End of NBA Live 'Current Gen'?

[JaoSming]

So I was thinking about the new generation of consoles, GC => Wii, XBox => 360, PS2 => PS3, XP => Vista; and of course I was thinking about NBA Live and what EA is going to try and do for 08. So I decided to look up what was the last "old generation" NBA Live to come out and I found this out.

Last PS1 Live: Live 2001 Release date: Oct 20, 2000
PS2 Launch: October 26, 2000 with Live 2001 coming out Jan 23, 2001.
PC Release Date: February 8, 2001
Xbox didn't get a version of Live 2001.

2001
PS1 Screen PS2 Screen PC Screen

2007 (Note: No actual PS2 screens were released)
Xbox Screen PC with Patches Screen Xbox360 Screen

So I am wondering; do you think EA will come back and make a 'current gen' Live 08? Yes we can say they 'owe' it to us because of 07; but business-wise, do you think they will scrap the current gen and just focus on 360, PS3, and hopefully Vista versions?

[Tuomas]

That's a good lookup I wouldn't be surprised if EA wouldn't make any more 'current gen' Lives, thus making next gen current gen *headhurt*. But I think it's obvious that they make noticable more money with ps2 and xbox releases than they did with ps1 releases back then, so from a business-wise perspective they should continue to push ps2 and xbox games for a year or two at the most I think.

If EA were to stop making current gen games, what would happen to the pc version then? Two options:

1. No pc-version
2. The next gen version

The latter one would naturally be the only option if they decide to continue to release the series on pc. But I'm curioous to see if they really have the balls to do it, though I'm feeling kind of pessimistic about that. Next gen Live on pc sounds good but it would make the hardware requirements even more steeper, so I would have to forget about it EA sucks at making games run on slower pc's. Far Cry (ubisoft game) was a great example how a game can run and look good on a slower pc, but NBA Lives even now... look like crap.

Overall it's interesting to see what happens, since current gen games decide the faith of the pc version, at least I think so. I'll be happy If someone proved me wrong, though.

[Patr1ck]

Look at games like BF2, FEAR, and Call of Duty 2/3. All developed for PC and next-gen, but of course they have alot bigger markets. I think stepping up to next gen for PC is a good idea, because it would probably increase the PC version's sales. Of course they would have to scale many of the visuals back in order for it to run on most systems..

Worst-case scenario - No more Live for pc.
Best-case scenario - Having to play 08 or 09 for a year or two while they get the next gen version to work on pc.

I'm confident that Live 08 will be released for PC.

[Tuomas]

Well it's obvious that these days Live will be a port from consoles, so if EA stops making it for ps2 and xbox, it probably doesn't want to keep the engine alive for PC version only, thus making a decision of porting the next gen version to pc.

[JaoSming]

Well it's obvious that these days Live will be a port from consoles, so if EA stops making it for ps2 and xbox, it probably doesn't want to keep the engine alive for PC version only, thus making a decision of porting the next gen version to pc.

Right, and with Vista coming out Microsoft is really pushing the 'Games for Windows' thing. It's a known fact that EA has a monopoly on PC Sports Gaming so why shouldn't they go with the new wave of games being released on PC?

[BigKaboom2]

Little-known fact: even the flagship game of DirectX 10, Crysis, will run on DirectX 9. I doubt that XP users will be shut out from Live 08, and it seems unlikely that EA would even go to DX 10 this early. Is it even known if Live 07 actually uses DirectX 9? It could be 8.1 for compatibility purposes with older cards.

[el badman]

Little-known fact: even the flagship game of DirectX 10, Crysis, will run on DirectX 9. I doubt that XP users will be shut out from Live 08, and it seems unlikely that EA would even go to DX 10 this early. Is it even known if Live 07 actually uses DirectX 9? It could be 8.1 for compatibility purposes with older cards.

From what I read, it seems that directX9 would have a significant impact on visuals and performance with a DX10-compatible game, especially a game like Crysis, if comparing 2 PCs with otherwise similar components (but the other one with DX10). There's apparently an increasing realtionship going on between Microsoft and EA, at least in Crysis' case, so hopefully EA won't stop at that game only...
Live 07 does use DX9 as far as I know, and I'm pretty sure Live 08 will be DX10 compatible (they'll have at least 7 months or so to work on it). Hopefully, it won't be next-gen only and they'll release a current-gen, at least one last time

[Heiks]

Last PS1 Live: Live 2001 Release date: Oct 20, 2000

I actually owned a copy of Live '02 on PS1, so that can't be true. Not that it matters or anything.

[JohnnyLi]

I'm probably not going to buy more NBA Live's for the PC until next-gen comes out for it.

[JaoSming]

http://www.gamespot.com/ps/sports/nbali ... index.html

I really need to stop trusting IGN....

[Andrew]

It wouldn't surprise me too much if NBA Live 08 is released for the PS2 and Xbox (with the PC being a port of that version) but if so I'd say it will be the last for those platforms.

[[Q]]

yeah i don't tihnk enough people have 360s & ps3s yet. I say 1 last year for current gen

[JohnA20]

Yeah, I'm not sure they will scrap it yet.

[Jugs]

Live 2001 on PS1 > Every other game after that

[Lamrock]

Actually, NBA Live 2003 also came out for PS1. I would expect Live 08 or 09 to be the last current-gen Live. They can just update rosters and put out NBA Live 07 out every year for current-gen.

[TomCat]

lamrock are u blazers fan?

[23 LeBron]

Live 2001 on PS1 > Every other game after that

for me

live 05 on pc > all others...

[Lamrock]

lamrock are u blazers fan?

Well, I am a huge Brandon Roy fan since I live about 15 minutes away from the University of Washington, but I am a Blazers fan. Blazers vs. Lakers was the first playoff series I got into and when they blew it in Game 7, *sigh*. I'm also starting a Blazers 2K7 association.

But this is spiraling off-topic. There is so much easy money to be made that EA can do next to nothing and still make quite a bit of money by re-releasing NBA Live 07 with updated rosters for PS2/Xbox for years.

[aerosboy]

NBA LIVE 2005 gen was good
since 07 was crap
lol!

[Jowe]

I'm willing to be Nba live won't move to direct x til another 3 years minimum.. cause they are just lazy and incompetent like that.

Forget the graphics. All people need is awesome gameplay and a proper functioning dynasty mode.. but whatever I've given up on them.

[R-Tistic]

Yeah they will prolly keep goin til Live 09, or at least 08. If they don't make 08 for PS2, then I'd seriously consider buying an XBOX360 or even BS3, but I donno yet.

I remember for Genesis/Super Nintendo, they went up to Live 98...and they started on PS1 with Live 96....so that was three years. Therefore, we can hope for 1-2 more years for PS2 and Regular XBox.

[JaoSming]

Actually I doubt we will see anymore NBA Lives for the regular Xbox. I guess it is already a *dead* system with no games announced for it anymore.

EA didn't release Arena Football, March Madness or NCAA MVP on the Xbox this year.

[Andrew]

From what I've gathered NBA Live 08 is still slated to be Current Gen and Next Gen, though I'm not sure which systems CG will incorporate this year. My guess is that if they're still going to do a CG version for 08 then it will indeed be released for both the original Xbox and PS2, as well as the PC if it remains a CG port. I'd still say this will be the last year for Xbox and PS2 though.

[zevinz]

If the 08 PC graphics are still current gen, I won't buy it. Not sure if I would download it either. And I advise you to do the the same.
I've been purchasing all Nba lives for years the day of their release, except 07, cos I knew that it would be like a 06 update, I bought it 2 weeks after its release.
I am very disapointed with the direction EA Sports took the last two years...I've been discussing with a EA France manager about one year ago, and their position is sadly clear: they don't care about the PC community.

[Patr1ck]

If EA truly didn't care about the PC community, they wouldn't have worked an extra 4 months in 2000/2001 to release NBA Live 2001 in February of 2001, they would have scratched it realizing that 2000 was one of the best of the series, and worked on 2002. They know the PC community is the most delicate of the series, because if they release a subpar product, it will need to be patched, and we will let them know about it. EA is very supportive of the PC community, why do you think they hired Tim? Why do you think they invited Andrew to participate in Community Day? I don't doubt that an EA employee would stress console over PC, just because the money generated by the console is good enough. 2K would probably be on PC if they had a big enough budget, which they don't. 07 was much more than an 06 update, which is why it contained bad bugs. It wasn't optimized and tested thoroughly because they were changing so much.