NBA 2K11

[Ironhead]

Less than 2 months away (release date is October 5th). Can't help but be really excited about this years offering - especially with everything that happened in the offseason so far.

This week's developer's insight seems particularly awesome. If half of this stuff is implemented well then we could be looking at a special game:

NBA Developer Insights: Making a Smarter Game

[RainMaker]

I am really pumped about this. The offseason has gotten me excited about basketball and the Jordan edition has me amped up too. Can't wait for this to be released.

[Noop]

I will be buying this when it comes out.

[RainMaker]

Does anyone know of any pre-order specials with this game? Amazon has it at $56.99 and Gamestop says you can get a Jordan jersey for your 360 avatar (not sure if that's Gamestop exclusive or for anyone who pre-orders). But since I'm definitely pre-ordering this, if anyone has any word on specials I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Eaglesfan27]

Definite buy for me.

[bhlloy]

Absolute must-buy again this year. Like Rainmaker says if anyone does find any good pre-order offers, very interested in hearing about it

[Anthony]

Definite buy for me. Inclusion of classic playoff teams of the late 80s/early 90s puts this over the top for me. I just really hope u can play exhibition games as the other classic teams and they're not there just for you to play against as Jordan.

[Radii]

Great news, but player progression over multiple seasons will determine whether I buy this or go back to college hoops 2k8 when I get the basketball itch this fall.

[Ironhead]

Originally Posted by Anthony

Definite buy for me. Inclusion of classic playoff teams of the late 80s/early 90s puts this over the top for me. I just really hope u can play exhibition games as the other classic teams and they're not there just for you to play against as Jordan.

From the first developer insight:

"For now, here are the Historic Teams that will be immediately available for you to play this year:

1985-86 Chicago Bulls
1985-86 Boston Celtics
1989-90 Chicago Bulls
1989-90 Atlanta Hawks
1989-90 Cleveland Cavaliers
1989-90 Detroit Pistons
1990-91 Chicago Bulls
1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers
1991-92 Chicago Bulls
1991-92 Portland Trailblazers
1994-95 Chicago Bulls
1994-95 New York Knicks
1995-96 Chicago Bulls
1995-96 Seattle Supersonics
1996-97 Chicago Bulls
1996-97 Utah Jazz
1997-98 Chicago Bulls
1997-98 Utah Jazz

Like current teams, you will get the opportunity to play all of these teams in Quick Game, Association, Playoffs, and Season mode. So want to find out how well your current team matches up with the best Bulls teams? 2010 Lakers or Heat vs. 1995-96 Bulls anyone? The possibilities are endless."

[DaddyTorgo]

wow. that sounds incredible.

[Anthony]

ok i gonna play this one a lot.

[DaddyTorgo]

if it all works

[Big Fo]

The 1994-95 Magic should be on there so I can recreate Nick Anderson stealing the ball from Jordan. The starting five of O'Neal, Grant, Scott, Anderson, and Hardaway were so good on NBA Live 95 and 96.

[Anthony]

i imagine the '95 Magic AND Rockets would be made availble via DLC at some point. the "For now, these are the historic teams..." means to me that there's more to come. i'm sure they might put Jordan-era Wizards in there. i'm sure Reggie Miller-era Pacers will be in there as well. then you also could have '93-94 Suns to get Barkley, maybe '93 Warriors to get Hardaway, Mullin, Webber. i'd love to see one classic team for every team. i remember there was a version of Madden that had classic teams for every team. players didn't have any names, it was a bunch of "QB #13" in there. but still fun, especially to see all the old logos for teams.

[Anthony]

oh, btw, here's a little tidbit about the classic team rosters from the 2K website:

One thing that hasn’t really been mentioned in all the great coverage today, we spent a tremendous amount of time getting the Historic Bulls teams and their biggest rivals into NBA 2K11. We went out and got the rights to the actual players from each era and spent a ton of time capturing their signature shots, moves, and tendencies. So not only are we building you the perfect Michael Jordan in-game, we are also giving you some of the games great players from yesteryear such as Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, and many others.

[Groundhog]

"we are also giving you some of the games great players from yesteryear such as Scottie Pippen, Larry Bird, Dominique Wilkins, and many others."

How the hell did they leave Craig Ehlo out of that list?

[Kodos]

Definite purchase for me. LOVE classic players. Just hope they get the Barkley Suns in there. Danny Ainge, baby!

[RainMaker]

Will the courts be the older ones too? The old Chicago Stadium, Cleveland's old one with their old logo, etc.

[Groundhog]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Will the courts be the older ones too? The old Chicago Stadium, Cleveland's old one with their old logo, etc.

Oh man, that would rule. The Garden too.

[Ironhead]

From OS Preview:

"They went into painstaking detail to include the old-school arena floors and in some instances the actual arenas (The Forum is Alive BABY)."

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Will the courts be the older ones too? The old Chicago Stadium, Cleveland's old one with their old logo, etc.

i remember my best friend and i used to play NBA Live (or whatever it was called back then) on the Genesis back in the day and i would make it RAIN when i'd play as the Suns. i would be behind in the score and i'd proclaim "all right, i'm turning the 3 point machine....on" and start jacking up 3 pt shots with Thunder Dan, Ainge and KJ. loved that team back in the day.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Ironhead

From OS Preview:

"They went into painstaking detail to include the old-school arena floors and in some instances the actual arenas (The Forum is Alive BABY)."

That's awesome!

[Kodos]

Was never a fan of Majerle, but loved Ainge and Kevin Johnson, along with Barkley of course.

[Groundhog]

Majerle is responsible for one of the greatest uncalled travelling violations in the history of the NBA.

[Anthony]

thunder

thunDER

THUNDER DAN....hooooooooooooooo

[RainMaker]

Majerle's travel might not beat Maggette's.

[Groundhog]

Wow. That's turble.

[stevew]

Majerle looked like he was doing a soccer throw in

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Ironhead

From OS Preview:

"They went into painstaking detail to include the old-school arena floors and in some instances the actual arenas (The Forum is Alive BABY)."

ok all the historic teams/arenas has me not caring whether dynasties work well enough long term anymore, I'll be buying either way.

[Groundhog]

'NBA 2K11's' MJ: Creating a Legend mode revealed - ESPN

2K announces MJ: Creating a Legend mode


What if the Portland Trail Blazers drafted Michael Jordan instead of Sam Bowie? It's the question that has kept Blazer fans up at night for decades, but "NBA 2K11" is finally going to let you see what life is like with His Airness in the City of Roses. In fact, any NBA fan who ever dreamed of "Being like Mike," or at least having Air Jordan leading their franchise to a title is sure to be intrigued by the game's new mode, called MJ: Creating a Legend.
"This is a brand new experience that we're delivering to our users this year, and it's a mode that's not immediately available when you purchase the game," explains "NBA 2K11" producer Erick Boenisch.
Gamers will first need to complete all 10 of the classic match-ups in "2K11's" Jordan Challenge by recreating moments like the night MJ dropped 69 points on the Cleveland Cavaliers or reliving his rivalry against the Bad Boys of Detroit.
Once The Jordan Challenge is beat in its entirety, the single-player, offline-only Creating a Legend mode unlocks.
"The idea behind MJ: Creating a Legend is that you're going to step into today's NBA with a rookie Michael Jordan," Boenisch says. "He is rated a 79 overall, which gives you plenty of room to improve, but he has all of the physical tools of Michael as a rookie -- the fast speed, the high jumping, the quickness -- but he lacks a lot of the shooting skills and the offensive and defensive awareness. So you're playing with a raw prospect who can do just about anything, but can't deliver in the clutch just yet.
"And the cool thing about this mode is that you're player-locked to Michael Jordan, so you're kind of recreating the career and the legend of Michael Jordan."

2K SportsFirst screen of Jordan as a rookie in "NBA 2K11".


When gamers start the mode, they can choose to add Jordan to any team in the league. So whether you want to send him to Cleveland to replace LeBron James? Or take him to Portland to right the wrong of the 1984 draft? Or perhaps, make the most insane video game team of all time by putting Jordan on the Miami Heat, the choice is yours.
"I tend to play [him] with the Heat right now," admits Boenisch, claiming to already have won one championship. "But the mode is along the lines of My Player in terms of trying to earn skill points with the ultimate goal of making Michael Jordan the best player he can be. You want to get him that 99 rating and win as many titles as you can. But this isn't one of those modes where you struggle right away. There's instant gratification here because you're really good from the start. Like I said, your shooting skills might be a little rough to start out, but you have the physical ability to dominate any game if you want.
"You're playing as Michael Jordan, and that's something that hasn't been offered this entire generation of consoles. It's something we're really excited about."
Also exciting is the news that Jordan's physical appearance will transform as he ages in the game. Adds Boenisch: "When you start out as a rookie, you're going to start out with the short fade, the short little hair. Then as he gets older you're going to see him go with the bald look, then the mustache in the middle years, and his body will bulk up a little bit as he slowly becomes the older Jordan. For fans of Jordan, it's really cool to see the progression and play as Michael and see what it is like to relive that skill that he had to takeover any game."
According to Boenisch, gamers will be able to play as Jordan from his rookie year all the way up to about age 40 as the rest of the NBA changes around you, complete with player trades and signings. Only thing missing is giving virtual MJ the ability to take time off for baseball. "You cannot play for the Birmingham Barons, sorry," Boenisch says with a laugh. "But it's a lot of fun, and it gives people something to look forward to as they play through the Jordan Challenge. We have achievements tied to this mode as well to give people more incentive to play, but this mode is all about kicking back on the couch, grabbing a controller and having a lot of fun. It's a great mode to just pick up and play.
"We went big with Jordan this year. It's all about Michael."

[bhlloy]

Meh. You could have created a "Michael Jordan" in My Player anyway. Wouldn't be rated 79 but doesn't take that long to get there.

Get back to me when you can have the 1984 Jordan in an authentic 1984 league. I know it will never happen but that along with user created draft classes would be sheer awesomeness

[Neuqua]

Growing up with the 90's Bulls, that feature has made the game an automatic buy for me.

I can't wait to destroy the Knicks again.

[Anthony]

sounds cool, at least there's a reason/payoff to doing the Jordan Challenge. they could've easily have just given you a pat on the back for completing all 10 challenges. bhlloy your 1984 league idea would make me ejaculate on a nun out of excitement.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Neuqua

I can't wait to destroy the Knicks again.

fuck you.

[bhlloy]

Seriously I would pay 100 bucks for a retro NBA game from sometime before the mid 90's and ability to edit draft classes and rosters. It would only need to be arenas, logos and the correct size league (expansion nice but optional), the community would have rosters up within weeks. I don't see why that is so impossible that it can't be done. Presumably the old team logos and arena images are still owned by the NBA and could be licensed under a current agreement?

[Icy]

So who will strart as PG in the Pacers? they have a ton of guards now:

Darren Collison
Lance Stephenson
A.J. Price
T.J. Ford
Earl Watson

[whomario]

well, as long as you can´t change the schedule to 58 or 29 games and can´t sim games it´s a 100% useless mode as no one will play 82 games for 15 seasons.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by bhlloy

Seriously I would pay 100 bucks for a retro NBA game from sometime before the mid 90's and ability to edit draft classes and rosters. It would only need to be arenas, logos and the correct size league (expansion nice but optional), the community would have rosters up within weeks. I don't see why that is so impossible that it can't be done. Presumably the old team logos and arena images are still owned by the NBA and could be licensed under a current agreement?

that's worth $120 to me, to play a 1980's NBA game with next gen graphics and user created draft classes. i'd easily get about 5 years gameplay out of that.

[fflix]

trailer:
hxxp://bit.ly/9bKQ9I

preview:
hxxp://xbox360.ign.com/articles/111/1112344p1.html

[whomario]

It´s just crazy that after all those years you can insert Jordan as a main feature into a video game and everyone goes crazy, as if it needed anymore confirmation of his impact on everything basketball ...

I wouldn´t be surprised if sales were astronomical.

I´m just hoping that they did sth to give players the actual possibility of making a deep run into my player (simming games, please ...)

[rowech]

Is it too much to hope that this game could launch some sort of timewarm games to late 80s/early 90s players in a variety of sports?

[Groundhog]

After watching that trailer, I need to change my pants.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by rowech

Is it too much to hope that this game could launch some sort of timewarm games to late 80s/early 90s players in a variety of sports?

that'd be great, althought it'd be hard to measure who bought the game for Jordan and who bought it to play retro teams. but i'd love to see a wave of sports games with retro teams and real player names.

[Scoobz0202]

MLB: The Show 1960's Style...

*cream*

[dubb93]

I would love to see sports game release past seasons as DLC. Probably be hard due to negotiating with each individual player, but it is DLC that I would purchase. I wonder how financially viable this would be?

It´s just crazy that after all those years you can insert Jordan as a main feature into a video game and everyone goes crazy

I haven't bought a 2K basketball game since the Dreamcast, but b/c of Jordan, my fond memory of playing the DC games, and the good things I hear about this game every year I will be purchasing it this year. Without Jordan and classic teams this wouldn't even be on my radar.

[Atocep]

I'm loving what they've announced so far, but different shoes giving different attribute bonuses is about as stupid as it gets.

NBA 2K11 Has A Shoe Fetish

[rjolley]

The latest developer insight has been posted: 2K Sports

[RainMaker]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before. Seems like the My Player feature is adding a lot of off-the-court elements to it.

Sign Endorsements In NBA 2K11's Career Mode

Answering Questions About NBA 2K11's Postgame Q&As

[Groundhog]

As long as I don't get subbed in and out of the game every 30 seconds, the rest is gravy.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by rjolley

The latest developer insight has been posted: 2K Sports

Wow - that sounds sweet. IDK why I don't have this reserved yet.