NBA Elite's Potential Move to Tiburon -- Breaking it down - RaychelSnr's Blog

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NBA Elite's Potential Move to Tiburon -- Breaking it down Stuck

Posted on October 29, 2010 at 03:33 PM.

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If you believe 1Up, NBA Elite is now the responsibility of Tiburon Studios -- the same stuido responsible for EA Football, MMA, and Tiger Woods. While we have no confirmation, and thus, everything that follows is pure speculation -- here is what a move to Tiburon means for the series:

NBA Elite 11 would be effectively dead. No way you release the game now with it changing studios, not that I thought it was going to be released anyways, but this would effectively end all debate on that.
The move would show that the higher ups are VERY unhappy with how the NBA series is going. That's no surprise, the move to Elite seemed desperate enough, and then the cancellation on what was seemingly the eve of release just spoke volumes. Erratic and oftentimes irrational behavior doesn't mean things are going well in EA Basketball land.
What does this mean for NBA Elite 12? Well, there's nothing that you can point towards as being a good or bad thing. In reality, the change of studios might be to get the game the fresh new approach with basketball guys that the game really needs. Otherwise, there's not much advantage to developing the game in Vancouver or Orlando. It also goes without saying that the move would possibly be because several guys on the NBA team were laid off and EA thought moving the game was a good idea to get it away from the current group of guys. However, I think you'll see a lot of familiar faces down in Tiburon developing the game, call it a hunch if nothing else.
What does this mean for the long term health of the series? I think it might be a move towards stability. Get a team in with a long-term vision that won't dramatically change in 2-3 years if NBA 2K is still kicking your butt in sales. NBA Live was on the right track but after EA's suits realized the game was getting killed in sales still, despite a big move up in quality, they panicked and blew up the franchise. So the long-term health of EA Basketball could get a huge lift if EA decides to believe in it's product and let it evolve over time down in Orlando.
Would this mean more or less resources for any other EA games? Probably not too much to make much of a difference, just some guys might be moving to other projects. If anything, it could mean some fresh perspectives in the development of some games.

So what do you think? Would the move be a good or bad thing for EA Basketball? Sound off with your thoughts!

Comments

# 1 1WEiRDguy @ Oct 29

Bring back NBA Street series. I would love to see them pick up where Homecourt left off and tweak not REMOVE some things about it...Imho Live has been treading arcade style very closely so why not just invest in an arcade title? NBA STREET?? or think of it as NBA JAM on steroids.
-interesting characters
-interesting career mode
-interesting CAP
-story was decent too

I say just add a few modes and some more courts, and that game will gladly get my $60 bucks.

# 2 rockchisler @ Oct 29

They need to stop , breath, and pick up were Live 10 was, by having a 3 year plan every 3 years is not getting it because in 3 years you will have a new console on the market ( trust me on this ) they need to have just get on a road and stay on it..

# 3 SBartlett @ Oct 29

I like that idea about NBA street. I also like the idea of taking NBA Live 10 and building from there. Take some game play elements from 2K11 that make it so great and add to Live. Add some sig. style, add some more moves and rebuild the franchise mode and you have another quality title. After reviewing Live10, it had some promise that's for sure. Such a shame.

# 4 newtonfb @ Oct 29

Why would we want Tiburon to have another game?? That means that the NBA game is going to have the same engine for the next 10 years. We have seen from the Madden series they dont change the game engine. Imagine playing FPS with Ureal Engine 2 still....cuz thats what its like.

# 5 tril @ Oct 29

This just tells us that the EA execs give game developers a short leash, when it comes to game development and innovation.
Might explain why Madden, has been slow to implement changes.

Also, might mean that a shake up might be coming in the higher ups of the EA sports division. IMO, this has probably already happened.

Also proves that EA sports might be falling out of touch with the consumer.

# 6 Dazraz @ Oct 30

EA Sports haven't a single game that comes anywhere close to the overall quality of NBA 2K11 irrespective of which studio has done the development.
The sheer depth in gameplay & presentation is far beyond what EA seem capable of producing.
EA need to stop cutting corners & get serious about their products.
Hopefully the atrocity of Elite will be the kick up the backside they badly need.

# 7 AMYO @ Oct 30

No they can't.....if they could do that with NBA why hasn't it been done with Madden?

# 8 hirakhan @ Nov 1

# 9 UnusualMattyB @ Nov 1

I would say I like the move. There needed to be a change and hopefully this will bring about a game that is at least fun to play. They need to scrap NBA Elite and NBA Live in my opinion. New group, new name. Yes, build on past games, but make the most of all this time they will have and move to the next level.