Electronic Arts, the company whose mantra stressing realism is "If it's in the game, it's in the game," has taken it to the next level in NBA Live 2004. Not only do the players and arenas look like they do in real life, now the footwear is accurate. Nike, Reebok and adidas all have presence in the game. Looking to capitalize on the "sneakerhead" culture that has become a huge part of NBA fandom, 40 different Nike shoes appear in the game, 130 in all, if all the different colorways are counted. "We didn't want this to just be product placement," said Glenn Chin, EA's senior director of marketing. "We felt gamers needed yet another level of detail, so we decided not only to add the brands of shoes, but to add excitement by relating to the 'sneakerheads,' who know when all the shoes come out." Not only does the game boast a store, where gamers can use points they rack up to purchase a host of items including shoes the Nike Shox Supremacy, the Air Max and, of course the most expensive, the first Air Jordan, but Nike and EA plan to release 50 cheat codes throughout the year to allow players to unlock old retro favorites or shoes that are hitting the market. "When making the games, we not only look at the rulebook to make sure we have everything right, but seek to touch on relevant cultural hot points," Chin said. "And shoes definitely fall into that category." Full article here.