REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BW SportsWire)--Aug. 14, 2001--Electronic Arts (Nasdaq:ERTS) and Steve Francis have reached an agreement naming the Houston Rockets guard the EA SPORTS(TM) spokesman for NBA LIVE 2002, the latest edition of the hugely successful NBA LIVE Basketball series. Francis will appear on behalf of EA SPORTS at community events and other EA SPORTS functions, as well as help with game design and development. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. NBA LIVE 2002 marks the second collaboration involving EA SPORTS and Francis, the first being when Francis was the cover athlete and motion capture talent for the EA SPORTS title NCAA(R) March Madness(TM) 2000. "I'm really excited to be back with EA SPORTS for NBA LIVE 2002," said Francis. "My experience as spokesperson for March Madness 2000 was amazing and I'm really looking forward to working on NBA LIVE to help make it the best NBA game around. After seeing an early version of the game I have no doubt it will be the must have basketball game for 2002." Francis is coming off a stellar second season in the NBA, where he solidified himself as one of the game's rising stars. As the point guard, Francis ranked eighth in the league in steals (1.76 spg) and 15th in assists per game (6.5). The 6-foot-3 inch high-flyer also posted team highs in scoring (19.9 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg). Following the 1999-2000 season Francis was named co-winner of the Schick Rookie of the Year Award. "We are very proud to have Steve Francis as our spokesman for NBA LIVE 2002," said producer Kevin Wilkinson, formerly the producer of the critically acclaimed NHL 2001. "Steve is a great young man and a great basketball player. EA SPORTS is very excited to work with him once again, this time on NBA LIVE 2002, and to continue relationship with him going forward." NBA LIVE 2002, the eighth edition in the most successful basketball series of all-time, allows players to experience life in the paint and above the rim with raw emotion and intensity like never before. NBA LIVE 2002 features enhanced play around the basket with various new post moves, more lay-ups and dunks, as well as more control of shot positioning and shot selection. In addition, players will have more control on defense and when going for rebounds. There is also a new franchise mode where players can view scouting reports on upcoming prospects and draft rookies, while managing an NBA franchise for up to 10 years as the general manager. Life-like bodies and heads make every NBA player a spitting image of their real-life counterpart, right down to cornrows, afros, tattoos, player accessories, and officially licensed shoes. Players will experience emotional moment like never before with auto replay and new "Jam Cam" and "Swat Cam" cameras featuring special effects like motion blur and letterboxing, as well as see the action from the player's eyes with cutting edge facial animation. NBA LIVE 2002 will be available on the PlayStation(R), PlayStation(R)2 computer entertainment system, and the Xbox(TM) video game console from Microsoft in Winter 2001.
good for Steve, but outside of the Madden franchise, EA Sports has fallen off. NBA Live 2001 for both PSX and PS2 was horrible, completely outclassed by NBA 2K1 for Dreamcast. and I own a copy of that March Madness with Stevie on the cover... also a horrible game. Maybe Steve can lend some insight to the Live programmers and let them know it shouldn't take five seconds for a player to release a shot.
Apparently you never saw Mario Elie release a jumper! Don't get me wrong, Mario is one of my all time favorite Rockets, but you couldn't tell the difference between his jump shot and the slo-mo replay sometimes...
Well, kudos to EA Sports for getting Franchise. I agree, the Live series has fallen off somewhat since oh ABOUT 1998....so let's hope that the game doesn't suck and make Stevie look bad. It HAS to be better than last year's..... Thanks for the thread Cain...you never can have enough sports video game talk!!
Wow, Ziggy scooped me by about 20 days. What kind of lag time is that? In 3 weeks, I'll announce the blockbuster Anderson-for-Rice swap.
I have played a season with the Rockets every year since live 95 (yes the full 82 games, 12 min qtrs), Except 1999, when the lockout ruined everything. But Live 2001 for the PS2 is not very good in terms of gameplay, EA better improve on that the most....and have more camera angles, a custom angle would be nice, like what The nba 2k series has. But no matter what, Live has Jordan in the game, and that is why i will continue to buy it. My dream is to see legend teams on NBA Live series like EA does for Madden. JBIIROCKETS
