Great news next gen will probably make it to the PC

[M Harlem]

Sports, E3

At the EA booth, we checked out a demonstration on the technology their Sports sect is working on, and we were honestly blown away by some of the strides they have made because, although the primary focus was on realism in their sports titles, the technology can (and likely will) affect all game development. Here are some of the next-generation features the developers showed us:
Momentum Shift: The developers demonstrated how a character's body is altered by the speed. They compared current-generation jogging, with players back upright, to the new technology where the athlete lean forward.
Procedural Awareness: For this demo, the developer created a ball for the character to observe. as he moved the ball in space, the character constantly kept his eyes on the object, even at moments requiring that his head tilt to reach the field of vision -- when multiple important objects are on screen, the character wil "cycle" through observation, constantly checking up on the objects. Later, we saw changes in facial contortions to demonstrate the character's change in mood ("his reaction to the object") and how different emotions can be attached to multiple objects, the character's mood reflecting whichever object currently catches his attention.

Foot Planting: This is an issue we have still seen in many high-profile titles (e.g. Oblivion): a character will run, but his legs move slower and faster than the actual pace of the character, given the impression that these characters are somehow gliding across the map; this technology aims to fix that.

Responsiveness: The idea behind this feature is that every animation can be stopped at any moment and shift fluidly to another motion (current generation technology, according to EA, requires that a character must finish each animation before shifting to another). For example, say a football is running to the left and then wants to juke right, changes his mind, and does a full on sprint straight down the field. In what the developer found (and demonstrated), characters using this model actually responded and accomplished their task up to 25% faster.

Accurate Positioning: Current-generation points characters in only 8 directions; the demonstration shows that your character can turn in any degree of rotation.

The technology is subtle, but the effect is dramatic. The developers are hoping it will be utilized in all next-generation (clarified as PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and "probably PC") titles. We inquired about Nintendo Wii's capacity to use these tricks; the EA representative explained that, due to the constraints of the Wii's hardware, select features will be used "when appropriate."

[BIG GREEN]

"Probably pc" huh? Where did you get this article? Let's hope "pc" doesn't stand for politically correct in this case.

[Unrestrict3D]

We can only cross our fingers and pray. I'm not going to get my hopes up: 'probably'.

[M Harlem]

"Probably pc" huh? Where did you get this article? Let's hope "pc" doesn't stand for politically correct in this case.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/05/13/a-loo ... ism-tools/

[dada]

Probably is good enough for me. Its better than a flat out "NO". I would have been crushed on the spot if that were the case.

[Tuomas]

If there is even a slight chance of next gen game on pc, it's awesome news. Althought EA has almost perfected the skill of bringing me down every year. *pc upgrade thoughts*

[debiler]

Ah great. My PC can barely manage live 06. I hope there will be settings for the low-end-user. I really don't have the money for an upgrade.

[diddy]

i think 2.4 Ghz proc, 512-1Gb ddr and 128 video would be ok 4 high-res playing, without ... i don't know how's it gonna be in English! lags, tormoz!!! that's right, TORMOZOV!

[artestfighttrainer]

Nice to know there is some chance of next gen happening on pc but fixing and implementing new features to gameplay is highest priority imo. You can do all that crazy nice looking stuff but if the offensive rebounding is screwed, when i do adjusted and normal layups and they go behind the board and I get called for out of bounds and other gameplay annoyances are still there or new ones occur that will be very disappointing.

[Andreas Dahl]

Nice find M Harlem, and thanks for the link. I posted it on the main site and gave you credit of course

Very interesting news. I actually didn't expect this to happen for another year or two. But if it does happen, let's hope that they do a good job at it and that it has all the stuff that the current gen versions had an advantage in (dynasty, patching abilities, versatility etc). Also, that they will offer plenty of options with the detail settings, so that people will older computers will be able to run it..

[Andrew]

Sounds promising, but as Andreas said hopefully it has the features of the current generation version. I'm impressed by the graphics, the foot planting and the player awareness we've seen in the PS3 previews but I wouldn't want them at the expense of Dynasty Mode.

[Jugs]

The only thing I've found eye-opening to me is the Procedural Awareness, even though you'd have to zoom in quite a bit to see the eyes and head, it sounds fucking awesome.

[Unrestrict3D]

For once, just for once, I wish EA would focus on making the game more
appealing with better, more realistic gameplay and include all that
extra stuff that we want (see the wishlist thread). I just hate
how most games' primary focus is on the visual aspect of
the game - the gameplay needs to be there just as
much, if not more, as the graphics.

[The X]

with all these features coming in, I really hope they add a MLE & a Save Game option....I'm sure the Next Gen consoles can handle it

when they say "probably PC", I think it means that they'll implement stuff that a standard CPU can handle but not that only the very high-end ones can handle....I don't expect any features from the Next Gen versions of Live '07 to appear in the PC version....I expect a port from XBox....it will be Live '08 that I would expect some major changes to the PC version of the game....let's hope I'm wrong though

[Steve [The Spiderman]]

Not sliding and the 360 direction stuff is gameplay. Without sliding, you will be able to plant your feet and take charges and not slide 10ft on the court while trying to do so.

[Scorer--20]

maybe the nba live 07 have an option to disable and enable this tecnology ( for the oldiest PC's)

[Chris.]

maybe the nba live 07 have an option to disable and enable this tecnology ( for the oldiest PC's)

be serious this is EA we are talking about. I'm pretty impreseed with the new features but i doubt that the PC version will have all of them, more likely in 08, i just hope we got some

[Jing]

really? it be so cool, but be so demanding on the pc.. somehow i feel this is doubtful

[kp4life]

really good news!!!

[Isaiah]

this is great news! i hope the "probably" goes away in the near future...

[Mentally Hilarious]

I still say no way.

EA has always been restrictive when it comes to the PC. First it was holding of two CD's for bigger, better textures and whatnot. Then it was holding back DVD's, and now it'll be toning down the next-gen features. All just to make sure that the maximum amount of people would be able to play it.

[Anthony15]

Good to hear that, but YOUR PROBABLY doesn't raise my hopes that much. I agree with Andrew, i hoep they'll make lots of imrpovements in Dynasty Mode!

[Sauru]

as long as the next gen games have the ability to save games mid game then i will be happy. i know its alot to ask and the tech may not be there yet to allow saveable games, but maybe if they really try we can finally get this added.

[Steve [The Spiderman]]

This has been a long lost feature, that needs to be re-added!

[debiler]

It's #1 on my list... FOR THE LAST FRIGGIN 6 NBA LIVES!!!