Two of the best things in the wide world are sports and video games. One of my favourite sites to check in on brings both of them together in one big peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The site I’m referring to is SportVideoGames.net. If you want to find out the latest developments in video games across all of the sports genre, this is the place to come — I’m not just talking about basketball either. So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to talk to Michael J of the site about what is going on in the world of NBA video games.
As many of you may be aware, things have hotted up a little this season in the world of NBA gaming, as it appeared that EA Sports had come to the party and given 2K Sports some competition. Have they caught up in the race? Let’s see what Michael J has to say as he answered my questions.
The big juicy question up front, which do you more highly rate: NBA Live 2009 or NBA 2K9?
NBA 2K9 with the disclaimer that it’s not perfect, and NBA Live 2009 is definately a step in the right direction for EA this year.
What has been the biggest development in NBA 2K9 on previous seasons?
2K9 seems to be more evolution than revolution this year, so there is no one huge feature that really stands out. To answer the question though, really its just all the improvements made to the way the game plays, from the way the AI of your teammates read and react to the play, to the inclusion of a huge amount of improved and added signature styles for nearly every player in the NBA. Going along with this is the added presentation elements this year like end of quarter highlights, dead ball highlights, improved player emotion in the game, and overall just a more broadcast like presentation.
What has been the biggest development in NBA Live 2009 on previous seasons?
NBA Live 09 has had probably the biggest and most impressive face lift of a sports game in the the past 5 years. The biggest development we have seen is just how much more like a simulation the game plays this year. In years past Live was always the arcade style game, but this year if you play it in a sim style you can really use actual basketball knowledge to be competitive rather than having to be quick on the sticks. The refinements to 5 on 5 mode and the inclusion of clubs has also rounded out Live’s online offering and really has made it an attractive package for the online player.
Has EA Sports finally sorted out all of the glitches that have plagued NBA Live in previous years?
Not entirely, no. In past games we complained about the way players animated and seemed to skate across the court. The inclusion of foot planting this year has seemingly cleaned up that skating, but has lead to some very jerky animations in certain situations. Some of our pet peeves are things like the steal animation taking away control for a second, players running as if they are hunched over and some odd ball physics around the rim. No game is perfect though, and this year is as close as EA has come in a long time.
It sounds like 2K have got some glitches of their own this time around. Is this true?
2K’s focus this year was really just on improving on the solid foundation they had with 2K8, and in doing so that has meant keeping the same engine for 2K9 whilst making improvements where necessary. As such, some old holdovers from 2K8 are still in 2K9 such as goaltending calls needing tightening up, but there are also a host of brand new problems. The big things we are seeing, and that 2K assures us they are working on, are the stability of online play being erratic at best, inbounds play glitches that prevent inbounding the ball, computer substitions being a bit crazy, and even freezing during Association mode.
Based on your experience in sports video games, do you see any features from other sports titles that could be brought across to NBA games?
All sports games are really their own entity, and its hard for developers to implement things quickly with only a yearly cycle to develop a complete game in. That being said though we would love to see things like the Create A Player mode from something like Top Spin 2 be included in an NBA game. At the moment its almost like an afterthought, and the players you can create in both games come out just a tad ugly at best. Some of the other things we hear a lot is that presentation is huge. There is a massive fan base of NFL 2K players out there that have seen what top notch presentation could be, and that was almost 4 years ago in NFL 2K5 now. Whoever can harness those elements and combine it with todays technology for true broadcast style presentation will have a serious winner on their hands.
What do you have coming up for us on SportVideoGames.net?
A whole heap of things, some of which I can’t speak about right now! We have only just redesigned the entire site, so if anyone hasn’t checked it out yet, please do. In the short term we have a huge amount of features relating to both NBA 2K9 and NBA Live 09 on the way to help you get the most out of both games. Whether you’re having trouble with IsoMotion, your Defense is weak, or you can’t call the right plays to save your life, we will have the help that you have all been asking for in the coming weeks! Stay tuned!
A massive debt of gratitude to Michael for his time and detailed answers on the NBA Live and NBA 2K franchises. Hopefully this clears up some purchasing decisions out there! There has been a discussion going on in the Forum on this topic, so this will definitely help some people.
Don’t forget to check out SportVideoGames.net for updates on all your sports gaming news over the course of the year.
