据《纽约时报》报道，美国旧金山社交游戏开发商Lionside将于本周向Facebook平台推出NBA社交游戏《NBA传奇》（NBA Legend），该游戏将成为NBA在社交媒介上的另一种推广渠道。

NBA legend

游戏邦获悉，《NBA传奇》与其他Facebook体育类游戏一样，要求玩家先创建一个NBA运动员，加入一支篮球队，然后不断通过职业生涯赢取积分，增加自己在NBA中的成就。

那么，NBA为何要选择Lionside这家尚无名气的社交游戏开发商，而不考虑EA旗下的Playfish公司，通过强强联手推出这个游戏项目呢？答案：NBA希望最大限度地掌握这款游戏的控制权。据游戏邦了解，NBA希望直接控制这款游戏的未来发展，而之前他们与EA合作推出的掌机游戏自从进入市场后，其产品质量控制就逐渐失去了效力。他们希望这款Facebook游戏的内容可以贯穿NBA今后的季度赛，所以NBA数字运营高级副总裁兼总经理Brian Perez要求他们更直接地介入这款游戏的运营。

Brian Perez表示，之前的NBA掌机游戏只是一个授权项目，当时是游戏开发商主动找上门的，但在这次的《NBA传奇》项目中，NBA是真正意义上的合作伙伴，这才是问题的关键。除了游戏产品质量，NBA还希望能控制游戏的营收。

《NBA传奇》与其他社交游戏一样，支持用户花真钱购买运动鞋、饮料等虚拟商品。游戏邦还获知，在所有的专业体育组织中，NBA拥有最多的社交网站粉丝，不过游戏玩家究竟会不会以打听勒布朗·詹姆斯（Lebron James）Twitter帐号的那种热情来体验这款游戏，却仍然是个未知数。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，转载请注明来源：游戏邦）

NBA Legend social game alley-oops onto Facebook this week

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is looking to cash in where EA already has with its FIFA and Madden franchises. Thanks to San Francisco, Calif.-based developer Lionside, the NBA will release NBA Legend to Facebook this week, New York Times (NYT) reports. The game will serve as the next level in the organization’s ongoing social media campaign. NBA Legend is expected to play similarly to existing sports games on Facebook: Players will create an NBA athlete, join a team and accumulate points through a career to increase their standing in the NBA. In other words, there won’t be much hoops action here.

NBA Legend AvatarYou’re probably wondering why the NBA decided to go with a developer other than EA’s Playfish–EA is licensed to publish annual NBA games for consoles. One word can explain it all: control. The NBA wants direct control over the future of NBA Legend, whereas quality control over the NBA console games diminishes after the disc hits store shelves. The organization plans for this Facebook game to remain relevant to the goings-on of future NBA seasons. Because of this, SVP and general manager of digital operations Brian Perez wanted more direct involvement, NYT reports.

“Our console gaming business is mostly a licensing business, where we’re approached by game developers,” said Perez to NYT. “We are an actual partner in this business. That was the important part here.” While more control over the game’s quality is important, the NBA also wants control over the game’s revenue.

NBA Legend, like most social games, will offer virtual goods for real cash (likely Facebook Credits) like virtual shoes and sports drinks, according to NYT. The NBA boasts one of the largest social media followings in all professional sports, according to NYT. But whether players will get hooked on this game like they are to Lebron James’ Twitter account is up in the air. NBA Legend is set to launch on Facebook this week.（source:blog.games）