NBA Live 07
Added August 14th, 2006 by Dakota Grabowski
The next-generation of consoles is putting pressure on publishers and developers to deliver highly impressive titles. They can’t be lazy, they shouldn’t cut corners, and they must give the gamers what they want – an extremely entertaining video game. Electronic Arts has often been blasted from the press for cutting corners on innovative features, so when I was presented with the chance to visit EA Canada in Vancouver, all those thoughts in the back of my head replayed over and over again. Would EA’s next title in the NBA Live franchise come without a dynasty mode again? Would they cut out features from the past to focus on graphics again?
EA has certainly put the pieces together this time. The presentation of NBA Live 2007 showed that the development team turned that corner and is making strides to the hoop to dunk the ball. With the producers from each individual console, each one of them stressed that they dedicated countless hours perfecting the game as much as they could; at least in the time frame they were allotted. The development teams are closing in on the final stages to have the title set to go gold. Let’s go ahead and cover my favorite topic for every sports game – the dynasty mode.
The dynasty mode is being incorporated back into NBA Live 2007. After going M.I.A. in last year’s version, it has returned in glorious fashion. The feature now includes new staff positions: assistant head coach, scout, and trainer. All make their way into the dynasty mode and are critical to developing your team. Once you create a budget that allows room to hire more than one (up to three are available for each position), you are able to assign them to specific duties throughout the course of the year. The only downside is that you’re unable to fire them until the season is over. You’ll absolutely want to make sure to hire the best candidate fit to work on your staff.
EA has certainly put the pieces together this time. The presentation of NBA Live 2007 showed that the development team turned that corner and is making strides to the hoop to dunk the ball. With the producers from each individual console, each one of them stressed that they dedicated countless hours perfecting the game as much as they could; at least in the time frame they were allotted. The development teams are closing in on the final stages to have the title set to go gold. Let’s go ahead and cover my favorite topic for every sports game – the dynasty mode.
The dynasty mode is being incorporated back into NBA Live 2007. After going M.I.A. in last year’s version, it has returned in glorious fashion. The feature now includes new staff positions: assistant head coach, scout, and trainer. All make their way into the dynasty mode and are critical to developing your team. Once you create a budget that allows room to hire more than one (up to three are available for each position), you are able to assign them to specific duties throughout the course of the year. The only downside is that you’re unable to fire them until the season is over. You’ll absolutely want to make sure to hire the best candidate fit to work on your staff.
The dynasty mode also has a player rotation screen that I now prefer over the regular depth chart. You can determine a particular percentage of how much playing time each player participates for the five positions. If you want to put Shaq into the point guard for a few minutes when you simulate your games, you are able to do so. Of course, you’ll be able to play over several decades to have your players retire with your team (sadly no Hall of Fame feature was found). Also a big feature that is being stressed is the team chemistry. This isn’t the usual the more wins the better type chemistry; it includes factors such as: happiness in player talent, market, contentment in play time, and much more. The dynasty is shaping up to be one of the better ones to be released within a sports title.
The All-Star weekend has returned in all its glory. The T-Mobile Rookie Challenge, 3PT Shootout, Dunk Contest, and the All-Star game itself are included. The commentary during the All-Star Weekend happens to be different than the in-game commentary. Ernie Johnson and Greg Anthony provide their commentary for the All-Star weekend opposed to Marv Albert and Steve Kerr for the other game modes.
Speaking on Marv Albert and Steve Kerr, the audio department this year has zoned in on perfecting the sound quality as much as possible. They focused on three main objectives for NBA Live 2007. The first was to capture the authenticity of Marv & Steve’s commentary. They didn’t want Marv speaking about something off the wall that he would never cover in his commentary. The same goes with Steve Kerr, they wanted both to seem as if they were living and breathing in the game. The second objective was to nail the in-depth analysis for every game played. There are over 25,000 spoken lines of dialogue, so you can see how much they needed to go into this department. With the analysis, they wanted the comeback performances of superstars to be spotlighted within the commentary. The last objective was to make sure Steve Kerr’s colour commentary was spot on and entertaining. At times in past NBA Live games, Kerr would draw a blank and hit that wall with comments. With 2007, the NBA crew hopes to make the audio entertaining, in-depth, and all around authentic. For those who worry about not having their name in the game for your custom players, well EA should have you covered this year with over 550 player-created names in the database.
Visually, NBA Live 2007 is centering on taking away the dark contrasts and shadows. With this in effect, it looks more sleek and bright. They clearly didn’t want a moody game anymore. The lead art designer mentioned that skin quality was a major priority for the team. They wanted the players to sweat and look as if they have just came out of the shower at the end of the game. Unfortunately, right after tip-off, the players were drenched with sweat, so the perspiration came a little early in this build. They will of course fix this in due time, but it’s definitely interesting to see how much sweat the players will progressively have throughout the game. The coaches on the sidelines are animated and resemble their real life counterparts.
Visually, NBA Live 2007 is centering on taking away the dark contrasts and shadows. With this in effect, it looks more sleek and bright. They clearly didn’t want a moody game anymore. The lead art designer mentioned that skin quality was a major priority for the team. They wanted the players to sweat and look as if they have just came out of the shower at the end of the game. Unfortunately, right after tip-off, the players were drenched with sweat, so the perspiration came a little early in this build. They will of course fix this in due time, but it’s definitely interesting to see how much sweat the players will progressively have throughout the game. The coaches on the sidelines are animated and resemble their real life counterparts.
Also included in the visual department this year is over 200-300 pass animations, 50-75 Signature free throw animations, and names under the players' feet have been removed. With the players' names being removed, a new HUD is introduced. The HUD is in the bottom corners for the gamers to recognize which player they are in control of. For all the complaints last year of the free-form camera being removed, NBA Live 2007 brings it back for those who want to see every intricate detail of the game.
As for the gameplay, the team has thrown out the '94 system and introduced all new computer A.I. They took their time with building up this engine and want to keep adding new features with the upcoming years. New to this year’s version is the Superstar Types. There are five different superstar types and three levels of which they could be. The five offensive types showcased were ‘High Flyer,' ‘Playmaker,' ‘Post,' ‘Scorer,' and ‘3PT.' However, only two of them should need further clarification. ‘Playmaker’ is a superstar type that is known for passing. ‘Scorer’ is for players who shoot the pretty jump shots over a rising defender. The different levels could be compared to a level 2 ‘High Flyer’ Ricky Davis to a level 3 ‘High Flyer’ in Lebron James.
The NBA Live 2007 crew is really stressing the implementing of ESPN all over the game. What is even better is the online possibilities they have looked into. ESPN Radio is included with two minutes of streaming feed. To access this, you’ll of course need Xbox Live to log onto EA’s servers. Beyond ESPN Radio, they have tapped into ESPN Original Series like The Dan Patrick Show, Pardon the Interruption, and even Around the Horn; this feature will include podcasts available for download on Xbox Live. If that isn’t enough, in Dynasty mode, EA has incorporated ESPN Insider to help you pick better players throughout the draft, and even an ESPN Rumor Mill to keep track of upcoming trades. ESPN is definitely a bright spot in this year’s NBA Live iteration.
The Outlook:
This is a can't-miss year for NBA Live. They are bringing back NBA All-Star Weekend and the Dynasty Mode; both important features that should attract players back from its rival, the NBA 2k series. Everything is shaping up to create a solid game for the 2006-2007 NBA season. Now if they could only buy the license to introduce the NBA Development League into Live, I would be one happy gamer.
The NBA Live 2007 crew is really stressing the implementing of ESPN all over the game. What is even better is the online possibilities they have looked into. ESPN Radio is included with two minutes of streaming feed. To access this, you’ll of course need Xbox Live to log onto EA’s servers. Beyond ESPN Radio, they have tapped into ESPN Original Series like The Dan Patrick Show, Pardon the Interruption, and even Around the Horn; this feature will include podcasts available for download on Xbox Live. If that isn’t enough, in Dynasty mode, EA has incorporated ESPN Insider to help you pick better players throughout the draft, and even an ESPN Rumor Mill to keep track of upcoming trades. ESPN is definitely a bright spot in this year’s NBA Live iteration.
The Outlook:
This is a can't-miss year for NBA Live. They are bringing back NBA All-Star Weekend and the Dynasty Mode; both important features that should attract players back from its rival, the NBA 2k series. Everything is shaping up to create a solid game for the 2006-2007 NBA season. Now if they could only buy the license to introduce the NBA Development League into Live, I would be one happy gamer.
