Pete_LeGrant September 23, 2008 Features, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 135 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

This live roster thing sounds pretty cool. I don’t know about you, but it does annoy me when a sports video game doesn’t have the rosters correct. The generic player–ol’ number 32 with no name–is the most annoying. Outdated rosters are mildly annoying.

But NBA 2K9 is taking care of all that. They announced:

2K Sports today announced details on Living Rosters, an exciting new
innovative online feature for this season’s highly anticipated
basketball title, NBA 2K9. Living Rosters will ensure dedicated fans
are playing with the most up-to-date and complete basketball experience
ever available in the NBA 2K franchise. In addition to delivering
constant updates to player ratings and player tendencies, Living
Rosters will also offer exclusive access to unlockable animation
packages for players in the game. When a player starts to heat up and
takes his game to the next level on the real courts, new animation
packages will unlock for that player in the video game. As the NBA
season progresses, so will NBA 2K9, as players will have the ability to
pull off new moves never seen before in the video game, adapt their
offensive and defensive rotations, and shift starting lineups as they
occur. If it happens during the regular NBA season, it will happen in
NBA 2K9 thanks to Living Rosters.

When the Living Rosters
feature is activated and a gamer signs in online, the game
automatically checks for Living Roster updates in order to download the
latest real-life player information in a seamless process behind the
scenes. Gamers will have an option to either have Living Rosters
automatically update their in-game roster information, or they can
choose to download new roster data manually.

Once Living Rosters
has successfully completed an update, NBA 2K9 fans can then review the
different player and gameplay updates from the NBA 2K Insider – a real
person working behind the scenes, pouring over the stats and
spreadsheets, and who is ultimately responsible for the content and
accuracy of the Living Rosters updates. However, the Insider’s job is
much more than just crunching numbers – they will interact with the
community and listen to roster update suggestions to determine what the
fans really want in each update. The NBA 2K Insider’s analysis and
commentary will be available in-game and on the 2K Sports website, www.2ksports.com .

I think 2K Sports is stepping up to the plate, and they’re going to set a new standard for sports games.

What sports games aren’t getting it done? Sound off in the comments.

-PLG