Community Q&A: NBA 2K9

[TMagic]

Chase,

I know you had a short time with the game. But did you see any of those annoying dribbling animations still in the game where the ball handler just falls down on the floor, or the animations where the ball handler will just straight up lose the ball without the defender or yourself moving very little?

I "loathe" those animations as well. I've had those happen online consecutively with CP3. I'm talking 4 or 5 times in a row.

Thanks man.

[mitchellsayers360]

I know this is a basic question but was the game fun?

Did it feel like it had a good pace to it? Were there any wierd moments you had with the game that you'd hope would be fixed when it's released?

[blingballa333]

Good to see your back to answer more questions!

I have a new question, it may be broad but I just want to know exactly how you felt abouth this game so far.

1What were the 2 games you played (which teams played) and what difficulty setting did you play on?

2. What was your favorite moment from both games, describe?

3. And also, how fun was the game in general?

thanks again

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mr.Clutch_Knicks8

In 2k6, the leaners, were leaning to the right and left like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd56BSSDR1I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtuKM...eature=related Is it the same in 2k9?

Ha, those are pretty hot, I forgot all about them. Anyway, you bring up Pierce, and I did see him do a natural looking leaner at one point. I won't say yet that's it's like those where his momentum naturally takes him in the direction, but I think that's the idea the team was going for by adding in the natural leaner/faders -- which I believe ties into the philosophy of why mid-air changing of shots was brought back. How much they nail them I can't say yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by chance

Did they add the max passing from choops 2K8? And if so are you able to do this and off ball control???

If they added it, they didn't tell me about it.

Quote: Originally Posted by LanteriX

Not sure if this was asked yet or not, but... Have you noticed if there were more unforced-type turnovers. e.g.: Bad passes, throwing the ball out of bounds, lose the ball off the dribble, etc. as opposed to just interceptions and steals. Also, do 3 point shooting big men actually get looks from beyond the arc? Guys like 'Sheed, Dirk, Rashard Lewis, etc. didn't really get any plays run for them to spot up for 3s. edit: One more. How's the closing speed on the defensive players this year. You know how in years past defenders would cover ridiculous amounts of distance to block/contest shots. You know like, when you have a player out of the perimeter taking a jumper only to have a big come out from the post to contest it. Was quite absurd in years past really.

1. Too soon to say. With more focus on not allowing the bigs to do fancy dribbling moves, or be a liability when bringing the ball up the court, my guess is they'll be more sloppy off the dribble.

2. I had some looks with Sheed from deep during my one game. Also I spoke about the pick and pops/fades with Okur. Hopefully the player tendencies will make bigs go outside more. It was a pet peeve how Centers and PFs wouldn't spot up enough outside, almost had to force them out there.

3. I know exactly what you mean. I could still turbo run into a jump to close out pretty well. I didn't make any ridiculous swats that way, but you can still do that running leaping contest. Hopefully Yao doesn't have the same type of explosion out to contest as does Iverson, but can't say either way yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by dragonsruleme

When you were playing the Pistons, was Rip moving around alot off the ball?

He would come off screens a healthy amount yes. Is it more than other swingmen, don't know yet, but he was relatively active.

Quote: Originally Posted by tariqosuave

Any hints on when and if a demo is coming?

Nope. But it'd be nice if one was out as early as the one for NHL 2K9.

Quote: Originally Posted by blingballa333

Sorry thought you were ofline :P Some more questions.... 1. Were there any of those coach cutscenes were they would be wagging there finger at you or just standing there with arms crossed? 2. How do the coaches look graphically comapred to the players on the court, and how does Jerry Sloan look this year?

1. I don't really recall. I think one I saw the coach just had his arms crossed, but really can't say. I think I was too surprised that the coaches looked somewhat normal to notice what they were doing.

2. I'd say the Pistons coach was below the quality that the players were at, but not a huge disparity like in years past. I don't remember seeing Sloan really -- remember I wasn't looking too often during stoppages.

Quote: Originally Posted by NBA2k8 CHAMP

Couple more question thanks for answering the others. 1.When you score a basket do players get back on defense and set up fast enough instead of the offense throwing the ball to Lebron or Kobe for a quick dunk like in 2k8? 2.Inbounds passing has it been fixed to were players can't throw it to the half court all the time? 3.Also another inbounds question is it still cluttered to were the opponent can cheese and steal the ball on inbounds passes?

1. I didn't notice any quick inbounds leading to dunks the other way, but I wasn't really trying to push the ball after makes either. Have to wait until the online players get their hands on it to know really I'd think.

2. Oh you mean off makes? Didn't try to throw long inbounds after makes, I play a sim-style whenever possible.

3. I hope not, but once again I didn't really try any of that.

Quote: Originally Posted by supermati

Thanks for doing these, you rock dude. 1- How is the Post Defense? 2-Did you try Fadeaway from the post? If so, were they any different from last year's? 3-Was fastbreak passing more smooth? (I think one of the good things last gen live did well was passing on the break) 4-Do you know if the animation where the shooter draws the foul from 2k7 is back? 5-Seeing that you can't control (or we still don't know) bounce passes Do they happen on realistic situations? Thanks a big big bunch!

1. Spoke about this a bit already, if you can find it. Basically it's too early to tell, but I think the charge will be a more effective weapon this year at the very least.

2. I only recall doing one fadeaway from the post, which was with Rasheed. Would love to say it looked the same or different, but it's just not a good sample size.

3. It felt fine to me, but I know what you mean where the player would slow up to catch the ball and all that. Definitely want to play more first before declaring it much improved.

4. The pump, and then jump into the guy? Someone asked that earlier, I didn't see it while playing. I also think I said my best guess is it wouldn't be in since they just took it out, last year.

5. Also been touched on a bit. I'd love to say yes or no, but once again I don't want to come on here declaring so and so looks realistic after only a few games. I think that would be unfair to everyone, no?

Quote: Originally Posted by Con-Con

1) You said that bigs aren't gonna be able to bring the ball up no more. What about bigs like Lamar Odom or Marcus Camby who can go coast to coast with the ball? Will they do a better job at bringing the ball down the court?

I mean the dribbling attribute is still in tact, so I think it's more like the Chris Kamans and so forth of the world. I'll let you two dispute the merits of Camby's dribbling abilities though. Fight on.

Quote: Originally Posted by Greene_Flash03

2 things, How's the postgame this year? When is the demo coming out? Thanks Chase!

1. Which postgame? Like the post game during the game, or the like after the game post game? I've spoken about the post game on the court, so I'm going to assume you mean post game, once the game ends. It looks somewhat similar to last year in terms of there being signature highlights, top plays, and all that stuff. They've tightened it up a bit so you won't see 12 boards by a guy in the sig highlights for example. But I wasn't paying the closest of attention after the game ended for the reasons I've talked about before.

2. No word yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by fewrookies

1. When you do a pro hop or spin move using the triangle button (ps3) near the basket, can you dunk now? Because in 2k8, after a pro hop or spin move, you cannot dunk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUPMDtEUeJ0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn-tUXFAzDM 2. How is the shot stick? Is the dunks still categorized as flashy, power, reverse, and basic? 3. When using the shot stick to do a lay up in 2k8, it is useless most of the time because the animation is sole dictated by the situation. i.e where you are on the court and how your defender defend you. Can we now control whether we want to lay it up with our left hand or right hand? 4. Will the CPU opponent do pick n rolls much more? Will they shoot off of the dribble? 5. Will the CPU opponent now full court press you at the end of games? 6. Is there inbounce plays? 7. If a player is wide open in the perimeter, would an AI defender near the open man rushes to attempt to challenge his shot? If a defender will help out, would the open man rotate the ball to man whose defender just left him? 8. I know of the Pick n Roll control that Live promises to have, and I think that's really coo. Is 2k considering having anything like that? 9. I know this was asked in previous posts, but you have not had the chance to answer yet, so is there side leaning jump shots like in 2k6? You know, leaning to the left or the right. 10. Can you pump fake under the basket? You can't do that in 2k8. YOu can do it in practice mode, but when it comes to an actual game you will only do a layup. 11. 2k8, when you are wide open right under the basket, instead of going straight up for a layup the CPU will randomly choose some much more difficult layup animations that are unnecessary. Has it been fixed? 12. Has Vince Carter's shot been fixed? I don't you can answer it yet but what the heck. 13. How fast will a player run on the open break away? 14. When you pick n roll or when the CPU pick n roll, can you or will they slit defenders? Like Wade always does? 15. When you pick no roll or when the CPU pic no roll, will the defender always roll to the basket, or will a good shooting big men stay around the perimeter in hopes for an open shot? thanks

1. Didn't ask that specific question, and didn't see it performed during the games I played/watched.

2. Didn't ask about if the directions changed. I honestly haven't paid much attention to what each does in the past, I just would click whatever way I felt would best get me to the hoop when playing against opponents. So probably not the best person to ask about that in general.

3. Too early to tell.

4. Played humans.

5. See above.

6. Yes.

7. Played humans.

8. Player tendencies seem to be dictating how the guys will react during PnR when I was playing. But they did touch on more depth with the pick and roll, I just didn't have time to really dig into it.

9. Tried to talk about that above.

10. Apparently whether you can or can't is under review. I could pump under the rim in 2K8.

11. Played humans.

12. Didn't see the Nets in action.

13. I didn't see that super-speed-I'm-not-even-touching-the-turbo-and-I'm-flying-by-everyone animation at the very least. I said earlier, basically if you are in front of the pack on a fastbreak with a guard, you're not getting caught -- or that's what's being promised.

14. Played humans. I guess you mean split the defenders? You can split the double apparently, but I didn't see it really in my demo time.

15. Bigs will pick and pop if they can shoot it.

Quote: Originally Posted by STLRams

Thanks for answering our questions, I'm sure everyone on the forum is thankfull. 1. As far as player and team tendencies go - did you see or find out how they will be different or improved in 2K9 to have the players and team's play more like the real life teams? Basically did the 2K devs shed any information about this cause the Live 365 feature is a great way to have the players play like there real life counterparts, and I'm sure 2K has got to have something in there tendencies feature to go against this. fficeffice" />>> 2. Does the CPU offense seem less repetitive, in 2K8 you could pretty much guess what play or what the cpu was going to try to do 80% of the time and became to predective, I guess this question could be related to the 1st question as far as team tendencies. >> >> 3. Does your cpu teammates and playing against the cpu run the fastbreak more intelligently now? >> 4. Does the star players try to take over a game if say they are down by a large deficit or they are trying to put away a team early or late in the game? >> 5, As far as on the ball defensive, if guarding someone closely has 2K finally gotten rid of that push off animation that should be a foul when guarding the ball handler, its been there since 2K7. Basically how has the on the ball defense look and been improved for the defender and the ball handler? >> >6.When driving in the lane will your cpu controlled teammates move out of the way and give you room to drive? This was one of the most annoying things in NBA 2K8. You would either run into your teammates while driving, or because there in the way there defender would be right there. Even when the cpu drive against a user the cpu's teammates would get in its way. Please tell me this has been fixed in 2K9. > >> 7. When can we expect some more video's, previews, news, etc about 2K9 from 2K

Side note, what's with the smilies?

1. I'd say something similar has already been in 2K in year's past. I thought last year the CPU teams got it to their good players very consistently. But I mean the player tendencies and adaptive AI are big things for the 2K folks, so they definitely want to flesh out that type of stuff this year from what I gathered.

2. Played humans.

3. Humans.

4. Humans.

5. Spoke about my thoughts on-ball D a while back if you can find it. As for the specific animation, I don't know exactly the one you're talking about.

6. I'm going to have to plead ignorance here since I didn't feel like I ran into my own guys a lot last year. I spoke about how the spacing has changed in some posts though.

7. I know they at the very least want to have one more instance where they talk about the Association mode. Plus they have the online feature to reveal I believe. Plus when I asked whey there hasn't been much info to this point, all the 2K guys simply said that they've been working hard. The game is getting close to launch though, so obviously PR and everyone else involved will push for more media and so forth to get the hype rolling.

Quote: Originally Posted by thedude213

Q: 1) -Is the help defense better in 2k9? -Will players come over to help if there is a mismatch in the post (like a C posting up a SG or PG)? Cuz in 2k8 if your defender got beat, the post players rarely got over to spot the drive and many times a player would be on the block with a PG covering him and no one would step over to help. 2) -Are we going to see anymore windmills in traffic or unrealistic traffic dunks in general? This happened too often in 2k8, where players like Lebron or Amare would dunk on about 3 people play after play. 3) -Have the close range shots been fixed? Because I hated watching my C shooting a fadeaway from 2 ft when he should go up strong. Or when players have a clear lane to the hoop and they turn their back to the hoop and flip it over their head. Thanks A Lot EDIT: One more, On fastbreaks will the defenders pick up the ballhandler? Cuz in 2k8, a lot of times their would be a PG deep on defense and he would step out to cover his man leaving a wide open lane for the fastbreak dunk. and vice versa, will we see players cutting to the hoop on 2 on 1 breaks? Instead of stopping at the 3 point line.

1. Too early to tell.

Played humans, otherwise, so I'd think they'd still make you call for a double as a human, wouldn't just be automatic.

2. Hopefully not. I didn't notice anything too crazy in terms of contested dunks. Small sample size though.

3. Hard for me to say.

4. Played humans. But I did feed virtual AK on a 2-on-1 break as he went down the wing. He took the ball in and hammered on Rondo in a pretty realistic manner.

Quote: Originally Posted by exciter3093

Hi chase, Once again we all want to thank you for getting us the info and taking the time out from your day to do this for us. I have a few questions. 1. Does kobe among others have their own feature set such as dunks, layups, free throw routine that reflect them? 2. I noticed enhanced locomotion amongst the players during layups and dunks in the e3 video making them seem more realistic. DId you gather that impression about the animations while you were playing the game? 3. I noticed im the e3 video that player shoulders and bodies didnt look entirely accurate. Did you see any true variations in body types compared to nba 2k8? Thanks

1. I spoke about how Booz had his shot redone, and he has his own FT routine in now. They did add more FT routines in general for one. Also while this isn't Kobe specific -- any post player can do it, just maybe the shot won't go in as consistently -- Rob Jones did explain how Kobe's little post move would be in. Basically Kobe catches the ball, does a quick pump fake to one side, then goes up and under and kisses it off the glass.

2. Definitely. Talked about that a bit during earlier questions. Was overall impressed with how the players jostled and interacted with each other.

3. Can't say I noticed one way or the other. Eye of the beholder perhaps.

Quote: Originally Posted by KING2672

Are there more calls this year like palming,traveling?(movin off ur pivot) Can u do two handed blocks like Lebron? How many refs r there? When the ball is blocked does it go into the stands? Are the stat overlays better this year?

Not sure. Not sure. Not sure. Not sure. Didn't see any -- though like I said I could have missed them since I wasn't looking at the screen too often in between action. Were there even any stat overlays last year?

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by tmagic_01

Chase, I know you had a short time with the game. But did you see any of those annoying dribbling animations still in the game where the ball handler just falls down on the floor, or the animations where the ball handler will just straight up lose the ball without the defender or yourself moving very little? I "loathe" those animations as well. I've had those happen online consecutively with CP3. I'm talking 4 or 5 times in a row. Thanks man.

Yea I'm with you -- unless it's a big man falling over. Didn't see them during my play time.

Quote: Originally Posted by mitchellsayers360

I know this is a basic question but was the game fun? Did it feel like it had a good pace to it? Were there any wierd moments you had with the game that you'd hope would be fixed when it's released?

I mean it's 2K basketball, of course it was fun. The pace seemed to be a pinch slowed down, which I think is for the better, was too much racing at times last year.

Quote: Originally Posted by blingballa333

Good to see your back to answer more questions! I have a new question, it may be broad but I just want to know exactly how you felt abouth this game so far. 1What were the 2 games you played (which teams played) and what difficulty setting did you play on? 2. What was your favorite moment from both games, describe? 3. And also, how fun was the game in general? thanks again

1. I'm not going to say too much either way, how I'm feeling after only a few games because it would take more for me to get too hyped/down on a game after such little time. Generally, as I've said in the past when I have enough time with a game I am either wildly optimistic, essentially indifferent, or quite pessimistic. I can't say I can really be any of the three at this point. The game is in good hands though, and I didn't see anything that worried me greatly or anything like that gameplay-wise. And yes I do wish I was playing the game right now so that at least says something -- taking into consideration I played on 150 different days when it comes to NBA 2K8 though I'm maybe not the best gauge haha.

2. Pistons vs. Celtics and Jazz vs. Celtics. Not sure about the difficulty setting.

3. I think I've talked about them before. Rip's contested layup in the lane where he made the shot then fell over and did a reverse somersault. Then the 2-on-1 break where Deron fed the ball to AK, and AK did a one-hand jam on Rondo's mug.

4. It's still 2K basketball. Did you have fun with old versions? Then shouldn't it be safe to say this one will be fun too? I mean they aren't trying to reinvent the wheel or anything, they know their core game is solid, they just are refining and tweaking, it's not like a rebuild-type series right now. People would agree there in general that the game doesn't need to be overhauled? I mean I hate to say this in previews, but I'll at least say it here on a message board, even though it shouldn't need to be said: "If you're a fan of 2K basketball, then you should be looking forward to this game."

[exciter3093]

Chase

Thanks for answering my last questions. I have a few more if you could answer them it would be really appreciatedl.

1. You said that bigs will be a liability bringing the ball up the court. Is there a visual difference in running between a big running the ball up the court and a guard?

2.You mentioned that the graphics are leaps and bounds ahead of nba 2k8, other than faces what else did you notice that made you say wow!

3. You also mentioned the jostling on the perimeter between the offensive player and the defender. When you initiate iso motion is it similiar to the jostiling in nba live this year, where the 2 man mocap makes isomotion look more organic?

[BDM313]

thanks alot for answering my questions chase takin the time to give us the scoop

[cro_2pac]

Are there player intros and if are there how they look?

[Ruff Ryder]

I know isomotion has been asked about before but did it feel tweaked at all to you? Or did they mention anything about tweaking it? And do you know anything about size-up moves (like when you just tap the trigger and it takes you into a sort of canned freestyle dribble animation)? It was cool at first but I found it increasingly useless, especially since we had no control over the moves.

[dragonsruleme]

Does Kobe's arm band stop at the elbow or is it just like last years where it would go near the arm pit?

Have the faces of Deron Williams and Andrei Kirilenko been improved? They were both pretty bad in 2K8.

You probably won't know this but I'll ask anyway. Is the three point rating still more important to mid range shooting than the mid range shot rating?

I'll give an example incase you don't know what I mean. I had James Posey 3pt as 84 and hid mid range at 66 and he could hit shots from mid range with regualrity. I had Andre Miller mid range shot rating at 87 and 3pt shot at 60 and he could not hit a shot from anywehere on the floor.

And to be sure it wasn't the sig shot timing, I gave them both the same shot and I got the same result.