NBA Live 09 365 Details
July 14, 2008 by pastapadre
EA Sports has just revealed the “ground-breaking” feature for NBA Live 09 that will “change the way sports games are made”. Known as NBA Live 365, the feature will update Live 09 daily with the latest statistics and the game will interpret that with changes to player ratings and tendencies. Through an exclusive agreement, Synergy Sports Technology will be providing the data from every game played on a daily basis.
No longer are you stuck playing a game based on what happened last year, instead you’ll have the ability to play with up-to-that-date information that will reflect on how the game plays in standard play now and online games, as well as what you can begin your dynasty with. Synergy tracks every game on a possession by possession basis. At this time that includes only the tracking of offense and not defense. Not only are stats kept but player tendencies based on what is done every time they get the ball. The whole idea is to keep the game “fresh” throughout the year.
Each player (and subsequently team) will have their own “DNA”. That is based on the following categories: isolation, pick and roll-ball handler, pick and roll -roll man, post up, spot up, off-ball screen, and cuts. How much a player does that in real life will be reflected in how much then do it in the game.
In addition to the “Hot Spots” that you can display while playing (this year being outlined sections instead of solid colored) will be tendency indicators. When pulled up you’ll see the ball handlers tendency from the spot on the floor they are in. The percentage they’ll drive right, drive left, or shoot.
One thing the producers stressed is that tendencies are sometimes realized as being dependent on how a defense attacks a particular player. Just because someone has a tendency to shoot from a specific spot on the floor doesn’t necessarily mean they are great from that spot. It could be they shoot more from that area because that is what the defense is giving them.
The main example used to explain 365 was the Boston Celtics. Here you had players like Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen who filled very different roles with their teams in 2007 as compared to how they played on the Celtics in 2008, and Paul Pierce who adapted to them arriving. Ray Allen became more of a spot-up jump shooter and Kevin Garnett worked more out of the post. Because of 365, they would play much differently in game than they had the previous year thanks to the new data.
Another benefit is when it comes to rookies. Instead of guessing how they’ll play and just being able to adjust ratings, now real info will be used to update them throughout the year to play true to life. In the example of Jamario Moon, who was unable to be added to the game last year, a generic player would be added the day following someone’s first appearance. After that the Live team will be able to edit that generic player (or the user can themselves) to get their likeness correct for the rest of the year. After a few appearances the data should start to shape how that individual plays.
Something that ties in with 365 is the “NBA Live Rewind”. This is actually the aspect that I feel may have the most widespread appeal, though the others in attendance seemed to dismiss it going as far as to ask why time was spent on it (apparently very little as it just uses data that was already available). You’ll be able to replay any game from last season or the current one. Games are expected to be available for replay the very next day. Not only will this have every game available but you’ll be playing them with AI specific to that game alone. And if certain players were injured at the time of the game, or trades were made since then, it won’t matter. The players who were on the roster at the time of that game will be available. This mode will present something unique for every game you “rewind”.
At the community event it was literally two hours of going through, displaying, and Q&A around 365. Once a certain point was reached I somewhat lost interest in it though. I’m just not that detail oriented I suppose, I just want the game to feel right when playing it. At this point it is unknown if this feature will deliver on that.
Later in the discussion it was noted that this is activated via code that will be found in the game’s case. Essentially they are “giving away” the feature for free to those who buy it, and anyone who rents it or purchases it used will have to purchase a code off of XBL/PSN. It was noted however that the updated 365 is automatically used for online play regardless of having the code or not. This became a hot topic amongst those in attendance as basically it looks as though this will be a feature that will be charged for in future years. It’ll be interesting to see if consumer reaction is that the feature is valuable enough that they would pay extra for it. I’m not convinced that is going to be the case.
While this feature is very much something the hardcore crowd will find value in, I feel as though most gamers are just going to consider it to be a daily roster update. However even just as that it would be a welcome addition.
1st
I guess I shouldnt be surprised remember the “big surprise” last year? Yeah that jersey creator and now just an up to the date roster update that most sports games should already have.
Wow!! This is interesting/ Pretty useless for me, considering i update my rosters everyday as well.
like I said already this BIG FEATURE is TRULY that just NOT with LIVE cuz the GAME PLAY is so far behind but in NBA 2K with their SIGNATURE PACKAGES NOT just jumpers of “GO 2 MOVES” this would really make players play more like their REAL LIFE counterparts hopefully 1 day 2K will be able to get something like this
Needless to say if you don’t like the gameplay the feature isn’t going to mean much. In theory it should make the game play better, or at least more true to life. Whether that ends up being true or not is a question I don’t have an answer to.
I’m still gonna get 2k9, but this does seem pretty sick to me. or maybe i’m just a nerd.
wow…some “groundbreaking feature”
The idea is GREAT, end of story. Yes, it’s something that should already be in sports games, but it’s not already there. It is a welcome addition to any sports game. As I get older, I am finding myself getting bored of the same old style of basketball game, whether it be Live or 2K, I play them both and they both get boring. It’s the same teams over and over again.
This (in theory) changes each teams style and individual player style, daily. Giving the game a refreshing change each time you play. Whether or not it will work as well as advertised is yet to be determined. Live is famous for amping up big features and big news, and then failing to deliver. Genius ideas, poorly implemented.
Pretty cool, but not as cool as i had anticipated
wow i never thought i would say this but that is an amazing feature when players have a second better half of a season they will in live also. esp 12th man, and bench players I also hope this works with online play as well say kobe is in a slump then on live he will be in a slump to….amazing feature! i cant wait to see it in action
I JUST READ EVERYONES COMMENTS THIS IS A COOL FEATURE GUYS I HOPE IT IS IN MADDEN TO PROB TO LATE FOR THT THOUGH. BUT THIS IS A NICE FEATURE TO HAVE IN A VIDEO GAME.
WHEN CAN WE SEE SOME LIVE VIDEO PASTA?
di wrote:
Slumps are based on the last 10 games. And they do have “slumps” and “hot streaks”.
not “ground breaking” if u ask me, well at least they didnt say the ground breaking feature was gonna be technical fouls or ejections lol,
wow that was the secret feature>?
It is pretty wack the need to work on the gameplay first then worry about the extra stuff
they need to work on the graphics and gameplay before they work on the extras…….
Sounds Interesting.
wow there gonna charge for it way to dig your self a hole there not even the top game in the genre.
2k9 is still on top.
This feature looks insanely awesome but thats just me and thats what im all about is realism!
If this doesn’t effect dynasty mode then it’ll be useless for me…
As bad as they brutalized Rudy Gay in ratings last year I can say that this feature is GREAT.
really really cool feature
graphics?????? graphics have never been an issue in live last years were def better than 2k!
live graphics were def better in 06 so they actually could stand to up their graphics or at least make CORRECTIONS why does D.Fish still have hair
Stop whining about this not being the groundbreaking news… Of course this is ground breaking. It has never been done before, which makes the first attempt, “groundbreaking”. I agree, work on the game play first, but in fairness to Live, last years game play was improved, not perfect (or as good as 2K’s IMO), but it was decent and playable, compared to years past. This is a great idea that could potentially be implemented into all future sports games.
First off the graphics in Live are only better when the players are not moving but once they get in motion 2k owns
Well at least this feature will force 2K to give us more roster updates this year. Lol. Last year I think they gave us 2 or 3 updates.
Tutorial trailer!!!!!!
http://media.ps3.ign.com/media.....ids_1.html
pasta, so is this feature also in NHL? Will we get any new NHL details this week? When does the next embargo expire?
thanks
I take it that the AI will take the gigantic step of substituting players during a game too? Sorry, I’m still bitter about NBA Live 07. I’m glad that NBA Live is getting better, but it’s still miles away from NBA 2k in my opinion.
i would take the ai over 2k substituting players during a game, to be honest i dont even noticed that anymore when i play 2k because the arenas in 2k are ugly
Realistic simulation gameplay would have been more groundbreaking than this feature. I like the idea, but once again EA is getting ahead of itself with new features before fixing what already doesn’t work with the Live series.
CH2K8 is definitely my favorite Hoops game around and it’s a shame it’s gone. Really I just hope that between Live 09, NBA2K9, and NCAA Hoops 09 I’ll be able to find something that plays like a simulation basketball game.
my $$$ on 2K though i’m thinking bout takin live 2 see hoe well this thing works & b/c I miss being able to edit players appearance 2 the degree I could in past LIVE versions
heheh on that NBA Live tut trailer they had Darko and Mike Conley both #11 >_<
So what happens when a player retires?
im not gonna get live but that is pretty amazing
i like that and it prolly will change the way sports games are made
Cool Feature, I always thought stat driven games should be updated weekly/daily
feature souns FANTASTIC but it’ll only work if EA fixes the damn gameplay and ball physics.
when is the release of that said nba live 365 for PC?
That Trailer looks hot and I like the feature…I hope they give us a 2K-ish league model to work with
test
theres a trailer over at ign that explains it better its actually looking reely cool
i would love this feature if it were tied into Madden…and this feature would be even more awesome if the defensive tendencies were kept track of as well…there is potential here…but like many have said before, NBA Live needs to work on the base game before trying to incorporate all of this other stuff…
I hope that one of the nba games turns out terribly so the decision over which to buy will be easy.
lame feature. lets say Kobe had a bad game last night and they update it, so when I get online with the Lakers, I can’t even use Kobe cuz he’ll miss every shot. Maybe he was playing the Celtics D. But I’m playing a team the next night that has no D and he’ll still miss every shot.
The feature is a dream for sport fans, no doubt. Hopefully we will see this in other games also. Is FIFA or Madden doing something similar?
james wrote:
haha…you are clearly over-exaggerating…if you read what pasta said in an earlier post…SLUMPS are based on the past ten games…so one bad game doesn’t make the player worse…but they are still looking at his tendencies…and what he was and was not having success with…
new Tony Parker vid at ign (GET NASTY)
I own live 08 & nba 2k8, i would like to say a few things about both titles. These R my issues with 2k8… graphics could use a little help, and I wish the fastbreak was more exciting. Even if the I play with the warriors, and monta ellis gets an outlet pass from andris biedrins and I push the break rarely does anyone follow or fill the lanes. Which results in me scoring a few seconds later , but it doesn’t count as fastbreak points. I only get fb pts when I stl the ball in the backcourt or stl the ball with no one in front of me. If I speed up the game speed it does help fb pts but then it doesn’t feel real. Everything else in 2k is o.k. with me. Live…Sig shots feel too generic they need to fix all of them, then add more. Passing, dunking, player movement & skin color, net & rim physics ,all need a lot of help
as far as Fast Breaks go 1 are you playin the lanes also did you manually adjust the stats 2 make ur team FB when I use the GS or ATL I put it up to a 100
>haha…you are clearly over-exaggerating…if you read what pasta said in an earlier >post…SLUMPS are based on the past ten games…so one bad game doesn’t >make the player worse…but they are still looking at his tendencies…and what he >was and was not having success with…
then it’s not 365, it’s every ten games. and as for tendencies, who cares, ur the one controlling the tendencies. if ur not having any success driving to the left, ur gonna drive to the right.
You control the tendencies for all 5 players on your team and your opponent?
You’re clearly not thinking this through James…
Why on earth can you not understand that it will update the tendencies of a player based on ALL of their previous games, not just their last one… THUS making it realistic.
I though the special feature was to make the game better, but obviously it isn’t. This game is light years behind 2K in terms of graphics and gameplay and EA does very little to close the gap.
Questions:
1. Many of the european countries do not have live service, useless feature.
2. Many of the xbox users do not have live account, useless feature.
3. I can not really understand this DNA thing. If NBA live 09 is not an AI vs AI game, You play vs the AI, so You control the players, You are telling them, what to do, where to shoot from, no reason for the daily updated database.
4. Sometimes happens, that Kobe finishes a game with 5 points, 3 rebs, 4 assists. What is then? The game underrates him, makes him equal with Chris Wilcox?
5. I feel, technically this daily update system will cause many troubles to people.
6. It is frustrating to have your own franchise, but your players are injuring, behaving like their real counterparts. I do not want to copy the NBA, I want to play my own game.
7. What is that player tendencies thing? You want to dunk with Paul, but he makes a lay-in, coz he made his decision, felt it better, or just last night the real Chris Paul made more layins?
9. You can see a lot of skating, especially from players before they stop.
I think, EA misunderstood something about the complaints of the last few years. The players want more freedom, not invisible hands - controlling the gameplay. Make the game look like and play like the NBA, but give me the freedom to control everything on and off the court, otherwise it shall become only a stupid internet-data-based reality sim.
right now a 2k producer is wiping his brow, realizing that THIS is the “groundbreaking” feature. Another year of NBA2k9 reigning supeme…….too bad there’s no more College Hoops. The company only makes good basketball games now………………………………………………
ReignMan wrote:
1/2: Xbox Live Silver is good enough to take advantage of this feature. Basically you just need to have your console connected online. Right though that not everyone will be able to use this but the number that can is always rising and I wouldn’t want to be held back because some people aren’t connected.
3: Not all players on the court are controlled at all times. What players do when they don’t have the ball is a big part of this also.
4: No. One example they gave was Ben Wallace. Say he starts the year at 85. In the past he would’ve stayed close to that all year. But gradually a player will start to drop based on performance as should have been the case with him. One game, or even a handful of games isn’t going to affect ratings that much if at all. You’ll see slumps or hot streaks based on 10 games, but not to the extent that you’re describing. It would probably take a full month of poor play to see Kobe Bryant’s ratings start to drop at all.
5: I don’t see why/how that would be.
6: Once you start a dynasty this doesn’t affect anything. As has been the case with roster updates. What happens in your dynasty is based on actions in the dynasty not real life. What you can do though is start your dynasty with the data that you want. Whether that be the most up-to-date or from sometime else.
7: No, it just helps determine what a player does on the court. Ultimately if you’re controlling him you make the decision. But the AI will be affected to play more like that individual would in real life.
9: I didn’t really feel that to be the case when playing, but there probably is a slight sense of that.
The hope is that this does lead to the game playing more realistically, and no other game can do what is being done here. Whether that is the end result is still up in the air.
Thanks for the answers, it makes more sense like this.
5. Technical problems, I mean, every single day overwriting the whole player attributes, and the complete game database, it is not easy.
7. OK, so player tendencies are for the AI teams. But according to the video, this will be boring. I mean, if Tony Parker attacks the rim, You know what is gonna happen, cos 40% chance for the lay-in, and the software shall choose the layin. Where is the surprise?
So we can say, as a PC player, Live 365 is a pretty regular (daily) player PATCH?
The player moves looks much better, than last year.
Hey Pasta just curious, Ive been playing Live 08 a lot lately and I was wondering if the offensive fouls have been fixed in 09. By fixed I mean in 08 an obvious shooting foul (the defender clearly not only jumps but gives the shooter body) would be called as an offensive foul and it happens way too often. Thanks if you have any info.
ReignMan wrote:
Maybe not so much a patch as a new set of data. It isn’t necessarily overwriting anything because you can use any day’s data if you want. Yesterday’s, one from last week, one from a month ago. All of that data is held on a server and the latest is streamed to you on a daily basis. As far as I’m aware it isn’t anymore technical than the ESPN ticker in how it receives the info. I don’t know how it is distributed throughout the game but there didn’t seem to be any concern over what you’re expressing.
Moye4692 wrote:
The build we played the fouls needed a lot of work. We weren’t seeing enough of them and when we did they were being called the wrong direction frequently.
Pasta,
Since you have played have you seen the player model that looks awkward like kobe in this picture where his knees make his legs at a weird angle?
http://www.gamespot.com/pages/....._full_size
btw it is image 6 of 30 that has the problem
this is a very interesting feature, all they have to do now is fix up the gameplay which is the most important, and if NBA 2K ever copies this feature, that would be wack.
Pasta,
To me you don’t seem as enthused as I would think. Is there something about the gameplay, tha’s holding you back from being excited about this feature?
Thanks,
PSN: NickTheGreat wrote:
Did you read my community event report? There are a lot of things I would like to see adjusted, luckily there wasn’t anything major so that is possible. I really like a lot of what this feature presents but whether or not it’ll impact the gameplay is a wait and see thing. I’m not convinced that people will think of this as much more than just a daily roster update. Which actually would be a good thing if thats all it was, but there is a lot more to it. It’s just not really all that exciting to me in how it will work, but more in how we’ll experience it which we can’t judge on yet.
ground breaking? nothing more than a daily rating update. i’m sure this feature will be gone by next year cuz its prolly hard to do.
One thing’s for sure…it won’t be gone next year. EA entered into a multi-year exclusive agreement with Synergy that cost a lot of $. In fact they’ll be improving it as they go since they can ask Synergy to start tracking areas they don’t already (we need some defensive aspects tracked in the future).
I really hope NBA Live delivers this year. The most frustrating part about Live is that you definately see the potential in this game. EA always has brillliant ideas but they don’t always excecute them properly. From the video I saw yesterday, the game definately looked good (especially that play that showed Dirk driving to the lane and dunking). Definately looked improved from last year. I like how the made the score overlay a lot smaller this year too. However I noticed that the net physics still look a little jerkey (However Kobe’s 3pointer looked fluid). 2K’s net physics are so realistic & fluid. Hopefully EA will act on community feedback & iron out the kinks like Madden did this year.
hahaha. this is sooo stupid!
alex1 wrote:
hahaha. you are sooo stupid!
i agree with you david hehhe
but yeah i think that this feature is going to be great
just because last year the rosters where updated but
they left out a bunch of rookies (jamario moon-toronto)
(dj strawberry- phoenix)
im excited to play this game and the trailers on ign…
the game play looked fluid to me
especially how derrick fisher shot the ball
This feature is not only “ground-breaking” but will also make the game play a hundred times better.
OFFENSE
In the past, it has been impossible to set up how your team plays offense, aside from setting the slider between “half-court offense” and “transition”. Now you can edit your player’s tendencies so that they play the style of game you want them to play. Take Phoenix for example (my team). I will have Barbosa playing SG and Bell playing SF. I will edit their tendencies so that both players are spot-up 3 point shooters from the wings. Barbosa will also have a tendency to drive (I doubt I will have to edit this tendency). Nash (PG) will run the pick & roll with Amare (PF), or create his own 3 point shot at the top of the arc. Shaq (C) will play the low post, and Amare switching between low and high. I used this method to great effect in online play in Live 08, with three great 3 point shooters killing defences using an inside-out offense. Now with the ability to edit player’s tendencies I will be able to fine tune my offense beyond recognition. Shaq won’t be in a position to shoot 18 footers, and Bell won’t try driving every time he touches the ball.
DEFENCE/OPPONENT’S OFFENSE
The problem in the past of an opponent’s PG scoring anywhere between 40%-80% of their team’s score should hopefully disappear as PG’s develop a tendency to pass and set up plays, as opposed to trying to do it all themselves or dribble the ball at the top of the arc until there is only 3-6 seconds left on the shot clock. It is okay for Baron Davis or Chris Paul to drop 40 every so often but when Luke Ridour scores 50 you have to scratch your head.
By having AI opponents run their offense as per how they do in real life (thus different on a team-by-team basis) through plays and player tendencies, it’ll mean that you have to adjust your defence to suit the offense, as opposed to being able to use the same tactic for an entire season or Dynasty. Lock-down defence should add another variable to how opponents run their offense and create many alternative situations.
TEAM DNA
In Dynasty or Season mode, when your team is in a slump (when the majority of starting line-up are cold) you will have to play even harder and make better use of your bench in order to win games - if this isn’t a more life-like feature I don’t know what is. I could go on and on about the possibilities that EA has given gamers with these features but I’ll leave it up to those who are inspired enough to buy the game to work them out for themselves.
Amazing this literally throws away all community roster creators forever!
sounds GOOD in THEORY let’s see if it actually comes 2 fruition if it does i’ll def pick up LIVE this yr along with 2K but i’m NOT goin 2 assume LIVE is goin 2 be GOOD this yr by NO means
Matt, obviously right now we do not see clearly the effect of these new features, but as far as I understand, it will determine the attributes and decisions of players, and wont change the basic gameplay. In the last few years, both 2k, and live had dozens pre-set offensive and diffensive tactics/strategies You could choose from, anytime during gameplay.
It is just funny, that the nba-live.com community every year was begging for official patches, and EA did not updated the actual PC version of the game for many years, so the gamers had to create home-made patches. Now EA fell to the other side of the horse.
Chopstixxx, his name is Derek Fisher, and about sig shots, he do not jump forward meanwhile shooting as much as in live 09.
ReignMan,
I have owned every Live since 1999 and 2K7 & 2K8 so I’m aware of the offensive plays and defensive formations. What I’m talking about is being able to position specific players to certain parts of the court, and then giving them a brain as to what to actually do with the ball when they receive it. To use other post’s examples, who wants Dirk trying to drive and dunk, or Bowen posting up for fadeaway jumpshots? Not me. I’m getting a lot more excited about being able to edit my player’s tendencies in Dynasty mode than the daily downloadable updates. FIFA games have allowed the gamer to control tendencies since the early 1990’s; it’s about time an NBA label has provided this feature.
Matt,
why is it so “groundbreaking” to modify the player “tendencies” day by day? Especially, as You said, it is an existing feature in the FIFA serie?
Plus in every NBA game the tendencies are changing in frenchise mode: exercises, good games, practices are increasing or decreasing these attributes!
I want to control my players, not just command them to dunk.
You do not want to see Dirk making the drive and the dunk? That is what we see in the tutorial video.
Check the new Sony’s NBA 09 pictures on Operationsports.com.
They are not perfect, but You can feel the advanced atmoshere of the game, according to the shots they represent well the press events, player celebrations, player introductions. Both Live and 2k are lack of these really important details, they should work on it.
What are the player ratings? How has anyone not asked that. Probably as important as the rest of the game. They need to be realistic and I’m already impressed in seeing Tim Duncan is finally given some love. He’s a 95 and should have been that high forever. To say that KG was better than him in 08’s game was ridiculous. Two MVP’s and three finals MVP’s to one MVP, I mean, get real nba live. Looks like they are one the right track though. P.S. (Tony Parker is not better than Ginobili)