Interview with NBA Live 13 Developer Scott O'Gallagher

[DaveDQ]

Re: Interview with NBA Live 13 Developer Scott O'Gallagher

"After an unimpressive showing of a way too early build of NBA Live 13 at E3, EA received backlash from all corners of the Internet. The community wasn’t necessarily outraged, but you could sense that 2K Sports' NBA 2K series was slowly pulling away from the competition."

I would have to disagree there. NBA Live is not even remotely close to the NBA 2K Series. That's not because it's an EA vs 2K thing or because I still sleep with my NFL 2K5 bed sheets.

NBA Live was an average game that was not gaining momentum this generation. It was the release of NBA 2K8 that really separated the two games for this gen and clearly outlined which game was superior. With NBA Live 09 and 10, EA did show an improved game, but what came next was a huge mistake for their basketball franchise.

The idea of NBA Elite was an admission on EA's part that their basketball title was getting beat and getting beat badly. Instead of trusting that building on what they had would benefit their title, they tried a gimmick in renaming the title and claiming it was under newer more dynamic development. We know how that ended. You put that up against the year that 2K introduced Jordan in their game and EA's basketball ambitions were crippled.

"Slowly pulling away from the competition" is not very accurate. 2K basketball is enjoying the benefits of a long, focused effort on a title that is just better than its competitor's. EA had something good going but they didn't trust it would pull them any closer to what 2K was doing, and after what happened with Elite, and even with what is going on now, EA is further away from their goal than ever before.

[Boilerbuzz]

Re: Interview with NBA Live 13 Developer Scott O'Gallagher

Live is no longer competing with 2K. 2K studios are correct here.

Live is basically in the position that NBA : The Life was in 06'.

Didn't EA Sports say the same thing about Madden? Why wasn't that called "cocky"? Taking the statement out of context aren't we. Live/Elite hasn't been on the market. What else would you say?

[fluent2332]

Re: Interview with NBA Live 13 Developer Scott O'Gallagher

This is to Jerzey as well, but I know what he is saying.

2k does do these types of things. Maybe not to the extent of which they are described but there are very frustrating things that occur in 2k that can't be explained nor fixed with sliders.

Another reason why I think at the time, Live 10 was received so well. It contained more free flowing control, something that 2k admittedly didn't have. The isomotion feature was very clunky and unresponsive and plenty of remnants of that system still remain. Something personally that I think is still holding 2k back. Obviously there are a lot of other minor issues, but this isn't the thread for that.

I think one of the most frustrating things for me, is the inability for the control scheme in 2k to recognize when and how to move, and to do it responsively. More specifically on the perimeter. If I want to just take two steps backward, or back it out. You can't walk backwards. Your player literally tries to turn around, and then you get caught in the middle of this momentum animation which takes you somewhere you don't want go, or you will get caught in this step back animation instead of literally just taking 2 steps back.

Collision detection is also really bad, and the force field effect is present at pretty much every difficulty level.

I have seen the layup issue many times. It is not user error. The AI will detect someone within range and it will try to change the path of where you take the layup, often resulting in a missed layup or a block.

Even with those issues, there are still ALOT, and I mean ALOT of things 2k get's absolutely right and the foundation they have built is built for success. Obviously with all games, there will be flaws and things to improve upon and 2k12 is way far from perfect, but at the moment it's the closest thing to simulation that we have. Is it simulation? Some aspects are, and some are not. You have to expect that though. It's a video game.

Does that mean that 2k can never be dethroned? Absolutely not, but at this point after recent history, am I'm relying on EA to do that in one year, or at all? Not a chance.

At the end of the day, we all might have different visions, but we all want the same thing. Basketball represented the right way, and a competition to make each brand push each other to produce the best representation we can get. At this point, I don't care what brand does it, as long as it is done right. Currently 2k is a lot closer than EA is. Just the fact of the matter, whether you like the game or not.

I disagree. I think Live 10 was a better representation of the sport than 2K has been in recent years. It may not have had a million flashy animations, 2 million dunk packages etc, but it had sound fundamentals that made it a blast to play, and very realistic when you factor in DNA (which was incredible, hopefully EA brings it back for future games). I still believe Live 10 was the best basketball game I've probably ever played, right up there with NBA 2K8.

I do believe the 2K series has been in decline since 2K8. It's still a fun game though, don't get me wrong.

Not only do I think Live 10 was a better representation of the sport, but the excellent controls made it so much fun to play. I had some incredible, epic matchups against my buddies online in that game. I've had some great games with the 2K series too, but I honestly still prefer Live 10 over the recent 2K games. In Live 10 you could create a strategy and pick apart the defense with precision, whereas in 2K it's much more clunky when you factor in all the animations, you end up doing things you didn't want to do, and that happens all the time. I could go on and on but I'd be writing a novel at that point, so I'll just stop.

Anyway, I'm excited for Live 13 and Scott O' Gallagher seems like he makes a good addition to the team. Looking forward to what EA comes with!

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: Interview with NBA Live 13 Developer Scott O'Gallagher

I can't wait until EA makes their announcement official.

There's gonna be a whole lot of moonwalking in this forum.

[Whaaaazuuuuup]

Re: Interview with NBA Live 13 Developer Scott O'Gallagher

I can't wait until EA makes their announcement official.

There's gonna be a whole lot of moonwalking in this forum.

yeah, there's gotta be some sort "method to their madness" as to what theyre doing to this game. if theyre idea is to keep it under the blanket and then reveal an incredible game, just to watch 2k follwers jump their band wagon to theirs (EA) its a risky plan. if so, they must feel very confident.

[KyotoCarl]

Re: Interview with NBA Live 13 Developer Scott O'Gallagher

I can't wait until EA makes their announcement official.

There's gonna be a whole lot of moonwalking in this forum.

I wouldn't take that statement to the bank but I am looking forward to some official gameplay footage and information.