Chris' Blog: Playing the blame game with NBA Elite 11

[IV THA UNITY]

Controls, controls, controls. I honestly don't see the point in putting the bulk of your game development time into this aspect because that is what playtesting and usability test help tweak during the dev process. What they should have been doing is rewarding the user for learning these controls and linking them together aesthetically. For example why allow me to do all these things that play out in a generic fashion. Where is the difference in play style that would make me want to learn the controls ? I showed a friend that was skeptical, the video of Kobe Work done and he immediately said I wanna learn how to play like that. See how that works. I asked on the forums a while back about a "Low skill floor, High skill ceiling" and I got no response. Now I see why. There aren't any rewards for learning these difficult controls and what you see plays out rather ugly.

Also remember the vids when the guy kept stopping on fast breaks, well at least now we know why. Honestly, I feel like the deal with synergy that was acquired a few years back is now a waste of money because this game has taken EA back to many years to compete. One thing I have noticed throughout the years is that EA sports relies alot on gimmicks (the hook as they call it in the gaming industry) without polishing the basic gameplay itself. Every game has controls... duh, but when the Kinesthetics don't match the aesthetics it won't matter how good the game controls. You can't give me uber hard controls with a lot of room for error with bad aesthetics because I or the average consumer won't want to play it. Also I'm not saying things shouldn't change but as long as I can remember passing has never been a shoulder button.When you change things that don't need to be changed you throw a shock to the system of the consumer which is an instant turnoff.

Also EA needs to watch basketball and stop trying to give us their version and just emulate the game. Basketball is already a fun game to play. It doesn't need gimmicks, actually no I am sorry it does, but the gimmicks are the Star players that do amazing things on the court using their abilities, with that said I wanna play like Kobe, I want his move set, I want his different jump shots, his mannerisms on the court.

I don't know who this game was made for but it definitely isn't for a NBA fan. When i watch a basketball game on T.V. if I see a move done I wanna be able to turn my Xbox or ps3 on and recreate what I saw. I want it to look as close to that as possible. Not try to emulate it but it looks like crap because the game lacks the players moves set. I am highly upset with elite. I wanted to curse and act out of place on the forum and show how really disgusted I was with this demo. (and yes I put in about four hours on it) Just take the NBA and all of its likenesses off of the game and the game would be perfect for what it is... A generic Basketball game. EA has lost me and I haven't missed a EA BBAll game since Lakers Vs. Celtics.

[Kaanyr Vhok]

Quote: Originally Posted by BrianFifaFan

But, like you said Chris, it's all about the panic and the yearly iteration. I know that, many times, I feel like I'm paycheck to paycheck, is that EA's feeling to? "Oh God, if we don't sell another 5 million copies we're gonna go bust?" If so, that's not visionary, it's reactionary. And maybe that's why, more than not, a lot of the modern games tend toward the mediocre and forgettable..... "Gotta make that Gold date...."

Thats it right there. When you hype a game as much as Live 07 and it ends up being a bad game its going to take time to recover so you cant react to sells for a number of years. We are in a recession, the comp doesn't suck... sells were supposed to drop.

ELITE should be pulled. I dont even think the demo is that bad its just that the comp is mean this year, and whenever you present anything new you are going to face skepticism. Backbreaker's physics are unearthly compared to ELITE and it still catches hell because it does a lot of things different. To be different against stiff competition and pick up any type of market share you have to be really exceptional. So yes pull the game take a year off and make something exceptional. There was a time when Fifa, Triple Play, Madden, and NHL stunk. I know a lot of people aren't big on Madden but its a lot better than Madden 95, 2002, and I would say 04 but many like that game blah blah my point is it can be done.

Yeah and I agree the culture plays a role. If EA pulled ELITE you would have a bunch of people talking about Live is dead and stuff and make it out to be some war that EA lost. I think it should be embraced.

[ultralow]

I going to go on and say this IF elite 11 had the grx of 2k 11 this game would sale like crazy ....headline great grx and easy to pick up and play....forget rating its all stick skills.....does that sound like a game you know ? Madden.....

[fcabanski]

"is controlls all that matter in a basketball game?"

It matters more than whether the headbands are accurate, or whether the uniforms are accurate, or whether the stadiums are accurate. Everyone is judging this without playing multiplayer.

I realize the game vs CPU doesn't look like the real NBA. But maybe the goal is not to make it look or feel exactly like the real NBA with animations. Maybe the goal is to make it a person vs person competitive video game, where people have to watch where and how they dribble or have the ball stolen, where they have to make sure their shots are open shots so they don't get blocked, where they can't sprint for easy dunks every possession.

[IV THA UNITY]

Quote: Originally Posted by fcabanski

"is controlls all that matter in a basketball game?" It matters more than whether the headbands are accurate, or whether the uniforms are accurate, or whether the stadiums are accurate. Everyone is judging this without playing multiplayer. I realize the game vs CPU doesn't look like the real NBA. But maybe the goal is not to make it look or feel exactly like the real NBA with animations. Maybe the goal is to make it a person vs person competitive video game, where people have to watch where and how they dribble or have the ball stolen, where they have to make sure their shots are open shots so they don't get blocked, where they can't sprint for easy dunks every possession.

I get what your saying, but if thats the case whats the purpose of using the NBA license ? and why take away the turbo button do players in the NBA not accelerate when they want? thats how charges and collisions happen, why would you remove that? I say because something must be broken so they eliminate it instead of fixing it. Had they stuck with and reiterated live 10 they would probably have a stellar game this year.

[fcabanski]

To continue my last post, in the NBA guys pass up certain shots because those shots will be blocked, or they'll miss the shot. The real NBA doesn't play the way it plays because of animations. It plays the way it plays because of the realities of what the guys on the floor can accomplish with the ball in the face of other guys trying to stop them. The real NBA has the plays it has, and the schemes it has, because of the way players play (the control!)

Even NBA Live 10 was based on pressing the right buttons to trigger the right animation, running around turbo with Kobe or Lebron until they could work to the basket for a dunk.

[Admiral50]

Good post. My sig from a comment I made in another thread is how I feel.

[cuzzo]

never heard a ea dev say this is gonna be the best gamr ever. my question for chris is why is 2k even making a game after this year. if its so good bet me 2k will never release a patch for there game also they will not need to make a 2k12,13,14,15,16,17,18 because it REAL basketball n 2k11 is perfect. i wish ea would give chris his wish (cause it matters to the stock holders) n not make a game for 3yrs until he ok's it's ready. stop chasing tornados n go work for ea n show them how it's suppose to be done. i'll bet anyone chris will not say anything about how bad 2k servers have been since next-gen came out. if 2k sells 5 mil. copies n elite sells 2mil. copies does that mean ea should stop giving us a choice? and if you want a REAL nba game tryout for the thunder. all this complaining reminds me of someone. adam's rib maybe? just keep wishing my friend and soon 2k will be the only game to buy. sounds alot like madden.