LATEST NBA LIVE 06 "PREVIEW" from GAMEDAILY.......

[PinoyIDOL]

Heres the LINK:
http://www.gamedaily.com/xbox/preview/id=115&type=1&source=00001&gameid=4290

Impressions: NBA Live 06
As basketball season approaches, so does EA's next incarnation of the NBA Live series. We get ourselves some impressions.

It's hard to fathom that the NBA pre season is only a couple of months away, especially since it seems like only yesterday that the San Antonio Spurs captured the NBA title last June, not that I'm complaining. I'm an NBA junkie, so the sooner I get some TNT b-ball action the happier I'll be. In the meantime, I played some NBA Live 2006, EA's latest basketball title that's definitely coming along nicely, though at this early stage, I'm still not sure whether it'll be better than NBA 2K6.

The NBA Live series has always had arcade roots. This isn't a franchise where you make big stops and break down defenses, especially since you can easily run up your three point totals using Karl Malone in some of the earlier games. However, EA, much like it did with Madden NFL 06, has made some fairly huge changes with this title, most notably giving superstars the recognition they deserve.

When I first heard that the game's developers were catering to the NBA's superstar players I was a little worried because I assumed these athletes were going to have maxed out stats and be next to impossible to defend, but that's far from the case. Sure, Allen Iverson can tear up some scrub off the bench but that's only because he can. Similarly, Ben Wallace is a monster on the offensive and defensive glass, but let's face facts here, Ben Wallace pulverizes the competition on a nightly basis, but that doesn't mean you can't beat him at his own game. It's not that Ben Wallace is this unstoppable force. You can actually out rebound him using a shooting guard, though this will take some serious skill to accomplish

EA's not making the NBA's cover boys super men. It's merely giving them and you more options to play with. For example, if you're on the fast break and you toss the rock towards a mediocre player he'll just lay up or dunk the ball in a less than impressive fashion, but replace him with Kobe Bryant or Lebron James and this fast break becomes a lot more impressive. Now, instead of Kobe barreling into a defender or getting his shot blocked, he (through the power of your button presses) bust out one of his signature maneuvers, which not only aids him in avoiding the opposition but pulling off a very sweet dunk in the process.

What's essentially going on here is a series of checks and balances. There are so many talented basketball players that no one individual is necessarily going to dominate the game by scoring 94 points. Steve Francis the offensive threat is going to run into Eddie Jones the defensive presence. Ray Allen is going to slam right into Bruce Bowen. This means that for the first time in the series (and possibly the whole genre) EA is accurately depicting the game of basketball. Good transition defense will eliminate the other team's fast break opportunities. Shaq will need to be double teamed all of the time because if he isn't it's game over for the opposition.

To make sure that all of the superstars' skills are highlighted EA created the following eight categories: Inside Scorer, Outside Scorer, Outside Stopper, Inside Stopper, Playmaker, High Flyer, Power, and Shooter. None are better than the other except for when you pit two players of varying skills against one another such as Tracy McGrady versus Luke Walton. Nine times out of ten, McGrady's going to make Walton look bad.


Aside from that huge upgrade, the rest of the game feels very similar to last year's, though the character models as well as the animation (dunking in particular) are much improved. However, the game still has a tendency to chug after a shot is made. If you're playing with the behind the back camera view, Live breaks up ever so slightly as the camera swings around the basket, though with a few development months left to go this issue may be fixed.

I've been really critical of EA's sports games in the past, mostly because they lack quality presentations. After all, when I turn on TNT I hear the signature theme as well as Marv Albert, Steve Kerr, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Charles Barkley. Rap music is nowhere in the equation, and while EA appears to have a fair share of it in Live 06 (which is fine), they secured the voice talents of all the aforementioned broadcast journalists save Barkley (not sure if he made it in there). Commentary is still a bit stiff, but it's better than past versions.

Full length games are fun but that's not the only thing you can do. Live features a bevy of cool game modes including Season, Dynasty, Playoffs, Freestyle Challenge, 1 on 1, Slam Dunk School (you may need it), Individual Practice, and NBA All Star Weekend. It's not genre defining by any means, but what's here is fun to tinker with, especially All Star Weekend. Most of the events are present, so you can take part in the Rookie Challenge, the 3-Point Shootout, the Slam Dunk Contest, and the All Star Game itself, though I'm disappointed at the learning curve for some of them. 3-Point Shootout, while enjoyable, can at times be quite maddening because at this early stage the players don't shoot the ball properly. In fact, all you have to do (aside from selecting someone who can actually shoot), is grab the ball off the rack with the R button and just tap Y, B, A, or X. Note I said tap and not hold. For some bizarre reason, shots that are released at the height of a player's jump won't go in, but quick and sloppy looking tosses rip the net. I'm not saying that no one shoots like that, but what I am saying is no good player shoots like that. Hopefully, this mode isn't finished yet.

The Dunk Contest is the most entertaining event but you may require a lot of practice to master it. If you're clueless be warned that your player may look like a fool on his first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh...oops! Time just ran out! It can be incredibly hard to throw down the rock, though there is a tutorial to help you slam it with authority.

To really fly you'll need to input a few button combinations, hold one of those buttons for as long as you possible can, and do some funky stuff with the Left analog stick. But once you get a good handle on it the competition is a lot of fun, especially against actual people.


Quality.I find myself enjoying this game, but at the same time I as well as the rest of the industry is at a crossroads. Do we pony up the dough and pick up the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube editions, or do we wait for the Xbox 360 incarnation? EA hasn't announced whether Live 06 will be available at the 360's launch, but seeing as how the NBA season kicks off in November and Microsoft's new toy is rumored to be dropping the same month, it's safe to assume that the next generation of hoops will follow soon after. However, if you're not down with the 360, the current-gen version will probably be almost as good.

by Chris Buffa

[fgrep15]

The link doesn't work...

[Point God]

ya, link dont work, its good you posted the article though... its sound alright... nothing too special IMO though

[Andreas Dahl]

Thanks for this link as well Posted about it on the main page.

I'm still wishing that their still working hard on improving the game, and will continue doing so for at least a month and a half; and that the copies some sites has gotten is very early versions. Which does not seem to be the case though...

Aside from that huge upgrade, the rest of the game feels very similar to last year's

(n)

[Goldenstatewarrior]

Good find.

[CERVANTES]

Game is finished. I'm sure about that. But they are maybe adding new faces, portraits, ratings, accesories and all that roster stuff untill they start making copies for release. That will be starting September, the first or second september week.

[PinoyIDOL]

Cervantes: Game is finished. I'm sure about that. But they are maybe adding new faces, portraits, ratings, accesories and all that roster stuff untill they start making copies for release. That will be starting September, the first or second september week.

Pinoyidol: Are u sure?? Do you have sources inside EA? TY

[J@3]

He says "I'm sure about that" after everything... I don't think it's entirely finished, but it'd be very close. They can't entirely finish it until a certain cut off point in September for the NBA rosters, so I'm guessing there's little things they might think about changing but that's probably just wishful thinking.

Alot of reviewers have complained about the game speed... after people complained about Shaq being able to do windmill's and such they changed that, maybe they'll do something about the game speed too.

[Matt]

haha, they'll decrease the game speed but Shaq will be able to to windmills again, that's EA for ya.

[ignatu]

Every review, preview, impression article is mostly the same. It seems like nobody is really previewing or reviewing the game as much as they're parroting back EA marketing points about the game.

Reviews, like EA marketing, cover the superstar abilities endlessly but don't go into things like franchise mode, whether it's possible to play defense better than in the past, etc. And so far, the only thing talked about is the offensive superstar modes, not much on defense.

[Goldenstatewarrior]

Game is finished. I'm sure about that. But they are maybe adding new faces, portraits, ratings, accesories and all that roster stuff untill they start making copies for release. That will be starting September, the first or second september week.

Game is almost finished, everything else is true.

[PinoyIDOL]

They should fix the NET before releasing the FINAL copy. It won't take them so long to fix it though...

[Rokas[LTU]]

But it won't be fixed..

[PinoyIDOL]

That's a bad news for me... NBA 2k6 seems to be better this year! Anyway, im still buying Live 06 despite of it.