UPDATED 5/9
Q: How are the playbooks in LIVE 09? Are they unique to each item?
A: Yes they are. In fact, we’re doing a lot with plays and playbooks that we will talk more about later.
Q: One of the biggest problems with LIVE 08 this year for me is the shooting. It’s not user controlled, it’s like you’re just holding down the shoot button. It’s no timed release like in the previous years of NBA LIVE. Please tell me you guys are doing something about it.
A: I agree- we will be putting skill will be put back into shooting this year.
Q: Can I choose in strategy options – how to defend the pick’n’roll (switch defenders, trap, normal) when no controlling manually the defenders involved in the play?
A: I’ll answer this one with some news about the pick and roll later in the summer.
Q: By the way, will we see more animations of players fighting for position in the paint?
A: Yes we will, and not just in the paint- you will see more two-player animations throughout the game.
Q: Can I choose among more than 4 plays?
A: We’ll have more to talk about this later- there are some changes coming to plays and playbooks for sure.
Q: Will we see animated layouts of the plays overlaid on the court?
A: Again, more coming on this a little later in the year.
Q: Will you guys be incorporating a story mode for a created player? That would be the best thing to add to a game.
A: Unfortunately not this year. We want to do something with a single player story mode in the future, but when we do we want to do it right. It’s important that we don’t just do what has been done in other games, but do something new and innovative. We know that to do it right is going to take a lot of design planning and resources, so we are talking about when is the right year to really do it on a big, new, fresh way.
Q: I didn’t like the cross-overs on this past year’s game, they were stiff and really didn’t have a realistic feel to it. When you watch “Real” NBA games crossovers and signature moves are real quick and to the point. They also have an effect on the opposing player.
A: I agree. I thought the QuickStrike moves were a cool new take on the old freestyle system, but we didn’t quite get the animations right. It was what those moves would look like if you were doing them in the gym with no-one guarding you. We’ve done some new motion capture on them and I think you will like how they turn out this year.
Q: Will there be any/more signature dunks this year? For example, Kenyon Martin’s dunk where he slaps the backboard.
A: Yes, we add more signature dunks every year. I’m not sure if K-Mart’s slap dunk will make it in or not yet, but there will definitely be a lot of new ones.
Q: Go-to moves can be too effective at times. Is anything being done to balance this out?
A: Yes- some of them were too overpowered last year. We will be tuning these down a bit.