April 22, 2005 - In an event held at its San Diego Studios earlier this afternoon, Sony Computer Entertainment revealed that it would be heading in an all-new direction with its sports franchises from this moment forward. And while we've heard this kind of claim from a myriad of different companies about their products before, after listening to what basketball senior producer C.J. Connoy had to say about his upcoming project, I believe it.
Reengineered from the scratch, the newly-announced NBA '06 is the first in a rejuvenated line of Sony athletics titles that will focus on storylines and characterizations just as much as it does simulation-based gameplay. This new focus is made possible because of an adjusted take on the previous single-character career mode from previous 989 installments. So while you may have been able to create a character and take him through the various training points of his career to get to the NBA Finals in earlier games, now you'll really get to know who he is as a person.
Known as "NBA Life: Vol. 1," the career mode begins with the character creation process. From the very start, you can assemble your own original persona from pre-existing materials or use EyeToy scanning technology similar to that found in MLB and World Tour Soccer 2006. Once your alter ego has been created, you then must select what NBA team you ultimately want to play for and that's when the storyline begins.
At first, the only thing you'll have to worry about is completing a series of real-life training drills to improve and standardize your base attributes. The most important move, however, is acquiring an agent -- whose entire purpose is to get you situated into the NBA and become one of the biggest stars in the league. Before the draft begins, however, you also have to continue on with your workouts to make yourself a better player, while trying to get guaranteed contracts and endorsement deals out of your manager.
Eventually, the game shifts its focus to the actual NBA draft in New York City and from that moment on, the real meat of the gameplay will begin. You'll begin in the Summer Pro League and compete with other rookies and backups as you work your way through actual teams, stadiums, and a number of scenarios that can make your abilities and reputation increase with the higher-ups. The whole goal here is to earn a spot on your new team's training camp when the season starts, and from there you'll have to earn a starting spot on the team. This won't be an automatic cakewalk, though. Since your team already has established players in particular positions, you'll truly have to earn the position through solid game playing, stellar practice drills, and various mission-based scenarios that move the storyline along.
Time for Sprewell to step up.
Beating out the guy in your position is the catalyst for the rest of the story. Once your character becomes the starting player on the team, it forces management to trade the guy who used to be there to the opposite side. This not only sets up an arch-rivalry with the guy you just punked, but also the backdrop for the team you'll eventually have to face in the finals. It's a cool concept to be sure, and one that could add a lot of replay to a genre of games that have a habit of getting repetitive pretty fast.
Luckily, there are a number of interesting twists and turns that will make taking your "All-Rookie Squad" to the NBA Finals a highly competitive proposition. A ton of mini-games and training drills will have to be completed as the season progresses, and more than 60 different kinds of objectives will be given to your alter ego throughout the year. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this approach, however, is the fact that you'll actually build relationships with everyone you meet. At the center of these relationships is the need to balance your coach's wishes with your agent's. So while your coach needs you to be a team player to help create an effective team dynamic, your agent wants you to be a flashy superstar so that you can become more popular and earn a lot more money. Whichever way you decide to go is up to you, but regardless of the decision it affects everyone around you. Teammates, your coach, your agent, and even your family will change their attitude, abilities, uses, and ideas based on your actions.
