EA’s NBA LIVE 10 Artist Tournament.  Los Angeles, CA. Game Designer Ryan Santos. Culture. Kicks. Gameplay. It’s in the Game.

Like a pair of Black/Cement Jordan IVs to a sneaker collection, or Scarface to a rapper’s movie collection, gamers in our culture must have two iconic titles in their gaming stock – Madden NFL and NBA Live! While Madden has maintained consistency, popularity, and virtually separated itself from the pack (is there even a pack?) reigning supreme, NBA Live lost its lead in basketball gaming for a few years. However, last year’s Live started gaining favor again, and this year’s game is sure to push it over the top! The gameplay has improved tremendously, while the visuals will absolutely set it apart from other basketball titles. Sneaker aficionados worldwide will definitely appreciate/love the fact that there will be over 500 authentic kicks in this year’s game, including player exclusive colorways. There’s plenty more treats in NBA Live 10 too. Some of those treats are revealed in this sit-down with the game’s visual designer and fellow sneakerhead, Ryan Santos.

Tell us how long you have been involved in the sneaker game/culture? Ever thought you’d be working with Nike, Adidas and the other brands in this capacity for NBA Live?

It started a long time ago – I think with all of us – anyone who’s a basketball fan. I grew up watching Michael Jordan. Being around basketball my whole life, as a kid I always wanted to be like Mike…have his shoes. You know we didn’t have a lot of money growing up. So, my first pair of J’s was the black and cement Jordan IVs. The only reason I got ‘em was because my Dad had a friend that worked at Foot Locker and we bought them. Me and my Dad at the time were the same size, and we had to share the pair. He got to wear the kicks in his (basketball) league, and I would get to wear them for school. Then I had to send them to the Philippines for my cousins out there who really couldn’t afford that stuff. But, you know growing up it was all about loving your sneakers. But, not really being able to have access to it all the time…and just get one pair every year or two. Before getting into the video game industry, I really didn’t have the deep pockets to collect sneakers – it was more about being able to get what I could just to look fresh. You know back in the day we were into B-Boying , doing graffiti, and a lot of my friends were into DJing – just hip-hop culture in general. So sneakers have always been a part of that. But, really getting into the sneaker game, I think it all started when the Jordan IVs got retroed. So, when the IVs got retroed for me I was like, “oh my God that was my first Jordan’s that I had when I was a kid…and they’re re-releasing it?” I was like, “man, I gotta get this shoe, and what is this all about? I didn’t know Jordan re-released old kicks.” For me it started back then! I guess that was what…’99-ish?

Yep! You’re right…

That’s really when it set it off! Then I started getting into going online, looking at eBay. Whenever I traveled, if I was in New York or places like that, I would be hunting for sneakers…that’s all I did. Really, really started getting into the (sneaker) game. Then in around 2002 working on NBA Live 2002 – actually we were developing it in 2001 – one thing I noticed, and I was an artist at the time, was that we had generic shoes in the game. And I was like, “we gotta get the real kicks”. That year, we were only able to secure a deal with Reebok. At the time Reebok was the apparel sponsor of the NBA. So we got Reebok’s kicks in the game. We tried to approach Nike, Adidas, Converse, Brand Jordan. But I think people were really hesitant at that time because they really didn’t see (video) games as a big driver of their marketing. Those were the days where we would have to ask the companies, “hey can we put your stuff in the game?!” Or we would have to pay them. Shortly after that things started to change. In 2003 we got Adidas, 2004 was really the jump off when we got Nike and Brand Jordan.  2004 was the first time I was able to actually go down to (Nike) campus and photograph their shoes. I mean, you could imagine as a sneakerhead – you know, that was like a dream come true. Going in there, meeting the designers, seeing samples…like a year out! Um, seeing stuff that was never made. It was really amazing!

That’s sneakerhead heaven…

Yep! It was heaven man! That was the year we got all the Nikes in the game, Jordans, pretty much every brand. So as a sneakerhead we really built that out. We had unlockable codes; you could go to the Nike website and unlock LeBron’s Zoom Generation I. We had a whole bunch of things that were really revolved around the sneaker culture and basketball culture in general. I would say that was kind of the turning point. Then from there, we kinda never looked back, and that was just part of our basketball game. You know, it was great for me to be a part of that. Every year, right now, I get to go down and shoot these samples, build relationships with these guys and try to do new and innovative things with sneakers in the game.

You touched on it a little earlier, but tell us little bit about the design process and your relationship with all the major sneaker brands. Is it a pick and choose of what you want to integrate, or are you obligated to have an equal representation of footwear and every athlete’s signature line in the game?

We definitely go to the brands and ask them “what are the shoes you guys want to feature this year?” We obviously from a design standpoint say, “we want to cover the major stars, make sure we have their special colorways in the game, and that’s what sets us apart from the competition.” But as a whole, it’s more of a collaborative process. And really more about trying to get out what’s accurate to real life. So we try to align ourselves with the brand’s product plan, and make sure as they release stuff, we release it in our game. Our game is pretty much accurate to what these guys are wearing on the court. As well as some stuff that may go to retail, or may not go to retail. We’ll get player exclusives that may never see the light of day, but you’ll be able to play it in NBA Live 10.

Ryan Santos in the Blue Sapphire Air Jordan I

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