NBA 2K9 Q&A (2K Sports)

[bateman11]

2K Sports has posted an NBA 2K9 Q&A session.

"How has the association mode been upgraded? With no College Hoops 2K9 this year, have their been any major changes to the association mode that would enhance the draft portion the association mode? We’ve spent a lot of time this year with The Association, hence its moniker, The Association 2.0."

"Our philosophy with the experience this year was to ‘bring it to life’ while adding Authenticity on the level of magnitudes. Franchise modes have been guilty for years of delivering a very dry experience where information was delivered to the user via buried menus. NBA.com, which we believe will change the way content is presented to the user in all franchise modes, is at the heart of the mode delivering every fateful twist as it happens. Detailed information on The Association 2.0 and the rest of its features will be coming your way sometime next week. Sit tight, it will be worth the wait."

[akiracy]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

it has http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183854

questions 3 and 6 are the same, wtf

[bateman11]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

it has http://www.2ksports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183854

questions 3 and 6 are the same, wtf

No kidding.

This interview = typical 2K

[Bornindamecca]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

1.) If a player hits a game winner, does his team celebrate?
A.) Yes.

2.) How has the association mode been upgraded? With no College Hoops 2K9 this year, have their been any major changes to the association mode that would enhance the draft portion the association mode? We’ve spent a lot of time this year with The Association, hence its moniker, The Association 2.0.

A.) Our philosophy with the experience this year was to ‘bring it to life’ while adding Authenticity on the level of magnitudes. Franchise modes have been guilty for years of delivering a very dry experience where information was delivered to the user via buried menus. NBA.com, which we believe will change the way content is presented to the user in all franchise modes, is at the heart of the mode delivering every fateful twist as it happens. Detailed information on The Association 2.0 and the rest of its features will be coming your way sometime next week. Sit tight, it will be worth the wait.

3.) What are the new functions of the shot stick?

A.)The ability to change your shot in air, shoot floaters on command, as well as being able to upfake and then stepthrough a defender.

4.) Will their be an All Star Weekend during the season in Association mode?

A.) No, this is something we are always investigating and are willing to deliver when the time is right. Our focus this year was on delivering the best gameplay experience possible coupled with the best Association mode to go along with it. We’re confident our fans won’t be disappointed in the strides we have made.

5.) Have you added any new post moves or counters on def? Has anything been improved to help the defense against the lead pass and players constantly driving to the rim?

A.) Yes, there are a ton of new post moves. Shoulder fakes, up fakes, post hops, quick spins, etc. All of which have counters to them. To answer the second part of this question, we did a lot of work to impede the lead pass money cheese, and to stop players from consistently driving to the rim. To stop the lead pass, we made players smarter about how they cover cutters and react to passes. To stop players from driving to the rim, we added more physical play in deflecting the ballhandler from being able to go straight at the rim. Also, everything involves more contact, so getting to the rim doesn’t equate scoring anymore.

6.) What are the new functions of the shot stick?

A.) Answered in question 3.



7.) I know we read about players running sets & plays on their own. Will this significantly improve the court spacing? Many times in 2K8 the court would just feel cluttered and players would stand next to each other. Has the court lighting been drastically improved?

A.) Yes, one of the biggest problems with the old system was the AI teammates inability to understand when the user was doing something outside of the play. This yielded unwanted bunching which the new AI is more than ready to avoid.

8.) How will the Isomotion Pro dribbling system work? The new system is an extension of what we already know in terms of Isomotion.

A.) It has been expanded to have better countering of offensive moves, as well as more contextually correct offensive moves. This means that we have more contextual hesitation moves, stepbacks, crossovers, etc, that are based on what you are currently doing,

9.) During game play will there be a difference between regular season play and playoff play? (pertaining to crowd volume, chants of m.v.p, team color t-shirts worn by the crowd, posters displayed in the crowd) Will there be player intros and play off excitement?

A.) The atmosphere is certainly ramped up during the playoffs. The floor art is changed to represent where in the playoffs you are, the commentators regularly acknowledge the games having playoff significance, the presentation has playoff specific art elements in it, and last but not least, the crowds are much more involved in the games during the playoffs. Presenting a balance between regular season games and playoff atmosphere is a tricky balance, but one we are happy with this year.

10.) Where there be accumulated stats (like NFL 2K5) where your stats follow you and the presentation display current game stats, career stats, playoff stats...etc?

A.) Statistical overlays have returned to NBA 2K9 after a brief hiatus. These overlays will display at opportune times (free throws, dead balls, etc.) and will provide information such as game points, career average, etc.

There ye go

[Shakedowncapo]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

That first question is GOLD! Hahaha...

Why even submit that? Celebrations were in last year right?!

[blingballa333]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

Good to hear that there are more counter moves on defense this year, I also liek the idea of having more contact down low.

[Jano]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

5.) Have you added any new post moves or counters on def? Has anything been improved to help the defense against the lead pass and players constantly driving to the rim?

A.) Yes, there are a ton of new post moves. Shoulder fakes, up fakes, post hops, quick spins, etc. All of which have counters to them. To answer the second part of this question, we did a lot of work to impede the lead pass money cheese, and to stop players from consistently driving to the rim. To stop the lead pass, we made players smarter about how they cover cutters and react to passes. To stop players from driving to the rim, we added more physical play in deflecting the ballhandler from being able to go straight at the rim. Also, everything involves more contact, so getting to the rim doesn’t equate scoring anymore.


7.) I know we read about players running sets & plays on their own. Will this significantly improve the court spacing? Many times in 2K8 the court would just feel cluttered and players would stand next to each other. Has the court lighting been drastically improved?

A.) Yes, one of the biggest problems with the old system was the AI teammates inability to understand when the user was doing something outside of the play. This yielded unwanted bunching which the new AI is more than ready to avoid.

8.) How will the Isomotion Pro dribbling system work? The new system is an extension of what we already know in terms of Isomotion.

A.) It has been expanded to have better countering of offensive moves, as well as more contextually correct offensive moves. This means that we have more contextual hesitation moves, stepbacks, crossovers, etc, that are based on what you are currently doing,

These three things have me even more excited for to play this game. These basically address some of my biggest problems with 2K8's gameplay.

[shindiana]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

I have a bad feeling about the fact that he avoided the question about players intro and mvp chant during playoff time. Actually he mentioned things that were already in 2k8 (floor art, presentation art...)

The answer about game winner celebration was also tricky. Off course your team always celebrate when you hit a game winner. But they do it like it was a regular game with no intensity at all!

[sleezy101]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

The mod over at 2ksports forum that posted this said that the duplicate question will be replaced by a new one for tomorrow, and I'm glad to see my question number 8 up there!

[XenoZograscope]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

I wished somebody had ask some better question then this, but oh well I'm also glad they added some more defensive of counter moves.

[kcxiv]

Re: NBA 2K9 Q&A (2K Sports)

lol, the other question will be answered and inserted tomorrow. Sorry about that folks. I told the 2k guy and he was like damn it, how did i let that get by. Anyways, another question will take its place tomorrow.

[kcxiv]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

The mod over at 2ksports forum that posted this said that the duplicate question will be replaced by a new one for tomorrow, and I'm glad to see my question number 8 up there!

yeah, that was me. I should have told him about that before i posted it. It was my bad.

Also, the questions answered where questions that the community wanted to know. I had to pick them out. Well me along with Ronnie.

[Vast]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

These three things have me even more excited for to play this game. These basically address some of my biggest problems with 2K8's gameplay.

Vicious Co-sign on that Jano!

[Goffs]

Re: Q&A Responses from Ron

I wished somebody had ask some better question then this, but oh well I'm also glad they added some more defensive of counter moves.

i hope the counter moves doesnt end up into some long drawn out canimations...i really hate those

[adub88]

Re: NBA 2K9 Q&A (2K Sports)

I appreciate the Q&A, but when are we going to get some live game footage? or a longer Q&A for that matter.