With past basketball video games, it was always an updated roster with a few added features, but the rosters would never change unless the player did it.
But with the new EA Sports National Basketball Association (NBA) video game, NBA Live, that is all about to change. The newest feature called, “NBA Live Dynamic DNA 365”, allows the player to be playing with the most current up to date NBA Roster. This feature brings with it the potential to change sports video games with up to date rosters for the most accurate statistics.
The feature will update NBA Live 2009 daily with the latest statistics and the game will interpret that with changes to player ratings and tendencies and also the signature moves from its stars. Through an exclusive agreement, Synergy Sports Technology will be providing the data from every game played on a daily basis.
With the new NBA Live DNA feature, basketball gamers are guaranteed to be playing with the most up to date Kobe Bryant, Jose Torres, biochemistry major, 21, said.
“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 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,” Torres said. “At this time, it includes only the tracking of offense and not defense. Not only are stats kept but also 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 will have his own individual style that is based on the following categories: isolation, pick and roll, posting up, spotting up, screens, and cuts. How much a player does that in real life will be reflected in how much they do it in the game.
In addition to the “Hot Spots” that you can display while playing, will be tendency indicators. When this is pulled up, you’ll see the ball handler’s percentages of whether 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 he 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 that they shoot more from that area because that is what the defense is giving them,” Torres said.
In sports video games of the past, previous titles like NBA Live 2008 had problems with certain rookies, in the League, who were not in the game. People who bought the game would have to create the rookie in the “create a player” feature and taking their best shot at the rookie’s attributes. But with the new NBA LIVE feature, all rookies are guaranteed to be in the game.
“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 NBA Live team will be able to edit that generic player 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.” Torres said.
With the experts who are working on this game, it is a bonus that the company is handling the roster’s ranks.
“It takes me hours just to fix rotations, rosters, ratings and free agencies,” Shota Iwashima, chemistry major, 19, said. “It’s about time they do this because it will be interesting to see what they rate the players. Home team fans are usually biased when it comes to rating their teams, so I think it’s a good idea that NBA live or 2k will be the one editing the rosters because they are the pros and we are just amateur gamers.”
Despite the positives and advances, this feature is still relatively new and unpolished. An example would be a lower rated player in real life having one good game and having his rank reflect that game in the video game.
“What if Kobe (Bryant) had a bad game and he’s rated 97, will they then rate him 91 because of one game?” Hamed Qasir, psychology major, 21, said. “How are they going to determine how to rate certain players especially the bench players? It doesn’t make sense to me.”
This feature will help propel the evolution of sports games by giving up to date statistics, tendencies, signature moves and just an overall mimic of its real life counterparts. Already, there are talks of implementing this feature in upcoming sports games franchises such as Madden and in some cases such as company 2K sports, the feature is already duplicated.
“The dynamic DNA has more than roster updates,” Torres said. “You’re getting updates on player tendencies, signature moves and how they play in real life. That right there is what appeals to sports gamers, which is the real life aspect of it.”
