NBA Live 07 has been cancelled for the PS3 altogether. We repeat. NBA Live 07 has been cancelled for the PS3 altogether. Instead, you can expect it to come out next season as NBA Live 08.

This was the official statement coming from EA representatives when asked by IGN about updates on the game. Says David Tinson, Public Relations Manager of EA Canada, "We are concentrating our efforts on creating a spectacular NBA Street: Homecourt [instead of porting  NBA Live 07]."

Initially announced at E3 2006 back in May, the PS3 edition of NBA Live 07 showed how much of the unit's technology can be utilized by the game. From the focusing on "Procedural Awareness Technology", the video of the game as a work in progress seemed to be highly promising. That is, until EA Sports decided to just shelf it altogether. As to the real reason why they opted to discontinue the PS3 project of NBA Live 07, we can only guess. But here's hoping that the next season will absolutely be for real.

The hardcourt's definitely gonna be much colder this season without this game.

The NBA Homecourt, meanwhile, can be expected to land in retail stores by the first half of 2007.

It's been a month already since fans sent out their frustration letter to Electronic Arts. We didn't quite catch how the giant publisher-developer reacted as they've been really quiet about it. The development team of NBA Live '07 (PS3, PSP, X360) on the other hand just kept on working, as if to say "let my game do the talking."

So, does NBA Live '07 'got game'? We want to know what you guys think. You can actually track back to the latest trailer here, just in case you've missed it. And today, we share with you a new bunch of in-game screenshots. Compared to the previous ones, all of these are taken from long shots as if to show the game's depth.

We are not saying these are as sweet as pop-tarts but we can see the effort. Regarding gameplay, uh, well, we'll all decide on that once the game comes out this holiday season.

   

Buy: [NBA Live '07 for PSP]

Buy: [NBA Live '07 for PS3]
Buy: [NBA Live '07 for Xbox 360]

With tons of sports titles coming out, it's getting harder and harder to decide which one to get. Just take the NBA titles for the PS3, there are four all in all! And with almost the same lineup of your favorite NBA ballers, it's hard to choose just one lucky title that'll get a taste of your yummy PS3 consoles.

Much as we'd like to help you decide on that dilemma, you're pretty much alone in that, dude. All we can do is bring you the facts and info. Now, EA has just released the trailer of NBA Live 07 (PS3, PSP, Xbox360) for the PS3, and boy, all we can say it's lookin' goo-hood. Although EA had some negative raps down their door with the whole complaint-letter-to-EA fiasco, it's good to see that the dev team didn't seem too affected by this and was able to carry on doing their jobs well (as you'll soon see with the game graphics in motion).

Aaaand with that, we'll let you guys see for yourselves what's in store for you come November 17th. Enjoy the trailer!

Download: [NBA Live 07 PS3 trailer]
Pre-order: [NBA Live 07 for PS3]

Okay, some of you may know this already, but this is for those who don't really follow competitive sports games that much. Just in case you're into sports-based electronic gaming but you aren't really in the loop, here's a quick run through of the important details regarding EA Sports' NBA Live Challenge 06.

Not really interested? Well, the prize money for the champion is $50,000. Now are you curious? Okay, cool.

So what's the Challenge all about? Well, the consumer event allows competitors and fans from across the country to compete for that huge wad of money we just mentioned. The regional tournaments for the thing take place in 8 US cities. There have been many competitions for electronic games before that offered prize money, but this is the first official one from Electronic Arts.

The competition will tour several cities and you guys can register online or on the tour site. Registration should begin two hours before the official start of tournament play. Registration is $10 per person. Online registration started last October 2.

A good thing about this tourney is that you can register and compete in multiple cities. So if you sort of don't do well in one area, you still have a chance if you travel and follow the tour to the next area. To be fair, if you win the tournament in one city, you can no longer compete. We're thinking that some of you veterans who are used to travelling from tourney to tourney will like this.

Game on, people.

We don't think this was what the fans were expecting when they were clamoring for improvements to the game. Jay-Z will be an unlockable character for EA's NBA Live 07 on the Xbox 360 and PS3. To get him, however, you have to go grab yourself a new pair of shoes.

Unlocking him requires you to buy some rubber shoes. Specifically, you have to pick up Reebok's S. Carter Basketball IV. Doing so will net you a code you can input in the game to receive your prize. The code not only unlocks Jay-Z, but gets you two other perks: the basketball team known as the S. Carter All-Stars, and the Reebok/S. Carter Arena.

No offense meant to Jay-Z, because he's great and all, but someone's not going to be pleased with this development after the NBA Live community's letter to Electronic Arts. That, and getting an all-star team and arena named after you in a basketball game is a lot of product placement for a video game archetype that carries a ton of product placement as-is. Keep checking our blog to see if EA does something remotely close to a gameplay fix.

One last thing before we go, though. When he said "H to the izzo" and "V to the izzay," what was he talking about?

Buy: [NBA Live 07 for the Xbox 360]

Being disappointed in a game is one thing. But to be so disappointed, that a bunch of you would actually write an open web letter to the publisher to say (a) "the game sucks," (b) "you're not listening to us," and (c) "we're going to switch to the competition," well, you got to wonder where the publisher or dev team's gone wrong.

Which is what members of the NBA Live Series Center Forum, the largest community forum for the NBA Live series, have done after they played NBA Live 07 - and, well, hated it. Yep, these hardcore fans (as they describe themselves) hated the game enough, to write this open web letter to Electronic Arts to express their disappointment:

For us however, NBA Live 07 is the final straw... Until this release we overlooked any flaws in the game, ones that some of us considered major even if others of us considered them minor. But this release has ignited feelings that EA doesn't care about its fans, which is the reason we are writing today.

The open letter vocally accuses EA of ignoring the fans, from wish lists to bug fixes, not only in NBA Live, but, the letter writers say, in other places like FIFA and Battlefield 2 as well. While they have not entirely given up on EA and NBA Live - their petitions for patch fixes and other wish lists continue. But: If this continues it seems inevitable that more and more players will eventually give up on NBA Live.

You can read more on the letter at the source link below. We'd like to ask you this question, however: do you find NBA Live 07 as bad as these guys found it?

Buy: [NBA Live 07 for the PSP]
Buy: [NBA Live 07 for the Xbox 360]

With NBA having long gone global with their international players being counted among the league's elite, it's only logical that the game's soundtrack goes global as well. EA has just revealed the soundtrack for NBA Live 07, and global artists such as Canadian Ghislain Poirier and Brazilian hiphop outfit Braza have made the cut.

2006 breakouts Gnarls Barkley and Rhymefest from the US will also be in the soundtrack, and to further add a global touch, Finnish rapper Redrama will also be rhyming his way into the game. EA's worldwide executive of music and marketing Steve Schnur said, "Our goal was to further define the global cultural phenomenon of hip-hop--and help shape its future--via one of the hottest sports videogame franchises on the street today."

To live up to the "07" part in the title, the soundtrack will also feature artists that are considered to be the faces of hiphop's future such as Kanye West's protégés Rhymefest and Lupe Fiasco. British rapper Lady Sovereign, whose much-awaited Def Jam debut album has been long delayed, will also be featured in the game. The artist's album though won't be hitting stores until later this year. Here's some of the songs in the soundtrack:

Army of the Pharaohs - "Gorillas"
Bossman - "Hand Clap"
Braza - "Son Do Braza"

The full list awaits after the jump!

Pre-Order: [NBA Live 07 PSP/XBOX 360]

Doing sequel after sequel is hard thing to pull off. One must always add something new or better than the previous one. Some buckle under the pressure, others thrive. One of those is EA Sports' NBA Live Franchise. It's now on its nth run. I remember playing this when I was a kid, now it's still here, and getting better every year. It's gotten quite a lot of competition but it's still churning out great games. We last gave you some improvements from the last game, but here's the main man himself, the producer of NBA Live 07, Tim Tschirner, to give us what the new game's really about:

"...we focused on Gameplay innovation and Feature depth. We have completely re-written the AI and Animation system and created a new Gameplay experience centered around Athletic Performance. We added a full-featured Dynasty Mode, a new Next Gen All-Star Weekend and we will introduce an ESPN integration package that will have everything like the Ticker, ESPN.com articles, PodCasts, and ESPN Motion (Video)."

As for the Features, we really liked the one about the ultra in-depth Dynasty Mode. It takes more than just practice shooting to make a better player. This part of the game sorts out the intangible factor: Team Chemistry. You'll be hiring the people who will be helping your players reach their maximum potential.

The All-Star is a sweet thing indeed. The changes to the mode include a Dunk Tutorial, Vegas visual theme, and some gameplay modifications. The shooting competition will show how the shooters really strut their stuff, from how Nowitzki looks as he shoots the ball, to how fluid Allen's stroke looks. The "Dunk" is something to really look forward to.

Regarding signature moves, the following players have been mocapped and downloaded to your game: MacGrady; Pierce; Kobe; Brand; Garnett; Prince; Ginobli; Walker; Webber; Allen;Bosh; Arenas; V. Carter; Camby; Iverson; Bibby; Yao; Marion; Wade; Gasol; Diaw; C. Anthony; etc.

Gameplay seems to be the main point of the next gen consoles, of course besides smooth-looking graphics and realistic animation. EA just keeps putting the bar a tad bit higher. The good thing about it, is that the gamers always win.

Check out these cool new additions to NBA Live 07 (coming out for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PSP) as EA goes back to the drawing board to provide you guys with a better build of the game. Missing features from NBA Live 06, Dynasty Mode, All-Star Weekend, and a salary cap have now been included in NBA Live 07. The newest feature is the Total Freestyle control, which is the most advanced version of ESPN Integration yet.

In the Total Freestyle control feature, players now have the ability to have multiple skill packages, create a new tiered superstar system for improved player differentiation, and - best of all - the ability to toggle through the different Freestyle Superstar categories on the fly. A ton of moves have also been added, making the control more organic by moving them to the R-Analog stick. A new HUD system in the corner of the screen has been created that will show the player's FSS ability and level. A quick button press will toggle through the different FSS types and this will be displayed in the HUD.

What we love though, is the ability to have multiple superstar abilities which, at a quick button press, will enable you to change your character's ability between high flyers, play makers, scorers, shooters, and defenders. Also, there are three levels of Superstars to differentiate between the players in the league, so this means that no two players are alike:

• Level 1 Superstars: players who are up-and-coming and who may occasionally get a highlight on Sports Center.
• Level 2 Superstars: potential All-Stars and frequently put up some big highlight moments every game.
• Level 3 Superstars: players that people pay the big money to see.

EA also stated that the new system will allow you to play better basketball, especially with the inside-out game as it rewards good ball movement. They still have a few weeks to iron out all the details and issues though, as NBA Live 07 is slated to be released in time for holiday season.

Electronic Arts (EA) has announced further athletes to grace the cover of NBA Live 07. Joining Tracy McGrady from the Houston Rockets on the North American cover (and all other countries) will be Dirk Nowitzki from the Dallas Mavericks (German Cover), Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies (Spanish Cover), Tony Parker from the San Antonio Spurs and Boris Diaw from the Pheonix Suns (French Cover).

In addition to the European athletes named, EA Sports will also feature the following European All-Stars: Nowitzki, Parker, Gasol, Diaw, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Peja Stojakovic, Andrei Kirilenko, Mehmet Okur, Hedo Turkoglu, Vladimir Radmanovic, Andrea Bargnani, Mickael Pietrus, Sasha Vujacic, Beno Udrih, and Nenad Krstic.

Keith Munro, VP of Marketing for EA also added, "With the global appeal of NBA Live it is important to us to assemble an All-Star team of international players who reflect our worldwide basketball franchise leadership. These players are superstars on their NBA teams and some of the best players in the world. We believe they truly represent the authenticity and entertainment that NBA Live 07 delivers."

NBA Live 07 is set for release on the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PSP, Mobile and PC on the coming 25th of September.