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The Future of Basketball Gaming

From "razzle-dazzle" to Clark Kellog’s dry voice, basketball gaming is about to go full circle.

With the recent announcement of EA Sports’ NBA Jam, the future of basketball gaming is finally coming to a dead end. I am a huge fan of the original NBA Jam, and possibly more excited than anyone else to see the new Wii title, but at the same time I am disappointed in what basketball gaming is coming to.

NBA 2K10 and NBA Live 10 both faced lofty expectations (yes, the expectations for both games were on different levels), but surprisingly, Live was the only one to meet them in my mind. NBA 2K9 was a fantastic game. It made major improvements upon its predecessor, and the only real problem I had with it was the fact that the Seattle SuperSonics were no longer a team. So of course 2K10 would be way better right? Well, not quite. While it was still a good game, some nagging problems and a slow patch process hampered my enjoyment with the game -- but that's not really the point here.

To dig deeper into the 2K world, a few points need to be made. After Mike Wang announced that he was leaving EA and returning to 2K, the first thought that crossed my mind was that 2K11 would not disappoint. When Wang was at 2K, the game was great on a consistent basis, and I always noticed improvements that helped to make the game a better basketball sim.

When he left, 2K dropped off a bit -- only because they did not do as much to improve the gameplay on a yearly basis. However, I guess there is no need to fix something that is not truly broken, right? Next year we should see a much more refined game with a couple new features, but I would not expect anything huge.

Continuing on with Wang, he left EA after he made the Live series relevant again. And it was not because he just loved 2K that much better, he also had a reason to leave.

"After NBA Live 10 wrapped up and we started going through the pre-production planning phase for '11, we held several meetings to discuss the future of the franchise," Wang said to Operation Sports. "After going through those meetings, it became very clear that the vision I had for the game was different from where the leadership wanted to take it."

Ever since these statements were made by Wang, a lot of assumptions have been made. Everyone, myself included, was expecting Live 11 to possibly surpass the NBA 2K series with Wang leading the charge. Nevertheless, something went wrong here, and next fall EA’s PR representatives and development team will have to work overtime to quell the questions.

But even if both development teams are on their game next year, how many more improvements can we really see in the two major titles? Do you want to spend an extra $60 for the right color headband? How about an alternate jersey or perfectly realistic simulation stats? Sure, those additions would be nice and are expected each year, but can you continue to rationalize spending the money each year?

People want to see perfect player models and movements on the court, but I feel those will never be up to people's standards -- simply because no engine can perfectly mimic the human body. People also want to see more depth in the Dynasty/Association modes, which in my opinion is the only area in either game that really can continue to be built upon on a yearly basis.

Now, some will say that companies will be saved by the next generation of gaming. When the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 (hypothetical names) hit store shelves, graphics will once again be the new thing everyone looks at. The graphics will distract some gamers enough that they will not notice the flaws in the games -- remember NBA Live '07 (do not bother mentioning NBA Live '06, I loved that game) and the joke that it was? Well, NBA Live '07 was a byproduct of the new systems being released. This process has to inevitably happen again, right?

But now let me return to NBA Jam. As I said earlier, I am both excited and disappointed. I cannot wait to play the game, but if a company as big as EA is revamping an old arcade game, this means EA has to be running a little low on ideas and gimmicks to add to its realistic counterpart, NBA Live. NBA Jam is and forever will be my favorite basketball game -- beating down friends in the third grade and full-court jamming with my college roommates are the highlights of my gaming life. In fact, just remembering back to how many times I had to play those damned Minnesota Timberwolves even brings back good memories.

That is the good of the situation, but what is the bad I keep talking about? NBA Jam is simple. I hope the new player models are the only upgrade the Jam series is getting. I want the arcade-style, ladder-climbing system back. I want it to play exactly how it did in its glory days. But the bad thing about that scenario is the fact that it would just be the arcade-style, ladder-climbing game we grew to love.

This scenario, though, is very similar to the one simulation titles are also in today. Simulation basketball games seem to be reaching the ceiling, so what do the big boys do? They remake an old game everybody loved in hopes that consumers will be content with the past.

Still, maybe that is too big of a conspiracy theory to buy into -- I am not really trying to say NBA Jam is coming out to make people forget about the simulation titles, more just making a correlation between the two hoops genres.

Beyond the big boys of the basketball genre, I also know plenty of people are praying that Sony will come out with NBA 11 this year on the PS3. However, while the Sony baseball game is possibly the best sports game on the market, maybe people should just hope the game is announced before placing expectations on it.

I realize I have been ignoring the college side of the game, but that is only because basketball gaming sucks now for people who are not fans of the NBA. With the recent announcement of EA’s NCAA Basketball franchise getting put on hold, college basketball gaming may have bit the dust for good. After all, 2K has not shown any interest in a college game, even though College Hoops 2K8 is one of the best basketball games ever.

OK, so I realize this article has been kind of doom and gloom. Yes, I have said I think basketball gaming is coming to a dead end in the sizable improvements category, but my love for the game will always supplant my wallet. I hate when these games come out every year. I tell myself to wait, that I cannot afford it, and then I go out and buy NBA 2K and $60 vanishes for another copy of NBA 2K8 with some improvements. Do I still enjoy it? of course. But do I also realize many gamers are not going to keep buying the same game year after year? Of course.


Member Comments
# 21 DavonBrown @ 02/17/10 09:57 PM
 
# 22 clipperfan811 @ 02/17/10 11:06 PM
To me, I see a ton of areas where improvements can be made, perhaps I should have become a developer so I actually could attempt to fix them but as that didn't happen I'll have to keep faith in the actual developers.

As far as 2k8 or 2k9 being better, I think absolutely not. I thought My Player was a great idea, it totally took me by surprise and definitely has potential. 2k10 has by far taken me the longest to get good at (compared to other 2k games), there's really so much to learn, from the post game to iso-motion to playing solid D. It's frustrating at first but oh so rewarding once you start seeing improvement.

I see the NBA jam thing as a rather smart move to capture some of the Wii crowd. Games like NBA jam are what the Wii excels at, Live simply wouldn't fly right so why bother?

Can't say I agree with the article at all.... Nice try though
 
# 23 noshun @ 02/17/10 11:24 PM
I don't agree with many of the points you've made.
 
# 24 Pitfighter87 @ 02/18/10 01:06 AM
i disagree too.Nba 2k10 is the best SPORTS game ive played period. In my opinion it stomps live. The way the players move the signature moves,shots,And player reactions light years ahead of EA.It has its minor issues but what sports game doesnt. And with the addition of my player mode they are headin in the right direction IMO. Now only if they would bring back College Hoops. Could you imagine a my player mode in college were you could upload your player to my player mode in Nba 2k10. Or if it had the break throughs that 2k10 has? Anyways this is about NBA 2k10 and I LOVE IT!! It will get my 60 bucks for years to come!!
 
# 25 stlstudios189 @ 02/19/10 04:43 PM
NBA 2k10 is awesome. I still for some reason enjoyed 2k8 more than 2k9 but, all sports games are getting to the point that one must decide if the new game is worth the $60 for the upgrade.
 
# 26 tril @ 02/19/10 05:41 PM
2k10 is light years ahead of 2k9. 2k9 was great title also.
as far as innovation, I dont expect any of these basketball games to stop evolving.
computer/ai technology will continuosly improve gameplay etc. Gamers will also play a bigger role in this innovation.
I personally dont believe that we've even scratched the surface for on line gaming. the possibilities are endless.
these games have the potential of creating virtual worlds beyond the basketball court,or football field, etc.

2k's my player mode has so much growth potential.

the biggest obstacle 2k and live face is, the ability to please both casual gamers and the hard core sim heads.

being an avid fan of basketball, Ive also realizeed that these titles have only scratched the surface in implementing the intricacies of basketball. if you think about it the game is presented from the specators point of view. and that's for both titles.

finally, IMO, 2k10 association mode is like Joe Johnson "silky smooth"
 
# 27 bbmike15 @ 02/20/10 04:47 PM
I think ea's NCAA games presentation innovations blow ever game out of the water. How does madden NCAA football or live not have anything like this. I mean they have espns exclusive license and all they use it for are extremely delayed espn radio updates and nobady cares about that crap! I wish 2k would bring back college basketball and quit mlb2k because it's the worst major sports game series in history. Let EA finish what they started with MVP. And let 2K stick with what they do best, making great basketball titles. 1 thing I would like to see from 2K that they could take from live is how realistic it is on drawing fouls. If I get a guy to jump at me wiith a pump fake I should either be fouled when I go up again or drain the shot. I'm tired of pumpfaking and seeing a guy nearly go inside me when I pumpfake and totally brick or when he's coming down on me while I go up for the shot no foul is called and I also brick.. Not sure which live it was but it was the one with tmac on the cover
 
# 28 rockchisler @ 02/20/10 04:52 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjones16
This is by far one of the most ignorant comments. 2k10 one of the best sports games ever?? WOW! Are you talking about the same game with no foot planting, player skating, no player control, and not mid range game. How many points do you score in the paint in your games??

Both games are flawed and neither one will probably be much better next year but Im sorry guys....Live is closer to perfection.
This...................
 

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