Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

[Money99]

If what Take-Two is saying is truthful, will taking a year off help 2K12 on Next-Gen consoles?

[Fiddy]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

i really believe it will.

as mentioned before in other threads, just look at MVP Baseball.

[bcgudely]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

I think it will. I'm very hopeful. I was looking forward to 2K11 this year, but EA's game is good and I can play that for another year. 2K10 took some good steps in the right direction. With a two year development cycle this time, I think that they will come back with a pretty good product.

My biggest gripe with 2K? And this goes for all of their titles. Post release support. Good lord it's terrible.

[RealmK]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

It really depends on if they really are commited to competing with EA. If they put the development dollars, marketing, and devotion into making a great product, they can suceed. 2k3 and 2k5 although both being different development teams were both great games that were true to the sport and stuck to their sim roots.

I do question their commitment though with how often they talk about reaching the casual fans and with just how much focus they've put on the Wii considering they have no competition on that platform. If nothing else it really held 2k10 back imo from being a great game instead of being just the solid game it ended up being. And considering WWTC is over there talking up how great NHL 2k11 will be on the Wii doesn't boost my confidence. They said the same thing about 2k10.

[CarryTheWeight]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

I can't see how one year off could possibly hurt the franchise. It'll be enough time, hopefully, to write a new engine and completely gut the game. EA's NHL proved this to us already.

Also, a new lead developer may also set this franchise in the right direction. I respect what Ben Bishop has done in the past, but a new direction should also mean a new director at the helm. Preferably someone who knows the ins and outs of hockey and follows the game religiously. Look what that did for EA when David Littman replaced Dave Warfield as the lead. He assembled a team of religious hockey fanatics and made the game truer to life as a result.

[Money99]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

I can't see how one year off won't hurt the franchise. It'll be enough time, hopefully, to write a new engine and completely gut the game. EA's NHL proved this to us already.

Also, a new lead developer may also set this franchise in the right direction. I respect what Ben Bishop has done in the past, but a new direction should also mean a new director at the helm. Preferably someone who knows the ins and outs of hockey and follows the game religiously. Look what that did for EA when David Littman replaced Dave Warfield as the lead. He assembled a team of religious hockey fanatics and made the game truer to life as a result.

Chris-Freakin-Busse!!!

[RealmK]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

Chris-Freakin-Busse!!!

Heh, if only we could get that old Treyarch team back, if only.

[wurstman3000]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

"Yes, it hurts" or "yes, it helps"?

I think it helps, as it's enough time to implement the euphoria animation engine. Well, at least I hope so.

[savoie2006]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

Yes, it will and better help. The REASON they are doing this is to be able to compete with EA. The same reason EA did it most likely. It worked for them and I really believe Visual Concepts will make it work. They know how to make great sports game. NBA and NFL when it was around are living proof. They have the MLB series on the right track finally and were making strides in just a short time with NHL. Given a whole extra year of creative time, 2K12 should be easily the best 2K Hockey EVER and could overtake EA, IF they market the game the way they should.

[Money99]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

Yes, it will and better help. The REASON they are doing this is to be able to compete with EA. The same reason EA did it most likely. It worked for them and I really believe Visual Concepts will make it work. They know how to make great sports game. NBA and NFL when it was around are living proof. They have the MLB series on the right track finally and were making strides in just a short time with NHL. Given a whole extra year of creative time, 2K12 should be easily the best 2K Hockey EVER and could overtake EA, IF they market the game the way they should.

Savoie I completely agree. If VC is given 24 months to put all it's time and energy into this game (especially if built from scratch), they could really make some waves.

I just don't trust Take-Two. I really don't get the feeling that they care too much about hockey and with all the issues swirling around the company I don't think they have any plans of ever returning to the 360 and PS3.

[Radja]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

honestly, i like it a lot. i really think it would be best for all sports games to take two years between games, but we know that will never happen.

i am going to really delve into the franchise of 2k10 and enjoy maybe three or four seasons of developing talent. while i miss College Hoops 2k8 and MVP 05, i was able to play them longer and see my teams develop.

[DrJones]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

i really believe it will.

as mentioned before in other threads, just look at MVP Baseball.

Except for the fact that Triple Play 2002 still had to be made while a separate core of programmers was building MVP 2003 from scratch. Has 2K actually said outright that they're taking the full two years to rebuild NHL? Because that takes a lot of dough.

[RealmK]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

Yes, it will and better help. The REASON they are doing this is to be able to compete with EA. The same reason EA did it most likely. It worked for them and I really believe Visual Concepts will make it work. They know how to make great sports game. NBA and NFL when it was around are living proof. They have the MLB series on the right track finally and were making strides in just a short time with NHL. Given a whole extra year of creative time, 2K12 should be easily the best 2K Hockey EVER and could overtake EA, IF they market the game the way they should.

Thats if they actually take that whole extra cycle to work on not only a new core engine (highly doubtful) but the entire mechanics (skating, AI, responsive controls, acurate and better handling of penalty calls, getting actual presentation elements/overlays DURING gameplay etc ) of the game. Remember they still have a Wii version of 2k11 to put out that WWTC is already talking up like its the next coming. Much like he did around the time of the dev blogs with 2k10.

By all means they should be on par or be able to supass EA by this point to begin with. I'd love to share your optimism Savoie but the realist in me, with 2k's track record just won't let me do it.

[savoie2006]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

Thats if they actually take that whole extra cycle to work on not only a new core engine (highly doubtful) but the entire mechanics (skating, AI, responsive controls, acurate and better handling of penalty calls, getting actual presentation elements/overlays DURING gameplay etc ) of the game. Remember they still have a Wii version of 2k11 to put out that WWTC is already talking up like its the next coming. Much like he did around the time of the dev blogs with 2k10.

By all means they should be on par or be able to supass EA by this point to begin with. I'd love to share your optimism Savoie but the realist in me, with 2k's track record just won't let me do it.

My optimism is with VC. If this were still Kush, I would have little to NO faith. Yeah, some of the Kush guys are now working for VC, but it's still a better development company and was before Bish and whoever joined with him. Kush did almost NOTHING for this series for next gen. Even though 2K9 was the year that should have been missed, VC made good progress IMO on 2K10. More than Kush ever made in one develpment cycle.As for the marketing, that isn't the developers wrong doing, but the idiot higher ups.

[Money99]

Re: Will A 1-Year Layoff Help 2K12?

My optimism is with VC. If this were still Kush, I would have little to NO faith. Yeah, some of the Kush guys are now working for VC, but it's still a better development company and was before Bish and whoever joined with him. Kush did almost NOTHING for this series for next gen. Even though 2K9 was the year that should have been missed, VC made good progress IMO on 2K10. More than Kush ever made in one develpment cycle.As for the marketing, that isn't the developers wrong doing, but the idiot higher ups.

Can't argue with any of this.
Still, I'd be comforting to hear that someone is working on 2K12 while they take a year off. I don't care if it's just an art director or sound dude. I'd really like to know if Take-Two is putting any ounce of resources into making sure there's a 2K12 for the 360 or PS3 two years from now.