EA and FIBA, the world's governing body for basketball, recently signed an agreement to feature the FIBA World Championship in the NBA Live franchise. Soon we will be finally be able to expand their virtual basketball experience to include teams from all over the world. NBA LIVE 08, shipping this October, will feature eight international teams, including 2006 World Championship winners Spain, runners up Greece and USA, as well as France, Germany, Italy, Argentina and China.



Don't you think its about time that the big basketball game franchises acknowledge that there are a lot of talented players and teams outside of the NBA? I'm just curious as how the player and team ratings will be reflected. The sad part is that the Wii version of NBA O8 wont be featuring the FIBA Championship tournament, just the ability to play as the FIBA teams on the Play now mode.

PRESS RELEASE

EA and FIBA Sign Licensing Agreement to Feature FIBA World Championship in EA SPORTS NBA LIVE Franchise

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS), the world's leading interactive entertainment software company, and FIBA, the world governing body for basketball, today announced a multi-year licensing agreement that will bring the FIBA World Championship to a videogame for the first time ever. Fans of the NBA LIVE franchise will soon be able to expand their virtual basketball experience to include teams from all over the world. NBA LIVE 08, shipping this October, will feature eight international teams, including 2006 World Championship winners Spain, runners up Greece and USA, as well as France, Germany, Italy, Argentina and China.

All eight international teams are available in Play Now mode, as well as the all new FIBA World Championship Mode that allows players to compete in an eight team single elimination tournament. Choose from the authentic rosters, teams, and uniforms of each international team, and prove to the world that they have what it takes to win the title.

"We're very excited to count FIBA as a close partner," said Jordan Edelstein, Director of Product Marketing, EA SPORTS. "Adding the FIBA World Championship license to the NBA LIVE franchise, allows us at EA SPORTS to add a new layer of authenticity to the franchise, giving fans all over the world a deeper virtual basketball experience."

"We are very pleased to partner with the world's #1 videogame company to enable basketball fans worldwide to play the FIBA World Championship," said FIBA Commercial Director Matthew Osmon.

The EA SPORTS™ NBA LIVE 07 was the #1 selling basketball game in 2006. NBA LIVE 08 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver, BC, and will ship to stores worldwide this fall. The game will be available in early October for the PLAYSTATION®3 and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment systems, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), Xbox 360™ video game system from Microsoft and the Wii™. NBA LIVE 08 will ship to retailers on PC in late October. NBA LIVE 08 has been rated 3+ by PEGI and "E" (Everyone) by the ESRB; visit www.esrb.org or www.pegionline.eu for updated rating information. For more information, log onto www.nbalive.com. Media can find screenshots of the game at http://info.ea.com.

To clarify, the Wii version of NBA Live 08 will not include the World Championship Mode. You will, however, be able to choose the international teams via the standard Play Now option.