08-23-2012, 10:39 PM
|
#804
|
|
Rookie
|
Re: NBA Live 13 Gameplay Video - Miami Heat vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
 |
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.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Real Talk.
With that said, call me an ultimate optimist but, I am going out on a limb and saying that this is an elaborate publicity stunt/marketing ploy. There is no way in hell this is not pre-alpha. This does not even rank with Elite 11 much less Live 10. If you ask me NBA 2K13 is Live 10 in a manner of speaking(i'll def catch hell for that statement). But as a Live fan I am glad for this cuz its not looking good for Live right now(Good Strategy 2K opening your arms to the Live community). There's no way a dev who is passionate about basketball as well as play the sport himself could leave the work place satisfied with this and sleep at night, this clip was a nightmare. I didn't even like the menus. EA/Live usually have the best stylish menus what I saw wasn't normal and rather confusing. There's not even a cover athlete WTF, thats pretty suspect, no music either? Right, I hope you follow. In closing I feel the sentiments in the quoted statement. Its nice that this place gives a community a voice in the industry but I sense a lot of bias on this site and I feel that it is to the detriment of the basketball gaming genre and the credibility of this site. Some claim they want Live to be good but aren't subjective and dont give props to certain features when its due. Instead they jump on the bandwagon when said features are copied(catchin' more hell). If you want the game to be better some positive feedback goes a long way. These devs work hard as fidduck, I used to want to develop games until I found out the excruciating reality of the job. Long hours and crazy deadlines, all so someone named hard 8 times who clearly isnt a skilled gamer who I doubt could run a decent scrimmage of bball cancel a game. I bring this up because I feel like Elite was a step in the right direction as far as NExt Gen basketball is concerned, far from perfect but had a lot of redeeming qualities that should of been built upon but because of the climate of the industry met its death too early. I honestly feel that if the true gamers adapted to the controls and had time with a fully released and patched four quarters, devs would have a lot better feedback to go off of than the trolling that goes on in here. Who knows Elite 13 and 2K13 could have been in a heated battle creating some of the best basketball gaming moments. Unfortunately that's not the case. The undying optimist in me thinks this clip is for the haters or I could be wrong and the harsh reality is Live is dead. They'll get it right eventually didnt think it wold take so long. |
|
|
A sim game that isn't sim (fam) is the tampon...
