NBA Basketball Games: It just makes no sense (Long read, be prepared) - 23's Blog

23's Blog

NBA Basketball Games: It just makes no sense (Long read, be prepared)

Posted on September 23, 2010 at 04:16 AM.

After reading the final NBA 2k11 Insight today... I cannot help but be amazed at the sheer amount of content and reworked logic of almost every facet of the game.

Sorry if you feel if im being extra or rocking the boat, I apologize in advance, because im not trying to, nor trying to offend,but I just feel like im in the twilight zone with what im seeing, and hearing... the demo, the excuses, the justification for supervillian abilities yet being generic all at the same time... but still, its just a blog so whatever.... back to 2k11

After seeing everything done from presentation, to association, to animations, to the little things, this game seems to have given the fans far more than what most of us expected. I sat there and watched so many complaints fall down and die one after one as more information came out, because not only did 2k listen to the fans but apparently were just as bothered with the issues we had and fixed them, a sheer leap from the previous game. Actions speak louder than words!

Knowing all of this, I look and see how this all happened in a one year cycle. My head is spinning and I still dont understand how they all got it done. Say what you may about the demo being cheap, and it is... but when they mentioned walking around the office working with a huge swagger wasnt a joke.

That said, they've shown me that it is possible to make a great game in a years time which brings me to what the problem is... what the heck happened at EA?

Say what you may, but in my eye and in the eyes of MANY, all it is, is excuses for what is possibly the worst EA basketball game since NBA Live 2007. In the year 2010, there is absolutely no excuse to continue to shaft the fans with a basketball game not worth an hour of playing time. The atmosphere on the court is so boring and dull you find yourself off in space by the time the clock hits 0.00

Once we moved past the corny buzz words like dice roll, and got through the smear campaign of animations are evil that suckered in some of the least suspecting guys, we find the there was hardly any advertisement for this game pumping out in the media which was strangely the opposite of everything years past sans Live 07.

I realize this is lengthy but its needful. Continuing... Therefore I didnt hesitate to jump on the chance to see the game at Venice Beach when there was a Boost Mobile tournament going on one Saturday. I met up with jtdribbles and jano, although I only played about a half.. I wanted to record footage for my brother who was madly excited about the game and hearing about total control... anyway as I recorded with a small digital camera under a small tent while others were playing, the content came out shaky but what I recorded was true raw footage non edited and exactly what the game was.

As I watched I mentioned to jt that the guys on OS is going to bash the game because of the quirky movement, and some other stuff I saw. On top of that I was able to capture a few nonsense plays like Carlos Boozer flying from the ft line, Hedo Turkoglu lanching from the same spot MJ did his famous reverse layup vs the Nets, and other quirky stuff. What I didnt record was worse, like some cheeser shooting and hitting about 8 three pointers in a row vs jt, and then even more when I took over, Wade and LeBron doing about 5 or 6 back to back sideways tomahawks over a crowd IN A ROW, and Kobe throwing an off the backboard lob to himself with 2 defenders in front of him unimpeded to name a few. Wow this is long but all true.

Anyone once the footage went up online as I got permission from the attendant at the booth since its only "advertisement"... it got alot of comments like, Oh its only on pro, oh they were cheesing, running amok (although thee was no sprint button) ah they dont know how to play, ah the camera made it look bad, oh yeah and the famous its an early version, which I think we heard up until 2 weeks ago.

Nonetheless it seems EA had gone into damage control at this point because we now are all of a sudden recording video! Now we'll show you how the game is played!... Okay I see, now we get content, now we get visuals and advertisements.. okay

So we see clips of horrid and controlled gameplay that just matched up with the videos I posted besides seeming more in control, just as I stated the wonkiness and funny looking movement was bashed, just worse than I thought. Before then all we got was 10 second clips that were downright awful and too many people on the forums werent being honest.

Yes, thats right... calling it looking great when Paul Pierce is moon walking on defense, Ron Artest is jumping from almost the FT Line on a dunk like Shawn Kemp literally and just boats Sheed out of the way like he was a man on the moon.. it was all too unrealistic and fake, just like Bynum dribbling behind the back and the ball launching away from him like his shoulder was a cannon, just like D. West jumping over someone for a putback, yet he barely bent his knees, jumped too high, and did something he is incapable of in real life, and that only after Okafor was pummeled without a foul being raped in the air by boney Tay Prince.. I mean come on.. it looked great, really?!

Once I saw that was acceptable to some, the real uneasiness set in. All we got afterwards was, wait til the demo, because the clips and minor vids were more fodder to chew on than convincing the long time fans that the game was an improvement. Afterall, the graphics went from vibrant and colorful, down to drab and comic book like, sorta like crackdown 1. Yet we still got the controls, controls, controls.. wait! Did we even ask for that stuff? No, No we didnt.

What that brings us to is, after a continual wait for the demo cause you gotta feel it, and in a sense what you see means nothing.. the demo comes.

..... AND so does an onslaught of bashing and dicontent with a demo that looks exactly like what we played at venice beach, which was touted as an early build. Wont even get into how horrible of an experience it is IMO because plenty of people have done that already.

Needless to say, this is one of the biggest let downs of this gen for too many bball fans. The generic gameplay, the lack of animations, the purposely programmed stiff movement, the dead atmosphere (not the crowd, but the lack of life in the AI and overall gameplay).. and so on There is hardly a reason one can find to support this direction.

Again apologies for any offenses but you know, im tired of guys saying trash is okay when its not okay. Im tired of bball fans getting the shaft and charged 65 bucks for it.. Im tired of the excuses.. looking at what 2k did this year, there are no more excuses.. they've done more with less for years now, YEARS! There is no excuse for that, its just downright sad.

Nope I didnt get to get to EAC and give input due to a family surgery, but I wont stop challenging them to make a better game. Sitting back accepting just anything and seeing nothing besides the word potential come out of it is beyond old.

I wont even get into the people who got bent over and wasted, who spent 65 bucks on a college game that rewards them with nothing but freezing and not so much as a good will patch out of it.

Does it make sense to you? Not to me.

Comments

# 31 23 @ Sep 25

I think their engine this gen is not up to snuff. I dont even know if they can rectify the bodies.. I've hated them for a long time now, but it doesnt matter because they dont listen to people like me anyway.

Im not some throw in fan, and this game is not acceptable in a 2011 series and whoever the people are who gave them input for this need to move on because they gave them the wrong advice.

# 32 rudeworld @ Sep 25

I don't know what happen here...and to tell you the truth I really do not care. I think its karma that this is happening to EA Sports. It all started way back when they had different visions and canceled the 1st madden on the PSone but we all(including myself) did not see what was going on.

I will spear you all with the history lesson because we all know the biggest mistake they made... now its just coming back to haunt them. VC/2K will be the end of EA Sports.

# 33 Behindshadows @ Sep 26

KDRE alias 23....Mad respect for this blog. You are my brotha and I support and totally agree with you. For once in my life I am disappointed in so many ways. And everything you've pointed out is just a small reason why! I can't wait to elaborate off what you've said and from all the stuff I've read on OS so far.

Keep up the great work man, and yeah looks like 2k11 will be my game this year. I mean it is my only choice. Last year I played Live 10 more than anything else.

# 34 23 @ Sep 26

Thanks man and we are definitely in agreement here

# 35 TajDeni @ Sep 26

Here's a funny, in a sad way, story. Remember those guys on my friends list, well after the 2k11 demo dropped, i was in a party with some of those guys and i asked them what they thought of the demo. There response was the players backs and shoulders seem funny. he went on to say how kobe's face didnt look like Kobe and how ugly Bynum was. So after i listened to this...i said ok thats fine if you feel that way but whats any of that have to do with the gameplay? How do you feel about the game as a reflection of basketball? Silence, nothing just players faces and shoulders look funny? So the Elite demo comes out and the players look like aliens (the greys) and the 5 on 5 gameplay is T----. so i sent him a PM and wrote, " guess you'll take those shoulders and ugly faces now aye?". You know what he wrote back? " the 2k demo didnt show me nothing either...obviously im still going to give nba elite a chance" do you know that these guys havent invited me into a party since the elite demo dropped. now there party's are always on private and they wont let me in....all because they dont wanna face the truth, im not even gonna rub it in...i dont have to the difference in the quality in the games speak for themselves.

PS, you know what other comments i get...."Im not buying a basketball game this yr...im buying this or that instead" Really? If you love basketball as it seems they do why dont you just buy 2k, because if Elite was up to snuff you wouldnt be saying that.

You hear what im saying...how can we expect a game to be great, when the ppl buying it dont care enough to demand it be great? Now i know thats all, but this is a real generalization of all the Live fans I know...the quotes are 100% real tho

# 36 23 @ Sep 26

Only if sales are consistently not that great. Its okay to like it but hey... im not settling for this anymore

# 37 23 @ Sep 27

Man please, they threw one away from last year as if it was nothing so that means jack to me. I dont care about their controls, just like they dont care about the things I care about.

Go on and chase the super mario bros. fans then. Dont give me some control scheme I didnt ask for and ignore everything I did ask for and expect me to have respect for that. I dont, and its sad that people will be giving 85 dollars for a game not worth the price (not even half complete).

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