As the Los Angeles Lakers begin their season tonight, taking on the Portland Trailblazers, I’d like to let all my fellow Lakers fans out there know that we aren’t the only ones who believe our team will go all the way. NBA Live 09 thinks we have what it takes to be champs once again!

A video game simulation of the 2008-09 season was conducted, using the EA SPORTS NBA Live 09 engine,  and it predicted that the Lakers would end up beating the Miami Heat to win the NBA Championship.

According to the EA SPORTS press release:

A simulation is conducted by artificial intelligence or logic of the video game that uses real-life data from each player. Results are extrapolated by the video game when two teams match up based on player ratings, line combinations, and include variances such as injuries and hot streaks to give a realistic outcome of a game or series.

Pre-season simulations make the assumption that teams will stay healthy and play a season without any big trades, which would alter the end result. NBA LIVE 09 can now be used as a predictive throughout the season to simulate results of big match ups and the rest of the season with authentic data driving the artificial intelligence.

Along with predicting who would win it all, the Live 09 simulation showcased the Award Winners of the NBA season. Here’s are a few:

• Houston Rockets’ Yao Ming  completes an injury-free season and captures the MVP Award after posting 25.8 ppg and 11.1 rpg.
• Kobe Bryant of the championship winning Lakers leads the league in scoring with 27.9 ppg.
• Rockets’ Ming, Lakers’ Bryant and Pau Gasol, Celtics’ Paul Pierce and the Denver Nuggets’ Allen Iverson complete the All-NBA First Team.
• Memphis Grizzles’ OJ Mayo will take home Rookie of the Year honors.
• Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves is awarded Most Improved Player Award.
• In addition to capturing the NBA Championship, Lakers head coach Phil Jackson will take home Coach of the Year honors.

Being a Lakers fan myself, I’m excited to hear that the Live 09 simulation has the Lakers winning it all, but unfortunately, I still have my doubts.

I mean first of all the simulation has the Lakers taking on the Heat in the Finals. Are you kidding me? The Heat? They were the worst team in the league last year, posting a record of 15-67, and the prediction has them getting to the Finals with a 55-27 record this season.

As for how well the rest of the league faired, here’s the full list of standings:

Final Regular Season Standings:
Western Conference                 W                     L                      Win %
1 Los Angeles                           65                     17                     0.793
2 Houston                                 59                     23                     0.720
3 Dallas                                    54                     28                     0.659
4 New Orleans                           53                     29                     0.646
5 Denver                                   50                     32                     0.610
6 San Antonio                           50                     32                     0.610
7 LA Clippers                            47                     35                     0.573
8 Phoenix                                 46                     35                     0.573
9 Utah                                       45                     37                     0.549
10 Portland                               33                     49                     0.402
11 Golden State                        31                     51                     0.378
12 Memphis                              30                     52                     0.366
13 Sacramento                          29                     53                     0.354
14 Minnesota                            28                     54                     0.341
15 Oklahoma City                      23                     59                     0.280

Eastern Conference                  W                     L                      Win %
1 Miami                                     55                     27                     0.671
2 Detroit                                   48                     34                     0.585
3 Boston                                   44                     38                     0.537
4 Chicago                                 41                     41                     0.500
5 Cleveland                               41                     41                     0.500
6 Orlando                                  40                     42                     0.488
7 Toronto                                  40                     42                     0.488
8 Charlotte                                39                     43                     0.476
9 Milwaukee                              37                     45                     0.451
10 New Jersey                           37                     45                     0.451
11 Philadelphia                          37                     45                     0.451
12 Atlanta                                 36                     46                     0.439
13 New York                              32                     50                     0.390
14 Washington                          30                     52                     0.355
15 Indiana                                 29                     53                     0.354

I guess we’ll have to wait until next summer to find out who’s going to win it all for sure, but I’ll make sure to check back with these predictions to see how well the NBA Live 09 simulation turned out. Here’s to the great NBA season ahead! Go Lakers!!!

With the NBA season quickly approaching, we’ve got a handful of NBA games being released this week including NBA 2K9, NBA Live 09, NBA Live 09 All-Play and NBA ‘09: The Inside. Being a big NBA fan myself, I decided to make my pick of the week one of these basketball games, so hit the jump to find out which one I think will be best.

Not a basketball fan, eh? I’d say look out for LucasArts’ Fracture which is probably one of the best action games on the list, and Guilty Gear fans should check out the action spin-off game, Guilty Gear 2: Overture for the 360.

Pick of the Week: NBA 2K9 (Xbox 360, PS3)

Xbox 360:

* Crash: Mind over Mutant
* NBA Live 2009
* NBA 2K9
* Guilty Gear 2: Overture
* Fracture

PS3:

* Fracture
* NBA 2K9
* NBA Live 2009
* NBA 09: The Inside

Nintendo Wii:

* Line Rider 2 Unbound
* Midnight Bowling (WiiWare)
* MadStone (WiiWare)
* Game Party II
* Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune
* Ten Pin Alley 2
* Mario Golf (VC)
* Shining Force II (VC)
* Crash: Mind Over Mutant
* NBA Live 2009 All-Play
* North American Hunting Adventure
* Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway

PS2:

* NBA 09: The Inside
* Onimusha: The Essentials
* Crash: Mind Over Mutants
* NBA 2K9
* Fracture
* NBA Live 2009
* Cake Mania: Baker’s Challenge
* Nitrobike

Nintendo DS:

* Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals
* Pop Cutie: Street Fashion Simulation
* Imagine: Babysitters
* Crash: Mind over Mutant
* Imagine: Fashion Designer New York
* Prey the Stars
* Bleach: Dark Souls
* Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2

PSP:

* My Spanish Coach
* Midnight Club: LA Remix
* NBA Live 2009
* NBA 09: The Inside
* Cake Mania: Baker’s Challenge

PC:

* Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy
* Brother’s in Arms Hells Highway
* SAS: Secure Tomorrow
* Everlight
* Exodus From Earth

I just got a chance to play a game of NBA Live 09, and I gotta say I was really impressed. I was a fan of NBA 2K 08 last year, but I think EA might have the upper hand this year with all the new features and gameplay enhancements.

Let me start off with the EA Sports presentation of NBA Live 09, which took place yesterday.

It started off with Peter Moore introducing the game, but he quickly revealed a surprise guest to the stage: Basketball Hall of Famer and current NBA analyst Bill Walton, who suddenly stole the stage with his presence, humor and overall knowledge of basketball.

He totally won over the crowd and was my favorite part of the conference. To reiterate what Chad said, if Bill Walton was on the stage during the whole EA press conference, it would have been so much better. He was just that awesome.

Ok, enough about Mr. Walton – back to my impressions of NBA Live 09.

During the NBA Live 09 presentation, we saw cinematic gameplay and then we actually got to see the game running for the first time. The animations and player details look superb, easily keeping up with the likes of the NBA 2K series.

The biggest feature added to this year’s NBA Live (based on how many times Peter Moore mentioned it) is the Dynamic DNA, which is essentially a daily update of players and teams playing tendencies.

For example, say there is a real life NBA game going on one night, and Paul Pierce happens to drive to the basket cutting left the majority of the night. Following that game, Dynamic DNA will update the statistics of Paul Pierce in NBA Live 09 making it where he’d most likely be successful when cutting to the left.

Another example of how Dynamic DNA works is if a real life player is making a majority of his shots from one area of the court, that same player will be able to make those same shots in NBA Live 09 because that will become his “hot zone”. It kind of reminds me of NBA Jam’s hot spots, but just not as easy to pull off and the ball doesn’t catch on fire.

I got a chance to finally play a copy of the game today at the EA Sports showcase. I picked up the controller and was immediately impressed with the fluidity of the controls and the graphical detail to not only the players, but the fans and the stadium as well.

I got a hands-on demonstration of how the Dynamic DNA works and it’s just as cool as I thought it would be. It keeps the game as fresh as possible with daily updates. Honestly, I haven’t been this excited for a basketball game in awhile.

Just imagine getting all the latest stats and playing styles of all NBA players during the middle of the season. No more stats and rosters based off of the season before. Oh, and speaking of rosters, Dynamic DNA will also feature the ability to update any mid-season trades or cuts, as well as injuries to any players.

Another feature that I noticed, which kind of coexists with the Dynamic DNA, is the NBA Live Rewind. This all-new feature gives gamers the ability to take a look at stats from previously played NBA games, and use those same stats in the game you are going to play.

For example, say you are playing as the L.A. Lakers and your opponent is playing as the Boston Celtics. You can use NBA Live Rewind to look up the actual matches the two teams played against each other, and use the stats from one of those games. NBA Live Rewind is a really neat idea and gives players just another way to play the game.

Other than the Dynamic DNA and NBA Live Rewind, not much else was discussed during the presentation, but other features including the Pick and Roll Control, Defensive Lockdown Control, Signature Playcalling, Quickstrike Ankle-Breakers and FIBA tournaments have already been revealed for the game.

With the basketball season just recently coming to an end, I can only wait to get my basketball fix this fall when NBA Live 09 is released.

Ripten TV is back and ready to kick you right right in your face-part. I’m here at E3 08 counting down the top 5 crowd pleasing moments of the EA press conference.

The title explains it all. I honestly can’t stand Tony Parker, nor can I stand the Spurs. F*ck ‘em both. They’re like the New England Patriots of the NBA. They’re boring, they’re old and they’re played out. When my Lakers beat them in the Western Conference Finals earlier this year, I almost cried I was so happy, then again I also almost cried when the Lakers lost in the Finals, but that’s not the point here.

Even with all the hatred in world for Tony Parker and his Spurs, I’m here to announce that after seven years in the NBA, two NBA All-Star appearances and three NBA Championships (ugh, that was hard for me to note), Tony Parker has finally reached the pinnacle point of his career when EA announced today that he will be the NBA Live 09 worldwide cover athlete.

Okay, I was only kidding about him being at the peak of his career, but seriously he’s pretty excited about the news.

“I have a long history with EA Sports. I’ve been on the cover in France for five years straight and I’ve been playing NBA Live for as long as I’ve played basketball,” said Parker. “It’s a real honor for me as a European player to now be represented on the worldwide cover.”

Parker will be the first European-born global cover athlete of NBA Live and will be joined along with three other NBA European stars that will respectively be the cover athlete of their home country. The other stars include the Los Angeles Lakers’ Pau Gasol (Spain), Toronto Raptors’ Andrea Bargnani (Italy), and Chicago Bulls’ Luol Deng (UK).

With the announcement of their new NBA Live 09 cover athlete, EA also introduced a few new features to the game including the Pick and Roll Control, Defensive Lockdown Control, Signature Playcalling and Quickstrike Ankle-Breakers.

With all its international glory, NBA Live 09 will also feature 24 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) teams with full rosters, and will also include a FIBA World Championship Mode using FIBA rules.

It’s nice to see that the NBA has embraced its international players in the past few years and even better to see that the EA Sports has followed the NBA’s footsteps and done the same thing.

Even if it is the non-stop flopping, cry baby Tony Parker. I still don’t understand how he got Eva Longoria. Ugh…F*ck ‘em.

NBA Live 09 will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP and PS2 this October.

EA Sports is asking gamers to get their creative juices flowing by thinking up ideas for a custom jersey design. Winner will have their jersey design featured in NBA LIVE 09. Press release with more information after the jump.

NBA LIVE “Jersey Creator Contest”

Think you’ve got a sense of style? EA SPORTS, in conjunction with adidas and the NBA, have launched an online contest to design a new jersey to be featured in NBA LIVE 09. Users can create their own NBA team jerseys using various assets from all 30 NBA teams as well as shapes, numbers and text with the revolutionary new NBA “Jersey Creator” tool. The stakes? The winning jersey entry will be featured in the NBA LIVE 09.

Winners will be determined based on creativity, talent and originality by EA SPORTS staff and must be submitted by November 16, 2007. Other contest prizes for 2 runners-up include an autographed Gilbert Arenas jersey and EA Sports video game “library” packages.

EA Sports NBA LIVE 09 -Jersey Creator Main Page

The best jerseys can also be shared with others or downloaded as wallpaper, screensaver or instant message icons. There is no limit to the amount of jerseys a user can create or submit for the contest, so get creative!

Visit www.easports.com/nbalive08/jerseycreator.jsp or www.nbalive08.com for complete contest details, to view the jersey gallery and to create your entry today. NBA LIVE 08 is in stores now! More product information and assets are available on the press website at www.info.ea.com.