NBA Stars Moves to be Captured at Live Summer Camp

Electronic Arts have announced that NBA Live 08 cover athlete Gilbert Arenas (Washington Wizards) will host the NBA Live Summer Camp taking place at EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C. on Wednesday, August 29. Along with Arenas, NBA stars Paul Pierce (Boston Celtics), Josh Howard (Dallas Mavericks), Monta Ellis (Golden State Warriors), Shawn Marion (Phoenix Suns) and Randy Foye (Minnesota Timberwolves) will be on hand to have their go-to moves authentically represented in NBA Live through motion capture.

NBA Live Summer Camp, open to the media but not to the general public, will provide the NBA players the opportunity to get their first look at NBA Live 08, give feedback to the development team, and get them on the court for a little friendly competition. As an added bonus, Arenas will pull out the hibachi and grill lunch for his guests.

“One of our biggest goals has always been to develop the most authentic sports games on the market,” said Jordan Edelstein, Director of Marketing, EA SPORTS. “Bringing in some of the NBA’s best athletes to EA for motion capture gives us the means to create a basketball experience as realistic in the videogame as you see it on the court.”

During the motion capture session, the NBA players will be dressed in a custom fit suit with reflective markers. Cameras – each with their own light source – surround the floor and record the point of light reflecting off the markers as a dot on the screen. The “bones” of the game character are pulled around by the dots in the same manner a string would pull a marionette’s body around. This data is transferred into the game and enables the development team to realistically represent that player’s movement as a videogame character. EA Canada is home to the largest motion capture studio in the world pumping out more than a half-million seconds of animation delivered each year with 200+ shoot days.

All six players attending NBA Live Summer Camp will be paired with kids attending the event from Burnaby KidSport during their friendly shoot-around in the gym. This locally-based not-for-profit organization raises and distributes money for kids in Burnaby, B.C., aged 5 to 17 who would not otherwise be able to participate in organized sports due to financial barriers. This will be led by EA Canada’s Community Relations program, EA Cares, which has a strong tradition of supporting the community.

NBA Live 08 will be available in early October for the Xbox 360 and other consoles.