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Platform

Playstation 2, Xbox

Genre

Sports

Publisher

Ubisoft

Developer

Black Ops

ETA

Q4 2005

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AND 1 Streetball

Electronic Arts found a paramount success with their NBA Street series, and Midway's NBA Ballers found its fair shares of sales as well. Ubi Soft is looking to add another challenger to the court - AND 1 Streetball for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, developed by Black Ops Entertainment. Something of a spiritual sequel to its Activision-published Street Hoops, AND 1 Streetball is looking to set itself away from the arcade-feel of its competitions. No fancy, spinning dunks, no anti-gravity jumps - this is SERIOUS streetball, if there were such a thing. Ubi Soft doesn't have the license to NBA players, but instead they're taken the likenesses of street

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personalities like Skip-To-My-Lou, AO, Hot Sauce and The Professor. It seems like UbiSoft is taking something of a gamble and hoping that niche fans will recognize names like these, rather than playing as the stars.

As the role of a young wannabe, the story mode takes you through the AND 1 Mixtape Team. Black Ops wants to put you in the shoes

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of a real competitor - most recent games let you personalize your own characters, but AND 1 lets you create your own moves, right down to your victory taunts. The trick system is something similar to what we've seen in NBA Street, although most of the showboating is done with maneuvering of the two analog sticks. Routinely showing up your opponents with your mad skills and whatnot will gain you respect, allowing you to climb your way up the ladder.

There's some fierce competition in the field, and AND 1 Streetball has a ways to go before it can prove to play with the big boys. Still, with online play for both versions, AND 1 may yet prove itself come winter.

Features from the Fact Sheet:
- Become the next AND 1 legend as you experience the trials of the AND 1 Mixtape Team for ESPN.
- "Create-a-Move" editor allows to you to build your own characters and moves.
- Various options to customize your game, ranging from one-on-ones to regular five-on-five matches.
- Online multiplayer for both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox Live.

- Kurt Kalata
(June 27, 2005)