Inside Drive 2004 is the latest entry in Microsoft's first-party basketball franchise. In addition to offering the expected improvements in graphics and gameplay and updating the player roster, the game will also offer online play through Xbox Live. The online play will also feature support for Microsft's recently launched XSN Sports network, which will allow players a number of different options to track their rankings and set up tournaments. We talked to game design lead Mark Harrington and game designer Marc Boyer about what to expect from the upcoming game.

NBA Inside Drive 2004 will finally bring the series online via Xbox Live.

GameSpot: Where do you think last year's game went right? Why?

Marc Boyer: Last year's version of Inside Drive had great gameplay that was very well received by gamers and reviewers. From every position on the court, gamers enjoyed very realistic gameplay and the ability to perform lifelike moves. As many know, gameplay is the most difficult thing to achieve in a video game. It requires a lot (months and months) of tuning time and a magical blend of testing, coding, and design. And in the end, it has to be fun, playable, responsive, and realistic. We were blessed last year that we were able to deliver on all fronts.

GS: Where do you think there was room for improvement? Why?

MB: Online! Online! Online! With the feedback that Microsoft Game Studios got from NFL Fever 2003, and its online capability, we knew that it was what gamers were looking for. Sadly, we didn't have the time to implement it in 2003, but we made it a must-have for this year.

GS: How much did all that influence development on this year's game?

MB: Developing a game online is not a simple task; to keep a smooth game, it needs a lot of coding and hours and hours of testing. We didn't want to implement anything half-done--everything that would be included to the game had to be 100 percent finished and tuned. So we elaborated a plan to have this done. Part of the team was solely working on the networking engine, while the rest of the team concentrated on other parts of the game.

The game's visuals have seen a nice bump in quality over last year's game.

GS: What features did you feel this year's game had to have?

MB: Online capability, improved sound and graphics, and deeper gameplay were the three features we felt we had to focus on for NBA Inside Drive 2004. In terms of online, we wanted to deliver on the promise of XSN Sports. Even though this is the first year of online for Inside Drive, it has all the features that you can find in "online year 2" games--friendly and competitive games, tournaments, a friends list, voice capability, and XSN Sports roster and sports updates. Every year we gain more experience with the Xbox, and this year we wanted to push it harder to see what was possible. When you look at the graphics and textures that we are using for our player faces, you will be amazed by their quality. We are delivering at an unparalleled level of quality. Graphics like this were not possible before the Xbox. NBA Inside Drive 2004 also has deeper gameplay than its predecessor. To keep our advantage on this aspect of the game, we wanted to polish the gameplay and then add depth as well. One-touch passing and touch-sensitive steals will add a lot to users looking to use a higher level of skill. In addition, we made our deke system much more discoverable and user-friendly.

GS: Walk us through what's been improved this year?

Mark Harrington: The biggest improvements for Inside Drive 2004 are the complete overhaul of the graphics and the improvements we made to the gameplay. The player models, faces, and jerseys were all redone to give the game a huge face-lift. Add to that the improvements made to the arenas, the sidelines, and the huge improvements of how the crowd looks, and you have a very fresh-looking game. For gameplay we added touch passing, which allows users to move the ball around the perimeter better, but using it too much will result in more turnovers. We also improved rebounding, retuned the difficulty levels to provide a better gameplay experience, and a bunch of other gameplay elements that make for a better overall feel of the game.