Preview
Das Preview: NBA 09 The Inside, PSP Edition
September 30, 2008
Ok let’s get it straight, I’m not a baller. I suck at basketball video games and haven’t really played one since the seminal classic, Double Dribble. So, why am I getting to preview NBA 09: The Inside? Because, haters, SCEA built this game for the pick up and play audience surrounding full scale b-ball play with tons of mini-games designed to keep this disc in your PSP for the long haul. Does it look like it’s got a shot at succeeding?
Well, here’s the tip off, The Inside, doesn’t disappoint offering up a staggering amount of options for the on-the-go gamer. Shit, you’d have to book a flight to Tasmania to fully enjoy all the flavors up for grabs in one sitting. A new Franchise mode, where your decisions on the draft, signing free agents and management of contracts, finely hones your team into the straight-shooting roughnecks of your liking. The seamless design of gameplay, play-by-play commentary and blazing hoops action might be old hat to devoted fans of hardwood sims, but it took me by surprise.
In moments I was sweating out my purposefully awful choice of playing the LA Clippers against the venerable Boston Celtics. It didn’t take long before I was stealing, dunking, faking and dribbling my brains out. I did find it hard not to be penalized for traveling every four seconds and missing the shot even with a eyestrain inducing colorized aura around the ball, alerting the best moment for a shot, but as I said before, I suck! So it is in my nature that I tip my hat to Sony for creating a basketball experience that I truly could “pick up and play” without prior experience.
