Very interesting thread at"operationsports.com"
Tue May 20, 2003 4:46 am
http://forums.operationsports.com//ubbt ... o=&fpart=1
A guy with the nickname "AHOLBERT32 " has been to E3 and aswers questions about this years NBA games, a taste:
"I'm back from E3 and I got to play every basketball game. If you have any questions after reading this, post them here:
Before I begin let me make a few things clear. First, most of the games that I played were about 40 to 50% percent complete. Most were pre alpha and there will be massive changes to many of the games before they are released. Second, These are just my impressions. Games that I think are great now could end up being horrible and vice versa. First I'll start with the basketball games:
NBA 2k4- The E3 version was only about 43% complete. The version I saw was faster then last year’s game. The dunk animations have been redone. Players seem to get more air when they dunk and there seem to be more dunks. The E3 version only had 6 teams available LA, Sacramento, Detroit, Orlando, Dallas and Philadelphia. There seemed to be a change in the player models, as many of the player’s upper bodies seemed to be slimmer.
As I said earlier the gameplay seems faster and blocks seem to be more dramatic. At the default level, it seems easier to back down players in the post. Still, the version that I saw is early and still needs a lot of work. The only thing that concerns me is that the version I played seems to play alot like Live 2003. The game was really a run and gun and block fest with most of those blocks going out of bounds. Hopefully, this can be changed by sliders or before the games release in October.
Live 2003- Live has taken an opposite approach then 2k3. The game is taking the sim approach. The version I saw was 40% complete. The game is much slower then last year’s version and plays more like NBA basketball. Every NBA arena is featured in the game however they have some arenas designed wrong (like Dallas). Freestyle control has been toned down some and now certain moves can only be done by certain players. For example, Shaq will have different post moves then Paul Pierce and Iverson will have a different crossover then Kevin Garnett.
NBA Live now has sliders. There were about 12 sliders varying from rebound control to block control. There is also a speed slider that will allow you to change the speed to your liking. Franchise mode will let you import college players from March Madness 2004. Marv Albert and Mike Fratello are the new announcers. The player faces are much improved due to a new face mapping technology. This year Allen Iverson looks like his real life counterpart.
While there are a lot of improvements I am concerned about a few things. In Live 2003, every team seemed to play the same no matter who you faced. 2004 felt like more of the same. When I played Orlando, they went to McGrady alot just like they should but when I played Dallas, the AI only went to Finley and ignored Nash and Nowitski. There seemed to be no difference between teams. When I asked a Live project manager about this, he said they were going to work on this before release.
Some good news for Live Fans is that the blocks have been toned down. No more super blocks that go in to the stands. With some tweaking, I think Live will play a good game of NBA Basketball this year.
NBA Inside Drive- The game that many people felt played the best game of basketball last year is back. The E3 version was only 40 complete. New lighting has been used for the arenas, as they appear to be much lighter. There are new post and crossover moves available. Fouls are called more frequently against the player and the computer. Still, the version that I saw really didn’t show me anything new. The sound was not available so I was unable to see if the atmosphere had been improved. You still cannot pass out of a layup or dunk. Also many of the modes such as franchise and season were not available. The game still plays alot like last year's version which is good. I just hope that they include a few extras and improvements before the game is released.
NCAA Basketball 2k4- This is another game where there wasn’t much difference between the E3 version and last years game. Cut scenes have been added to the game and they help improve the atmosphere. New animation’s have been included particularly for layups and crossovers. The jump pass bug has been fixed. Other then that there werent many changes in this version.
OS was able to meet with the developers of the game briefly. While they weren’t able to tell us much, they did say that the game will be different from the version they showed at E#. They plan to continually improve Legacy Mode and eliminate the automatic animations (People who played last year's game know that there were some places on the court where players would go into automatic and unstoppable layup or dunk animations). We were also told that the developers constantly go to the OS forums to get ideas about changes to the game or to find out what bugs need to be fixed.
March Madness 2004- This is the basketball game that I was the most impressed by. The developers told me that they have changed the game from the ground up. They have taken the best aspects of the Live engine and made it play like a college game. The new features include 300+ teams, 20 + authentic arenas, and the option to import your seniors into Live.
Gameplay is much improved. The gAme no longer plays like a ccollege version of Live. Teams will full court press you at the appropriate times. Teams like Syracuse run a 2-3 zone while Duke plays man. On the harder levels, you must pass the ball effectively in order to score. This is also one of the few basketball games where a player playing tight defense will actually bump you while you go up the court. When you are facing a press, you actually feel the controller vibrating as the defender bumps you.
There were only 4 teams and two stadiums available in the E3 version. Those teams included Texas, Kansas, Syracuse and Duke. Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium looks exactly like the real arena but Kansas's arena looks better on Sega's game.
This game impressed me more that any other basketball game I played at E3 and I'm very excited to see how this game turns out.
"
A guy with the nickname "AHOLBERT32 " has been to E3 and aswers questions about this years NBA games, a taste:
"I'm back from E3 and I got to play every basketball game. If you have any questions after reading this, post them here:
Before I begin let me make a few things clear. First, most of the games that I played were about 40 to 50% percent complete. Most were pre alpha and there will be massive changes to many of the games before they are released. Second, These are just my impressions. Games that I think are great now could end up being horrible and vice versa. First I'll start with the basketball games:
NBA 2k4- The E3 version was only about 43% complete. The version I saw was faster then last year’s game. The dunk animations have been redone. Players seem to get more air when they dunk and there seem to be more dunks. The E3 version only had 6 teams available LA, Sacramento, Detroit, Orlando, Dallas and Philadelphia. There seemed to be a change in the player models, as many of the player’s upper bodies seemed to be slimmer.
As I said earlier the gameplay seems faster and blocks seem to be more dramatic. At the default level, it seems easier to back down players in the post. Still, the version that I saw is early and still needs a lot of work. The only thing that concerns me is that the version I played seems to play alot like Live 2003. The game was really a run and gun and block fest with most of those blocks going out of bounds. Hopefully, this can be changed by sliders or before the games release in October.
Live 2003- Live has taken an opposite approach then 2k3. The game is taking the sim approach. The version I saw was 40% complete. The game is much slower then last year’s version and plays more like NBA basketball. Every NBA arena is featured in the game however they have some arenas designed wrong (like Dallas). Freestyle control has been toned down some and now certain moves can only be done by certain players. For example, Shaq will have different post moves then Paul Pierce and Iverson will have a different crossover then Kevin Garnett.
NBA Live now has sliders. There were about 12 sliders varying from rebound control to block control. There is also a speed slider that will allow you to change the speed to your liking. Franchise mode will let you import college players from March Madness 2004. Marv Albert and Mike Fratello are the new announcers. The player faces are much improved due to a new face mapping technology. This year Allen Iverson looks like his real life counterpart.
While there are a lot of improvements I am concerned about a few things. In Live 2003, every team seemed to play the same no matter who you faced. 2004 felt like more of the same. When I played Orlando, they went to McGrady alot just like they should but when I played Dallas, the AI only went to Finley and ignored Nash and Nowitski. There seemed to be no difference between teams. When I asked a Live project manager about this, he said they were going to work on this before release.
Some good news for Live Fans is that the blocks have been toned down. No more super blocks that go in to the stands. With some tweaking, I think Live will play a good game of NBA Basketball this year.
NBA Inside Drive- The game that many people felt played the best game of basketball last year is back. The E3 version was only 40 complete. New lighting has been used for the arenas, as they appear to be much lighter. There are new post and crossover moves available. Fouls are called more frequently against the player and the computer. Still, the version that I saw really didn’t show me anything new. The sound was not available so I was unable to see if the atmosphere had been improved. You still cannot pass out of a layup or dunk. Also many of the modes such as franchise and season were not available. The game still plays alot like last year's version which is good. I just hope that they include a few extras and improvements before the game is released.
NCAA Basketball 2k4- This is another game where there wasn’t much difference between the E3 version and last years game. Cut scenes have been added to the game and they help improve the atmosphere. New animation’s have been included particularly for layups and crossovers. The jump pass bug has been fixed. Other then that there werent many changes in this version.
OS was able to meet with the developers of the game briefly. While they weren’t able to tell us much, they did say that the game will be different from the version they showed at E#. They plan to continually improve Legacy Mode and eliminate the automatic animations (People who played last year's game know that there were some places on the court where players would go into automatic and unstoppable layup or dunk animations). We were also told that the developers constantly go to the OS forums to get ideas about changes to the game or to find out what bugs need to be fixed.
March Madness 2004- This is the basketball game that I was the most impressed by. The developers told me that they have changed the game from the ground up. They have taken the best aspects of the Live engine and made it play like a college game. The new features include 300+ teams, 20 + authentic arenas, and the option to import your seniors into Live.
Gameplay is much improved. The gAme no longer plays like a ccollege version of Live. Teams will full court press you at the appropriate times. Teams like Syracuse run a 2-3 zone while Duke plays man. On the harder levels, you must pass the ball effectively in order to score. This is also one of the few basketball games where a player playing tight defense will actually bump you while you go up the court. When you are facing a press, you actually feel the controller vibrating as the defender bumps you.
There were only 4 teams and two stadiums available in the E3 version. Those teams included Texas, Kansas, Syracuse and Duke. Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium looks exactly like the real arena but Kansas's arena looks better on Sega's game.
This game impressed me more that any other basketball game I played at E3 and I'm very excited to see how this game turns out.
"
Tue May 20, 2003 11:12 am
More good news for Live 2004. Good looking out Toaster. 
Tue May 20, 2003 11:34 am
Thanks once again for the heads up Toaster. NBA 2k4 is going dizown!!! 
(n)
(n)
Tue May 20, 2003 3:04 pm
