It’s that time of the year when the cover athletes for the upcoming NBA games become a topic of discussion. Given that the NBA Live cover is expected to be announced first and that 2K has shown the tendency to stick with one guy for multiple years (considering the season Chris Paul had that seems likely to continue) this will be a breakdown of the most likely candidates for the NBA Live 09 cover.

Over the past three years the cover of NBA Live has been announced between late April and mid-June. In 06 it was Dwayne Wade (May 9th), in 07 it was Tracy McGrady (June 21st), followed by 08’s Gilbert Arenas (April 28th). Typically they’d like to announce it when interest in the NBA is high and that certainly is never more than during playoff time. It wouldn’t be surprising if the news came out as early as this week.

The Live covers have generally gone to players who have been high profile, successful, and relatively young. With that in mind lets take a look at the top eight possibilities for the cover of NBA Live 09.

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After hearing that Madden for the PC had been shut down it can’t come as a huge surprise that NBA Live will join it on the bench. While this has caused the PC community more angst the sales and piracy concerns don’t seem to warrant new releases in their current forms.

The only PC titles that would probably seem safe are Tiger Woods and FIFA, while NHL would appear to be another possible cut in the near future.

I previously mentioned EA’s Battlefield:Heroes as one potential direction they could be headed. I don’t believe they’ll just abandon the PC completely but they will be more creative in what they do there. They could come back with licensed games that follow the B:H model of being free and relying on advertising and microtransactions. There is also EA Gameshow, another free interactive experience on the PC that is supported solely by short video ads in between sessions. So they’ve shown some signs that is a model they are open to.

One topic that I’ve covered here a lot has been the NBA Live 08 Online Team Play. From my thoughts on the mode and suggestions for how it could be better (my full first impressions here) to holding the team play nights it has been a really enjoyable and valuable addition. Recently I wrote an article for Gametap detailing the five things you need to know about Live’s OTP.

The writeup is somewhat general since it’s targeted towards those who may not know much about it. Given that it was pushed out well after release no reviews mention it. Actually other than the initial press release there really hasn’t been any articles from media sites detailing it. I thought it would be a good thing to go over some of the details and general impressions of the mode while at the same time setting the framework for what improvements could come next year to make it an even better experience.

Do me a favor and check out the article (click here) and let me know what you thought of it!

At the end of last month EA started up what should be a regular event with NBA Live producer Brian Ullrich. The “One on One” column features questions from the community in regard to NBA Live 09 or the franchise in general.

10 more questions have now been asked and answered but the following two were the most interesting in terms of changes for 09.

2.) “Any changes in the plan for icon passing?”

A: Yes. We’re going to get rid of the delay in them coming up and we’re going to put the direct pass icons above the player’s heads to make them more visible.

This was one of the things I noted on several occasions as being a problem. Specifically the delay in them coming up as well as using the same button for alley-oops. Hopefully they’ve moved the alley-oops to a different button but unfortunately that wasn’t stated specifically here.

3.) “Will it be harder to make a free throw with Shaq than with Nash?”

A: We’re implementing a whole new free throw system this year, and yes it will be harder to make free throws with bad free throw shooters like Shaq. The current system was an experiment that we tried a few years ago to make free throws feel “next gen”, but the truth is we made things too complicated and difficult. The new system will be much easier to understand and execute.

I’ve basically just used B to shoot free throws (it shoots them automatically at the percentage of the player). I’ve just never cared much for the right stick free throws. I wonder if they’ll be going back to timing based using a button. Maybe something along the lines of a pitching meter in baseball games.

You can check out the full “One on One” column here.

There will be a break from the weekly NBA Live 08 Online Team Play nights until right around the start of the NBA Playoffs which begin on Saturday April 19th. When the OTP nights return they’ll feature playoff matchups with polls for one Western Conference and one Eastern Conference game.

With the NCAA Tournament taking place and increasing difficulty in being able to attend each week it made sense just to hold off until then. I’ve really enjoyed the playing so I’ll be looking forward to more.

For anyone interested in participating in the next NBA Live 08 OTP session it will take place tonight beginning at 5PT/8ET. Two more games will be played, this week going with Sunday’s premiere matchups. The first will be Hornets @ Pistons and that will be followed by the Lakers @ Rockets.  Meet up in the pastapadre lobby room for a definite invite.

Another NBA Live 08 OTP night is set for Saturday beginning at 5PT/8ET. You can meet up in the pastapadre custom lobby room or if I see you on my friends list playing Live and not in the middle of another game I’ll generally send out an invite as well. The first game starts up minutes after the meet-up time with the invites for the second game going out after the completion of the first (once I’ve written down the stats).

With the roster update out we’ll get in a couple games with teams that have completely different looks following the trade deadline deals. Bulls @ Cavs followed by Nets @ Mavericks will be the matchups. I’m also now in the process of having the OTP night with NBA Live producers coordinated so hopefully soon I’ll be able to give a date and time on that.

The third roster update for NBA Live 08 has been released and covers the post-Shaq trade transactions and through the deadline. The main teams affected by the moves were the Cavs, Mavericks, Nets, Bulls, and Sonics. Continue on to view the full list.

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This week the NBA Live OTP games will take place on the evening of Friday the 29th. Meet up in the created pastapadre lobby room at 5pt/8et if you’d like to join in. As usual recaps and highlight videos should be up by Monday.

The roster update may be out by this time but we’ll play it safe and save those for next week. It’s possible the special OTP with NBA Live producers may take place next week as well however that hasn’t been determined yet.

After how well last week’s games turned out I thought it would be a good idea to go that same direction again with a lower ranked NBA matchup and an international matchup. Continue on to vote in the polls for the two games to be played.

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A new feature in the official NBA Live forum has 360/PS3 Live Producer Brian Ullrich fielding questions from the community and answering a handful each week. While there isn’t likely to be huge announcements made through this it appears that small bits of info on Live 09 will be discussed throughout.

Today the first responses were posted and deal with such topics as unlocking player editing, the big shorts in 08, and the future of Go-To Moves. Click here to read the full posting.