In a closed-door session, we got our first look at NBA2K11 earlier today at E3. Walking Chase Becotte and myself through the very brief demo was NBA2K11 producer, Eric Boenisch. The major announcement is the removal of Isomotion controls. Although a becoming staple in the series and a well-received feature, the NBA2K11 team felt Isomotion was too limited. However, there’s no word just yet on what new dribbling scheme will take its place in NBA2K11.

We also got a look at the game in action with a matchup of the NBA finalists. The first thing that stood out was the revamped presentation as you now see players getting off their team buses pre-game all decked out in suits. We didn’t get to see the Heat so no word on whether Dwyane Wade will be sporting his bow-tie look. As Eric described, a main goal of this year’s game will be to polish the overall look and feel for NBA2K11. Although still in production, player models look more unique, legs don’t seem as large as before and arm length is more appropriate to the player’s body size. I do think heads looked slightly bigger though. As for gameplay, the little of it we saw showed off new animations. One I particularly liked was Kevin Garnett almost going out-of-bounds while trying to receive a tough Rondo pass.

Like the control-scheme, we were also told online play will see a big overhaul in NBA2K11. Eric couldn’t get into further details, but he assured us there’s a lot of good things in store for online players in NBA2K11.

That’s it for now, do you think it was time for to lay Isomotion to rest? And what sort of dribbling mechanism will be introduced to the series to NBA2K11?

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