|
NBA 2K8 Conference Call Report |
|
|
|
Mike Wang says that great strides have been made in game AI – particularly in how each team plays to a certain style so playing against a team like the Spurs will feel a lot different than when playing the Suns or Mavs.
The AI also looks for mismatches, learns your play style, and each game should feel like a different experience. If this is true, this will make 2K8 a great, great game because predictable AI is a sports game killer.
Rob Jones continued the AI stuff by saying that the team wanted to focus a lot of tendencies. The entire Play System was rewritten and the Perception AI is 100% new. Jones even gave an example, “LeBron gets 30 on me, but it’s sometimes a quiet 30 because he gets everyone else on the Cavs involved.” What he means by that is that the team tried very hard to get the players and teams to behave, at least as much as possible, like the real NBA players. Again, if they can pull that off—it will make a lot of NBA gamers happy.
The Association
Quite a bit of attention has been given to the Association Mode (2K’s term for franchise play). Here are the highlights:
Player roles now play a huge factor. If a player considers himself a starter and he isn’t on the floor at tip-off, he’s not going to be happy. In this same sense, it will be terribly difficult to keep a happy team that is full of star players. There’s only one ball on the court and some players just don’t wan to share it. (Hello Boston!) Unhappy players can be devastating to team morale as well as ratings. A player with low morale may even jog on a fast break rather than give full effort.
Roles range from: Starter, 6th man, Role-Player, Prospects, and Bench Warmers and every player is assigned one.
The Free Agency model is similar to NHL 2K8 in that there is now a bidding war and you will no longer have first crack at the best players. Contracts are now deeper in their scope, as well. These are crucial addition for franchise players.
The new Hoopcast system is basically a way to “coach” from the sidelines while games simulate, which could be a nice feature for those that do not want to play every single game but want more control than just simming them.
Player aging should also be moiré realistic as older players start to slow down during the season and you should see a significant drop off when a player “hits the wall” so to speak.
We’ll find out soon enough if NBA 2K8 can live up to its name because while this series has clearly been the best NBA game for several years now, EA Sports has made strides with its NBA Live franchise. Both games hit retail stores as early as tomorrow—or earlier if you can find the stores (ahem…GameStop...) that have already broken the street date.
|
Jamie is, in fact, cryin'.
THQ's beat 'em up platformer offers youngsters fun gameplay wrapped in a great presentation.
A fun, albeit short romp with plenty of laughs and mutant mayhem
If you spend a significant amount of time with this title, you need to get a life. Or a better basketball game.
Epic's game engine technology gets stereoscopic 3D gaming technology.
Activision's super hero title dominates the rest at retail.
Next Generation Optical Sensor Delivers 1:1 Tracking Precision and Zero Acceleration
Special cross-platform event planned for next week as well.
Ultimate Alliance 2 is a sequel to get excited about and we get a hands on look at some of the new fusion powers.
Is this the rare movie tie in game that is actually...worth playing?
A closer look at Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy VII: Dirge Of Cerberus and Final Fantasy III's North American debut.
Superman, Flash, Batman and the rest of the JL return for a videogame adventure.
|
