Electronic Arts and 2K Sports have had a rivalry over the past several years. Each company offers exceptional products in the sports gaming genre, but the general consensus has one company or the other slightly ahead with certain sports titles. When it comes to NBA games, most people view NBA Live from EA to be the arcade style basketball title (although not to the extent of NBA Street or NBA Ballers), while NBA 2K from 2K Sports is the simulation title. We took a brief look at the Xbox version of NBA Live 07 and it seems as though EA is trying to appeal to a broader audience this time around.

While NBA Live 07 will not play like a simulation title in the vein of NBA 2K, it will have a more realistic feel this time around. While not knocking on NBA 2K, the NBA Live team informed us that they feel 2K can get boring since it's so simulation-based. The team wanted to remove some of the arcade feel from the NBA Live series, but still keep it fun and entertaining. To do so, several changes and additions have been made to keep things fresh, shift the aim slightly toward a simulation title, and still keep it fun.

New to NBA Live 07 is the Total Freestyle Control system. With this new control system, all of your movement can be done with the left analog stick. My moving around the stick with precise motions you'll get fake outs, crossovers, post up moves, spins and anything else you can think of from an NBA game. Players will still be able to use the standard control scheme if they wish, but advanced players will be able to pull off some fancy moves once they have mastered the new control system. The deeper you go into the new system and the more you play around with it, the more you'll be able to do. Using the new control system will give you a far greater assortment of moves over the standard control system.

The division of players has also been made deeper in Live 07. Instead of only designating normal players and superstars, there is now a third designation of simply stars. Each player will also have multiple levels of abilities. Kobe Bryant may have a superstar dunking attribute, but only a star level rebounding attribute. You can change which attribute you want for each of the star players on the fly. The icon under your player will change to represent their current attribute. So if you're heading down court on a fast break with Kobe, change from his rebound attribute to his dunking attribute to throw it down like a superstar.

Collisions have also been improved considerably in Live 07. In previous Live titles, when two players collide they just come together in a very lifeless manner. Live 07 will change that by making collisions much more realistic. If you're on the baseline with Kobe and you try to make a cut to the basket a collision will occur in the split second that you reach the defender. If Kobe prevails, he may push past the defender, taking the baseline and slamming one home. However, if the defender prevails they will step in front of Kobe and force him to step back.

A few other minor changes in NBA Live 07 include better control over your passing, and the ability to use secondary fast breaks. The game will also be adjusted to make it more difficult to get a dunk off in a crowded lane. While the Xbox 360 version of Live 07 will feature some hefty ESPN additions, the Xbox version that we took a look at will retain the ESPN feel and offer a few of the advanced features, but it's currently unknown what will make it into the final product. We'll have more on NBA Live 07 in the coming months so stay tuned.