When it comes to sports games, Sony's own internal San Diego Studios have something of a mixed track record. Year after year, their MLB: The Show games are declared the best baseball games on the market despite only appearing on Sony platforms. Their other efforts, however... well, let's just say there's a reason why there haven't been any hockey or football games pumped out from San Diego in a while.

Basketball, on the other hand, is another story. Perhaps more than any other development house out there, Sony has been committed to making their NBA entries as jam-packed with platform-specific extras as possible. This has lead to some insanely addictive mini-games with PSP version and an over-arching storyline on the PS2 that put you in the shoes of a fictional player trying to just make it to the pros. The so-called "The Life" mode was mysteriously absent from the PS3 version last year, though, which is why we were so surprised to see not one but three volumes appear in NBA 09: The Inside.

It's the tip of the roundball iceberg, really; in addition to those three phases of The Life, the NBA Replay mode from last year that lets you download weekly game snapshots of actual NBA season (and post-season) scenarios to try to duplicate how they went down in real life, the usual exhibition, season and playoff versions of the normal game, and a raft of mini-games and basketball-influenced takes on more familiar sports that are surprisingly good.

Now we know, if you're reading this preview, you're likely interested in the actual game of basketball and how it plays. Even with our completely clueless non-sports staff (hey, Ian is still getting situated at his swanky new pad, the jerk) can tell that the game is still rather early. We noticed some animation weirdness, some little graphical and AI quirks and a few strange calls by the refs, but obviously we're still a ways out before the core game can start taking any serious knocks. Granted, we had to play plenty of the regular game to develop the create-a-player points (more on that in a second), but the draw for us decidedly unskilled digital b-ball players was the mini-games.

We mentioned the development points for created players, and they're absolutely core to the whole of NBA 09: The Inside's experience. From the moment you start the game, you're asked to pick a favorite and rival team and create a base character, just like last year's game. Unlike last year, you're given five slots to work with, and building up all five players (which you can either assign to a team or make a free agent), will actually net you some of the game's Trophies, which are serious business.

Yes, the game has Trophies already, but we're guessing the included Platinum will take quite some doing to actually snag. A few of the Trophies revolve around boosting all the core stats of your created players (yes, all five of 'em), so considerable time will have to be spent with the game. Even still, there are just as many Trophies focused on playing the normal games and winning things like the playoffs as there are the mini-games, which is where we spent most of our time.

In particular, there's the new Blacktop Golf mode, which absolutely hooked us and perfectly complements modes like the 3 Point Shootout and Own the Court modes from previous games. Blacktop Golf is, in a nutshell, golf with basketballs, using garbage bins of various depths as "drives" down the court to eventually get inside the three point ring where a normal shot can be taken just like any other game. Actually tweaking a throw to get the ball in the bins, however, takes plenty of practice. Because both the arc and the strength of the shot can be adjusted with the analog sticks and because a knocked-over garbage can hits players with an extra stroke penalty, it's important to not only drop a ball directly into a bin, but make sure it does it at the right angle and strength.

Another mode, Rabbit, joins the PlayStation Skills Challenge as something of a mash-up of multiple events -- in this case a new take on Own the Court that has you taking shots while little rabbit icons move around the court. If you make the shot while the rabbit is still under the player's feet, it'll get captured, but if the shot is missed, a rabbit has to be given up. It's an interesting way to re-do the basic shoot-around concept, but it was a whole lot of fun.

Winning any of these mini-games -- or regular games for that matter -- nets you points for your player, but just performing specific moves (say, a cross-over into a three point shot) will also get your bonus points. You'll also be able to bank in-game awards worth bonus points. Most of these correspond to Trophies, but those game balls, bobble heads, jerseys and so on all make for plenty of advancement points, and given that the advancement hub is available from any of the menus at any time by just pressing Start, there's a lot of back-and-forth between modes to bank reward points.

That constant progression does a great job of dangling a carrot in front of the player's face at all times and in all modes. It's a smart move, and one that actually pressed us into trying things like the new redone Franchise Mode and playing a full season... even if we didn't get very far in either. Now you know why we have a dedicated sports guy on staff here.

NBA 09: The Inside on the PS3 really does seem to be the definitive version of this year's game, which is a good thing considering how comparatively weak last year's version was compared to the PS2 and PSP counterparts. Packed with tons of distractions, a constant reminder of cumulative rewards and progression and modes that we've been itching to tackle in HD, NBA 09: The Inside looks like the most complete version of the franchise we've seen yet. Now to just iron out some of those bugs in the actual game of basketball...