Last year the world was introduced to the EA SPORTS Virtual Playbook.  A combination of a real life analyst and virtual players extracted from Madden 09 appearing on screen together to break down the game.  It was an amazing accomplishment for everyone involved and the technology’s success opened the flood gates to other applications.                

Fast forward a year later to the 08-09 NBA playoffs and you may have seen one of those applications with players from NBA Live 09 appearing next to Jon Barry. EA SPORTS and ESPN had linked up again and for the first time created a virtual playbook for basketball.

EA and ESPN decided they wanted to shoot Virtual Playbook segments with NBA Live 09 and use it for the playoffs and I got to go to Orlando and be a part of the shoot.  I was there to help produce the different sets and plays with NBA Live 09 that ESPN wanted to showcase and breakdown.  This meant sitting down with 1 to 3 other people (a great assortment of guys from Jason Parker to a number of different members of ESPN’s emerging technology group that were producing the segment) playing the game and trying to run the different plays.

In order to get a usable take the play had to be one continuous shot, which meant the whole play had to be run perfectly in one take.  We did all the plays together on the fly and came away with some really cool stuff. It was challenging with some of the more complex sets we did (IE. The Lakers’ triangle offense) and some of these ended up being too complicated to try and fit in.  With the time crunch the shoot was under, there were some classic late nights with Jason and the ESPN crew and I think everyone had a pretty great time being a part of something new like this.

I think the coolest part of the whole week (besides eating lunch with Jon Barry and reminiscing about the Vancouver Grizzlies and tossing out once famous names of players we remembered; Blue Edwards, Pete Chilcutt, Michael Dickerson to name a few) was learning about the ways that the basketball shoot was different than what they did with football.  The Madden shoot was a huge breakthrough and since it had been proven it they could do it a lot had been learned about what else was possible.  Learning about these things as the production went on was pretty interesting.  Jason Parker outlines some of the major ones:

•    The biggest difference between the two was the environment.  The football segments were taped on a set that was significantly smaller than a football field.  To make it work, not all of the 22 players on the field could be visible at the same time.

•    Since the NBA shoot was done on a real basketball court, we didn’t have to hide any players (although some were hidden during the second shoot).

•    Another difference was the virtual basket.  Other than the ball, there were no in-game props used in the football tapings.  The virtual basket allowed the virtual players to hit field goals.

•    The final major difference was sound.  The football segments were silent, but the basketball ones had shoe squeaks and ball sounds.  It really helped make the players feel like they were there.

I find it really interesting how the technology we deal with and present in video games now has the potential to play a new role in the way people see and understand sports.  Hopefully this can lead to creating more excitement about the real sport and in turn make the video game more relevant; maybe even one day using EA SPORTS games as teaching tools. In the end I think one of the goals that everyone who works on a sports video game has in one way or another is to make a game that can make people see the real game in a different way.  In doing so there is an opportunity to get fans excited about everything from the real thing to the potential for their own involvement in both virtual reality and real life. I think the path that is being paved with this technology is certainly steering us in that direction. 

The logical next question is: What could be next for the Virtual Basketball Playbook?

Well, after playing the game and seeing what we could and couldn’t get to the first time, there are a number of areas that have yet to be fully tapped.  I think a major catalyst for exploring those areas will come with being able to use NBA Live 10.  Playing Live 09 for an extended period of time while shooting after having been playing Live 10 so much makes me see just how far things have come in the last year. With NBA Live 10 I think we will be able to examine a wider variety of the finer points of the game that Live 10 captures which will lead to: more intricate plays, broader scope of teaching points and the opportunity to look deeper into individual player and team styles and tendencies.  Some of the technical improvements that could be ahead include: projecting virtual shadows onto the real court and virtual player scaling relative to real life people.

All these elements will continue to advance a technology designed to show fans what is beyond the video game and expose and teach them new things in interesting ways which will take them deeper into both the real and virtual world of sport.

-Sean Cambpell, Producer

by Producer Sean Campbell

I had a great weekend this week, not because the weather was great (rained everyday), or I went somewhere interesting (unless rounds at St. Andrews or TPC Sawgrass in Tiger Woods ’09 count).  No, it was great because I was reminded that Madness is just around the corner.  This fact was made clear to me by the last of the conference tournaments and the only invitation show that I’ll ever watch, Selection Sunday.

There were two games this weekend that had great finishes and whetted my appetite for madness: USC/ASU on Saturday and Mississippi State/Tennessee on Sunday.   I got the chance to see USC play Arizona last year at the Galen center and I have been following them closely ever since.  I love watching DeRozan play this season and I always enjoy the drama of the “win and you’re in” conference championship games (teams like Penn State, and St. Mary’s would probably feel differently this year however).

The other game that I thought was a great warm-up for the Tournament was the Mississippi State/Tennessee game.  It was Mississippi State’s chance to punch their own ticket to the dance and it was pretty tight all game long, but the craziest part of the game was the last 10 seconds.  After Prince missed his second FT that would have tied the game for Tennessee, each team turned the ball over TWICE trying to inbound the ball in Mississippi State’s end of the court.  Every coach’s nightmare! IT WAS CRAZY!  I hope games with dramatic endings like this are a sign of things to come in the upcoming weeks.

That brings me to the other reason the weekend was so good, Selection Sunday.  I got really amped up for the Selection Show after explaining to a bunch of family and friends how this whole process and the tournament worked.  The drama and excitement around the selection of teams and assigning of match-ups creates so many interesting storylines.  And when the storylines are paired with the excitement that comes with the win or go home element of a single elimination tournament structure, it’s understandable why they call it “March Madness.”  

I love the fact that the biggest and best basketball tournament has a whole show dedicated to the selection of teams.  It is such a good way to get fans involved and excited for the tournament.  Our whole team was feeling the excitement begin as everyone was in the office until 3am this Sunday watching the Selection Show and updating the team ratings and brackets for the Tournament Edition and our DLC (for the retail version of the game), so it was definitely a weekend to remember.

There are some great first round match-ups that I am looking forward to seeing, notably: BYU/Texas A&M, Marquette/Utah State, Clemson/Michigan and Florida State/Wisconsin.  I’m getting my TV and both computer monitors warmed up for maximum game watching during the beauty and craziness that is the first 2 rounds.

There is so much to get excited about when it comes to March and College Basketball.  But this year there is one more thing to add to the list.  I am really excited that this year we have released the March Madness Tournament Edition as a downloadable game on Xbox Live.  This I a standalone playable game offered on Xbox Live for $15.00 (1200 MS Points). 

I think this is a really unique chance for everyone, from tournament die-hards to casual fans, who haven’t had the opportunity to experience NCAA Basketball 09, or any college basketball video game, to have the chance to play at the most exciting part of the year.  It’s a great video game to get into anytime of the year, but in March it’s a whole other story, it’s Madness. 

It’s an opportunity to participate in and interact with all the drama that unfolds when the tournament begins.   Basketball is the game we will all be glued to our TV’s watching when the flood gates open on March 19th, and the March Madness Tournament Edition will be a participation sport for everyone who wants to hit the floor.  From top seeds to Cinderellas, everyone has the chance to play along with their favorite team on the road to the final four or avenge a loss and experience what could have been.  Whatever the case, this week Madness won’t be around the corner, it will be everywhere. 

Enjoy the Madness,

Sean.