NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

[swac07]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

to initiate post position is it still Y on xbox?[the reason i asked i have no arms and play the game with my feet...it made it so much easier for me]

[Dazraz]

2K have a tough job introducing new ground breaking features within a game that sets the standard for current sports simulations. Games like NHL & Madden are getting a lot of attention this year because EA have made some big changes, albeit long overdue ones. Only now, after all these years, their NHL game will have a proper Broadcast Cam! Enjoy what 2K are bringing because when the next generation of consoles appear & developers start building games from the ground up once more it could be some time before we get a game as complete as NBA 2K is.

[JerzeyReign]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Great great great preview jerzy. I've seen some footage or a player going up for a layup or dunk, and it looked like the shot blocker and shooter just glazed each other, when the defender went right up to him. It's hard to describe and I forgot which video it was titled.

Did you see things like that example I gave?

I'm one of those DIY type players so I didn't see it often enough to consider it a problem. I did see it once though. I was playing Wade too close up top and he turned the corner. As I started to yell 'Step up!' to my computer teammate (like they can hear me, right?) Wade went into a full windmill slam. Honestly, I had more issue with Wade performing a windmill in that situation than the defender avoiding being posterized. In that situation it seems more realistic that Wade would have 'cocked back' with one hand with a threat of shot blocker in the area just in case he jumped. I wouldn't get disappointed yet though since I was playing on a difficulty meant to 'wow' people.

JerzeyReign were you shooting with X button or did you go full control stick? If you went full control stick how did you like it?

How would you say they improved speed between the fast or slow players?

Did you feel the effect of the sig skills at all?

How did the "live" ball feel this year? I know DaWolf said it was more loose any examples?

I've always been a 'right stick' shooter so the adjustment wasn't that difficult for me. I didn't dive into the shot stick because I'm not used to Broadcast. I really wanted to try floaters out to ensure they work. Something I forgot to mention in my impression -- floaters seem to work better this year as I witnessed a couple of them take flight in front of the shot blocker's face. I was never in a situation use them but it seems as if the release has been set to be a little faster making them effective. No more 'tooth fairy' gathers/takeoffs -- the speed of them will probably improve their effectiveness against big men.

The difference in speed between players in the halfcourt is very noticeable. I don't fastbreak often (only after steals or blocks ) and the guys that were doing it weren't really good at the game so it was hard to tell since they weren't running it realistically. I had two fastbreaks that I can remember and they were a 2 on 1 with Westbrook and Durant (ended in a Durant oop) and a 3 on 1 break with James, Chalmers, and Cole that ended with Cole not popping and eventually messing up an alley oop to James. I really don't recall if we outran them for numbers or what but then again I don't remember too many 3 on 1 breaks in NBA 2k12. Could of been an anomaly but I really hope they are realistically possible.

I honestly forgot about that signature skills -- I just used guys the way they play in real life and was having success against other users. I don't even remember seeing any icons or anything. This may be a question for Vann.

The ball felt the same to me. For example, Westbrook was just standing there dribbling with his left hand. I swiped at it and looked like I made pretty good contact with it. Instead of the ball being knocked away his dribble continued undisturbed. It was kind of annoying since I had 'cookies' so I had the same feeling as last year. I did see some protect the ball animations after it looked like the ball was slightly knocked away. As far as a 'live ball' in any other area -- I didn't see it. It seemed as though they toned it down as I didn't witness one ELBOW BLOCK! lol

As a South Florida resident, I noticed the same thing you did after watching a few videos. The fans down here aren't really wearing Miami Heat colors in regular season games. I did notice a bit too much of that burnt yellow/orange.

Do you remember anything about fast breaks at all? Was there any clear separation between offensive and defensive player relative to their speed attributes? Perkins catching up to Wade/LeBron chasing down Thabo?

I answered the fastbreak question above. And I'm glad that I was right about that orange, lol. In some instances I saw fans with a Heat jersey over an orange shirt

Any word on fatigue?... is it still a non-factor? Will calling timeouts still allow you to play the same 5 energized players for the entire game?

Any word or the ability to save an online profile so we don't have to make a whole slew of adjustments before every game?

And, of course, any word on server improvements, if any?

Thanks.

The game auto-subbed so I couldn't really tell how much fatigue plays a part. I did see the Gatorade symbol on a couple of my opponent's players so their may be hope. Probably a question better suited for the Team Up guys since they can use longer quarters.

I just played a demo and I didn't see any 2k reps (besides the teens making sure we don't record) on site to ask. I do recall LD2k saying they will talk about this stuff in September so we probably have another week or two before we get an answer.

Did you notice any off the ball fouls?

Not that I can recall. Their may have been but everything was in German so it was hard to distinguish where the foul happened unless it happened on the shot. I didn't see anything that looked like an off ball foul.

[Illustrator76]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Great impressions Jerzey, I am looking forward to this game more this year than I think I ever have, so I am extremely excited. I have one question for you. Do the CPU teams/players seem to play more like their real selves this year? I am not a huge head-to-head guy (but that may change this year) and last year guys like Andrew Bynum wouldn't shoot enough, or when he did shoot he would take too many jumpshots instead of working down in the post. I tried adjusting player ratings, sliders, new roster sets, etc... but I just couldn't get the players to play how they should. One team that seemed really off was the Dallas Mavericks. Jason Terry and Vince Carter would shoot like 100 shots a game while Dirk did nothing at all. Terry I could understand somewhat, but Vince Carter? I really hope that they tuned and adjusted the ratings so that the right players are taking the bulk of the shots for each team (and in the right spots as well), because that has been my biggest beef with NBA 2K the past few years.

Thanks again for the impressions sir!

[silverskier]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

to initiate post position is it still Y on xbox?[the reason i asked i have no arms and play the game with my feet...it made it so much easier for me]

Beluba said that Y is the button on his twitter

[JerzeyReign]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Thanks for the detailed preview.

I would like to hear about the post game. I'd like to hear about calling for picks, but I believe once again that has been disabled in the demo.

I can't lie -- I was confused when it came to the post. I'm so used to L2/LT being my fake that I really struggled down there. I can't honestly give an opinion on that. I need to hop in the virtual gym on that one.

Question!!! From the videos I have seem, it looks like the passing game havent change much... The issue its still there for wat I seem, the only difference is the bounce pass... Do they still have that ugly over the head pass?? Tha rarely happends in the real nba??
Thank you it was a gread read but I still think the passing needs way more improvement than a bounce pass.....

Agree but the speed the pass gets there will help tremendously for the time being and the manual bounce pass is truly a hidden jewel IMO. I'll take what they've done this year over those soft lobs any day of the week.

Thanks for the preview.

Like what others have raised, have you tried the new post-up controls? How was it? How about the too much up-and-unders of mediocre players, is it still there?

And last one, how was the hop-step button? Could it be a source of cheesing again like NBA 2K11?

Answered the post question above. When I played against the CPU I was always Miami. While playing against OKC they didn't really throw the ball inside often -- it was mainly Westbrook and Durant putting up shots. I didn't see any up and unders. As for the hop step button, I didn't see many users use it and I didn't use it myself. Unsure if it will be cheesy -- really wouldn't matter -- cheesy players will find some way to cheese.

to initiate post position is it still Y on xbox?[the reason i asked i have no arms and play the game with my feet...it made it so much easier for me]

Yes, the post is Y/Triangle this year.

[STLRams]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Question!!! From the videos I have seem, it looks like the passing game havent change much... The issue its still there for wat I seem, the only difference is the bounce pass... Do they still have that ugly over the head pass?? Tha rarely happends in the real nba??
Thank you it was a gread read but I still think the passing needs way more improvement than a bounce pass.....

I'm wondering about the passing also, this is the second or third time I think someone has mentioned the passing doesn't seem changed from 2K12, but Ronnie mentioned on one the 2K videos that passing has been fixed and we shouldn't see the slow lofty passes any more.

[Blak_Baki_Hanma]

Thanks for the follow-up. Players "get" tired in the current versions but calling a timeout replenishes so much energy that even the centers with the lowest stamina ratings can play an entire game with more than 1/2 of a full energy bar. If this isn't adjusted, then it will be another year of "your best 5 vs mine" and that's just not a good look for sim ballers.

It literally kills the experience (for me).

[BezO]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Sounding great. Thanks JR!

[Bulls321974]

Don't know. I got very mixed emotions after watching the footage and reading thru the preview. Might actually not be as good as 2K12 eventually...

[Vni]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Don't know. I got very mixed emotions after watching the footage and reading thru the preview. Might actually not be as good as 2K12 eventually...

What makes you think that?

JezeyReign have you noticed an improvements on layups? The animation where so lazy and inapropriate in 2K12, you coudn't really penetrate and attack the rim with small guards as well as you could in 2K11 for example. What are your thoughts on that?

[greenegt]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Great stuff, JerzeyReign! This is shaping up to be the true next step up from 2K11. I'm hyped!

[Ramboooo]

Great writeup.

Other than that, I love the new collision detection, especially on the ball handler. You can really steer a player in the direction you want to go but if you steer too much or can't keep up with the player, as I found out the hard way against Westbrook, they will turn the corner on you and look to attack. The ball handler/defender relationship is a beautiful thing this season. It really makes on ball defense easier to do and turns it into a better option than playing off ball and attacking from the weak side.

Control Stick (Dribbling) - Honestly, this took me ONE five minute quarter to get used to (and the guy beat me 16-15). If you have ever played the NBA Live series you may be familiar with the control stick but please don't say it’s identical. The options you have at just a flick of your thumb, is remarkable. I played one guy and he just looked at me amazed as I used his spamming of the steal button to make him look foolish as a little baby cross followed by a quick hesitation had him reaching while the quick around the back move had him tying shoelaces in the front row. Truly a great addition to the series but don't worry about this turning into And 1. Dribbling, much to my displeasure, still drains energy so any move you do needs to be quick. One day 2k will read my mind and tie dribbling too long with ball security -- the better ball handlers can play with you a little longer than the rest. Until then we have this -- no matter if it drains energy or brings down ball security -- it’s an addition that most guys, especially the ones who haven't mastered the isomotion, will greatly appreciate. And if you are in that #IsomotionAchieved Club, things just got a lot easier for you, as the moves are pretty much similar for the most part.

This is awesome. Those realistic inner game ball handler / defender battles + reward/consequence plays are what help make SIM ball = WINNING ball...especially online. Can't wait. This game shaping up to be G.O.A.T. Add hackless crew n probably be sports game of the year.

[NINJAK2]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Thanks for your vids and insights JR. Did you see any injuries? If so, did players still back away from them and stare like they had some highly contagious and deadly disease?

[VDusen04]

Re: NBA 2K13 Hands-On Preview From Gamescom (JerzeyReign)

Thanks for your vids and insights JR. Did you see any injuries? If so, did players still back away from them and stare like they had some highly contagious and deadly disease?

Ha, yes, it'd be nice to at least see some NFL 2K5-style injury cut-scenes at some point down the line, maybe featuring trainers, maybe featuring players walking off with the aid of teammates, maybe some awesome dialogue of the player saying injury things, like "Ugh, it hurts! Right here in my shoulder." (again just like 2K5). I like when my gaming injuries can serve as one part realistic and one part entertainment.