This past weekend, Sony partnered up with the NBA to outfit the official player’s lounge at NBA All-Star weekend, giving players and families a chance to relax, play some of the latest PlayStation games, and get access to one-of-a-kind, customized Nike Air Force Ones and a PLAYSTATION 3 laser-etched with a design of their choice.
Paul Pierce with a custom Celtics-green Obama PS3
In addition to getting early hands-on time with games like MLB 09 The Show and Killzone 2, some of the players showed some real skills with the games. Teammates Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook took each other on with MLB 09 The Show, moved over to MotorStorm: Pacific Rift to race, and then played each other in NBA 09 The Inside. Dikembe Mutombo practiced Pacific Rift before taking on his kids in a race. And Nate Robinson showed some skills in Killzone 2 as he marched his way through a couple of levels.
Of course the weekend wouldn’t be complete without having two of the PlayStation Skills Challenge players at the lounge to play as themselves in NBA 09 The Inside’s Skills Challenge event. Derrick Rose had no idea what the competition was like prior to playing himself virtually in the competition, and we like to think his training helped him win the real event. After the actual competition he said that it was fun playing as himself in the game because it gave him a chance to truly see how the event would run.
The Royal PS3 of LeBron “King” James
Current and future NBA stars that stopped by the lounge included:
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Nate Robinson
Shaquille O’Neal
Paul Pierce
Kevin Durant
Yao Ming
Dirk Nowitzki
David West
Michael Beasley
Derrick Rose
Devin Harris
JR Smith
Dikembe Mutombo
Luis Scola
Russell Westbrook
Jeff Green
Brook Lopez
Thaddeus Young
Daequan Cook
Gary Payton
Brian Shaw
@ 47
Agreed.
Whoopie!…Millionaire athletes getting more benefits…why doesn’t sony do this for people that will appreciate it?
The real question is – Did you give those stellar players the best ps3 possible (60 gig)? Or the cheap new version with no media ports or ps2 compatibility?
And when can the public see a second iteration of the launch model ps3? Maybe put out a limited edition 250 gig with launch specs. I’ll buy it!
John P. Silvaggio
Rhode Island State Constable
Private Detective
Dirk stopped by? Awesome. Love my Mavs.
Its good to see that our superstar players enjoy some of the things we do, but some of the gamers are right, don’t say you gave these over paid ball players anything, they should pay just as much as we should, I don’t know too many gamers thats’ playing their system because miraculously they seen a superstar playing that system…. I definitely don’t want to know about you guys giving these guys things they can afford to buy, TOTALLY UNFAIR playstation. Just to point out I would pay the money for the custom system, i will not go out and buy a system then pay more for customizations…..
Would someone please please please show PS3 NBA ’09 THE INSIDE some love???? There has not been ONE ROSTER UPDATE YET!!! The competiton is dynamically updating their rosters all season long. Also when you play online the in game shot guage flakes out and either disappears or won’t fill in at all. Come on we payed for it Sony now don’t just take our money and run! My friend is having the exact same problems. Don’t forget about us the NBA season is just gettin hot now!
I want an ugly green PS3, but that golden Lebron one would be even better.
Please tell me this millionaires didn’t get those for free.
I hate when rich people get things for free.
they actually look kinda wack. whoever customized ’em didn’t really put a lotta effort into his/her work. they’re too plain for a beauty such as the “3”.
oh and by the way, Kobe eats baby boogers. go PISTONS!!
For those looking for PS3 skins: http://www.skinit.com/devices/gaming_device/sony_gaming_device
Ok, these ps3’s are awesome and all that, but I couldn’t think of worse people that deserve all this free stuff. I mean c’mon, they make like $8 trillion a year. I’d just have my ps3 covered with 24k gold plating.
I doubt that Sony gave away those CUSTOM PS3s for free.
Here’s a suggestion that Sony might want to consider:
Make custom-ordered PS3s available on the PlayStation 3 site. Think of it like what the computer companies do: outfit the model with what the user wants, then build it and deliver it. If possible, throw in personal customizations like case color and the image/emblem to be laser sketched onto the case.
I think people would pay good money to be able to custom-order a PS3.