NBA Elite 11 News Post

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

05:09 PM - September 22, 2010 by RaychelSnr

If you didn't read my thoughts on NBA Elite 11's demo, be sure to check those out now. No need to re-hash what I said there.

What I'd like to do instead is to play some blame game as to who is to blame for what might be one of the biggest disaster releases from a major gaming company in quite some time.

Because somehow, somewhere, someone is to blame for what accounts to the worst basketball title on the market in this generation of consoles. Sony's NBA game outclasses Elite 11, and I'm sure I can name several games over the past decade on far inferior hardware that outclass Elite's gameplay, some completely and laughably dominate Elite.

I wrote about Elite earlier this year, I thought the name change signaled that EA had hit the panic button. Now that we've played Elite and saw the entire Live series was blown up, I think it's safe to say EA definitely panicked.

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# 1 gameova24 @ 09/22/10 05:16 PM

this guy is crazy.....its not the worst.....and its not bad

# 2 cbass1 @ 09/22/10 05:23 PM

Its start's with the president of the label on down to the Executive Producer of the project. In my opinion you can not blame Littman because he is a hockey guy that was just porting over what made NHL a success or the other producers/developers because they where just doing what they were told. I hope that people in the video game industry do not look at these developers in a bad light because there are some really talent people at that studio. Right now they are the Knicks run by Isiah :-(

# 3 RaychelSnr @ 09/22/10 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cbass1


	Its start's with the president of the label on down to the Executive Producer of the project. In my opinion you can not blame Littman because he is a hockey guy that was just porting over what made NHL a success or the other producers/developers because they where just doing what they were told. I hope that people in the video game industry do not look at these developers in a bad light because there are some really talent people at that studio. Right now they are the Knicks run by Isiah :-(

That's another good analogy. If Elite gets a few more years, I think they're thinking outside of the box enough to deliver something really awesome. But Elite 11 set EA basketball back 4 years....not a good place to start when you were already playing from behind.

# 4 Self313 @ 09/22/10 05:29 PM

I agree for the most part

the developers are not to blame.... its whoever calls the shots... the ones that ran Mike Wang out of there... the Hockey dudes that dont know basketball

# 5 bdiggs25 @ 09/22/10 05:33 PM

I like the new elite more than the 2k cause 2k's getting boring and elites something new. The controls are easy to get used 2

# 6 DirtyJerz32 @ 09/22/10 05:35 PM

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...ot-hockey.html

We've been going back and forth on this topic. Totally agree with you chris. Good write up.

# 7 Playmakers @ 09/22/10 05:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gameova24


	this guy is crazy.....its not the worst.....and its not bad

You'd be shock at how many people might agree with him in terms of what the expectations for Elite 11 should've been

Most of us sure as hell didn't expect this type of drop off from NBA Live 10

So based on that approach i'd say he's 50/50 correct this title is a major let down this year.

It may not be the worse but you fully expected it to be one of the best and didn't even come close IMO to being one of the best.

It's only Elite in name only

# 8 JWiLL02 @ 09/22/10 05:37 PM

The blame goes to whoever silenced Mike Wang's creative voice. Say what you want about giving one guy too much credit, but what he values in a basketball game (whether it's from his Inside Drive days, or 2k7-2k8) shined through in many areas of Live 10, and more often than not were done better than ever before (player movement, shooting).

There had to be some meeting, conversation, altercation or some kind where he was alienated and felt the need to get out.

Why would you bring a guy in as Lead Designer on your basketball game, then after your best reception in years from a critical standpoint, completely abandon his vision? Did they expect to just outsell 2K immediately after destroying consumer trust in previous years?

The Live 10 team just seemed like a bunch of guys who loved basketball making the best game they could. That's the feeling I had when I would watch the frequently released development videos they put out last year, another area they all but abandoned with this cycle (I know there's a couple minute long things out there, they don't count).

Revamping the control scheme of your great controlling basketball game simply because it worked for your hockey franchise is downright arrogant. I guess this should come as no surprise from EA.

# 9 Playmakers @ 09/22/10 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdiggs25


	I like the new elite more than the 2k cause 2k's getting boring and elites something new. The controls are easy to get used 2

is controlls all that matter in a basketball game?

tell me something beyond controlls that made you think it was playing basketball?

Do you enjoy the the things you see out of the AI?

Are you happy with the way the game moves once you leave the practice gym?

Do you even care that the AI still attempts the weirdest looking shots even within 5 feet from the basket?

Is this game just all about what you can do with the control of your players or does anything else even matter to you guys

# 10 ChaseB @ 09/22/10 05:42 PM

Chris you must have missed out on the second Live game on 360 and also the first Sony title on PS3 -- now those were BAD games.

That being said, I don't really have strong feelings one way or the other on this title as of now -- at least not ones that are that different from how I felt at E3.

# 11 hokupguy @ 09/22/10 05:45 PM

still cant belive they released the demo like this. Plus whats up with the lighting? the players have not light to them . And the unis letters and numbers look like crossing gurad reflectors.

# 12 chronos_14 @ 09/22/10 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gameova24


	this guy is crazy.....its not the worst.....and its not bad

you crazy, open your eyes boy and even do a side by side comparison if you need, you just gonna see whats better

# 13 theprocess @ 09/22/10 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gameova24


	this guy is crazy.....its not the worst.....and its not bad

You must be playing the LIVE 10 demo...

I played it again this morning with a clear head and some rest, sadly though it's worst than it was yesterday.
Who knows what went on in those offices but clearly somebody had an epiphany, it was just horrible intuition. I don't blame the DEVS...I'm sure they warned the suits that it wasn't enough time to start from scratch. Some one out there running the company clearly does not care about the consumer.

Sure people will buy this game they are just not playing basket,..they're playing vieo games.

# 14 BrianFifaFan @ 09/22/10 05:46 PM

People forget the Marcus also jumped ship. Those two had a definite vision as to what could make Live great again, and saw this coming. At best, the brass should've done like Konami and developed Elite in the shadows as they fully developed Live from it's direction last year, each team building it's efforts where you could match the controls and physics to the existing game. That's a real plan, and one which seems to be serving Konami quite well.

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...."

# 15 Rocboyz101 @ 09/22/10 05:46 PM

Reading this reminds me of the first time I heard ether..
I agree with it for the most part..

# 16 RaychelSnr @ 09/22/10 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseB


	Chris you must have missed out on the second Live game on 360 and also the first Sony title on PS3 -- now those were BAD games. That being said, I don't really have strong feelings one way or the other on this title as of now -- at least not ones that are that different from how I felt at E3.

I'm pretty sure this game might be Live 07's equal. I remember that game, these seem pretty similar to me actually....although I'd have to find Live 07 in the archives just to make sure. I get the same feeling at least playing them

# 17 Eski33 @ 09/22/10 06:02 PM

Chris,

No disrespect to your opinion but to say that this is going to be a disaster is a stretch. Did you play MLB 2K9 or MLB 2K10? Those were a disaster.

I think the developers are going the right way with the controls. 2K's has a scroll with all of the buttons you have to push (i.e. a layup is X, X, A, B, RS, RS, LS, RS3, R1, L1, L2)...It's like trying to get fatality in Mortal Kombat.

Elite doesn't play poorly and the controls come with a bit of a learning curve but once you get past "EA Sports" and actually play the demo a few times, the controls are solid. The ability to miss a free throw with direction and distance has never been done and you can do that in this game. Not to mention, the classic controls are still available for those that cannot grasp or just plain dislike the new control scheme.

Here we have a sport in which we have options in terms of video games and people want to bash this and that instead of looking at the game itself.

I found the atmosphere and commentary to be outstanding. The ability to try the new career mode was a nice touch as well.

I haven't purchased a NBA title in years and I will buy 2K because of the classic teams (could care less about Jordan). Give me Nique and the Hawks or the 90's Pistons any day. But I am also considering Elite as it does offer a different way to play....

# 18 cbass1 @ 09/22/10 06:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	That's another good analogy. If Elite gets a few more years, I think they're thinking outside of the box enough to deliver something really awesome. But Elite 11 set EA basketball back 4 years....not a good place to start when you were already playing from behind.

Your right, which mean's the EA basketball series is in serious trouble. I can't imagine EA investing into another 3 years to finally get a good product in 2014

# 19 ChaseB @ 09/22/10 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMChrisS


	I'm pretty sure this game might be Live 07's equal. I remember that game, these seem pretty similar to me actually....although I'd have to find Live 07 in the archives just to make sure. I get the same feeling at least playing them

Ha there's NOOOO WAYYY! Seriously go find that game and play it or see if there is a demo of it on the Marketplace. It's so shoddy. The animation system was like broken, and it still had horrendous controls etc. It was an actual abomination. Even if you don't like this game, at least you can get through playing it. I'm not sure it would be possible with Live 07.

# 20 ChaseB @ 09/22/10 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseB


	Ha there's NOOOO WAYYY! Seriously go find that game and play it or see if there is a demo of it on the Marketplace. It's so shoddy. The animation system was like broken, and it still had horrendous controls etc. It was an actual abomination. Even if you don't like this game, at least you can get through playing it. I'm not sure it would be possible with Live 07.

PS, I'm pretty sure Live 07 was the one that literally had no good camera to use in it. It was awkward to play with any of the camera angles in the game.

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