news every 20 minutes.
3. The ESPN Motion delivers video streaming from recent ESPN broadcasts that you will be able to watch and listen to.
4. ESPN News contains a large number and range of text and image-based articles that you can read.
You can also filter the content and can decide if you want to get news from the entire NBA or only for your favorite NBA team.
Shack: Of course, there are plenty of people who don't plan to purchase a next-gen console just yet. What can current-gen players expect to find improved?
Tim Tschirner: From an overall feature set the games are similar. For example, Total Freestyle Control is a new feature on all platforms. There might be subtle differences in between the different versions but for the most part the games play the same. In some cases next gen simply takes a feature and advances it because it has the power to do more. For example, Freestyle Superstars has a special unlockable “In The Zone” level in next gen. Also, current gen has an ESPN integration package but next gen has full ESPN integration with ESPN Motion. For the most part, however, the feature set between current gen and next gen is pretty much the same.
NBA Live 07 is set to be released September 25 on Xbox, PS2, PC, PSP and Xbox 360 with a PS3 release following in November.
