NBA Elite 11 Demo Available, Post Impressions Here (PS3, 360)

[Playmakers]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

Where's the NBA Jam demo!?! LOL. I'm sorry I just can't get with this game, I was a fan of Live 09 and Live 10 until they ruined it with the patches. With that said this game is just garbage to me. Pure garbage imo. Bad animations, goofy controls, bad graphics(still waiting to see on 360), it's just a mess. I wish EA luck.

Holy Cow!

Well i don't have the demo won't even bother hooking up my PS3....I didn't have a good feeling about this game and you just made me go right back to Madden Now

[wrelax13]

Quote: Originally Posted by rEAnimator

I'd prefer it if you did blame me...or at least converse with me as you would with the person who did make the decision to change the direction of the game. Because I was behind it 100% from day and I still am.

Okay. Well then, I just don't see the point in completely scrapping the Live engine and starting over from scratch. I'm obviously not a game developer, but if you and your team put this much effort into polishing Live (graphics, animations, presentation), don't you think you would have gained better results? I mean you guys built a new engine, right?..that has to take effort. IMO though, it was unnecessarily drastic. I don't think people want a new way to control an NBA video game as much as they want one which accurately reflects the league, looks authentic, and feels like an NBA game. The controls in Live weren't even that bad...they just needed some tuning. I apologize if I come off as rude, I just would have loved to see what you guys could have done if you had channeled all that man power into making Live even better.

[rEAnimator]

Quote: Originally Posted by Court_vision

Serious question...have you aimed this at a new market? The consensus here seems to be dramatically bad and even at your own forums + the NBA Live Series Center the feedback coming in is terrible to date. That doesn't mean it's extremely bad...but rather maybe it's just not suited to older / more hardcore type fans? Including it with NBA Jam seems to indicate to me that you're aiming at a much younger / fun based audience? Nothing wrong with that BTW if it makes commercial sense. I've got to be honest though...seeing you constantly tell the guys here (hard core sim guys) that this game is good and does have the best methods ever for defense etc etc and how much you and the team who made it love the game....it's getting kind of awkward at this point. I know you have a job to go...but praise should come from other people. Some of the guys here who've posted as to how bad the DEMO is are long term, hard core LIVE / 2K / NCAA players. They've played these things for years now. Rhetoric isn't going to blind them. The scary thing is...some of the guys saying it's terrible are long time EA basketball fans here. I'll be happy for you if the feedback improves over the next 24 hours, but I've honestly not seen this level of negative feedback ever for a game on these forums.

Interesting question.

I think there is a spectrum, and I'm not sure what to label each end of that spectrum.

On one side you've got what you guys call sim players, who border on wanting to play a basketball manager game. Nothing wrong with that so don't take it that way.

The desire is to have a game that has the players recreated as close to real life as possible, so you have a collection of virtual players that you can throw into a simulation and see what happens.

On the other end of the spectrum you have people who want to play basketball as a video game to pretend like they are playing in the NBA. The want complete control of their player, and the ability to get creative and explore the simulation as if it was more of a sandbox. This side of the spectrum often gets labeled arcade, but I don't think that is accurate.

You still want the sandbox to be as accurate to real life as possible, but the freedom and creativity aspect is important.

I think with Elite we are targeting more this second end of the spectrum. We're not all the way on that side as we still try and incorporate aspects from the other side, but we are giving more focus to that side and when two things are in conflict we sided with the control end of the spectrum.

We wanted the game to feel like you were playing basketball and give you the abilities you expect in real life basketball.

So the answer might be yes...but the intention is not to alienate the first group (even though the responses here may indicate that it is a possible outcome).

Time will tell if that market is bigger or not I suppose. We're still trying to cater to both ends of the spectrum, but we put more focus on the second as it had been neglected for a while in basketball games.

The success of NHL and FIFA suggest that people will respond well to that direction, but time will tell.

This forum has a very vocal population who fall into the "sim" side of the spectrum, but I have received may PM's from people who like the direction and may be a little more moderate.

As for Jam, that really wasn't an influencing factor. There are a lot of people who have stopped playing basketball games all together (both Live and 2K) and that group was getting bigger every year.

Adding Jam was meant to give them reason to try basketball one more time, and the nostalgic appeal of Jam was meant to accomplish that.

We wouldn't have done it if we weren't confident that people would stick around after playing the game for a while.

EA's interests here are long term, not short term.

[Dantecamp21]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigball12

Tell us how you really fell. HAHA. It is frustrating though, I know. I have every single Live since 1994 too. I almost feel as though I need to buy this for the collection.

That's the only thing that maybe will make me buy the game (besides Jam): I have every EA NBA game ever.

[Court_vision]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dantecamp21

rEAanimator, I'm not trying to be rude, at least you are here trying to give us some input. But I do feel this game is an absolute poor effort from you guys. And that's my opinion. For the OSers enjoying it, I envy you because I wanted to feel that way. I've been around since Lakers x Celtics for the PC in 89. Never been that heart broken by an EA Basketball title before (and that includes Live 07). And for the record: I still believe Live 06 had better graphics. Thanks for being here taking the criticism with elegance.

That's a classy post. I also got hooked on Lakers v Celtics. I think I've bought every LIVE since then except for the original PS2 stuff (I had a DC only at the time).

And yes, nice work from ReAnimator to answer professionally and with calmness. I am sure he doesn't mind the harsh feedback / brutal honesty.

[jr2424]

Quote: Originally Posted by michaeljordanjr

I played the demo a lot tonight. 1. The freedom of movement(even if a little slide here and there) is nice. 2.For the first time, I'm conditioning a part of my brain I never have before when playing NBA games. I feel like I'm actually translating my real life control of the ball into the game, which is weird and which is why I haven't won a game yet, this will take lots of discipline to grasp. 3. I performed a few moves I've never done in a basketball game. KG was in the post, he turned, threw the ball off the backboard then dunked it over bynum, in a realistic, contact everywhere, bodies flying, sort of EMPHATIC WAY. 4. Shooting with Ray Allen finally feels great. In the past I would release perfectly and he would miss or make 50/50, now I know when I'm off on the timing and angle and I know when I'm on. It feels VERY REWARDING. Again, feelings I've never had before in an NBA game. I'm not judging the aspects which were not focused on by the development team, as there is no point, everyone knows it needs attention and it will get it obviously. Overall, the demo succeeded in providing a refreshing game play experience and if I'm only judging it on the controls, I give it a 9/10. And the announcers are AMAZING. I actually felt like I was listening to the real telecast, they make the immersion factor of the game that more palpable.

9 out of 10? Really? I know we're all entitled to our opinions but I don't see it AT ALL. I know some of us are "fans" of a specific title but I just can't see not being honest. So if this was a 9, I'd guess live 10 was perfect.

[Playmakers]

Quote: Originally Posted by Court_vision

Serious question......how can the user mastering the controls make the CPU AI play better / move better / look better? I've only just seen the demo now and the CPU AI is terrible. Is the game simply designed for USER v USER games? Is the focus on control meant to suggest that by the time two USERS master it...then USER v USER games will be great? I can see the logic in that. For online games / USER v USER stuff, that has potential. I can't see any point bothering v the CPU though as it's so bad as to not even be close............everything from movement, to rebounding...it's just B.A.D. I am pretty much only a USER v CPU player...so it kind of rules me out. I need smart / realistic CPU AI.

I don't think some of these guys really care how the CPU plays...

They only care about what they can do on the floor with total control....doesn't matter if Chris Paul controlled by the CPU is a scrub player offline

[PRAY IV M3RCY]

Quote: Originally Posted by bigball12

Yeah thank you for these. People who have not been able to play this, will be able to see what it is about this year.

how is he able to change the camera view?