EA has essentially cleared the court and started NBA Live from scratch for the next-generation systems. The first proof of this comes with its primary menu system and how quickly you're able to pick up the ball. In fact, you don't even need to start a game in order to start tossing the rock around. As soon as you press start, you're placed on something of a futuristic court with a set of basketballs and your player. The main menu is hidden down in the lower-left corner of the screen, allowing you to simply practice your moves before you even begin to think about the game type you want to step into. Three more of your buddies can join in at this point and with the system's open structure, you're free to make up whatever games you like. If you fancy a game of H.O.R.S.E., you can go ahead and get that started. A simplistic scoring system keeps track of the action if you want to get competitive.
Tapping the D-Pad will bring up the main menu where you can then choose to play a real game. Once you've decided what you want to play and with which teams, the game will load in the background while you continue to shoot around. Once the game is ready, your players are sort of beamed out Star Trek-style and the camera pans through a window and down onto the court. It's a seamless transition that you can continue to play through, essentially allowing for an entirely uninterrupted gameplay experience.
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