A very promising preview

[Toaster]

http://www.gamespy.com/e32003/preview/pc/1002605/



DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL

[BIG GREEN]

once again...oh...my..god!!!

with all these features plus legands...plus championship teams...plus an expanded, pro, play by play team...this game is bound to be 2 discs.

EA has definitely...listended to our wishlists from this board and other places. I feel privelaged to be part of this community (y)

[Bill Russell]

Man... I couldn't help drooling...

[Andrew]

Thanks for the link Toaster. Another great preview of Live 2004. One bit in particular caught my eye though:

Additionally, certain things will earn you money, which you can use to purchase, say, a private plane for your team. Sure, a jet is expensive, but being able to get to a road game earlier means your team will be better rested and in better shape to play. The Dynasty mode seems like a very cool concept.

Sounds cool, but I hope it won't draw anything away from the traditional Franchise Mode concept.

[Scary Hedo]

the dynasty mode sounds great!

[Tuomas]

Sounds like business!!! EA is finally decided to put up a new game!!!

[Bredrin]

pass deflections??? did i read pass deflections? no more balls being stuck to a players elbow?

[Ugur]

guys dont forget that last year the game looks great but it was nothing more than bulls**t
but anyway i should say that at least they look they got what we want
i mean DYNASTY MODE wow man even looks better than madden 2003's franchise. i dont care about gameplay only DYNASTY MODE hmmmmmmmmmm tastyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.....................
(THE GAME WiLL RELEASE FOR PC RiGHT? )

[Matthew]

Yeah dude, it's coming out for pc.

After reading that preview, all i can is fuck. And I thout nba 2k3 was good

[sixerfan03]

The AI defense has been kicked up a notch. Driving to the basket will be more of a challenge, as will passing. After having several passes swatted out of bounds -- and getting to check out the sweet new pass-deflection animations -- you'll learn to play a smarter, tighter offense.

I like that. As long as the CPU can't just pass right by your player's head. Your team should try to do the same thing (especially your teammates).

I'm also hoping for better defensive rotation, especially by centers. I hate it when the player beats my player off the dribble, and my center never moves. I end up just running down the other end and getting the layup (because their center doesn't move). I don't like playing that way.

Yeah dude, it's coming out for pc.

That's good. I'll probably sell my 2003 (so start creating those old patches as soon as you can)

And I hope the AI stops cheating down the stretch, and maybe play some tight man-to-man late in games, instead of double teamming everyone. (It doesn't feel right, and it's too easy to beat by passing the ball a few times)

[sleepz]

'only PS2 owners will get to play online'

hey guys can you see this?

[Matthew]

I'm guessing he meant only the ps2 version can play online out of the console version. I doubt the pc wont be supported to play online..

[Tuomas]

Mehmet_Okur_13, please change or resize your signature....

[Metsis]

If they really get the dynasty to work with somekind of money system, man are we gonna have a sweet time. I just hope that the money system is not just an add on for those extra purchases, but you could actually have a maximum cap that depends on your money situation. So you really couldn't create a team filled with superstars unless some are playing for charity.

I'll start drooling when we get an official word on the dynasty system. But it certainly looks impressive.

Pass-swatting, well that has been indeed needed for a long time. I hope it effects rebounding as well. After all rebounds sometimes get whacked a good two or three times before someone really gets it under control. I hope that the players reflexes aren't unearthly as they sometimes were in previous Lives and the end game isn't just shooting threes and that you can intentionally foul. The lack of intentional fouling is just irritating, it makes a totally winnable game into a unwinnable one, if you could just foul fast and get those threes down, this is a real and used strategy (although quite a desperate one), but they actually do foul to get the ball.

Sounds good... Hope it is good

[Andrew]

As I said before, I hope that the new money making/management aspect won't draw too much attention away from the traditional Franchise Mode. In other words, I hope you don't have to pay too much attention finding a way to buy a private jet, rather than planning how to matchup against your next opponent.

Naturally, I'm anxious to see all this new frontend/management stuff in multi-season mode, but I'm hoping that the traditional team building/offseason tasks remain as important, as well as the most important aspect of a multi-season mode (IMHO) - the ability to actually play with the team, and the strategy and action that takes place there.

[Metsis]

Immediatly when the talk of money came into play in that preview, well I just thought of the card system that has been implemented into EA's NHL games. That is just boooring, and that was what I hope that this is not. The presence of money hopefully opens up the team building process so that you could offer contracts mid-season etc.

Off-season I hope has had some work done too. It is still too simple of a walk through in comparison to what it is in real life. The gossips and teams just doing all sorts of wild trades and sign-trade-deals... It is the time of rumours, bargains and hope. Hope of a better tomorrow and well it is long. Now it is just a list of things that you run through as fast as you can sign new deals and draft a couple of rookies. There should be more...

And yes, Andrew the game balance should still be on the games, but there should be more depth regarding that too. Like streaks and player happiness, injuries etc.

[Andrew]

I agree about the offseason mode. Even with the interface in Live 2003, I felt it was still a little too linear - you still had to progress through re-signing players and signing players in two seperate phases - perhaps Dynasty Mode will allow players to entertain offers, or choose not to sign immediately.

At the very least, you could re-sign your players in two "waves" - the first to re-sign major free agents, then perhaps have a period of making offers to other team's free agents. Then, another opportunity to re-sign your other free agents.

If that approach is to be adopted, then it would be best to make the contract length and size independent of each other - I hope it is that way anyway. That way, you could offer your own player a pay cut, which he could refuse or accept. You shouldn't have to go through to the next season to sign a player for the minimum deal because he was too expensive to be signed during the offseason.

And yes, Andrew the game balance should still be on the games, but there should be more depth regarding that too. Like streaks and player happiness, injuries etc.

I agree again. The gameplay is not a concern here - we're already told it's been improved over last year. If it plays a realistic game in Exhibition, it will play a realistic game in Dynasty Mode. My only fear is that the management aspect of the game will dominate Dynasty Mode, when much of the fun is still had playing the games with the team you put together, and there's plenty of basketball related issues to deal with.

This probably won't be the case, and I feel confident we'll get a nice mix of multi-season NBA action along with a detailed frontend management aspect. It's just that I can personally live without having to manage ticket prices and so forth, which I feel would be a pain if it were a major aspect of Dynasty Mode.

On a similar note, I'm hoping there won't be anything to unlock - I don't think sports sims should have any unlockable features - everything should be available and playable from the time you start the game. Unlockables are more suited to pro wrestling games and so forth, where unlocking those goodies is much quicker (and therefore easier).

[sleepz]

can EA make a system which can pronounce the name of created player? i am annoyed with the commentators keep saying number 10 gets the ball, no. 10 gets the rebound, no.10....no.10.......no....

[Nick]

That feature was in Live '03.

[s]

That feature was in Live '03.

huh

[nmje2k1]

i agree with andrew on the unlock part
it's something to do put in an arcade game but it shouldn't be in sport sims

[BIG GREEN]

The nba live series is intended to appeal to all sorts of gamers. Sim fans who want a complete sim of their favourate sport...and pick up gamer kids who just wanna try out some bball arcade fun. This is probably why they put these unlockables. Personally..i like things to play toward to...it adds a little value to the game.

[Andrew]

But Yohance, would you want to, say, play a Dynasty Mode game with the Boston Celtics/Los Angeles Lakers to unlock their classic team? A basketball game doesn't really have the same avenues to unlock features, as a pro wrestling game might (eg win a match, unlock new costumes or create-a-wrestler parts).

[BIG GREEN]

You're right ..mabe they could be more select about the unlockables. Keep it within the realm of celebrity players and other little arcade extras. The sim elements like classic teams should be opened from the start. Thats what i really meant to say from the beginning...cause the historic players being locked in live 2000 pissed me off....but i liked the idea of celebrities like in live 2003.

[Metsis]

I agree again. The gameplay is not a concern here - we're already told it's been improved over last year. If it plays a realistic game in Exhibition, it will play a realistic game in Dynasty Mode. My only fear is that the management aspect of the game will dominate Dynasty Mode, when much of the fun is still had playing the games with the team you put together, and there's plenty of basketball related issues to deal with.

The players still seem like numbers on paper... I'd really like to have some personality beihind the games. I'd really like to see extremely difficult guys to handle like Isiah Rider or Dennis Rodman to be like they really are. In games they play well and the players have always played like they play (sort of) and it is good already. But real players have real problems and some of those should be implemented to bring the players to life.

This probably won't be the case, and I feel confident we'll get a nice mix of multi-season NBA action along with a detailed frontend management aspect. It's just that I can personally live without having to manage ticket prices and so forth, which I feel would be a pain if it were a major aspect of Dynasty Mode.

I really hope that you won't have to manage ticket prices... I want detail, but there's a limit on that too. NBA games are usually sold out, if there's atleast one super-star in a team. And they have the crowd counts in Live 2003 already don't they? Atleast in NHL 2003. I think that the money system should be something like this: You get a kind of a budget in the beginning of the season, and you deduct the player salaries from it. Then you have the cash that is awailable for other things, like road trips, bonuses etc. Then there should in season bonuses for major awards or maybe a little bonus for monthly awards too. And getting a top 3 pic in the draft should also give a bonus, so that would picture the hype around a good prospect (take King James for example, Cleveland is already aiming for the playoffs). And that you should be able to offer mid-season contracts and change the value of the contract too.

Nothing too specific... Like cleaning the stadium and rent from the consession stand renters and income directly from tickets... That would just put too much concentration into the management side of the game.