EAquation: NBA plus DNA equals a more lively 'Live'
by Randy Nelson 
{ Jul 15th 2008 at 6:30AM }
In case you weren't aware, EA's Peter Moore likes sports. Probably the reason he's heading up EA Sports, eh? This E3 – his first since being put in charge of bringing in the mammoth publisher's sporting green – he obviously wanted to put his stamp on the brand, or, rather, his DNA.
EA Sports "Dynamic DNA," as it was explained during EA's pre-E3 press conference, is an intriguing new core gameplay gimmick for NBA Live 2009 that uses real players' analytic data (the type provided to sports scouts) to influence their actions (i.e. make them more realistic in-game). "You can't script sports," Moore pointed out – in theory, Dynamic DNA will enable the virtual players to adapt to on-court situations as they would in real life, making their actions far less predictable than in past b-ball titles.
The concept comprises "Player DNA," which is focused on making players act more realistically, and "Team DNA," which builds on individual data and gloms it all together to (you guessed it) more realistically recreate the team dynamic based on all players' DNA. The end result – at least the results we could see during a short Live 09 demo – is a much more visually believable looking game of hoops. Former NBA player and current color commentator Bill Walton was also on hand for the demo, and was impressed by what he saw. Sure he was being paid to be there, but what the hey?
EA Sports "Dynamic DNA," as it was explained during EA's pre-E3 press conference, is an intriguing new core gameplay gimmick for NBA Live 2009 that uses real players' analytic data (the type provided to sports scouts) to influence their actions (i.e. make them more realistic in-game). "You can't script sports," Moore pointed out – in theory, Dynamic DNA will enable the virtual players to adapt to on-court situations as they would in real life, making their actions far less predictable than in past b-ball titles.
The concept comprises "Player DNA," which is focused on making players act more realistically, and "Team DNA," which builds on individual data and gloms it all together to (you guessed it) more realistically recreate the team dynamic based on all players' DNA. The end result – at least the results we could see during a short Live 09 demo – is a much more visually believable looking game of hoops. Former NBA player and current color commentator Bill Walton was also on hand for the demo, and was impressed by what he saw. Sure he was being paid to be there, but what the hey?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Purple Haze @ Jul 15th 2008 6:46AM
What is with all the EA puns this e3? I don't remember seeing any in the past, but maybe I just haven't been paying attention.
riggs @ Jul 15th 2008 8:36AM
i still dont believe live can surpass 2k in terms of gameplay.
Imadogg @ Jul 15th 2008 5:20PM
Yea I'm actually gonna play Live this year cuz this stuff looks good, sounds good in practice... but without the gameplay it's nothing.
riggs @ Jul 15th 2008 5:37PM
if 2k had lives looks and this 365 auto-update feature(something that got me pissed off with 2k8 and theyre lack of damn updates) it would be dope.
Ryan @ Jul 16th 2008 12:06PM
NBA Live is imitation basketball. If you want a REAL basketball game, pick up NBA 2K9 when it comes out.
Wilhelm @ Jul 15th 2008 6:01PM
2K > Live