14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts and GigaMedia Limited have recently announced an agreement over NBA Street Online, for the game's launch in Taiwan and the online operations respectively. According to a recent official report, the game is due out in Q1 2008 in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. NBA Street Online is the second online title signed Electronic Arts for Asia - the first such title was EA SPORTS FIFA Online (released in Korea).
NBA Street Online is all about customization, convenience, hoping to appeal to the community with its casual lifestyle game. As you can imagine, the game sports tons of online multiplayer elements such as matchmaking, specialized player customization and the ability to create own clubs to play online with friends and defend one's court. Up to six gamers can simultaneously compete in tournaments against one another, and this is the main purpose of Electronic Arts and GigaMedia teaming up. GigaMedia will be providing marketing, community management, customer and technical support and other valuable services as the operator of the game, according to the same report.
Arthur M. Wang, Chief Executive Officer of GigaMedia, said, "It is GigaMedia's great pleasure to have the opportunity to partner with Electronic Arts. We believe that the cooperation between two international enterprises will have a tremendous positive impact in the Taiwanese market. GigaMedia has great faith in NBA Street Online, touted as the best online basketball casual game produced by top studios from EA. This product is going to be the star product in the online gaming market."
"We are very excited to be partnering with GigaMedia to bring NBA Street Online to Asia," said Jon Niermann, President of Electronic Arts Asia. "Basketball has long been a popular sport in Taiwan and the NBA game franchise has a tremendous appeal in the country. We are confident that the NBA Street Online will be a lot of fun to play and very successful!"
EA Canada and Neowiz Games Corporation have developed the game together, while its supposed release date is spring 2008. Remember, NBA Street Online only launches in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, where GigaMedia will be handling the online operations.