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NBA Live 07 First Look – ESPN Integration

By Brian Ekberg, GameSpotPosted Jul 13, 2006 4:09 pm PT

We get a sneak peek at the ESPN integration in the next version of NBA Live 07 for next-generation consoles.

Though EA Sports wasn't showing much in the way of gameplay for NBA Live 07 for the Xbox 360 at today's EA summer press event, the publisher was still excited about one particular aspect of the next game: the ESPN integration built into the game. We had a chance to get a first look at the next generation of real-life sports content streaming, which will be featured in the Xbox 360 and (possibly) the PlayStation 3 versions of NBA Live 07.

First things first: The menu system in NBA Live 07 is breaking out the ESPN content separately from the rest of the game. Instead of just running an updated sports ticker in the real game, you'll be able to access all the streaming ESPN content from a central point off the main menu. In addition, any of the content described below can be accessed and streamed at any point in the game.

So what kind of content are we talking about? Well, first and foremost, there's audio. If you've played this year's MVP 06 NCAA Baseball, then streaming content will be nothing new for you. Every 20 minutes, regular SportsCenter updates will be streamed to your console in the game. But that isn't all. In addition to the regular audio sports updates, you'll be able to access full-length podcasts of regular ESPN Radio content such as The Dan Patrick Show, Mike & Mike in the Morning, and so on.

If you hear an interesting story in one of the audio podcasts that you find interesting, chances are you'll find an accompanying text story on the biggest news of the day, which is the second part of the upgraded ESPN integration in NBA Live 07. Constantly updated sports newsfeeds from ESPN and Associated Press means you'll never be that far from the next in-depth report on Adam Morrison crying during a big game.

With audio and text updates firmly in place, you might be able to guess the final piece of the ESPN puzzle: video updates. Thanks to the ESPN Motion video stream technology (which has been in place on ESPN.com for several years now), you'll be able to stream interviews and popular ESPN shows such as Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn straight to your console. Now, you will finally be able to answer the eternal question: "How much is too much Tony Reali?"

So, as we said, there's not much in the way of new gameplay on NBA Live 07. The main menu we saw during the press demo showed cover star Tracy McGrady in a similar version of the futuristic basketball setting featured in last year's game--we're assuming that, just like last year, you'll be able to play some one-on-one in the menu screen. It's too bad we didn't see T-Mac in motion, as it would have been a perfect time to check out some of the new animation techniques used in the game that EA first showed off back at E3 earlier this year. As you can expect, there's tons more to learn about the next-gen version of NBA Live 07, and we'll be bringing it all to you here in the coming months.

[Editor's Note: GameSpot has learned today that the ESPN integration described above will only be available in next-gen versions of NBA Live 07, and will not be found in the PSP and the PS2 versions of the game as originally stated by EA. We have corrected the story to reflect this information.]

28 Comments

  • xche78x

    Posted Nov 22, 2006 7:16 am PT

    it now reported as CANCELLED!
    what do they mean by that?
    did they cancel the release date prviously announced or they canned the ps3 version altogether?

  • silverfoxfoxfox

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 7:40 pm PT

    oh yea i love pistons

  • silverfoxfoxfox

    Posted Oct 20, 2006 7:39 pm PT

    holy damn nba live is gonna be sweet for ps3 better than 2k7 and 07 yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum hoopefully improved from **** 360 version aye mates?

  • jakeboudville

    Posted Oct 11, 2006 12:42 am PT

    looks sweet

  • samson8977

    Posted Aug 31, 2006 3:00 pm PT

    So, what this means is that the PS3 has eliminated the skiing look that use to go along with the Ps2?

  • LuminosityBlaze

    Posted Aug 22, 2006 4:21 am PT

    It would be cool if they would add the ability to update rosters in real-time based on injuries, trades, and drafts or something like that. I always hate having to switch a bunch of players in previous games after trades.

  • CaCHooKaMan

    Posted Aug 21, 2006 6:15 am PT

    looks like the game is in claymation

  • Mrtay101

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 4:48 pm PT

    Plain and Simple....Live hasnt lived up to the standards of being a next Gen Game....Last years game was trash. I hope bringing ESPN into the fold will help this Franchies. I was always a Live Fan .... Until I played 2K6 last year on the Xbox 360 and The PS2. I mean so what the have a dunk contet and a shoot out...... they didnt have the fun factor and Gameplay . It's time for EA to step up there game.

  • def_jam15

    Posted Aug 15, 2006 2:50 am PT

    This is the best NBA Game out there and its going to be better on the PS3 than the 360 because PS3 holds more storage on a single disc than XBOX 360 which gives u the freedom of graphics and unlike the 360 the games are some what compressed due to size!!!!

  • samus_aran-371

    Posted Aug 14, 2006 7:09 pm PT

    It looks like it'll be much better than nba 06

  • drixpill

    Posted Aug 12, 2006 1:58 pm PT

    the 360 version cant even compare to the ps3 version!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and the ps2 is still out selling the 360 but everything is out selling the 360!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • los23

    Posted Aug 2, 2006 6:05 pm PT

    Is there gonna be a superstar mode like in Madden 06?

  • YingCola

    Posted Aug 1, 2006 8:04 pm PT

    allyghiette14, its not as easy just to "unluck" old school players. Michael Jordan and Larry aren't part of the Player's Association, so EA can't use anyone with their likeness. Roster updates are updated frequently through XBOX LIVE, or similar online support for the PS3 and such. For PC, support will most likely be made from scratch by a fanbase, like this one: http://www.nba-live.com

  • BlackFiredog38

    Posted Jul 31, 2006 5:51 pm PT

    I dnt no y through out the years of NBA Live they keep taking players off The 90's allstar team and they dnt let u use Micheal Jordan The best basketball player ever

  • allyghiette14

    Posted Jul 25, 2006 10:38 pm PT

    I think da da shoukd unluck old school players like Mj and Larry bird so on.........

  • NECESSARYIS

    Posted Jul 23, 2006 7:05 am PT

    They are still gonna get Pwned by 2k series....Take 2 proved that they didnt need ESPN(It did wonders for presentation)...But they still did great without....If live cant fix that damn awkward dribbling and weird physics they're gonna lose again. Its sad cause have more moves and better dunks than 2k....but its just something about how it looks that just sucks......Oh and stop sliding accross the damn floor already......

  • Arley26

    Posted Jul 18, 2006 8:51 pm PT

    Its going to be 3x better than NBA Live 06

  • dnicenyr

    Posted Jul 15, 2006 4:31 pm PT

    I hope it's better than 06 and has a draft

  • TheGreaterForce

    Posted Jul 14, 2006 1:00 pm PT

    if u want in game screenshots, look at nba live 06. EA is #1

  • DeeCrutch

    Posted Jul 14, 2006 10:21 am PT

    IMO, they can cram ESPN stuff in there until they are blue in the face, but if they don't fix some of the problems that have been wrong in Live for years now, then all that crap is USELESS to me, much like the dunk contest has been the last 2 years. And this is coming from a traditionally EA guy.

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