Mike Wang Returns to 2K Sports: NBA 2K Series (ESPN)

[NINJAK2]

Quote: Originally Posted by coolcras7

Dude you do get that he was agreeing with me about your statement making no sense about Madden being number 1 right.

Cool, you do get that Madden is currently the only nfl game out right? They have no direct nfl game competetion right? It is routinely the top selling/grossing sports game of the year every year? I'm not saying that Madden is the best game ever, I'm saying that Madden is in a position to do whatever they want in regards to taking chances, innovating, etc regarding their title. They don't have to look over their shoulder like Live and 2k.

Live on the other hand made possibly the best sim hoop game of it's long lifespan and got basically curb stomped by 2k10 in sales. This is possibly making the higher ups think they need to do something different with the series in order to regain supremacy in hoop sales. This is cause for fans of Live 10 to be nervous about Live 11. If Wang didn't like the direction Live was going this year and he is a sim guy that may give off the impression that Live is going in the opposite direction.

Live is in a completely different space than Madden because they have a tough enemy in 2k ready to take away market share if they drop a bad title.

[madmax17]

Quote: Originally Posted by Dalsanto0026

I think your comments are spot on. Great post.

I say screw em for caring more about sales than the game itself

[bamalam]

didnt read thru all these , but


beluba proven track record:

inside drive- excellent series
2k7,8 -great games

2k9- no beluba, bad game

2k10- good game- per rob they went back towards 2k7 direction

live10 - 1st full year of beluba influence- big strides in improving that game

2k is only 6-7 mo away from shipping 2k11, so beluba influence going to be limited

i would guess 2k12 going to be the big jump like 2k7 was from 2k6 and live 10 from 09.

whatever your opinion, his success is undeniable. the man knows video bball.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by bamalam

whatever your opinion, his success is undeniable. the man knows video bball.

First, he didn't work on those games by himself.

Second, for all the accolades people give to Inside Drive, it went away not because of exclusivity, but because there weren't enough people buying the game.

Have to disagree with the need for some people to only comment on games at either end of the spectrum. 2K9 imo wasn't a bad game - there were many obvious gameplay improvements that occurred in 2K9 that were being put out as features for Live 10. It's your right not to like the game, but I don't see the need for some to always overstate issues.

Live 10 is supposed to be a good game, yet in a heads up battle w/no discernible advantages to either (other than maybe EA having more marketing muscle) it got smoked. 2K10 is clearly the better/more feature rich game.

All this talk of "I hope Mike Wang fixes the color palette on the cover" "I think Mike Wang's involvement means we'll get 240-page manuals with the game" like talk is silly. Like before, he'll add to an already strong dev team. He's not THE team. They've succeeded with him, they've succeeded without him. I'm guessing they'll be that much better with him back.

[kcxiv]

Quote: Originally Posted by bamalam

didnt read thru all these , but beluba proven track record: inside drive- excellent series 2k7,8 -great games 2k9- no beluba, bad game 2k10- good game- per rob they went back towards 2k7 direction live10 - 1st full year of beluba influence- big strides in improving that game 2k is only 6-7 mo away from shipping 2k11, so beluba influence going to be limited i would guess 2k12 going to be the big jump like 2k7 was from 2k6 and live 10 from 09. whatever your opinion, his success is undeniable. the man knows video bball.

I dont think its going to be limited. Dude has been on the team for over 2 months already.

[DaveDQ]

Here's a direct quote from a recent Game Informer interview with Wang, Boenisch, Jones and Greg Thomas. Greg Thomas speaking...

"And I would say the other thing too is at some point you get to be close to a Swiss army knife, and we don’t want to be that. We don’t want to be everything to everybody. We want to make the best basketball game we can, and we want to make sure we focus on the sport of basketball. I’m not interested in hot dog vendors, for example."

I happen to think this is why Visual Concepts, not 2K Sports, has traditionally made good to great games. They take the core of the sport they are representing in video game fashion and respect it without fluffing it with nonessentials.

This to me is the direct opposite of what EA tends to do. Yes, Live made great progress this year, but when you hear things like they tend to "always reinvent the wheel," you understand why their games tend to slack. I'm not saying the games are all together awful, but it makes sense to me why Wang would want to leave.

[m1ke_nyc]

I hope 2K focuses on better online

[DaveDQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by ratedmoney

I hope 2K focuses on better online

Thomas mentions it will be fixed in 2K11. While I am frustrated with this year's effort, I think they can get it done.