Options for NBA Live's comeback

[Yallasama]

So as I was thinking about EA pushing 2k to make their game better, why don't we get into what EA can do to put NBA Live back on the map. To me there's quite a lot they can do. Here we go:

A street mode that is basically it’s own NBA Street within their game. They could really hype it up by securing rights to AND1 and certain street legends like Skip 2 My Lou, Hot Sauce etc. Have a league where you go on AND1 tours around the world. They could either double down on it being a separate mode w/ the crazy moves and dunks flying around the court or same playing style to the rest, though ability to just do flashy moves while travelling should of course be an option.

FIBA license and fully playable Spanish and Turkish leagues would be amazing. 2k dabbled in this, but it was a hot mess. Another one is to really have college fully fleshed out and or the G-League. They could incorporate this into myplayer mode where you create a player and choose a path: street, college, FIBA or G-League. All can lead to the NBA.

Authenticity would be cool too, expanding on it’s ESPN license with more crews, a half-time report, post game though I personally don't care for anyone who's part of it outside of Breen, JVG, Mark Jones, Pasch, Calabro & Mike Tirico. In any case they could have Breen & JVG talk inside the arena for the half-time show, have highlight clips and at least some type of show.

They could think about securing rights to the arenas likeliness like MSG. They could truly invest in making arenas look 100% authentic including the music played, arena specific noises, main catch phrases from the PA and even how they pronounce certain key players names during the starting line-ups etc.

Another area they could look at is the All-Star weekend, Olympics / international teams, 3 on 3 and maybe try to get a deal with the Big3. I’d definitely be intrigued with having a true street mode and or AND1 tour, FIBA leagues or the Big 3. The Big 3 would of course be having its own pool for their draft, the rules, etc.

I also think going deeper with practice mode, where you can run fun drills with team, hold contests, but also individual workout like dribbling exercises or even go into the weight room. Think about a mode where you enter the arena and with secured rights to arenas they'd have the practice facilities as well, so you can walk around, go to practice where you'd have different real assistants do drills with or without other teammates. The coach is hanging around, yelling, clapping etc. Then after go into the weight room where you'd increase your muscles, stamina etc.

Speaking of assistants, I'd love for once to have the full staff be recognisable and sitting on the bench with the head coach. They could really separate themselves from 2k with face scanning current assistants and have a pool of real life potential assistants who've been one in the recent past, are known to want to get an opportunity to be one etc.

What you guys think?

[BQ32]

An and 1 mode would have been awesome 15 years ago especially if it wasn't just NBA jam gameplay but more realistic with the flashy ball handling and what not but I am not sure a large part of the community can even relate to that now. Especially given the great ball handling seen in actual nba games where Trae young is routinely nutmegging people, Kyrie is spinning people around, Harden is breaking ankles and dropping dudes, and curry is using combo dribble stepback and then shimmying after dropping all net with 2 people chasing him around. Most of the younger players now don't even watch full games anymore anyway the just watch highlights on instagram and ticktock so to them the NBA is basically And1 already. I also wouldn't put a lot of time into Fiba, as the American audience most likely will not want to relate to it at all.

But to be honestly the price of Partnering with the NBA is so high right now that I think it has left EA in a bind with what to do. Sales in recent years for the franchise have no where come close enough to even break even with licensing fees so they are probably debating if they should release an NBA product and hope it is good enough over a couple of years to be worthwhile in the long run by recouping costs. The NBA is a huge market and it might be worth taking the risk, especially with many consumers finally refusing to give 2k the benefit of the doubt any longer. But it is a big risk, and EA isn't about to invest a ton into a project that still loses money when they have other products sitting there generating a ton of cash no matter how poorly the product is reviewed or received by the fans in FIFA and Madden. NHL and UFC also have no competition so they can get away with bare minimal marketing and incremental improvements.

A better option to me is just to release a LIVE RUN game as a free to play franchise and scrap the NBA license fees all together. The One mode was Live's best mode anyway and the recreation of actual famous outdoor courts were a thing of beauty. This could simulate how most of us play basketball anyway, going to the court and hoping for a great game of pickup. They could fully invest in player individuality and have a bunch of different ball handling, shooting, layup, dunk, and footwork packages. Some would be available for free but many behind microtransactions. So you don't need to pay for a game but you might spend a couple dollars for a certain dribble packages etc. Maybe to fully customize a single player it costs like $10. And then of course they could monetize a fluid influx in gear and maybe partner up with actual clothing brands and designers to really lean into that custom clothing culture. They could release season passes that at certain levels of play give you certain gear or outfits with maybe the main thing you can earn is a couple of animation packages and a pair of Jordan's while also allowing you to unlock some additional in game currency at certain levels that essentially pays for itself but keeps you invested through the whole season. They can then also offer a Pro-AM league where the big boys play with seasonal tournaments and twitch partnerships. This is the game I would make, take all that money you would consider throwing into an NBA license and invest it in a live service game of basketball without any gimmicks that doesn't need to be rethought every year and can continuously be built upon and updated. I would aim for this game to be the APEX LEGENDS of sports gaming.

[Mintsa]

Make an and1 mode ??? Lol.

Like these kids/mainstreamers even know what that is…….other than the professor they wouldn’t even know what your talking about.

Better off making a YouTube run at parks with Friga, ,Briz and ball is life…..

[m1ke_nyc]

Quote: Originally Posted by BQ32

A better option to me is just to release a LIVE RUN game as a free to play franchise and scrap the NBA license fees all together. The One mode was Live's best mode anyway and the recreation of actual famous outdoor courts were a thing of beauty. This could simulate how most of us play basketball anyway, going to the court and hoping for a great game of pickup. They could fully invest in player individuality and have a bunch of different ball handling, shooting, layup, dunk, and footwork packages. Some would be available for free but many behind microtransactions. So you don't need to pay for a game but you might spend a couple dollars for a certain dribble packages etc. Maybe to fully customize a single player it costs like $10. And then of course they could monetize a fluid influx in gear and maybe partner up with actual clothing brands and designers to really lean into that custom clothing culture. They could release season passes that at certain levels of play give you certain gear or outfits with maybe the main thing you can earn is a couple of animation packages and a pair of Jordan's while also allowing you to unlock some additional in game currency at certain levels that essentially pays for itself but keeps you invested through the whole season. They can then also offer a Pro-AM league where the big boys play with seasonal tournaments and twitch partnerships. This is the game I would make, take all that money you would consider throwing into an NBA license and invest it in a live service game of basketball without any gimmicks that doesn't need to be rethought every year and can continuously be built upon and updated. I would aim for this game to be the APEX LEGENDS of sports gaming.

I think this is the best course of action for EA.

[Justonepost]

Looks like Amazon is buying and acquiring EA.

Let's hope they bring this series back.

Call it NBA Prime!

[youvalss]

Quote: Originally Posted by Justonepost

Looks like Amazon is buying and acquiring EA. Let's hope they bring this series back. Call it NBA Prime!

Wow, this is big. Hopefully it means that an NBA title can finally be DELIVERED.


EDIT: Now I see reports that this isn't happening. Have to wait and see.