NBA Live 06 from EA Sports

EA Sports Shooters: Watch!

August 26 -- Not all NBA players can pull off the same moves. Now, neither can their video game counterparts.

Innovating on the previously introduced Freestyle Control, NBA Live 06 -- which ships in October -- debuts to the franchise Freestyle Superstar, a gameplay feature in which the league's top talents can pull off a unique set of moves. Freestyle Control allows any player to make a generic maneuver, such as a drop step, spin dribble or crossover.

"The same way college basketball is about the team, the strategy, the NBA game is about the superstars," said NBA Live Public Relations manager David Tinson. "We have six distinct player type categories in Freestyle Superstar. Only the cream of the crop have one. There's roughly 80 to 90 Superstars in the game. It's determined by statistical analysis, watching the game, and then cross-referencing those things."

The player types include Playmaker, Scorer, Shooter, Stopper, High-Flyer and Power Player. Multi-dimensional threats such as Kobe Bryant or LeBron James can be more than one type of Superstar, although only one on offense and defense in any given game. To activate the moves with a Superstar, users are required to hold the left trigger on their controllers and tap or hold a corresponding face button (X, Y, A, B).

Superstar Types

EA Sports Power Player: Watch!

Playmaker: Assist-men like Steve Nash and Jason Kidd can pull off no-look passes, behind-the-back dishes and between-the-legs feeds.

Scorer: These guys find ways to score, no matter what. There are inside scorers – i.e. Tim Duncan – and outside scorers – i.e. Allen Iverson or Dwyane Wade.

Shooter: Marksmen like Kyle Korver, Joe Johnson and Ray Allen have set-shot and follow-through animations to increase their accuracies, as well as a fake-and-shoot move to throw off their opponents.

Stopper: Opposing point guards don't want to run into these Superstars on the drive. These defenders control the paint.

High-Flyer: The guys with the hops, such as Vince Carter, have a unique dunk package to get the crowd on its feet.

Power Player: Because of their brute strength, Ben Wallace, Amare Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal can throw down powerful dunks over defenders and draw and-one scenarios.

Risk vs. Reward

"This isn't an arcade type feature that just lets you control the paint if you're Shaq or Amare or one of those," Tinson said. "Everybody knows that if Shaq gets the ball deep in the paint, no one is stopping him. The same is true in NBA Live. But Shaq is not going to complete every dunk when he's inside every time.

"With Amare Stoudemire -- if you try to dunk from too far away -- you can't, you're going to turn the ball over. And, if you try a set shot when you're closely guarded, you're going to get blocked."