NBA Shootout 2004 - PS2

NBA ShootOut 2004

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.
Developer: 989 Sports®
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-2 players (up to 8 with Multitap); up to 2 in
Online Mode
Platform: PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system
Peripherals: DUALSHOCK®2 analog controller, Memory Card (8MB)
(for PlayStation 2), Multi-Tap (for PlayStation 2),
Network Adaptor (Ethernet/modem) (for PlayStation 2)
Launch Date: October 2003
Target Age: 17-34
Rating: “E” for Everyone

OVERVIEW
One of the most unique sports games for the PlayStation®2 computer
entertainment system from last year returns with enhanced gameplay and even
more options. NBA ShootOut 2004 readies itself to compete for the championship
trophy with an updated Career Mode. Gamers will once again get the opportunity
to earn a spot in the NBA by working their way through the Summer Pro League
and National Basketball Development League. In addition, for the first time ever
in a basketball videogame, all of the 50 All-Time Greatest players in the NBA are
available. Another first for the ShootOut franchise is 989SportsOnline which
brings the excitement of NBA ShootOut 2004 to the Web. Greatly improved
gameplay and graphics have also been implemented, making this game a
legitimate contender for the championship hardware.

KEY FEATURES
•Play with 50 of the greatest NBA players to ever step foot on the court. Now
you can unlock 50 retired players who were / are the best in the game by
accomplishing goals attributable to each of them. You want to play with
Chamberlain? Score 100 points in a game. Go after Cousy, Malone, Ewing,
Magic, Worthy, Barkley, Drexler and more. Start today and build a dynasty of
the ages.

•Top-Rated Career Mode is back for its sophomore debut. Put your name and number on
the floor with the pros. See if you have what it takes to keep yourself in the lineup as you
run the floor to The Finals. What sets this apart from the competition is that before you
begin your career in the NBA, you’ll have to kick it off in the Summer Pro League (SPL),
earn a spot in the National Basketball Development League (NBDL) and work your way
through the ranks to get signed. Only then do you have the skills to play along side the
best in the game. And only with NBASO 2004 do you even have the opportunity to make
a career in the NBA just as real NBA players do.

•All-New QuickPlays make some multi-button combinations of the past obsolete. With
the new control schematic, offensive minded gamers can call for the give-and-go, swing
out or have players cut to the basket. Defensive QuickPlays include double teams, deny /
press defense and intentional fouls. QuickPlays define a control system that is simplistic
and intuitive. In the past basketball games in general have gotten a bad wrap as being to
complex to execute some of the more simplistic aspects of the game. QuickPlays help
gamers to do the traditionally complex by pressing just one button.

•Practice Mode returns giving you an opportunity to get focused before you put yourself
in the game. Practice tips and timing techniques that will help you become an offensive
flurry and a free throw expert. This feature should be called out to younger gamers or
those who are not familiar with NBASO, as a tool to will help build timing techniques
that will enhance their success rate and establish loyalty with an individualized control
system.

•989SportsOnline takes hoops to the web. But it’s more than just providing the ability to
play on the web. NBASO online is part of the 989 Sports Online Community which
identifies one user name for all 989 Sports games, incorporates real-time sports tickers,
real-time chat, rankings, message boards, 64-man tournaments and headset technology.
Because it’s not whether you win or lose but what kind of trash you talk.

•All-New Headset Technology complete with chat and voice recognition capabilities.
Play on the web and talk trash with opponents or use voice recognition to call your game
(off or online) without pressing a button. Use voice recognized commands for timeouts,
screens, picks, cuts, double teams, presses, play calling and more. The use of voice
recognition will be a clear competitive advantage by incorporating the ability to call plays
without the necessity of executing a traditional multi-button combination.

•Online Career Mode reporting provides the opportunity to track the progress of your
career player versus everyone else in the country and see where you hit on the national
ranking list. In the past, career modes have always been a more “personal” experience.
Nobody ever saw your successes and failures. With the Career Mode online for NBASO,
your stats, records, successes and failures are posted to the web further enhancing the
competitive aspect by making your career public record.

•Online Roster & Stat Updates will automatically occur each week. But it goes deeper
than that; player skill attributes are affected as well. Consequently, if a rookie turns out to
be a Superstar out of the blocks, his attributes will be adjusted accordingly and his
abilities increased. This creates a more realistic feel for the NBA simulation experience
as you have the ability to “always” play the game with current rosters, injuries, stats, hot
and cold streaks.

•Mid-Air Shot Changes are now made with just a simple button press. Shooters will now
have the ability to reposition shots and avoid defenders after they are already in the air or
they can simply pass out of the shot to an open shooter.

•Enhanced Shooter Momentum adds depth and realism. Shooters will now drift in the
direction that they are moving when they run into a jump shot. The amount of drift and
the impact it has on their shots depend entirely upon the speed and jumping ability of the
shooter.

•NEW Gameplay Features smooth player movement and attribute-based speeds. When
Kobe hits the gas, he leaves Vlade behind. With the ball, T Mac’s triple-threat fakes,
crossovers, and spins make defenders dizzy. The one-touch controls allow instant access
to multiple unique dribble moves. Defensively, Payton plays like “The Glove” with a
slick and active defensive stance, quick steal, and screen avoidance AI.

•A New Post Up Game allows offensive players to back down defenders on the block.
Success is based on attributes such as strength, weight, and skills. Post defenders can
engage the ball handler from three different angles: battle him straight up, force him
baseline, or angle him toward the center of the defense. This type of "game within a
game" on defense is only available in ShootOut 2004.

•NEW Refined AI features offensive AI teammates automatically cutting to the basket
and back screening for each other to set up the offense. The AI teammates spread the
floor just like the real NBA and set realistic and effective screens at will. Defensively,
teammates rush to switch and help close gaps in the D, while the big men collapse the
middle if someone gets penetration. Big shot blockers try to send your shots into the 7th
row while crafty guards angle ball handlers off to stop penetration. Defenders now steal
passes if the ball sails nearby and pick the ball handler’s pocket in traffic.

•Total Control Hoops is the only way to step foot on the hardwood. Total Control
Dribbling™ puts ball control in the palm of your hand as you go between the legs, behind
the back or go for the crossover dribble. Total Control Jukes™ have been tightened and
quickened to give the user the feel that their input is directly attached to the juke moves
they’re attempting. Total Control Screening™ allows hoopsters to set a pick or call for
the screen to give your hot shooter the open look. Now hit your buckets with Total
Control Shooting™ as you refine your touch and control the accuracy of your shot.

•Hot & Cold Streaks will affect your game just like the pros. Hit three consecutive shots
to put a player in the zone. Miss three consecutive and you’ll have trouble hitting from
the paint.

•Defensive Awareness Response Structure for all defenses including zone, help,
collapse, and box outs. This is a completely new defensive system that enables players to
position themselves more appropriately based on the highest offensive threats and then
react intelligently to offensive movement.

•New Player Models have been created with individualized body shapes. This technology
was revolutionary for player heads last year and has been carried over and applied for full
body reproduction. Now, as with the player heads, each body is created with a number of
“sliders” that offer unique replication for every player in the game. Every player features
fully animated texture-mapped faces from authentic NBA photos with unique head
shapes using some of the most original and unique replication tools in the industry.
Player highlights include player unique skin tones, tattoos and optional goggles, head,
wrist and armbands.

•More Than Twice the Number of Animations from NBA ShootOut 2004. This year
989 Sports has made some technological advances that now allow us to literally double
the number of animations from just one year ago.

•Smart Collision Detection that recognizes the level of impact and implements a
proportionate reaction from one player to another. This allows for lighter looking
collision animations so when a player is barely hit he doesn't look like he ran into a wall.

•New Camera Design featuring 13 independent cameras orchestrated with the aid of top
producers from Fox Sports.

•Motion-Captured Animations from more than a dozen NBA stars and former All-
Americans include everything from ball control and passing to shooting and rebounding
and more than 50 signature dunks that have all been synchronized with motion blending
technology for tight animation transitions.

•Extended use of Inverse Kinematics now encompasses all aspects of blocking,
rebounds, and pickups by adding the ability to move limbs to the ball thereby increasing
the graphical accuracy of these animations so neither the ball nor the player slides or
warps into position.

•Motion Synthesis enriches animation database and allows motion capture data
adaptation to unexpected game situations. Animations will now change when the
unexpected occurs. As one animation impedes another they will both react and alter to
accommodate the unexpected.

•Playbooks Designed With NBA Stars include more than 450 team specific plays and
sets that have been designed to replicate every team in the NBA. In an effort to bring the
most authentic hoops to the PlayStation 2, some of the best players in the game have been
consulted including: Stephon Marbury, Chris Webber, Jason Kidd, “Bo” Outlaw, Robert
Horry and more.

•New Camera Design featuring 13 independent cameras orchestrated with the aid of top
producers from Fox Sports. Get your NBA action fix with all the cut-aways, zooms and
pans of a professional network telecast.

•The Dynamic Duo of the NBA returns. Bill Walton returns to the two-man booth with
Ian Eagle. The booth rolls with recognizable Waltonisms, accompanied with hundreds of
hours of play-by-play from New Jersey Nets broadcaster, Ian Eagle.

•Create Player interface allows you to utilize player ratings to create an all-world talent
or design a player to reflect your own characteristics. The limits are nearly boundless as
you determine the characteristics, styles and abilities of every player created.

•Create Dunk is one of the most innovative features ever added to a basketball video
game. Only with NBA ShootOut can you fabricate unbelievably unique dunks from bits
and pieces of the most famous dunks in the game. Two-handed, one-handed and
Tomohawk jams are all just part of the arsenal you have to choose from. You establish
the take off, acrobatics and the throw down.

•Customize your Playbook with Play Creator. Design your own custom plays and save
them to your playbook for the ultimate offensive edge.