EA Sports' "NBA Live" Game To Allow Users To Update Player Ratings

By Eric Fisher, Staff Writer, SportsBusiness Journal

EA Sports To Allow Users To Update "NBA Live 09" Player Ratings

The E3 Media and Business Summit opens today in L.A., and EA Sports will announce that it has expanded the functionality of the forthcoming "NBA Live 09" title with what it calls "Dynamic DNA." The technology allows gamers with online-connected consoles to update player intelligence and ratings on a daily basis. While many games have previously offered roster updates between physical releases, this marks the first systemic effort to have the full coding behind videogame players mirror reality on an ongoing basis. The game is one of the few in EA Sports' stable that is widely recognized as inferior to its main competition, in this case 2K Sports' "NBA 2K9," and to that end the effort also represents an effort to regain some critical and competitive edge. The game releases Oct. 7 in North America, and a week later elsewhere.

WARDROBE MALFUNCTION? Meanwhile, Brett Favre's Friday request to the Packers to grant him an unconditional release places EA with the possibility of an unprecedented occurrence in which the current "Madden" cover athlete is wearing a different uniform than the one on the game. Packers GM Ted Thompson said Saturday he would not release Favre or allow him to return as a starter, and numerous published reports over the weekend speculated on potential trades. "We're still assessing what all this means for us. But Brett Favre is still an icon, and we'd love to see him play this season," said EA Sports spokesman David Tinson.