Groundbreaking Feature Revealed

[rdelizo35]

Andrew,

When you point it that way, it makes a lot of sense. Paying over $100 - $200 a year just to use it is steep.

I like the idea of a one-time fee, though. Although, I hope they keep it free.

[benji]

This is the same company that wants you to pay a yearly fee to continue playing your games. Of course they'd love to charge people for mere roster updates.

[Andrew]

I think it would have to be, I really don't see people paying a monthly subscription. As it is a lot of people will probably have to be really wowed by the concept to want to even pay a one-time fee but we could be getting ahead of ourselves here as that hasn't happened yet. For NBA Live 09 at least, the updates will be free.

[nowitzkihater]

do you need xbox live for this feature or can you play even if you're banned (i bought a banned console)

[deihatein]

do you need xbox live for this feature or can you play even if you're banned (i bought a banned console)

Banned Consoles?

[Patr1ck]

Consoles get banned by Microsoft(they have a way of identifying consoles) after they detect that it was modded.

[shadowgrin]

It's not AI, it's just ratings updates. So, of course they can charge you for it.

I see.

Now I think that it might be a cause of excuse for EA to slack-off and release barely finished Live games year after year. They won't bother polishing the finished product.

Release the game 80% finished.
Then require the buyers to cough up money just to get the other 10% percent of the game to have it "complete".

Nice business strategy. Bastards.

[Andrew]

do you need xbox live for this feature or can you play even if you're banned (i bought a banned console)

You'll need an Xbox Live Silver account to get the updates.

Now I think that it might be a cause of excuse for EA to slack-off and release barely finished Live games year after year. They won't bother polishing the finished product.

Release the game 80% finished.
Then require the buyers to cough up money just to get the other 10% percent of the game to have it "complete".

Not really. The game will ship with last season's data; they can't include current season data until it's available, which of course isn't possible until the season begins. Rookies obviously can't have any data until the season begins either.

That said, I don't relish the idea of paying for the updates down the road.

[de4dpoet]

The new features really impress me, I read everything I found about, but there's still one question left: Will the NBA Live 365 be available on the PC version? Or is that feature once again only for the consoleros?

[JaoSming]

There is no 09 PC version this year.

[StupidBoy]

There is no 09 PC version this year.

I think he means for the future PC Live's...

[Andrew]

The new features really impress me, I read everything I found about, but there's still one question left: Will the NBA Live 365 be available on the PC version? Or is that feature once again only for the consoleros?

Well, it definitely won't be this year since as Jao pointed out there's no PC version of NBA Live 09, so NBA Live will have to return to the PC platform first. I would hope that if/when the PC version returns it will benefit from the 365 updates as well.

[fjccommish]

So they may charge extra for a feature in the game, even after consumers pay both for the game and for XBox Live service. Wow.

[Andrew]

They certainly may, though that isn't set in stone.

[GuCcI08]

after reading about nba live 09, feels lyke im in heaven even tho i gotta spend some cashies.

[hawks24]

ooh, artificial intelligence, if that's groundbreaking

[Andrew]

I think that's missing the point, not only in terms of what Player DNA will hopefully mean for NBA Live but in terms of the daily updates for the AI too, which is something no other sports game has done to date. I would say that qualifies it as a ground-breaking feature. However, the pre-unveiling hype really doesn't matter anymore. It's about what these new addition mean for the game and how successful they will be.

[rdelizo35]

Good point, Andrew. Hype aside, it's telling that the developers at EA went out and basically contracted with the likes of Synergy Sports in order to allow something like Dynamic DNA and Live365 updates to be available in the game through daily updates.

If Live365/Dynamic DNA means a greater depth of realism to gameplay, then I'd say that a lot of people out there will actually enjoy NBA Live '09 as opposed to previous editions. Sure, it's not perfect, and I'm sure there's still a lot of things that gamers want that wil be left out, but NBA Live '09 stands to be one of the better games that the series has ever made.

Besides, how the player decides to use Live365/Dynamic DNA will help make the game a more enjoyable and unique experience, in my opinion. We'll just have to play the game ourselves and then we can make a fair decision on whether or not this feature is truly worth the $30,000 or so EA spent to integrate it into this year's game.

Personally, I think that it will be worth it and I'm very excited to get my hands on the game and play it to see how Dynamic DNA influences the overall gameplay.

[Andrew]

I think the problem relates back to what I brought up in the "Do we have a passionate community?" thread, in that we do tend to be cynical especially when it comes to the names of features. I think a lot of people hear "NBA Live 365" and immediately write it off as a gimmicky premise without looking at everything it entails.

If these additions to the AI (the Player DNA, tendencies and featured scorer logic) work as well as planned, it should mean players play more like their real life counterparts which is a staple of the wishlist. Frequent and detailed official roster updates are something else that we've wanted for the console versions and that's also part of 365. These aspects simply happen to come under the umbrella of a name that EA Sports can market.

That's just the way it is. The game doesn't refer to "Multi-season play with trades, free agency and the NBA Draft", it's Dynasty Mode. These features are always going to have a shorter name that looks good in promotional media and on the back of the box. As long as they do the job, I say what's in a name? (Well, Shakespeare said it first but you get the point)

The same goes for calling it a "ground-breaking" feature. I think it's a fair enough assessment because it is something new in sports games. There's been player logic and roster updates but as far as the whole package is concerned, it does break new ground. But that hype is over and done with, what's important now is whether it achieves its purpose and gives us what we want out of the NBA Live experience. I have a good feeling about it but having said that, I'm sure people were hoping for something else, particularly casual gamers who don't necessarily care that Steve Nash is lighting them up for 40 points every time so long as they find the game playable and enjoyable.

[Bodz]

Well said, Andrew!