Community Q&A: NBA 2K9

[Bornindamecca]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

The size up move is particularly effective when you have a mismatch with a big defending a guard. Just like the triple threat, the size up creates a situation where you both are standing completely still, and you have an explosive first step and/or change of direction to use against the slower defender. I agree that it needs to be tweaked so you can branch out of it, to take away the canned feeling, but it isn't useless.

[DaWolf]

Was it possoble to drive to the lane kick the ball out to the open man and get an actual OPEN shot? I mean in 2k8 you ALWAYS get a hand in your face because defenders recover too quickly.

thx

[younggrease]

thanks a bunch for answering all these questions...Im just gonna throw one more out. How did the game look compared to the footage from the foreign website that leaked a couple weeks earlier?

[Ruff Ryder]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bornindamecca

The size up move is particularly effective when you have a mismatch with a big defending a guard. Just like the triple threat, the size up creates a situation where you both are standing completely still, and you have an explosive first step and/or change of direction to use against the slower defender. I agree that it needs to be tweaked so you can branch out of it, to take away the canned feeling, but it isn't useless.

Well compared to 2k7 I didn't find it as useful. In 2k7 you could move the analog and it would take you directly into a drive animation out of it but now in 2k8 that seems to be really toned down. I actually find isomotion/size up not very good in breaking down defenders off the dribble due to the fact that you can't beat them before you drive. It usually takes a series of crossovers that take you from your spot on the perimeter to the basket, but you can't just break someone down in place and then blow by them to the basket with a series of moves and headfakes.

[IVODEM25]

I know you said that you didn't get a lot of time with the game and that some things require more time, But did the Mid-Range game seem more effective to you in the time you played?

Mid-Range was not really a factor in 2k8 mainly because of the floor spacing...

Thanks in advance...

[Kaanyr Vhok]

I dont have the time to read the entire thread. I tried lol. Was there any talk about shot blocking controls or doing something with the useless rightstick on defense?

[chance]

Did they bring back the dunks from 2K6 and 2K7 on the rightstick where as down = reverse, left = fancy, right = power and up = basic at all times?

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by 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?

1. I couldn't say. My guess is they won't look too different, just will be prone to getting plucked easily.

2. Crowds, coaches, textures, lighting, sweat -- all look a lot better. This is the end of the plastic men era in 2K hoops.

3. I couldn't say for sure yet since I've had a ton more Live hands-on time than 2K9 hands-on time. The one issue I had with 2K8 was getting stuck in animations. Live's feels pretty good this year, but runs into a 2K trap a bit in terms of being stuck in animations. It makes it look better, but in both cases you have to lose some user control. 2K9 didn't feel like 2K8 in terms of jostling exactly, but I can't say if it's really improved much or not yet.

Quote: Originally Posted by cro_2pac

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

Like I said before I didn't really pay attention much at start of game, so they could be there, but I didn't see them. The new thing they had was the fact that a real player's highlights were shown when the game was loading, with some guy talking about said player. It was Deron and Billups in my two games.

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

It felt tweaked to me since I didn't do all the same moves I could do last year when I was messing with the sticks. Could just be rust in terms of not doing all the moves, but either way it did feel different. I kind of talked about it before where it seemed like I couldn't just chain move after move together as easily. I know all about size-up moves but I didn't really mess with the LT during my time, except when posting up.

Quote: Originally Posted by 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.

1. Are you serious?

2. Yes. Deron doesn't look like a pasty-faced ogar anymore. AK looked different too, but he's probably one of the harder guys to do in basketball because he's so damn pointy. I wanted to see how the hair was looking on some of the players -- and in general 2K struggles with the white players -- but I didn't really get any close-ups of someone like Korver to see.

3. You got me. I didn't know that was the issue last year though.

Quote: Originally Posted by DaWolf

Was it possoble to drive to the lane kick the ball out to the open man and get an actual OPEN shot? I mean in 2k8 you ALWAYS get a hand in your face because defenders recover too quickly. thx

I'd love to say yes or no, but I was playing humans. And also it wouldn't be fair for me to judge it yet in that department. Hopefully with touch passing implemented you'll be able to swing the ball more rapidly and hit the man for open jumpers around the perimeter. As for kicking and driving, only time will tell. I'd love to have a few more open shots against the AI though -- I did have pretty good success getting them against human players last year though.

Quote: Originally Posted by younggrease

thanks a bunch for answering all these questions...Im just gonna throw one more out. How did the game look compared to the footage from the foreign website that leaked a couple weeks earlier?

I'd say if you saw the "HD version," somewhat similar. The video doesn't quite do it justice because the video out there isn't true HD since it wasn't directly captured footage. You've seen some of the new images, and that new video though right? I mean there you go.

Quote: Originally Posted by IVODEM25

I know you said that you didn't get a lot of time with the game and that some things require more time, But did the Mid-Range game seem more effective to you in the time you played? Mid-Range was not really a factor in 2k8 mainly because of the floor spacing... Thanks in advance...

I banged open some mid-range shots when Rip came off some screens and I would dish it to him -- he was good at them last year though. Also I was hitting the mid-range with Booz when I would give KG a little jab step and so forth which I couldn't do much last year. Spacing felt improved, but like I said, I couldn't figure out if it was because the teams auto-run sets now, the players were a bit smaller, or the court was a bit bigger.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kaanyr Vhok

I dont have the time to read the entire thread. I tried lol. Was there any talk about shot blocking controls or doing something with the useless rightstick on defense?

There are more blocking animations in this year, so swats from behind for example should look more natural. With charges back in now, maybe the right stick will now be helpful to slide your feet again?

[kenzil]

when you say 'live footage of players being discussed during pregame'...is it real life NBA player highlights of player or NBA 2k8 player footage of the player (deron williams and Chauncey Billups were the ones you said you saw)?