NBA 2K9 (Hands-Off) First Look

[ChaseB]

How much can you truly write about after watching a one-minute trailer, and a single two-minute quarter demo? Well not much really. But I know OS (and most people in general) love NBA 2K and so I can at least provide a few 2K9 crumbs for now.

Mark Thomas, VP of sports development at Visual Concepts, basically said that this year he wants consumers to be blown away by the NBA 2K experience from start to finish. What that means? Who knows -- it was a very coy remark to make after all.

What I did notice during my time watching the two-minute demo though was that the graphics look even better, and are locked in at a solid 60 frames per second. Kevin Garnett was on the free-throw line at one point (the demo was Lakers vs. Celtics at the Staples Center) and he looked simply incredible. Overall it just seems like that added layer of polish has been added to the graphics, removing the somewhat plastic-textured skin of the last few years.

Also the announcing team will be getting revamped, as now Clark Kellogg, who does a lot of college basketball coverage on CBS, will be taking over for Kenny "The Jet" Smith on color commentary.

Finally at the end of the quarter, I did see a new presentation element: After the end-of-quarter whistle, some of the best highlights from the quarter played automatically. The highlights were shown from a cinematic camera view, and there was an orchestral-type score playing over the highlights. Now the two-minute demo didn't have too many eventful moments so the highlights were ho-hum; but, if the game is actually able to recognize the best moments from a quarter and play them on screen after a quarter, that's a fantastic new presentation element.

Biggest Positive: Doesn't seem like Visual Concepts is messing with something that isn't broken.

Biggest Negative: I didn't get to play the game.

Biggest Question: The gameplay in NBA 2K8 was already rock solid, but will there be a new mode this year, or will the Association Mode at least be refined and improved?

[bateman11]

Sucks that was all the time you got to spend on arguably the most anticipated sports game of the year.

I donno though. 2K needs to do something, because I got bored with 2K8 after about 2 months, so it could be even less than that with 2K9. Just get tired of seeing the same missed layups inside, horrible pick and rolls, CPU's ability to make crazy passes, and retarded lock on controls.

[Jano]

Did you notice any changes to the way players animated? Like new animations or at least some interesting looking ones.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jano

Did you notice any changes to the way players animated? Like new animations or at least some interesting looking ones.

During the trailer I definitely recognized more animations than I didn't. There was one nice help side block animation that I saw that was new though.

[Jano]

hmm this must be early build so I guess we'll have to wait for the next preview to be able to tell where the game has been improved.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jano

hmm this must be early build so I guess we'll have to wait for the next preview to be able to tell where the game has improved.

Yea wait a few more weeks and you'll have your wish i think.

[sleezy101]

Hopefully we can get a trailer and some more info 2morro!!!

[ifriedrice]

Thanks for the info Chase. I'm excited to see what you're talking about.

Any chance you can take a digital camera to the 2K conference and booth and show us?

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by ifriedrice

Thanks for the info Chase. I'm excited to see what you're talking about. Any chance you can take a digital camera to the 2K conference and booth and show us?

I'll try to snap some pics during the conference tomorrow -- assuming they show anything sports-related -- but you'd probably be better off just waiting for the high quality video feeds that some other sites will be spitting out if that happens.

[Fabric]

Not much information to go on but thanks anyway, Chase. I think the highlight was probably that Clark Kellogg will be the new commentator. A HUGE update over the Jet IMHO