DLG - NBA Live 13's Screenshot's Don't Look Great... And Her

http://dlgnow.com/livewire/nba-live-13s ... matter/285

After much speculation we're finally seeing the first NBA Live 13 screen shots start to trickle out.... And to no one's surprise (or at least not to mine), they look an awful lot like NBA Elite/NBA Live. I also had the chance to actually see a pre-alpha version of the game in motion behind closed doors last night at EA's Pre-E3 Event and I have to say, in its pre-alpha state the game moves a bit like it's predecessors too.

Take from that what you will, but any savvy gamer could have seen this coming and I wrote as much in a previous article titled NBA Elive 13. Once news broke that the Live team actually didn't have an extra year to develop and was looking to "re-use" many of the same graphical elements from NBA Elite/NBA Live the red flags started to raise. If you're a trained ninja at reading between the lines like I am, this obviously meant that NBA Live 13 was on track to look eerily similar to NBA Elite on the surface. However, at the end of the day, graphics really don't matter at this point, and I'm about to tell you why.

From day one you had to know in your heart of hearts that NBA Live was gonna have one hell of an uphill battle on their hands, and these first screenshot's display that clearly. No matter how many steps are taken toward reaching NBA 2K's level of quality, there are gonna be plenty of left over steps to take once the dust settles for the 2013 basketball titles. And quite frankly, graphics really shouldn't be a priority for the NBA Live team in the immediate anyway.

I've always believed that the key to NBA Live's success is going to be it's ONLINE component. What they do with their online feature-set will ultimately leave hardcore gamers feeling good (or bad) about the future of NBA Live. While screenshots and graphics matter a whole lot, especially leading up to a games release, they are really the easy piece of the puzzle to solve in the long run.

For example, if these screenshots far surpassed NBA 2K's graphics but the actual gameplay and online feature sets were completely off track, you risk much more damage to the NBA Live brand in the long haul.

Here's a simple analogy: it's like the hot girl that's a complete ditz. Sure I like looking at you and getting some hands on time, if you know what I mean, but once we try to have a substantive conversation I want to throw myself off a bridge. There's just no depth and eventually I get bored with your stupid thought process and unintelligent commentary. And in most cases you've lost my respect forever.

Of course the anti brainless hottie is the awkward looking girl that's got some wits about her to go with an intriguing personality. While Miss Awkward isn't Miss Universe by any means, you love having actual conversations with her that don't make you feel like you're talking to a wall with great cleavage. And ironically what usually ends up happening, (and for all of you that have attended a High School reunion or avidly use Facebook, you can attest to this), the awkward one's have a tendency to grow into themselves and become hot. And when that's coupled with intelligence and ambition, you get the most attractive combination possible.

So... all that is to say this. NBA Live was always going to look like its predecessor. Owen Good's original article said as much if you looked a little deeper. And you know what? That's ok, because looking hot should not be a priority for NBA Live, at least not yet. NBA Live has to make sure there grades are good and that they're developing an attractive personality, because looks can be deceiving, and they can also be bought at a moments notice (see: every female in hollywood). It's personality, intelligence and ambition that matters when you're looking for a virtual basketball soul mate, especially when you 're in it for the long haul.

Ultimately, NBA Live 13 will live or die based on one component. ONLINE. That is the only shot they have in year 1, and the only thing that matters moving forward. They simply don't have what it takes to compete with NBA 2K on the court this sports gaming cycle, point blank, so their best shot is to take the fight to an area where they are strong. It's no secret that Online is wide open for the taking, but EA and the new NBA Live team have to want it. They have to embrace online and own it. But will they? We'll find out this October.

We need a barfing emoticon.

It's a bawdy but not completely inaccurate assertion.

Ultimately, NBA Live 13 will live or die based on one component. ONLINE. That is the only shot they have in year 1, and the only thing that matters moving forward. They simply don't have what it takes to compete with NBA 2K on the court this sports gaming cycle, point blank,

Well this is encouraging.

Too much expectation for 2-3 years of development. Even the advisory panel didn't like what they saw. EA will have to ignore the bad PR this time and continue improving on the series each year like they should have done to Elite. It worked for Live 08 through Live 10.

Even the advisory panel didn't like what they saw.

At E3? Their impressions coming out of the event were fairly positive, so that's interesting.

Clueminati didn't.

For some us to be an Ad Council for NBA LIVE we're trying to digest on something on what we didn't see which was different than Tiburon. I know it's Pre-Alpha and everything. Not really pleased personally and some can co-sign about it

http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/45/8410785.page

And there is this- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-dk8ruzgG4

Ah, haven't caught up with Mario's journal yet. I'll need to give that a read.

I don't agree with him about the graphics being bad (they look good to me) but I tend to agree with him with the analogy. Even though I don't like it, online will be a decisive factor with their sales, if the servers are good then they'll sell their copies. If the gameplay is bad I won't buy the game even if the game has fantastic online modes and the best servers in gaming.