NBA Live 07: Inside Dynasty Mode

Hmmm… it seems that NBA Live ’07 has a few surprises up its sleeve (which is a far cry from the NBA Live ’06 game, which unfortunately, many found disappointing). It boasts of new features such as team chemistry, the assistant head coach, off-day events and the 2006 NBA Draft. Let’s take a look at each one, shall we?

• Team Chemistry: Camaraderie in a nutshell. As the General Manager, you have to make sure that your team members get along well, and are satisfied in all areas.
• Off-Day Events: These are Press Events, Team Practices, Team Events and days off. These make an impact to player satisfaction, so you might want to keep these in mind.
• The Assistant Head Coach: This character plays quite a heavy role as he’s assigned to do some Rumor Research, Free Agent Signing and schedule Off-Day Events.
• The 2006 NBA Draft: Go on a trip to memory lane by starting the Dynasty Mode with the 2006 NBA Draft.

Players could also look forward to the NBA All-Star Weekend, the Slam Dunk Contest (now’s your chance to do a mean one-handed toss off the backboard courtesy of Nate Robinson, if you could manage it in 24 seconds) and the good old 3-point contest.

Hmmm… it seems that NBA Live ’07 has a few surprises up its sleeve (which is a far cry from the NBA Live ’06 game, which unfortunately, many found disappointing). It boasts of new features such as team chemistry, the assistant head coach, off-day events and the 2006 NBA Draft. Let’s take a look at each one, shall we?

• Team Chemistry: Camaraderie in a nutshell. As the General Manager, you have to make sure that your team members get along well, and are satisfied in all areas.
• Off-Day Events: These are Press Events, Team Practices, Team Events and days off. These make an impact to player satisfaction, so you might want to keep these in mind.
• The Assistant Head Coach: This character plays quite a heavy role as he’s assigned to do some Rumor Research, Free Agent Signing and schedule Off-Day Events.
• The 2006 NBA Draft: Go on a trip to memory lane by starting the Dynasty Mode with the 2006 NBA Draft.

Players could also look forward to the NBA All-Star Weekend, the Slam Dunk Contest (now’s your chance to do a mean one-handed toss off the backboard courtesy of Nate Robinson, if you could manage it in 24 seconds) and the good old 3-point contest.

There would also be five superstar types in the game: High Flyers who pull off crazy dunks, Scorers who do athletic lay-ups, Shooters who can take a bunch of different jumpers, Play Makers who can dish the ball in a variety of ways and Post superstars who can pull off big power dunks. Tim Tschirner, Live’s lead designer, enumerates the “sickest players for each type”:

• High Flyer: We have to go with our cover boy here, T-Mac. Craziest move in my opinion is our windmill dunk. Other people are loving the ‘Statue of Liberty’ dunk we put in.
• Scorer: This has to be NBA Finals MVP and last year’s cover boy, D-Wade. We have a couple double clutch lay-ups that look real nice.
• Play Maker: MVP Nash is the man here. Running the fastbreak with Marion and Stoudemire and pulling off a Pistol Pete pass is ridiculous.
• Shooter: Ray Allen has the purest shot in the game so this is an easy pick. Our leg kick fadeaway to clear space when heavily guarded on the perimeter looks and feels great.
• Post: Shaq? KG? Duncan? All would be good picks, but I love playing with Dwight Howard now. We have one dunk where he tries to rip the hoop off the backboard a la K-Mart. It’s pretty vicious.

You could also do the signature shots of these NBA hotshots: Tayshaun Prince, Yao Ming, Ray Allen, Adam Morrison, Mike Bibby, Rashard Lewis and of course The Matrix, Shawn Marion, T-Mac and D-Wade.

But if you’re thinking that this game’s all about watching the NBA superstars strut their stuff, you’re dead wrong. Well yeah, that comes as a bonus, but as GM, it’s your duty to ensure that your rookie reaches his maximum potential. Like in the real world, hard work here is rewarded, so you better spend lots of time with him.

Moreover, the ESPN Integration is something to be excited about. Updates such as the ESPN Sports Ticker (which keeps you abreast on scores and news), ESPN Motion (which gives you access to streaming videos from recent ESPN broadcasts) and the ESPN Radio which lets you tune in to radio articles from various ESPN programs, as well as radio podcasts that automatically play every 20 minutes. Tim Tschirner assures players that the entire ESPN integration is not subscription-based in NBA LIVE 07 – you get the complete package at no extra charge if you are an Xbox Live Gold subscriber.

So if you weren’t satisfied with NBA Live ’06, you’d be happy to know that this year’s installment is back with a vengeance and is definitely something to watch out for. In the mean time, check out the NBA Live ’07 video we have for you.

Download: [NBA Live ’07 Video]