I thought “Think Different” was Apple’s old advertising slogan. Well, it seems SCEA has taken a page out of Apple’s book with the box art for their upcoming basketball game,NBA 09 The Inside. That’s right, folks: in the basketball arena, it’s not just EA Sports vs. 2K Sports — Sony’s in-house dev team has been making basketball videogames for a while now.
Anyway, back to the cover: instead of the standard “pick a guy and put him on the cover” shtick, SCEA San Diego (the same folks who brought youMLB 08: The Show) decided that they couldn’t decide on just one man, so the cover artwork forNBA 09 The Insidefeatures the following six NBA stars, in counterclockwise order from top left:
As usual, you’re able to view the full-size cover in the gallery below. Sony has also provided 34 screenshots from the game, and in case you’re wondering why the hell they include shots of a barbershop and a subway, it all comes down to a brand-new mode in this year’s game, The Life. Sports games these days seem to be all about the “life on and off the field/court/ice” career modes, andNBA 09will be no different. You can guide three different players in The Life; the idea is to navigate them through the gauntlet from the development league to the NBA.
Frankly, I don’t know ifNBA 09will hold up when compared with its competition. I love the TV-style presentation with the NBA on TNT license, but the game just doesn’t look nearly as good as, say,NBA 2K9. Texture detail — especially on bodies and hair — is lacking, but hey…at least it’s in 1080p, right? If you’re still interested, look forNBA 09 The Insideon October 7th for the PS3 andPSP.
[Editor’s note: Here’s a fun tidbit — the e-mail from SCEA actually started off with the greeting “Hello Ballers and Shot Callers.” I kid you not. -Samit]
