NBA Live 13 Gameplay Video - Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

[jwtucker710]

Interesting. Peter Moore from EA.

http://www.ea.com/news/post-gamescom-2012-change-is-good

[Mos1ted]

Quote: Originally Posted by Crimsontide27

Im going to be very cautious with what I say here as I value my paychecks. Having said that, this was not a pre-alpha build and was actually in fact what was planned to be released as a demo. The reason this video was not released is because of what exactly happened here, the game just isnt good and the backlash gets all the negative attention. When the game was actually shown at other venues, the response was the same from people inside and outside of the industry. It was during a recent showing that the idea of actually not releasing the title at all and skipping another year was thrown around. The people that are actively involved in making the game truly feel like it was a superior product and worthy of release, but thats because they basically built the game from the ground up...yet again, and feel a huge accomplishment just getting everything running correctly. I wont get into technical speak, but instead of taking a foundation and trying to improve on it year after year, they try to reinvent the wheel and start fresh each time....which is very time consuming. The only thing I can think of right now to compare it to would be like being giving a task to dig a ditch. You could go out and bust your tail digging with a spoon and work harder than you ever have and accomplish nothing...but your coworker grabs a bulldozer and completes the project with no hard work...just using their head. The way you can tell that the video you are not seeing is "pre-alpha" is by the font in the menus, the colors were wrong actually on the Thunder if I remember correctly , the entire presentation package is in etc....this was actually a build that was further along than the one shown at the recent conventions and shows...and I do believe some community guys got an opportunity to see it , but had to sign confidentiality agreements. What hurts the most is when you work very hard to make something, and then everyone tears it down. Morale around EA is not very high right now. You have people being moved from project to project...you have some being relocated to different studios in different cities, you have knowledge that some franchises are actually slated to be cut out completely , you have the knowledge that the company is actually being shopped out and has a potential buyer in the background , you dont know if you are going to be employed this time next year...etc ..etc...etc... Some may say its the nature of the turf, but the decsions that are made are not made by the majority of the rank and file employee, its by upper management that has no clue about how and why people play games....its about the bottom line. Cut costs as much as possible, release as little as an upgrade as possible, and release it and just count profit is their motto. I mentioned in a post a long time ago about a meeting about MLB The Show. Probably one of the best represented sports titles to date, but yet has declining sales every year. The game is so good, that many dont buy the next years iteration....and thats the mentality at EA....dont release a product that has very little faults, as it wont sell the next year. Why do you think youve not seen many PC releases of sports titles? Their are arm chair devs out there that will spend their time for free to update those titles and keep them ahead of what is being released. What you are seeing now is the decline of a video game giant that is being run by people that only care about the bottom line ...WHILE they are there, and nothing more. They are not looking at it as a long term venture, more like....."I plan on retiring in 5 years, so lets make as much profit as possible...and worry about damage to our brands later, since I wont be here to deal with it" Or at least thats the mentality. Its a small industry, many people know others outside their own studios and as such rumors run about. You have PopCap, that was recently bought for $1billion and produced some great titles, but now employees are on the chopping block...you have Westwood studios that has lost people left and right, you have Origin and Maxis losing people....and the big elephant in the room was Bioware.....who have lost almost half their staff. The people losing their jobs are not the ones that make descions, its the worker bees who just do what they are told. After several key people left from another prominent team left and formed their own company not too long ago, others took notice. They can get their independent freedom back by making tablet games and avoid the corporate atmosphere where they are dogged daily by their consumers. Bad decsions after bad decsions have left a void where great people used to work, its a changed enviroment and recently quality has reflected that.

I appreciate your insight in this post. This is all the more reason why publishers should move away from releasing sports titles annually. When you think about it, sports is one of the few, if not the only, video game genres that releases annually. With patching and DLC available, it is even necessary anymore?

[jwtucker710]

There's still no news that EA has cancelled or delayed NBA LIVE 13. So, still up in the air. But here were are, almost September, and there hasn't been a cover or any screenshots. Obviously something's up. By now, there would have been more push for the game or at least the introduction for the cover, even if it was delayed by a few weeks. I don't know. Everything is just speculation until we hear from EA directly. Keep checking on the press releases. I would think if they were going to cancel, they would take down the NBA LIVE 13 page on their website.

http://news.ea.com/portal/site/ea/

[jreezy18]

Quote: Originally Posted by jwtucker710

Interesting. Peter Moore from EA. http://www.ea.com/news/post-gamescom-2012-change-is-good

Haha, "change is good". Tell that to NBA Live, and a few other of EA's IPs.

[NealN42]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mos1ted

I appreciate your insight in this post. This is all the more reason why publishers should move away from releasing sports titles annually. When you think about it, sports is one of the few, if not the only, video game genres that releases annually. With patching and DLC available, it is even necessary anymore?

I still don't understand why it's necessary to release a new sports game every year. The quality is, and has been, atrocious overall this generation, and a company could potentially generate an insanely better game quality wise if they had 2 years per title instead of one. Simply release patches, roster updates, and paid dlc in between the titles, and I'm willing to bet each game would sell substantially more than the current ones do, as gamers could expect to see a tremendous amount of improvements every 2 years (meaning sales would at least average out to what they are now).

[fitzgerald434]

If EA doesnt have any information about the game come next month then I doubt it will release this year, I doubt EA would cancel Live again because I know they put a lot of money towards making this game and also that would make EA look bad by canceling the game. My guess is it will be delayed

[Blzer]

This is the weirdest thing to say, but the best way I can describe it:

When the ball is shot in mid-air, it looks like the equivalent to watching a basketball film and the ball being CGI.

Sorry, no other way I could put it haha.

I don't doubt that this is a pre-alpha build. I don't think this video should have been released. However, I don't get how a pre-alpha video gets out and EA can't calm the masses a bit with a short glimpse of whatever it is they have now. It doesn't seem like they're nearly complete with the game either way.

[cepelkey]

IGN is reporting a 31 October release... but that may not be accurate... I am still going to remain optimistic that EA will make this happen without too much of a delay... While I am not a big fan of 2K basketball, I will probably pick-up 2K13 since they finally changed their controls this year.

-CP