Mike Wang Has Left EA Canada and the NBA Live Development Team

[BrianFifaFan]

NBA Live 11 has just taken an incredible blow.

"Mike Wang has left EA Canada and the NBA LIVE development team and will be heading back to the United States. I wanted to take this opportunity to personally thank Mike for his contributions during the 18 months that he was working on NBA LIVE. His vision and leadership within gameplay on NBA LIVE 10 was part of the reason why that game was critically reviewed as having taken a tremendous leap in quality and at least as good as any other basketball game on the market.

Our goals for NBA LIVE 11 are simple. We want to be one of the best sports games on the market … on par with franchises like NHL, FIFA and Madden. In the coming months, we will show you just how we will do that.

I wish Mike and his family the best of luck.

Sean O’Brien"

[GSW]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

welp...looks like i wont be playing any basketball games next year either

[BooShay]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

WOW this is big news. Did his Visa expire? I dont see why he would just leave EA Vancouver like that

[BrianFifaFan]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

WOW this is big news. Did his Visa expire? I dont see why he would just leave EA Vancouver like that

Yeah, I don't get that, either. Have you ever seen EA Canada? Or Vancouver, for that matter? Who would leave voluntarily? Man, first Marcus is sent off and now Mike Wang leaves? And NCAA is not gonna be patched? EA's basketball program has me scratching my head. And then the Lead says they are trying to be in the class of Fifa or NHL? Color me cornfused....

[Court_vision]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

Someone gave me a small indication about this a few months back when it was clear that the LIVE 10 sales weren't all that good. (worse than LIVE 09 actually).

Marcus was moved and I heard the game was going to go in a whole new direction. I didn't want to post anything as I've had a tonne of respect for Beluba right back to NBA Inside Drive.

He's always been a great communicator...so, when he says nothing for months + I know he wasn't involved with patch 2 at all...then you start to read between the lines.

Now that's official........very, very dissapointing.

EA will post a tonne of rhetoric about "we want to make the best game possible"........and that's absolute crap.

EA want sales. Nothing else.

Marcus being moved on and Beluba "let go" = the end of the line for NBA Live.

This series is officially dead unless you like arcade stuff. Letting Beluba go basically is conceeding the sim market to 2K.

Sad day.

Good luck to Mike in whatever he does from here on.

[Court_vision]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

NBA Live Loses Mike Wang
by pastapadre
Posted February 1st, 2010 at 3:21 pm <NOSCRIPT>View comments</NOSCRIPT>3 Comments</A itxtvisited="1">

Some news today that could have huge effect on the future of the NBA Live series as provided by community manager Yaw Obiri-Yeboah. Lead Gameplay Designer Mike Wang has left the development team after just one year heading up the franchise. This is a discouraging development given the stature he was presented as having by EA Sports and the drastic improvements seen from NBA Live as of late.
Given the sales discrepancy between NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 it its shaping up to be a critical year. While NBA Live 10 gained traction in terms of reviews and consumer response it actually fell further behind the competition in sales. With a concentration on profitability and cutting of titles that don’t make the grade the sales performance of NBA Live 11 could very well determine whether the series continues on or gets cut.

[Stumbleweed]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

Well, crap. Hopefully one of the companies can throw together a good game next year... not looking great though, especially with this development. Ugh, I want my b-ball games back!

[BrianFifaFan]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

Someone gave me a small indication about this a few months back when it was clear that the LIVE 10 sales weren't all that good. (worse than LIVE 09 actually).

Marcus was moved and I heard the game was going to go in a whole new direction. I didn't want to post anything as I've had a tonne of respect for Beluba right back to NBA Inside Drive.

He's always been a great communicator...so, when he says nothing for months + I know he wasn't involved with patch 2 at all...then you start to read between the lines.

Now that's official........very, very dissapointing.

EA will post a tonne of rhetoric about "we want to make the best game possible"........and that's absolute crap.

EA want sales. Nothing else.

Marcus being moved on and Beluba "let go" = the end of the line for NBA Live.

This series is officially dead unless you like arcade stuff. Letting Beluba go basically is conceeding the sim market to 2K.

Sad day.

Good luck to Mike in whatever he does from here on.

Yeah, if they don't go for a Fifa level of depth and simulation, I'm done with this game as quick as I got on board. Mike was trying to do that. It wasn't either Marcus' or his fault the game has stunk for so long. Just like Ian with Madden , this isn't gonna happen in one cycle. If they change directions again, it's gonna destroy any credibility this series gained this year. And guys like me, who for years thought NBA Live was king, only to leave it for 2k, that finally gave Live a second look, are gonna head right on back out the door. I'm really concerned today....

[edubbs]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

I've been highly critical of Live10 this year, knowing that Mike was the lead on the game.

And even though I was not happy with this year's purchase, I knew that Mike would get the game atleast close to what the 'sim' community wanted if given time.

With this announcement though, I have no confidence what soo ever in Live EVER being a real threat to the 2k series again.

He has literaly been an extension of this community while developing bball titles over the years. With him and Marcus exiting within the same year, the signs coming from the EA camp are pretty clear.

This franchise has waaaay too much internal overhaul annualy, to ever establish a good product come release time.

Live11, will introduce a new lead AI Game Designer for the 2nd or 3rd time.... in what 5 years? No wonder this franchise has seemed soo stagnant for soo long.

Horrible news.

[Court_vision]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

Yeah, if they don't go for a Fifa level of depth and simulation, I'm done with this game as quick as I got on board. Mike was trying to do that. It wasn't either Marcus' or his fault the game has stunk for so long. Just like Ian with Madden , this isn't gonna happen in one cycle. If they change directions again, it's gonna destroy any credibility this series gained this year. And guys like me, who for years thought NBA Live was king, only to leave it for 2k, that finally gave Live a second look, are gonna head right on back out the door. I'm really concerned today....

This series has been a disaster on the next gen.

Honestly, Beluba and Marcus being "moved on"....you can spell the end of LIVE 11 right there. No doubt they'll release something and hype it up. Any idea that new guys can walk in and replace a guy like Beluba on a short development cycle is complete crap though.

I am really dissapointed with the way they've completely abandoned NCAA (read the freezing thread...it's a disgrace)...

Now this.

I like NBA 2K, but strong competition is good. This is basically EA waving the white flag.

[oOausarOo]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

I have nothing but respect for Mike Wang. I'm very disappointed to hear this. Even with the terrible sales it comes as a surprise to me because the reviews got better (rightfully-so). NBA Live was such a mess we knew it was going to take a few years to seriously compete.

They still have a solid base to build on top of Live 10 so all is not lost. I've always wondered if it made more sense for EA to re-focus NBA Live as an online only game.

They have the dedicated servers they just haven't put any effort at all in making the game as good as it should be online. Basically make it a more expensive XBLA title. Right now VC/2k Sports is really struggling with the online experience. I think EA missed out on a great opportunity.

[noshun]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

This series has been a disaster on the next gen.

Honestly, Beluba and Marcus being "moved on"....you can spell the end of LIVE 11 right there. No doubt they'll release something and hype it up. Any idea that new guys can walk in and replace a guy like Beluba on a short development cycle is complete crap though.

I am really dissapointed with the way they've completely abandoned NCAA (read the freezing thread...it's a disgrace)...

Now this.

I like NBA 2K, but strong competition is good. This is basically EA waving the white flag.

CV,
This is the fallout from Live 07 finally catching up and rearing it head. They made the changes to improve, but just like in the email I sent to EA back then.. they turned a lot of people off(myself included) and customer support waned. Also claiming written from the ground up caught up too. Too many issues are still present from my QA days for EA. Freezing issues, the surveys after 07, and 08.. Im not going to say that they didnt try to improve.
Most didnt even know Live 06/07 was still using the AI94 coding from the Genesis days. But this series took too long to improve, and that 'next year' mantra we've heard this whole 360/ps3 gen.
I agree with everything you said man.

[23]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

Just got an e-mail from EA. Mike Wang has gone back to the U.S. No more Beluba. Yaw put this out a bit ago:

Hello everyone,

Today we are here to announce that Mike Wang has left EA Canada to return to the United States. We thank Mike for all the hard work and leadership he brought to the NBA LIVE franchise and we’re very excited to announce what’s going to happening with NBA LIVE 11. Big things are on the horizon for this year’s title and once info comes my way I will be sure to inform all of you.

For more about this please follow this link: http://www.easports.com/blogs/inthep...ba-live-update

Thanks.

Yaw Obiri-Yeboah
Assistant Community Manager - EA SPORTS


P.S. I'm on EA's mailing list for my Fifa stuff. It's legit.

Wow for real EA?

This is sad for me as a basketball gamer... Its a good chance im done with this series period. I see no real desire to deliver

[BrianFifaFan]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

This series has been a disaster on the next gen.

Honestly, Beluba and Marcus being "moved on"....you can spell the end of LIVE 11 right there. No doubt they'll release something and hype it up. Any idea that new guys can walk in and replace a guy like Beluba on a short development cycle is complete crap though.

I am really dissapointed with the way they've completely abandoned NCAA (read the freezing thread...it's a disgrace)...

Now this.

I like NBA 2K, but strong competition is good. This is basically EA waving the white flag.

I actually love this year's game. Taken in the context of the current state of what the game has been. 2k really has lost me with the framerate issues and the fact that Isomotion is lame. So I decided to give NBA Live another look. And was able to look at it from the aspect of being a salvage project. Why can't the management view it the same way? I totally agree about this series stinking this gen. But the game has grown so much in one cycle. It just needs polish and depth. Guys like me, who started with Lakers vs. Celtics, want to come back. I hadn't played a Live game since 2003. And I was back, back in love with Live. Now what is going on? Not getting this at all...... Build a great game, based on the foundation laid THIS YEAR. Stop groping in the dark. Stay on track. Then people will give you a serious look and the sales will come. Don't be the Buffalo Bills of gaming....

[rockchisler]

Re: Wheres Mike Wang?

Sorry for forshadowing this guys, I feel like I put out bad Karma.