GamePro Goes One On One With The NBA (Page 7 of 7)

Gilbert Arenas of the Washington Wizards wasn't at the camp, but we were able to catch NBA Live 08's cover man for a phone interview.

GP: How long have you been playing video games?

GA: I've been playing videogames since Super Mario Bros.

GP: What consoles have you owned over the years?

GA: I had Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, Neo Geo, Dreamcast in college, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. I have [the] Xbox 360.

GP: What are your favorite old school videogames?

GA: I used to love Contra, Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Street Fighter [and] Bomberman.

GP: Not many people owned a NeoGeo.

GA: 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....

GP: What do you think of next generation gaming?

GA: 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, [those are] terrible graphics. It makes it so real now. In a couple of years it's going to be real people in these videogames.

GP: Do you think growing up playing videogames helped you in basketball in the real world?

GA: It's hard for somebody to say that, but yes, video games 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.

GP: What impact do you think NBA videogames have on growing the popularity of your sport?

GA: I play Madden all the time, but I never watched a football game. 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!"

GP: Do you play PSP?

GA: I was one of the first ones who bought the PSP but I never really got into it.

GP: Do NBA players complain about their player rankings in games like some NFL players do about Madden rankings?

GA: We don't pay that much attention to that. I've never heard of players doing that before. If I'm an 85 or a 98, no matter what, I'm still going to shoot the ball 100 times. My whole goal when I play the game is that I don't care about the wins or losses if I'm playing against my friends. I'm just like, "If you can just stop me from scoring 100 as myself, then you won." I just try to score 100 as myself.

GP: Do you have any tips or strategies you can pass along to readers who are going to play as you in NBA Live 08?

GA: Just play. 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...and learn the game.

GP: Do you like to play NBA video games online?

GA: I hate NBA games [online] 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.

GP: Why do you think Halo is so popular?

GA: [In] Halo, players love fighting games where they have competition with fighting and shooting. I know it's hard for parents because they say, "Oh, it's violent!", but not really. It's entertainment. You play in groups and it's cool how kids are communicating now. They're using video games so they don't have to pay for cell phone bills anymore. I have a lot of friends who don't have cell phones and they tell me to meet me online at 7pm; that's my chitchat hours.

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