EA Sports has confirmed that it’s long running basketball sim NBA Live will end it’s two year hiatus when it returns later this year. The announcement came
when the studio delivered a tweet showing the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving playing the game.

The NBA Live series had been dominant for many years, until being taken over in popularity (and quality) by 2K’s NBA series.  That lead to EA announcing that they would be retooling the series, and renaming it NBA Elite. Following a well-known series of glitches and quality issues, the game would never ship, besides a select few copies.

No further details on the new NBA Live were made available.

Play five on five online with 10 human players.

Electronic Arts released the free downloadable feature called Online Team Play for NBA Live 08 that lets 10 people on 10 consoles anywhere in the world play with and against each other. The new feature is automatically available on Playstation 3 when connected online, EA said Monday. It will be available on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system later this month.

In NBA Live 08, all 10 players on the floor can now be controlled by individual users on 10 different consoles, removing the use of artificial intelligence altogether. Player movement, decision making and game outcome can now be completely dependant on how you play as an online team, bringing you closer to a real life game of basketball than ever before. This new game mode enables any number of players from one to five on different consoles to connect and play online against another team of up to five players on five different consoles. The CPU will take control of any players not controlled by users.

NBA Live 08 is available now in retail stores everywhere. Click here for more information.

Written by Matt Paprocki

Needing everything the development team had to make the franchise relevant again, NBA Live 08 is a remarkable turn around from 07. It’s still far from perfect, but the basics are now in place to refine this series into a worthwhile basketball title when compared with mounting competition.

Improvements start with a smoother feel, steady frame rate, and improved animation routines. The pacing of the sport is better represented, and basic defense can typically prevent the over use of long passes down the floor for easy shots under the net. You’ll finally need to extend the quarter length to land some realistic scores.

The post game is better represented. Centers have the ability to spin and juke with ease to find their shot, and key players will perform as they do in real life. Shaq will look to power in for the dunk; Duncan will fade back or take the hook.

For the shooter, Hot Spots are laid out on the court to represent favorite areas for the player. Bruce Bowen is deadly from the corners, though doesn’t have the accuracy to land 3′s as consistently from the elbows. Learning the strengths of each player on your squad is critical for higher shooting percentages.

Minor changes off the court include simulation situations which pop up during simmed dynasty games. Injuries may need to be fixed, or you could have the opportunity to play the final minute if the game is close at hand. A FIBA license is included for World Championship play. Leagues are finally available for online fans, while the other multi-player options remain the same.

Not all of these updates address a number of fundamental flaws that have been with this series for years. Defense is blatantly stupid at times, like failing to adjust off a screen. If you work yourself around a screen, the AI teammates still make the defensive switch even if it’s not needed, leaving an opposing player wide open.

Steals are frequent, easy, and constant. Fast breaks are still the meat of the game, though the changes to the pacing have lessened this somewhat. Close to the rim, when using the lay up/dunk button, players rarely just make the easy play and find themselves flopping or spinning unnecessarily resulting in a miss. It makes the entire game feel sloppy.

There’s still plenty of room for improvement, but the leap in quality in only one year is staggering. The smoother, natural flow of play is a huge boost to Live, and finally sports gamers can look forward to some competition in the realm of basketball games. Stick with NBA 2K8 for this year, though keep an eye on Live in ’09.

NBA Live 08 is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB. This game can also be found on: PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, and Mobile Phone.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars