NBA Live 14 release date announced

EA Sports is back in the National Basketball Association, finally releasing an update to their NBA Live franchise.

Polygon reports that the game will be released on November 19th of this year, after the PS4 hits North America and before the Xbox One does.

That means the basketball game won't quite make the PS4's North American launch, which will take place the previous Friday, Nov. 15. However, NBA Live 14 will be available in time for the Xbox One's North American release on Nov. 22, three days after the game comes out.

NBA Live 14 will be the first game that will come out in the series since 2010, when Dwight Howard graced the cover. This year it will be Cleveland Cavaliers star Kyrie Irving, an interesting choice to compete with former Cleveland god and current Miami Heat superstar LeBron James that landed on the NBA 2K14 cover.

As a friendly reminder, the game will only be released on the next-generation consoles. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC will not see a release.

EA Sports knows it has a lot of catching up to do in order to win NBA fans again. After multiple attempts at releasing NBA games, we'll see how this one shapes up to what 2K Sports seems to have mastered in the past couple years.

[Image credit: Flickr]

NBA Live 14 Exclusive to PlayStation 4, Xbox One

For those that want to see what EA Sports' basketball simulation would be after a two-year hiatus, they'll need one of the next-generation consoles to find out.

NBA Live 14's executive producer reveals that the game will only be available on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.

"There has been a lot of talk the last few years about how great NBA LIVE was going to be," Sean O'Brien said in an open letter. "The 'talking' is over. The vision is a simple one: To create a great basketball game exclusively for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4."

That's correct -- none of the current generation, portables, or PCs will be able to play the newest NBA Live game, already putting it in a tough position with both current consoles with a higher install base getting the next edition of NBA 2K.

It has a lot to live up to with 2K running away with the best annual basketball game. The only thing EA has put out recently that's any good on a basketball level is their HD remake of NBA Jam.

O'Brien describes how the thought process went into finding "the direction for the team."

"I want NBA LIVE to be an authentic NBA simulation rooted in the sport and lifestyle of basketball. My first priority was to focus on core gameplay. We needed to capture the essence of half-court basketball, providing 1-on-1 isolation both in the perimeter and the post, the 2-on-2 chess match that is the pick and roll, while still offering the gamer the opportunity to push the basketball in transition and have the control required to get the ball into the lane to either take the ball to the rim or find an open teammate if the defense collapses."

More of his open letter can be found here.

[H/T: GameSpot | Source: Letter]
[Photo credit: Flickr/Javier Dominguz Ferreiro]