This year we introduced the concept of game intensity. What enhancements have been made to the CPU’s intelligence and strategy? The final thing we did was separate the Scorer and Defensive Stopper Freestyle Superstar types into outside and inside types, so an inside scorer like Tim Duncan can be very different from an outside scorer like Gilbert Arenas. This means that you can now make a no look pass to a teammate with T-Mac as a Playmaker at the start of a fast break, quickly switch him to a High Flyer and then finish the break with a rim-rattling dunk. We also wanted to make sure that a player like T-Mac could bring all of his skills and talent into each game, so we added the ability to switch superstar types on the fly. The result is that the NBA LIVE Tracy McGrady is more like the real Tracy McGrady than ever before. For example, this year Tracy McGrady is a “Superstar” High Flyer and Outside Scorer, while he is a “Star” Shooter and Playmaker. To achieve this we created different tiers of player ability (regular players, star players, and superstars) for each Freestyle Superstar type so that our players play even more like their real life counterparts. So while we wanted to create a new way to pull off freestyle moves with Total Freestyle Control, we also wanted to make the whole Freestyle system more authentic and true to real basketball. The whole thing is very much like the controls used in many fighting games actually. To pull off superstar moves like spinning 360º dunks users will have to graduate to the more complex right analog stick movements. Users who want more control move to the right analog stick, using left/right/up/down flicks on the stick to choose the specific Freestyle shot or pass they want to try. New users can start off using traditional button presses to pull off very simple Freestyle moves where the CPU chooses the exact dunk for them contextually. It’s a progressive system that allows users to get comfortable with each level and set of moves before moving on to more difficult (and more rewarding) ones. The biggest change is something we are calling Total Freestyle Control, which takes all of the freestyle moves and control from past versions of NBA LIVE, combines them with a lot of new moves, passes, shots, and dunks, and puts them all on the right analog stick.
What changes been made to Freestyle Superstars™? Scoring in traffic is much more challenging and because of this I find it is also much more rewarding. Scoring in the paint feels completely different this year with lots of in-air collisions, adjusted shots, and players dunking on other players as opposed to through or around them. The second thing is that for the first time our players have a real sense of space and weight to them, and the way that they collide and interact with each other makes the game much more realistic, especially around the basket. Quick players like Allen Iverson can really blow by their defenders, and good perimeter defenders can use their quickness and positioning to cut off lanes to the hoop. This is a little difficult to explain because there is a whole bunch of stuff going on under the hood to make it work, but the result is that driving to the basket and defending on the perimeter feels much smoother and more responsive. The first is the concept of realistic battles between offensive and defensive players on the perimeter. There are a whole bunch of things that we improved, but there are two big changes that I am personally the most excited about: What are the main improvements in NBA LIVE 07? I think that the NBA is just as much about entertainment as it is about competition, so for NBA LIVE 07 we wanted to focus on things like our presentation, cameras, and overall production values. Third, I thought that while we had done a lot to improve our visuals for NBA LIVE 06, we didn’t get a lot of credit for it from our users or the game press because we weren’t doing a great job at presenting the game in an exciting and authentic way. The game needed to be a little less frantic, more strategic, and generally more like real NBA basketball. Second, we felt like last year’s game was really fun, but it needed to get more authentic and realistic without losing the fact that it was an absolute blast to play. So our first goal with this version of LIVE was simply to create the best basketball game we have ever made. What were your goals in creating NBA LIVE 07?įirst of all, we wanted to make sure that we continued to innovate and deliver on Current Gen because we have a very loyal following for our Current Gen game.
Please note that all questions in this interview relate to the Current Gen versions of the game (PC, PS2 and XBox). Current Gen producer Brian Ullrich was kind enough to answer some of our questions about NBA Live 07.