Suns Win the Virtual NBA Title

According to the world of video games, the Phoenix Suns will win that elusive NBA title this coming season for the NBA. A virtual season was run on Electronic Arts game NBA Live 08. In this simulated season the Suns defeated the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals to capture the title. The Suns were heavy favorites in real life last year, and should continue to be favorites again this year along with Western Conference teams the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs.

Also according to the NBA Live virtual season:

"Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat averages 31.6 points a night to earn the league MVP title. Chicago Bulls forward Ben Wallace earns defensive player of the year, while Kevin Durrant of the Seattle SuperSonics receives rookie of the year and Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves collects the most improved player trophy.

The Suns post a 58-24 regular-season record to finish atop the West, and go on to knock off San Antonio in seven games in the Western Conference finals.

The Celtics rebound from their last-place finish in 2006-07 with the addition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the off-season, finishing atop the East at 49-33. Boston beats the New Jersey Nets in six games in the Eastern Conference final." (Source: Canadian Press)

The NBA season starts in less than 2 weeks on October 30th, stay tuned. NBA Live 08 is available for several video game platforms including Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.

IGN Looks at NBA Live 08

IGN.com has a look at the upcoming NBA Live 08' release, which will be available for the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3, Wireless, Sony PlayStation 2, PC, Sony PSP and XBox 360. One of the newest features of the game is a FIBA tournament mode that fans can now play.

From IGN.com:

Gamers can play any of the eight international teams (including Team US) in the Play Now mode or in the new FIBA World Championship mode. The Championship mode is an eight team single-elimination tournament. More importantly, because the real international players will be added into NBA Live 08, they can also be brought in to your Franchise just as a real NBA team might draft an international player.

"We're very excited to count FIBA as a close partner," said Jordan Edelstein, Director of Product Marketing, EA Sports. "Adding the FIBA World Championship license to the NBA Live franchise, allows us at EA Sports to add a new layer of authenticity to the franchise, giving fans all over the world a deeper virtual basketball experience."

"We are very pleased to partner with the world's #1 videogame company to enable basketball fans worldwide to play the FIBA World Championship," said FIBA Commercial Director Matthew Osmon.

For screenshots of the new NBA Live 08 game, check out IGN's page here.