Hi from a SCEA team member

[xMotherx]

Hey guys I worked on the online code for SCEA NBA '08. How is it holding up generally speaking?

I thought it would be a good idea to talk to people and see how it's going out there and be honest about who I am and why I am here. Honestly I want to improve our game and although all I have any say on is on-line, I'll do what I can to help.

I talked to my buddy Kolbe over on MLB The Show, and he told me about this forum (Operation Sports) and that it's actually a good place free from the bias of most of the sites that are hosted by the same company that makes a product.

I should also mention I'm not here on official business, in other words, I'm not being paid to come in here and tell you how great our game is. I'm here because I think that game has flaws, I want to help my team priortize those flaws to get them fixed, and generally speaking I want the game to be better. I don't think that can happen without talking to the people that play these games. So as such I can't give official responses, but I will try to give you the best answer I can on stuff.

Anyway, I hope to have enough time to dedicate to coming in and seeing how things are going from time to time, if you have any q's otherwise I'll try to do my best to get you answers.

[GearsX8]

Quote: Originally Posted by xMotherx

Hey guys I worked on the online code for SCEA NBA '08. How is it holding up generally speaking? I thought it would be a good idea to talk to people and see how it's going out there and be honest about who I am and why I am here. Honestly I want to improve our game and although all I have any say on is on-line, I'll do what I can to help. I talked to my buddy Kolbe over on MLB The Show, and he told me about this forum (Operation Sports) and that it's actually a good place free from the bias of most of the sites that are hosted by the same company that makes a product. I should also mention I'm not here on official business, in other words, I'm not being paid to come in here and tell you how great our game is. I'm here because I think that game has flaws, I want to help my team priortize those flaws to get them fixed, and generally speaking I want the game to be better. I don't think that can happen without talking to the people that play these games. So as such I can't give official responses, but I will try to give you the best answer I can on stuff. Anyway, I hope to have enough time to dedicate to coming in and seeing how things are going from time to time, if you have any q's otherwise I'll try to do my best to get you answers.

Great to see another SCEA developer here on OS and welcome. I really didn't touch online mode, but if there is anything I could say about the rest of the game I would like to offer some opinions.

[xMotherx]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jigsaw

Great to see another SCEA developer here on OS and welcome. I really didn't touch online mode, but if there is anything I could say about the rest of the game I would like to offer some opinions.

please do I've been reading through all the posts already but I'll do my best to pass on as much info as I can get my hands on.

[Altimus]

Welcome to OS and as Jigsaw said, its always nice to have more developers here.

I actually haven't touched the online mode either but I have some opinions to share of my own.

I believe this game has some solid ground work to be a good game, but it needs work in a lot of areas.

Presentation:

I love the TNT license, however the commentary seems bland and forced. Doesn't really flow with the game.

Gameplay:

One thing I really like is the shot meter. I think you guys nailed that perfectly as there wasn't a time that I thought, boy its too easy to get a green shot off or where I found it impossible to get a green shot. Perfect setting.

Passing is too out of control in this game. When I make a long pass with Chris Paul undefended from behind half court to around the three point the ball shouldn't go wide left and hit the ground. The stealing just feels scripted and forced in this game as well because of the lack of passing. When there is a bad pass, the offensive player will just watch the ball go straight to the defender instead of acting on it and battling the defender for the ball.

Driving to the basket is non-existent in this game. It just doesn't happen for me. The cross overs seem ineffective and the AI will always stay in front of you and not let you get to the rim. This is welcome but in this case it is way too hard. On the other end the AI has no problem getting to the rim and it seems like that is all they do at times. The AI doesn't setup or run too many plays and work the ball for the open man. The AI logic never changes either, or I haven't seen it. When up 10 or so with minimal time the AI should work the clock but they shoot with 15 seconds or so on the shot clock. And sometimes when down 10 with minimal time the offense doesn't run quick plays. At times the PG will just stand and dribble and waste time. It just seems random.

Defense. The defense in this game doesn't feel right. The animations are pretty bad too along with the player movements on defense.

I'm going to play a little more before I comment and get into deep but that is all I can think of currently at work.

EDIT:

One quick thing I would like to comment on is the modes.

The mode where you can play games that took place last year, and good games that took place this year is really neat. But is it enough to bring people back to the game? I don't think so. Its a nice mode to play on the side if you were running a franchise or Life but both those are absent again this year from 08. Any reason why?

Also, the trade logic must be worked on. There is yet a game I have seen with good trade logic but this game crosses the line with some trades that I have seen.

[Court_vision]

To put it bluntly, your game is terrible.

Why? Because it doesn't represent anything well at the moment.

As a SIM type game...it's laughably bad.

As an ARCADE type game...it's just not a lot of fun.

Make your minds up as to what you want to do...Sim or Arcade...and go for that type of game 100%.

At the moment, you're caught in no mans land. A terrible sim and a boring arcade game.

[muggins]

Quote: Originally Posted by Court_vision

To put it bluntly, your game is terrible. Why? Because it doesn't represent anything well at the moment. As a SIM type game...it's laughably bad. As an ARCADE type game...it's just not a lot of fun. Make your minds up as to what you want to do...Sim or Arcade...and go for that type of game 100%. At the moment, you're caught in no mans land. A terrible sim and a boring arcade game.

You should probably offer some constructive criticism instead of blanket statements.

[Behindshadows]

I respect court visions opinion. coming from a company who's system is exclusive, this game is leagues behind the competition. and he is right the game is terrible. I was a big fan of the shootout series. But once they went life mode, it went downhill.

With this being a Sony game for a Sony system. Expectations are a lot higher! 1080p or not Graphics are a joke, gameplay is rediculous at times. The A.I. is on the short bus, I mean retarded. And nothing about this game, says Next-Gen.

You guys really need to focus on what the NBA really is, and bring that too us. Bring back what made the Shootout series good.

And you guys are on Blu Ray now, no reason this game shouldn't have a stellar TNT broadcast Presentation and all the authentic stadiums, better motion capture, and improved if not the best Graphic player models......But it doesn't....it looks and plays like a lack of effort...

You asked about online and I'm sorry I didn't throw my emphasis on that earlier in the post, but I had to get that off my chest.

But buddy, this game plays so bad and the A.I. is so bad on cpu controlled players....no matter what tweaks you do to online....Its not worth playing.......sorry that couldn't be more help...but fix offline first, and hopefully we or should I say I would have a better way of telling how to improve online...for now, this game is getting traded back real soon....I hope NBA 09, turns into NBA Shootout 09 and returns with a better overall game...

Just my 2 pennies!

[Court_vision]

Quote: Originally Posted by mugginns

You should probably offer some constructive criticism instead of blanket statements.

My comments are constructive. This game has no identity.

No one who wants a fun game will buy it...they have NBA street.

No one who wants a semi sim / fun game will buy it...they have NBA Live.

No one who wants a sim will buy it...they have NBA 2K8.

This game tries to cover all three markets...and ends up failing miserably in all three.

They need to focus on one type of game and succeed doing that. Look at The Show...it's succeeded by trying to be realistic/ SIM.

[Dice]

Quote: Originally Posted by Behindshadows2

I respect court visions opinion. coming from a company who's system is exclusive, this game is leagues behind the competition. and he is right the game is terrible. I was a big fan of the shootout series. But once they went life mode, it went downhill. With this being a Sony game for a Sony system. Expectations are a lot higher! 1080p or not Graphics are a joke, gameplay is rediculous at times. The A.I. is on the short bus, I mean retarded. And nothing about this game, says Next-Gen. You guys really need to focus on what the NBA really is, and bring that too us. Bring back what made the Shootout series good. And you guys are on Blu Ray now, no reason this game shouldn't have a stellar TNT broadcast Presentation and all the authentic stadiums, better motion capture, and improved if not the best Graphic player models......But it doesn't....it looks and plays like a lack of effort... You asked about online and I'm sorry I didn't throw my emphasis on that earlier in the post, but I had to get that off my chest. But buddy, this game plays so bad and the A.I. is so bad on cpu controlled players....no matter what tweaks you do to online....Its not worth playing.......sorry that couldn't be more help...but fix offline first, and hopefully we or should I say I would have a better way of telling how to improve online...for now, this game is getting traded back real soon....I hope NBA 09, turns into NBA Shootout 09 and returns with a better overall game... Just my 2 pennies!

Would any of you guys offer some constructive criticism? If you say the game is bad then that's fine BUT I'm pretty sure the developer needs detailed info. Not just statements saying, "this game plays so bad and the A.I. is so bad on cpu controlled players". They need examples on how bad is it. Do the players not move to the right spots on a certain play? Do non-3pt shooters take too many threes? Do small 3pt shooting guards try to post against a center? They need specifics.

I'm not in the position to say that this game is good or bad because I've never played the game but for these guys who's bashing the game: Have any of you guys played this game? When I play a bad game I normally give specifics on why it's bad. Not just the game is bad period.

I admire the fact that developers are now coming to this board asking questions on how they could improve their games. BUT let's help them out. I'd love for this game to be on par with the 2K series because competition is a good thing. Especially for the consumers.

[muggins]

Quote: Originally Posted by Court_vision

My comments are constructive. This game has no identity. No one who wants a fun game will buy it...they have NBA street. No one who wants a semi sim / fun game will buy it...they have NBA Live. No one who wants a sim will buy it...they have NBA 2K8. This game tries to cover all three markets...and ends up failing miserably in all three. They need to focus on one type of game and succeed doing that. Look at The Show...it's succeeded by trying to be realistic/ SIM.

None of that is constructive, and none of it actually provides real feedback.