Shaquille O'Neal; basketball player extraordinaire, is a dedicated sports and family man, yet he still gets to play a couple of hoops on his console from time to time. With the release of NBA 2K6, we caught up with the big man…

If you could play as any basketball star in history in a videogame, who would it be and why? 

Me. I know my game better than I know anybody else’s. My favourite player growing up was Dr. J (Julius Erving) so it would be fun to play as him; but at the end of the day, I want to be me. And I think that it would be interesting to go back and play as me during the different eras. I don’t think it would be pretty for some of the old-timers.

What do you think of basketball games in general? Do you think they can get people into the real thing, or is it just the lazy man’s option?

I think that you can start to understand general basketball strategy from videogames – when to foul, how defences work, when to call timeouts. The thing video games can’t capture, though, is the real pressure some guys feel when the game is on the line. NBA 2K6 has the pulsating controller, and that helps. But there is nothing really like playoff atmosphere where it’s “win or go home.”

How did you contribute to the game production? Did you take part in motion-capture sessions only or did you make also technical suggestions?

 I did the motion-capture stuff – wore the suit, went to the lab and gave them the real Shaq moves. I also had some conversations with them about what it is really like as a big man in the post, and I think that you see improved post play and moves in this game.

Would you or have you ever chosen to spend time playing a videogame rather than spending time with your wife? 

Have you seen how beautiful my wife is? No videogame is worth that.