ability to switch freestlye superstar abilities on the fly..

[Dewaco]

The season ended rather abruptly for the Memphis Grizzlies after getting swept by Dallas in the first round of the NBA playoffs. But just two weeks later star forward Pau Gasol was back on the court for the best-selling videogame NBA LIVE 07.

The 7-foot Spaniard and former Rookie-of-the-Year flew to Vancouver, British Columbia, where the videogame is developed at the Electronic Arts studio. EA bills NBA LIVE 07 as the most realistic videogame and one reason for that is producers bring in NBA stars to their motion-capture studio to perform on-court moves that are captured and input into the game.

Gasol joined a list of NBA players that includes Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, Antoine Walker and Corey Maggette, to complete a motion-capture session for NBA Live. Boris Diaw has a session scheduled for this summer.

“As a kid growing up playing videogames you never imagine that one day you are actually going to be in a game,” said Gasol. “It was a really unique experience and I can’t wait to see how my virtual character plays.”

During the day EA recorded Gasol’s motion and facial expressions in front of 55 high-definition cameras. Producers placed almost 100 markers borne from Hollywood Facial Capture technology strategically on Gasol's face to record his reaction to a variety of scenarios that occur during the course of a NBA game.

In a way, Gasol becomes a part-time actor to deliver authentic facial expressions.

“We try to create a situation that happens in a game and ask him to react to it,” said NBA LIVE 07 producer Tim Tschirner. “We will create a situation where he just blocked an important shot or he’s been fouled really hard and ask him to get himself in that mind frame so that we can record how he’ll react.”

Tschirner said the goal of NBA LIVE 07 is to capture detailed facial images and provide an emotionally rich and authentic experience through the athletes.

With that in mind, Gasol wore a specially tailored spandex/neoprene black bodysuit with light sensors positioned throughout his torso on every joint. He then performed a variety of dunks, jump shots and dribble moves against a former university basketball player-turned-stunt man on the court.

It took 45 minutes to outfit Gasol, who then spent 90 minutes on the court. "We're redoing the animation in the game," Tschirner said. "With Pau's unique body type and skill we were able to get some good material. ... It's a lot of work. It's hot and they're starting and stopping. The moves aren't easy, either. They have to be fairly precise. But it’s important for us to get these details if we want to have the most realistic and authentic basketball game. Fans of NBA Live expect it.”

At the end of the day Tschirner gave Gasol a sneak peak at what’s in store for NBA LIVE 07.

“NBA Live has always been the best-looking game but now it plays more like the real thing,” said Gasol. “Total Freestye Control is a cool feature that gives you incredible control over your players during the game. It allows the players to play more like real life. Freestyle Superstars have different skill sets and to be able to change their skills on the fly makes the game play more like the real NBA. It makes NBA Live 07 more authentic."

[Raptorel]

Great news^^^

Props to Dewaco

[hammertime23]

Nice find now I actually want to get this game.

[Ruff Ryder]

Niiiice, this is something I wished for after the release of last year's game. I didn't think it'd be that hard to implement. Imagine LeBron on the break throwing a no-look pass, then getting it back to finish with a highflying dunk on someone.

[Raptorel]

Yes but that's impossible due to the lack of buttons available. It could be possible, though, that the game could recognize the situation the player is in and adjust automatically, although very much not likely.

[Cloudy]

Gasol joined a list of NBA players that includes Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, Antoine Walker and Corey Maggette, to complete a motion-capture session for NBA Live. Boris Diaw has a session scheduled for this summer.

Good news anyway, I hope they will have more good news for us...

[Raptorel]

It's good that Antoine Walker got into the mo-cap. Too bad they can only use his movements to... well... Antoine Wanker.

[dafunk]

I dont mind this but they better have better dunks last years were ugly i want a damn 360 dunk.

[Raptorel]

Yes^^^, the 360 (and not really a 360) dunk off two legs with two arms was very rare in NBA Live 06, and there's a lot more dunks than that (remember Vince's 360 off two legs with one hand?). There should be separate ratings for one leg and two legged jumping also.

I also would like a one-leg windmill, looks awesome... (Josh Smith, Andre Iguodala-like). And windmill alley-oops (like in NBA 2003). Sure, pulled of very rarely but still. And between the legs. If it's in the dunk contest the animation should be in the actual game, but be performed EXTREMELY RARE.

[Andrew]

It's good that Antoine Walker got into the mo-cap. Too bad they can only use his movements to... well... Antoine Wanker.

That's a listing of former mo-cap players; Antoine Walker did some mo-cap for NBA Live 99.

Nice find, Dewaco. Do you have a link to the original article?

[Dewaco]

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/sports/sports_making.asp

[Andrew]

Thanks, I've posted it in our news giving you credit.

[Srbija]

Good read. Hopefully it will be as good as it says.

[koberulz]

come on, this is EA. of course it won't be.

[Raptorel]

Finally someone with common sense ^^^

[Nick]

This means the Freestyle superstars feature will be in the game again..

Bah! How annoying.

[beau_boy04]

come on, this is EA. of course it won't be.

1+

[Matt]

This means the Freestyle superstars feature will be in the game again..

Bah! How annoying.

you can turn them off though right?

[HtownBallaADL]

come on, this is EA. of course it won't be.

why do people hate on everything that ea does........at least good high hopes, that nba live 07 will b good........i know it will b good

[Voxel]

come on, this is EA. of course it won't be.

why do people hate on everything that ea does........at least good high hopes, that nba live 07 will b good........i know it will b good

because EA has made it clear that the sport simulation part of their games is their last priority.

most of their energy seem to be focused on marketting deals, buying exclusive licenses to avoid competition and finding out which unrealistic flashy new feature will atract more casual fans of the sport who pretend games to be a constant highlight reel. well they are a company and their purpose is to make money, so of course nobody can't blame them. but then again, nobody can't blame the people who feel dissapointed after buying the game year after year only to find out that it's made little or no progress or even went backwards in terms of realism.

[beau_boy04]

they SHOULD'VE done this in Nba Live 06 but not they didn't because it was their plan to be part of the main feature in their "so called" improved and revamped Dynasty Mode.

These EA guys are funny for real

[jerry]

Yes but that's impossible due to the lack of buttons available. It could be possible, though, that the game could recognize the situation the player is in and adjust automatically, although very much not likely.

thats exactly what i was thinkin of. because you cant do like a highflyer dunk when 5guys are standing in front of you(vc can but not everyone is vc). or when u are just standing and then u cant jump so high..u need speed.
so like when u are on a breakaway u can do a dunk, when u are double teamed or somethin u can no look pass it to an open man or do a scorer type move..and when u have an open shot you do like a catch-and-shoot shot, and when you are shaquille oneal and the defender isnt tight on you, u can do a power dunk. and so on...

[ImDuncanOnYou]

I really don't think there's a lack of buttons. It could just replace the crossover button since you can do that with the right analog stick anyways. Not a "plus" for keyboard users though. But if a player has the "highflyer' moves and the "scorer" moves, you think we'll be able to switch between the two while playing the game simultaneously? That seems unlikely to me. It seems like they would make it so you could change it when you pause the game. If you do it while simultaneously playing the game, would you just toggle between FSS abilities for players who have more than just two like Kevin Garnett?

[HtownBallaADL]

they dont have a crossover button for live on the consoles anymore, they already only use the right analog stick

[M Harlem 231]

I really don't think there's a lack of buttons. It could just replace the crossover button since you can do that with the right analog stick anyways. Not a "plus" for keyboard users though. But if a player has the "highflyer' moves and the "scorer" moves, you think we'll be able to switch between the two while playing the game simultaneously? That seems unlikely to me. It seems like they would make it so you could change it when you pause the game. If you do it while simultaneously playing the game, would you just toggle between FSS abilities for players who have more than just two like Kevin Garnett?

They can make it so you can toggle trough the fss moves by clicking the trigger and hold it and press a face button to do your move like in 06 its not that hard.