NBA Live ‘08 to support online 5-on-5

This has been a strong year for EA Sports. In addition to raking in piles of cash with entries in its juggernaut Madden NFL and NCAA Football franchises, games such as NHL 08 and the recently released NBA Live 08 have met with both commercial success as well as critical acclaim, which is something the NBA Live franchise has been struggling with for some time.

On top of that, after suffering criticism for its subpar online sports efforts for years, EA Sports finally seems to be jumping into the online pool with both feet. Both NHL 08 and NBA Live 08 support online leagues for the first time in both franchises’ history. Today, the publisher is announcing a free patch to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation versions of Live 08 that will allow online team play for up to 10 players on different consoles. That’s something that basketball fans have been hoping for since the advent of online play in console hoops games.

The new feature will allow online team play for up to 10 players, with artificial intelligence players filling in open positions. Naturally, voice chat will be available and isolated from the opposing team. Final details on the size of the patch and release information are still in the works, but EA representatives have said the patch should be available in mid-to-late November.

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