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It’s Friday once again here at the NLSC, so welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! If this is your first time reading The Friday Five and are wondering what it’s all about, this is a feature that I post every Friday in which I pick a topic that’s related to basketball video games, the real NBA or another area of interest to our community, then either give my thoughts on the matter as a list of five items or count down a Top 5.
It’s been a rough few years for NBA Live to say the least, but its appearance at E3 2013 seems to have renewed interest and optimism in the series, with several of the hands-on impressions being quite positive and suggesting a lot of promise. I for one am certainly interested in seeing the series make a strong comeback, so this week I’ve decided to talk about the five reasons why I want to see NBA Live succeed.
1. It’s the series that I grew up playing
I feel I should put this one out there first and get it out of the way. I grew up playing NBA Live and have had a lot of fun with various games in the series over the years, through all the ups and downs. So yes, one of the reasons why I want to see NBA Live succeed and be able to make a strong comeback with NBA Live 14 is largely sentimental.
Of course, that might be difficult for some gamers to appreciate or relate to and I certainly understand. If you’ve mostly played NBA 2K growing up or have been burned one too many times by NBA Live or Electronic Arts in general, you may well question why I still have interest in the brand or an inclination to support it. It’s a fair question; NBA Live has become something of a punch line to sports gamers, a reputation it has unfortunately brought upon itself through its recent shortcomings.
However, during its high points, NBA Live has done some things that I’ve really liked and I have good memories of playing various games in the series. As such, I’d like to have a new NBA Live game that takes some of those concepts that worked and updates and innovates upon them, while also introducing new ideas that result in a product that can give me a satisfying virtual basketball fix.
2. As great as the NBA 2K games are, I’m not completely satisfied
When NBA Live is brought up, there is a vocal contingent of basketball gamers that opine that it “should just go away” or that “EA should just give up”. It’s one of those declarations that you see all over the Internet, in response to just about anything. It’s a sentiment that I dislike, because it subscribes to the notion that just because something isn’t up to someone’s standards or of interest to them, it doesn’t deserve to exist and the person (or people) responsible should stop trying to create.
At its core though, I do understand where the sentiment is coming from. While NBA Live has not only fallen short of expectations but also flat out failed to come out these past few years, the NBA 2K series has, in contrast, delivered the goods. However, at the same time gamers are stating that there’s no need for NBA Live, other gamers are claiming that NBA 2K is getting worse every year and complaining about several prominent issues.
I would personally disagree with that assessment as NBA 2K11, NBA 2K12 and NBA 2K13 are three of my all-time favourite basketball games. They aren’t perfect though and there are certain aspects of the games that I feel 2K aren’t doing well, or in a way that appeals to me. If NBA 2K were closer to delivering a completely satisfying experience, I might be inclined to think that there’s not much room for another sim-oriented title (though that still doesn’t mean that no one else should give it a shot). However, there is room and a market for a game that does certain things better – or at least differently – to NBA 2K, which is where NBA Live has an opportunity to distinguish itself and find success.
3. Competition is good for both companies, not to mention us gamers
Now, having said that, I’ve definitely become a fan of the NBA 2K series in recent years and don’t want to see it go anywhere. Frankly, I don’t want to see either franchise crush the other to the point where they’re the only game in town. I want to see both NBA Live and NBA 2K doing well, giving gamers are viable choice or even two games to play, if both have their own can’t-miss feature.
It’s been said by so many people, so many times before, but competition can only be a good thing for everyone here. It not only benefits the developers, it’s good for us as consumers as well. Competition means that both games need to improve and innovate, doing the same basic things well while also finding a way to be different. If NBA Live is successful, 2K can’t get complacent or take its fanbase for granted. As long as NBA 2K is doing its thing, the same goes for EA. If NBA Live succeeds, then we’ve got that competition.
4. Some dedicated and enthusiastic folks are working on the series
With all of NBA Live’s troubles, its development teams have become an easy target for scorn and ridicule. It’s not uncommon to see accusations of laziness, incompetence or a complete lack of basketball knowledge being hurled at the producers. “Why don’t they hire people who know something about basketball?” gamers may sneer.
Such accusations are wide of the mark, however. NBA Live’s development teams are comprised of people that are passionate about basketball and in some instances, have actually played the game at the collegiate and professional level. They want to put out a great game that they can be proud of, so they’re not about to lie around and goof off for the duration of a development cycle. We’ve also seen them bring in NBA players and work closely with them, so that their insight can add to the authenticity.
Unfortunately, there are other factors that have contributed to NBA Live’s struggles, ranging from problems with direction to the readiness of the technology. Executive producer Sean O’Brien spoke rather candidly about some of those issues in this interview with GamesIndustry. Bottom line, I’d like to see the hard work of some dedicated and enthusiastic individuals pay off at long last. After all, I’d suggest that we’ve all had a project that’s proven difficult or not turned out as well as we would’ve liked, at one time or another.
5. It feels like there’s so much potential for success
In addition to the aforementioned group of enthusiastic developers, NBA Live has had some good things going for it. It seems like they’ve got some good tech at their disposal, with the ability to draw upon resources from other EA titles. They’ve got a partnership with Synergy Sports, which has a lot of potential in terms of Player AI and they’ve only just scratched the surface of that in NBA Live 09 and NBA Live 10. Their partnership with ESPN facilitates true-to-life, TV-style presentation.
Unfortunately, it just hasn’t all come together for the game…yet. The tech hasn’t been quite ready or polished enough. Development teams haven’t had enough time to do what needs to be done, especially with repeated changes in direction and focus. Certain concepts haven’t panned out as well as everyone would have hoped.
Moving forward, I’m hoping that NBA Live 14 is where the game finally gets it together and comes back strong. NBA Live 13 proved to be a false start in that regard, but once again the impressions coming out of E3 2013 have been quite positive and promising. There’s still a long way to go, with much to be revealed about the game and without a doubt, it has a lot to prove. While it’s obviously unrealistic to expect that the game can achieve all of its goals in NBA Live 14, I’m looking forward to seeing what can be done, hoping that there’s more good news on the way and renewed success for the franchise on the horizon.
That’s going to do it for this week’s Friday Five. As always, I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below, as well as take the discussion to the NLSC Forum. As the 2013 NBA season draws to a close and the NBA video game preview season begins to gain steam, I’ll probably be sticking to video game related topics in the near future, in particular NBA Live 14 and NBA 2K14. Thanks for checking in this week, please join me again next Friday for another Five.
Remember the story of the great, glorious Oklahoma City? They were underdogs-turned-conquerors. They were title contenders. Champions in their territory. They had that young core that kept them alive. Fast forward to today: one man was traded, another was injured, and the one left had given his all. Others couldn’t help but take advantage of the situation. It was a slow and painful battle, and sadly, after all that they’ve been through, they couldn’t make it. The team was eliminated.
Now, they’re hoping to use what is left of them to bounce back and try to claim what they have set their eyes on, using time, money, young talent, and a spell of recovery and adaptability. Who knows what more surprises they’re hiding? They’ve only revealed so little. After all that has happened, though, it is only a matter of time before we know this organization’s fate for the years to come.
And that, my friends, is the story of NBA Live.
That’s a creative comparison, but the Thunder were still an elite team this season that simply ran into some bad luck in the postseason when one of their stars went down with injury. I think a more apt comparison for NBA Live would be a rebuilding team, one that’s had some stalled attempts and misfortune with Draft busts and a couple of bad moves here and there. Think the Chicago Bulls from 1999-2004. 😉
That’s great, too, but OKC still deserves that honorable mention. 😉 I’m gonna quote you, sir. They “were still an elite team this season that simply ran into some bad luck.” Pretty much the same story concerning both the Thunder and the NBA Live franchise. 🙂
point 3 is the main on for me, I want competition so both games “must” get better and offer quality support to get/keep their fan base.
True the last NBA live games were awful, they got rolfstomped by 2K….NBA 2K10 an 2K11 were awesome games, the nails on the coffin to EA…but what happened after that 2K12 was more of the same…hell even with more bugs…and 2K13 while better than 2K12 also has ton of bugs never solved and marked the point where 2K said “we just don’t care about PC players”.
I want other options, so when a company tells me “sorry PC version is gonna launch with half the features consoles gets…ooh and forget about support”…I can tell them “guess what? I’m taking my money somewhere else”
Exactly. I don’t play Madden but from the comments I’ve seen, gamers who do play that series can cite several problems with there only being one game to choose from every year. There was a time that Madden was held up as one of the best sports games out there, but since the exclusive agreement, that’s a far less common opinion.
NBA Live and EA are on my banned list. I am still bitter at their treatment of PC gaming and the botches that were their unreleased games (and the lack of communication).
I have fond memories of the series for a couple of years (Live 2000 being the main one). But other than that I have been continually disappointed by anything NBA Live and mostly EA. I don’t see myself buying any EA basketball game unless it is NCAA.
That’s fair enough. I think a lot of people feel that way and it’s understandable. I’ve been disappointed by the game and miffed not to see a PC release, though as far as the latter is concerned it’s an unfortunate business decision that comes with the territory of PC sports gaming being a niche market, especially when it comes to basketball. It’s not like it was a decision made out of spite.
As for their cancelled games, that certainly doesn’t inspire trust but I couldn’t say I’m bitter about it. It sounds like there were a lot of problems working against people who were trying to do their best and it never came together. Still, it definitely breeds scepticism.
It is fortunate that 2K has stepped in and given us an NBA game on PC these past few years, though I still feel it’s important to note that they wouldn’t touch the PC platform until EA pulled out of it. Likewise, their support for NBA 2K13 has been severely lacking and leaves much to be desired. It’s absolutely better than no PC release at all, of course, but “better than nothing” still isn’t that much of a ringing endorsement when it comes to their support for the platform.