Wizards Star Is Part of adidas 5IVE Team in NBA Live
Gilbert Arenas is one of adidas Basketball’s 5IVE players, which means Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 gamers will be able to unlock him and four other players (Tim Duncan, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, and Chauncey Billups) in an exclusive adidas Stadium in NBA Live 07. adidas will be distributing codes to unlock this All-Star Team, which can compete against any other five players in the game. Beyond this special team, ballers will be able to unlock over 100 adidas products in the game through additional codes that will be released throughout the season.
We went straight to the Washington Wizards star, and avid gamer, Arenas, to talk about this new feature of NBA live 07. He also opened up about his gaming habits and his ownership of a professional videogame team, Final Boss.
How long have you been playing videogames?
I’ve been playing videogames since Super Mario Bros.
What consoles have you owned over the years?
I had Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, I had Neo Geo, Dreamcast in college, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. I have Xbox 360.
What are your favorite old school videogames?
I used to love Contra, Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Street Fighter, Bomberman.
Not many people owned a NeoGeo.
I had Samurai Warriors on NeoGeo. That’s the only game I had on there. I don’t know what happened to that system. I lost it in transaction.
What do you think of next generation gaming?
Man, it is so cool that you can see how technology is changing. If you go back and play those old games now. Like in my mind Super Mario Bros. is the best game, but if you look at it now it’s like, Oh my God, that’s terrible graphics. It makes it so real now. In a couple of years it’s going to be real people in these videogames.
Can you talk about the new hidden content from Adidas in NBA Live 07?
I heard about the 5IVE and you can play as your own 5IVE team and it makes it like an All-Star team against everybody else. I had my boy go out and get it right now so I can go online.
Do you play online games?
I play Xbox Live. It’s so funny, I keep telling everybody that says they’re good at this game, you’re nothing until you go online and you see how bad you really are.
How do you do against the online competition?
No, I do alright until I face the real gamers. I sponsor the number one Halo team in the world. Final Boss. I go online and play with them a couple of times. Most of the time I’m just there for entertainment. I’m there to talk trash the whole time. My name is Loose Cannon. And they’re always like you only got two kills, and I always say if I didn’t get these two kills we’d still be playing.
What are your thoughts about the emerging world of professional videogame tournaments?
I think it’s great and I want to be part of it. Athletes are all into their own things, and since I’m a videogamer, that’s what I want to get into. I want to see if I’m that guy that can turn the professional gaming leagues into the X-Games or something.
What are your plans in this arena?
I just want to use my ability to just keep pushing it out there. To get my team known and the league known and hopefully in a couple of years this can be really big.
Do a lot of NBA players play videogames today?
JJ Redick’s a gamer. Adam Morrison’s a gamer. You have a lot of NBA players who just sit at home and play. My group likes to have fun and hang out.
I interviewed Redick the other day.
JJ Redick is funny. We were trying out for the Olympics in Vegas and he was in my room for three hours playing Halo.
Who else on the Wizards is a big gamer?
Brendan Haywood is a big Madden gamer. You know you’re a gamer when you start switching out your third quarterback for your first quarterback because he’s faster and his accuracy is better. It’s like, How do you know this? What makes you go into the game and know all of this stuff? Take out your linebacker and put him at like tight end.
Do you think growing up playing videogames helped you in basketball in the real world?
It’s hard for somebody to say that, but yes, videogames helped me in real sports. You need to have hand-eye coordination for anything, so if you play videogames, and you’re good at it, you’re going to be good with hand-and-eye coordination stuff.
What impact do you think NBA videogames have on growing the popularity of your sport?
I play Madden all the time, but I never watched a football game. I just can’t sit there forever and ever. I’m a TO fan, Michael Vick fan and Big Ben. I love the players, but I can’t just sit there and watch the whole game. So by me playing Madden every day, it got me out of the house and I went to a Raiders Ravens game. I was like, Ray Lewis, I’m always playing as him, let me go watch him in action. So I think it does help kids. They play the games. They get to know the players and they see what the players can do in the game. They’re like that’s my favorite player because I scored 40 with him last night in the videogame.
What team do you play as on Madden?
Atlanta. I’m a big Michael Vick fan. He’s the only one who can really get away from the blitz and still throw.
Do you play PSP?
I was one of the first ones who bought the PSP but I never really got into it.
Do NBA players complain about their player rankings in games like some NFL players do about Madden rankings?
We don’t pay that much attention to that. I’ve never heard of players doing that before.
If I’m an 85 or an 98, no matter what I’m still going to shoot the ball 100 times. My whole goal when I play the game is I don’t care about the wins or losses if I’m playing against my friends. I just like if you can just stop me from scoring 100 as myself, then you won. I just try to score 100 as myself.
Do you have any tips or strategies you can pass along to readers who are going to play as you in NBA Live 07?
Just playing. You have to just play with somebody who’s better than you. They’ll teach you things. I play with my Halo team and they teach me how to get better. When you play videogames you have to go through the game and learn the game.
Do you like to play NBA videogames?
I hate NBA games because they just play all day and they find these little glitches in the game where if you time it right and you’re standing a certain way you can steal the ball every time. And I’m like all man, that sucks. That happens all the time to me. And you can’t throw it long.
How have you seen videogames popularity grow in the NBA?
I think videogames have always been popular, but nobody really expressed it. Some of the players now, you talk to DeShaun Stevenson about videogames and he still has the regular Nintendo that he’s playing every day. The generation is so young now that it’s younger players. And you ask them What do you do when you go home, I play videogames all day. Back in the day, the average age was 25, now it’s 21.
