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Screens & Info Updated: 10/10/2003

To celebrate the release of Shootout 2004 later this month, we have a few brand new screens of Kobe, LeBron, Allen and Payton in action. This batch of screens was taken earlier today, by the 989 Sports product development team.

989 Sports sent over some fresh screens from the latest build of NBA Shootout 2004. Looking better and better!

The Shootout series has always been one of 989’s stronger titles. Even in the shadows of the NBA Live’s and NBA 2k’s of the world, Shootout still wins over many fans on the PS2. Why? Attention to detail is a big key for the 989 Studios, and this year the visuals get a big bump as well. Not only that, more emphasis on key features and online issues are added this year. 2004 may end up being a good year for Sony’s Sports titles if all the buckets are nothing but net.

Wow oh wow, after reading the below list of features, can you say there is love behind this product? Let’s hope so. We’ll have more on this great looking title when the details arrive. Also, we may even get the developers to spread a little light on the subject in an interview later this year. If you think the features look nice... check out these new screens and drool!

Information Updated: 6/16/03

Like GameDay 2004, NBA ShootOut 2004 is being developed with a unique balance between the fast breaks/no defense and stifling half court defense of competitive titles. NBA ShootOut 2004 is the only game to give the user a comprehensive dribble and shoot feature set with Total Control gameplay and a laundry list of new and enhanced features for the ultimate hoops experience.

Features:

• All-Time Greatest players in the NBA. Now gamers can unlock the 50 Greatest Players, as selected by the NBA, by accomplishing goals that attributed to each player. You want to play as Wilt Chamberlin? Then score 100 points in a game or go after Cousy, Malone, Ewing, Magic, Worthy, Barkley, Drexler and more.
• Top-rated Career Mode is back. Put your name and number on the floor with the pros. Take your shot at hooking up with an NBA team by proving your skills in the Summer Pro League (SPL) and the National Basketball Development League (NBDL). Make sure you keep working on your game, though, or you could be sent back down or traded as quickly as you were signed.
• Practice Mode returns giving gamers an opportunity to get focused before putting themselves in the game.
• 989SportsOnline brings NBA hoops to the web. Try to dominate head-to-head play or jump into a tournament with up to 64 players. Online Career Mode reporting provides the opportunity to track the progress of your career player compared to other gamers’ players. Online roster and stat updates will automatically occur each week, and player skill attributes are affected as well. Consequently, if LeBron James turns out to be a superstar out of the blocks, his attributes will be adjusted accordingly and his abilities increased.
• Mid-Air shot changes are now available with a simple button press. Shooters will now have the ability to reposition shots and avoid defenders after they are already in the air, or they can simply pass out of the shot to an open shooter.
• Enhanced shooter momentum adds depth and realism. Shooters will now drift in the direction that they are moving when they run into a jump shot. The amount of drift and the impact it has on their shots depend entirely upon the speed and jumping ability of the shooter.
• NEW Gameplay features smooth player movement and attribute-based speeds. When Kobe hits the gas, he leaves Vlade behind. The one-touch controls allow instant access to multiple unique dribble moves. Defensively, Payton plays like “The Glove” with a slick and active defensive stance, quick steal, and screen avoidance AI.
• Stifling defense makes gamers earn their hoops. Post defenders can engage the ball handler from three different angles: battle him straight up, force him baseline, or angle him toward the center of the defense.
• NEW refined AI features offensive teammates automatically cutting to the basket and back screening for each other to set up the offense. The AI teammates spread the floor just like the real NBA and set realistic and effective screens at will. Defensively, teammates rush to switch and help close gaps on D while the big men collapse the middle if someone gets penetration.
• Eighteen one-touch player controls include Screens, Auto Defense, Pump Fakes, Special Dribbles, and more. Gamers won’t get bogged down with cumbersome controller combinations.
• Total Control Hoops is the only way to step foot on the hardwood. Total Control Dribbling™ puts ball control in the palm of your hand as you go between the legs, behind the back or go for the crossover dribble. Total Control Jukes™ have been tightened and quickened to give the user the feel that their input is directly attached to the juke moves they are attempting. Total Control Screening™ allows hoopsters to set a pick or call for the screen to give your hot shooter the open look. Now hit your buckets with Total Control Shooting as you refine your touch and control the accuracy of your shot.
• Hot & Cold Streaks will affect your game just like the pros. Hit three consecutive shots to put a player in the zone. Miss three consecutive and you will have trouble hitting from the paint.
• Defensive Awareness Response Structure for all defenses include zone, help, collapse, and box outs. This is a completely new defensive system that enables players to position themselves more appropriately based on the highest offensive threats and then react intelligently to offensive movement.
• Redesigned jump shot window allows players to hold the ball longer during the shot animation. This attribute-based feature benefits marquee players, like Kobe Bryant, who can maximize their decent, take more time to release the ball, and still have an outside chance of making the shot.
• New Player Models have been created with individualized body shapes. This technology was revolutionary for player heads last year and has been carried over and applied for full body reproduction. Now, as with the player heads, each body is created with a number of “sliders” that offer unique replication for every player in the game.
• Fully animated texture-mapped faces from authentic NBA photos with unique head shapes, using some of the most original and unique replication tools in the industry. Player highlights include unique skin tones, tattoos, optional goggles, and head, wrist and armbands. Multiple facial expressions, animations, chatter and banter bring each of the players to life.
• Motion-captured animations from more than a dozen NBA stars and former All-Americans.
• Authentic NBA environments including animations for three on-court referees, television cameramen, Jumbotrons, player interaction and interviews with reporters.
• Playbooks designed with NBA Stars include more than 450 team specific plays and sets that have been designed to replicate every team in the NBA. In an effort to bring the most authentic hoops to PlayStation 2, some of the best players in the game have been consulted including: Stephon Marbury, Chris Webber, Jason Kidd, “Bo” Outlaw, Robert Horry and more.
• Comprehensive Statistical Analysis allows you to track stats for teams, individuals and league leaders while you monitor standings and comparison charts for teams and players.
• New Camera Design featuring 13 independent cameras orchestrated with the aid of top producers from Fox Sports.
• The Dynamic Duo of the NBA returns. Bill Walton returns to the two-man booth with Ian Eagle. The booth rolls with recognizable Waltonisms, accompanied with hundreds of hours of play-by-play from New Jersey Nets broadcaster, Ian Eagle.
• Create Player interface allows you to utilize player ratings to create an all-world talent or design a player to reflect your own characteristics. The limits are nearly boundless as you determine the characteristics, styles and abilities of every player created.
• Create Dunk is one of the most innovative features ever added to a basketball video game. Only with NBA ShootOut can you fabricate unbelievably unique dunks from bits and pieces of the most famous dunks in the game.
• Play Creator allows you to design your own custom plays and save them to your playbook for the ultimate offensive edge.

Stay tuned for more information and media.