E3 2013 preview: NBA Live 14 has some mad stick skills

I've been waiting to play another NBA Live game for quite some time now. So I was quite enthusiastic when I entered EA Sports' booth at this year's E3.

NBA Live 14 is coming to next-gen consoles -- the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One -- touting the EA's new Ignite engine; it takes physics in sports games to a whole new level. The focus on EA's NBA Live 14 area was on the number one thing they've been pushing: dribbling.

NBA Live 14 developer Sea O'Brien said that "dribbling hasn't been done right" in basketball games yet. And he's right. Usually, you pull off a dribble move and get stuck in the animation. Good players -- especially online -- will see your animation, know how many moves there will be in it, and then know when to make their move. They read it perfectly.

NBA Live 14 sets out to fix that. And I must say, the dribbling and ball handling is everything they say it is.

With the Ignite engine, there are over 1,000 new animation, which makes ball handling look and feel authentic. Gone is ball warping, where the ball floats across the floor because of the lack of animations. Each of the ball, hands and feet have their own physics and animations, and the ball actually leaves the ball handler's hands. What's great is that the player now has total control of the ball. The basketball will not switch hands unless directed to by the player.

Developers are going to say everything and anything to hype you up for their game. So when I got my hands on the PlayStation 4 controller they had set up for me to use at their station, I was eager to see how NBA Live 14 would perform. I'm happy to say that it's smooth, intuitive and full of possibilities. Those skilled with the analog sticks will absolutely love the new dribbling system in the NBA Live 14.

Read more about NBA Live 14 at GameZone >