NBA Live 06 E3 2005 Hands-On

In keeping with EA Sports' general theme of first focusing on the graphical aspects of its upcoming line of Xbox 360 sports games, today's first look at NBA Live 06 for Microsoft's upcoming console focused heavily on the presentation aspects of the game and only touched on what will be new on the court.

This isn't implying that there isn't a lot to say about the game's graphics, which were among the tighest shown at today's show. Part of the quality came in the stark difference in size between players on a team. We watched a demo between the Seattle Supersonics and Detroit Pistons, and the difference in size between the Sonics' 6'5" Ray Allen and 6'10" Vladimir Radmanovic was pronounced.

Of course, the same kinds of minute graphical details that we enjoyed viewing in our last look at the NBA Live 06 footage were here in the live demo, all running on alpha hardware of the Xbox 360. If you believe the producers, the same kind of quality is only going to get better as the hardware moves into beta and beyond. What kind of quality are we talking about? Things like beads of sweat dripping down the neck and foreheads of players and photo-realistic skin textures are a good start, though we were more impressed with the camera work shown in the demo, which featured some cool blur techniques and angles that really brought a sense of drama to the play on the court.

In terms of hands-on time, the only thing we got to see was a revamped free-throw system that works a lot like the swing meter in the Tiger Woods golf series. You won't be pressing buttons to let loose your FTs now; instead, your stroke will depend on your deftness with the left analog stick. To begin your shot, you pull back on the stick and then, at the apex of your arch, push forward to release the ball. Obviously, good timing and a fluid motion will result in a sweet release but, based on our Shaq-like "oh-for" performance, we need some more practice at it.

Apart from claiming some rewritten artificial intelligence, which should make for some craftier teammates on the court, EA Sports producers were generally mum on the rest of NBA Live 06's upcoming features. The game is currently due for a fall release, so there's no need to freeze up at the line. There will be more details available in the coming months and we'll be there to slam them home when they do.