EA announced today that Gilbert Arenas will be the cover athlete for EA Sports' NBA Live 08. The company also confirmed that this year will mark the series' first appearance on Nintendo Wii and PS3, and that an Xbox 360 version is also in the works (via the nifty box art pictured to the left of this text) as anyone with a pulse would expect.

“This is a dream come true,” said Arenas. “I’m a huge gamer and have been playing NBA LIVE since 1995. I never imagined that I would see my face on the cover of an EA SPORTS videogame.”

Arenas is an excellent choice for this year's cover. He finished the 2006-07 regular season averaging 28.4 points and 6.0 assists per game, making the All-Star game for the third consecutive year and being named as a starter. Arenas has become one of the NBA's most visible players thanks to a blog on NBA.com, a "larger-than-life" personality, and a well-known catch phrase (Hibachi!). EA points out that he's also been active in the community, working with Scores for Schools, NBA Cares, and even creating his own Zer0 2 Hero Foundation.

NBA Live 08 is in development at EA Canada, and has not yet been rated by the ESRB.