Some notes and speculation (cover, future of the series)

[Andrew]

Posted this on the main page a little while ago, for anyone who may have missed it.

It can’t have escaped anyone’s attention that NBA Live 13 news has been scarce since E3, with the most recent developments being the release of the first official trailer and confirmation that the game isn’t slated for release on October 2nd, both coming last week. Since there has been much speculation about the game’s status, I thought that I’d reiterate that as far as we know, the game is not cancelled and will be released at some point, though the actual release date remains unknown at this time.

As far as the future of the series is concerned, recent job listings on EA’s website are advertising a handful of positions on the NBA Live Development Team at EA Tiburon. This would seem to suggest that EA is intending to continue the series next year with NBA Live 14 despite speculation of its demise, which has come about as a result of the uncertainty caused by the lack of information and negative reactions to the preview media seen so far, both leaked and officially released. Look out for more discussion on this in the next episode of our Podcast, which will be out very soon.

Finally, Leftos has noted a Tweet from Ronnie 2K mentioning that “affiliations to other games” are preventing 2K Sports from revealing overall ratings for certain players as part of the hype for NBA 2K13. LeBron James and Deron Williams are two notable stars whose ratings have not been mentioned in 2K’s updates, with Williams appearing on the cover of Majesco’s NBA Baller Beats. This may suggest that LeBron James does indeed have some involvement with NBA Live 13, as heavily rumoured.

That’s about all we know at the moment, hopefully it clears up a few questions I’ve been seeing. Right now there’s more speculation and rumours than there are facts, but we’ll be doing our best to bring everyone concrete info as soon as we can get it.

[shadowgrin]

What's the point of this?

afaik NLSC is not an officially affiliated site with EA that it needs to be EA's PR handlers.

[JaoSming]

however, we are a site that discusses the game, and the Admins/Mods/Leaders are a bit sick of the rampant speculation as truth stuff. Ain't nothing wrong with voicing our opinions on the game's situation, rather than be negative like every other site.

[shadowgrin]

Yeah nothing wrong with voicing opinion and discussing it in the forums but does that PR explanation really deserve to be shown in the main page as compared to just providing a link to this thread?

[JaoSming]

Yes? It's news worthy, relevant, and seemingly struck a nerve with the trolls so, success!

[shadowgrin]

I thought that I’d reiterate that as far as we know, the game is not cancelled and will be released at some point, though the actual release date remains unknown at this time.

That's not news. That's personal opinion. afaik this site is not a blog.
It's not relevant either because no one has an idea of any concrete info and this site is not EA's PR department.
Since there is real info released all people have and can do is speculate, which this site has a love-hate relationship with.
I'm not a troll. I don't want any boy's hole. I prefer to be classified as goblin.

[JaoSming]

The game is scheduled for release in October 2012 according to EA's press site. That date has never changed and nothing EA said affects that possible date, other than removing the options for an "Early October Release".

It's speculation to think the game is being cancelled, indefinitely delayed, or that Live is being binned.

[shadowgrin]

It's speculation to think the game is being cancelled, indefinitely delayed, or that Live is being binned.

(NLSC) site that discusses the game

What's wrong with speculation and having discussion in the forums to clear out that speculation as compared to being EA's unofficially outsourced PR department with a main page announcement?

If this is a site that really discusses the game, then let people speculate, discusss, rant, do backflips that's relevant to the game.
If the only reason you guys are just sick of the constant negativity about the game is because what you find in other sites, let them be. That's their's and EA's problem.

[JaoSming]

What's wrong with using the visibility of the main page news items when the community loses track of what is factual and what is someone's opinion?

[shadowgrin]

And why should you use the visibility of the main page news to do a job that should be done by EA's PR department to provide factual info about their product?

And what community?

[JaoSming]

Because they aren't? And even if they did we'd be covering it as news just like everything else. Will you please change gears and get on my case for injecting my opinion about Blacktop Mode, Crew, and pretty much everything I post on the the news site? Its the same thing as your issue with this.

This community, and the basketball video game community as a whole, since our feeds are covered and followed by other sites.

[shadowgrin]

Because they aren't? And even if they did we'd be covering it as news just like everything else.

Well of course because it that were the case it's factual then and worthy of news.
So what if they aren't doing their job? Does this site have an obligation to do so?

Will you please change gears and get on my case for injecting my opinion about Blacktop Mode, Crew, and pretty much everything I post on the the news site? Its the same thing as your issue with this.

Even if I haven't seen much of your news postings, no it's not. You're voicing out your opinion as a consumer (that may be shared by others too), not doing some else's job description. And opinions generate discussion...

this is a site that really discusses the game, then let people speculate, discusss, rant, do backflips that's relevant to the game.

If you really are sick of the speculation (in the NLSC alone) as to make a main page news for it, then you should also stop voicing your opinions then since opinions are personal speculation based on facts or lack of it...

speculate, which this site has a love-hate relationship with.

As for the other sites...

This community, and the basketball video game community as a whole, since our feeds are covered and followed by other sites.

Does this site have an obligation to do so?

If the only reason you guys are just sick of the constant negativity about the game is because what you find in other sites, let them be. That's their's and EA's problem.

[JaoSming]

Does this site have an obligation to do so?

nope, we wanted to

after that I have no clue what the heck you are talking about. If you really have this big of an issue with a front page announcement, something the people that run this site wanted to do, then tough cookies.

[shadowgrin]

But I like my cookies crunchy, not tough or soft chewy.

*Leaves thread*

[mlp111]

lebron rating in 2k13 has been revealed, he is a 98

http://www.operationsports.com/forums/n ... -more.html

[Leftos]

mlp111, some of those ratings are outdated, since they don't match what 2K has announced.

And although this gives us an indication of what many of the player ratings may be near at release, this is not an official rating release from 2K, so the point still stands.

[mlp111]

Leftos, yeah some might be, but i dont know i remember they said Durant and blake decreased by 1, i think those ratings are pretty solid, i dont see them rating lebron higher than 98 at best!

[Andrew]

The point of the bulletin, in a nutshell, was to answer some questions we've been receiving and attempt to clarify what's known and what's just speculation for the moment. Additionally, it was intended to get people talking about a couple of things we came across that we happened to find interesting. Since the latter was also discussed in the latest podcast, it was also a good opportunity to plug the upcoming episode.

Leftos, yeah some might be, but i dont know i remember they said Durant and blake decreased by 1, i think those ratings are pretty solid, i dont see them rating lebron higher than 98 at best!

While some of the ratings are unlikely to change, some certainly have (with Hibbert's in particular being quite different) and the fact remains that it's not an official reveal by 2K Sports. That's the point here, Ronnie has mentioned that they can't reveal certain players' ratings as part of the pre-release hype because of their affiliations with other games. LeBron James and Deron Williams are two players you'd expect to be mentioned in their Tweets revealing the overall ratings, but neither has been. Deron Williams signed on with Majesco to appear on the cover of NBA Baller Beats, so it's fair to speculate that this might mean LeBron has signed on with EA and those are the affiliations that are preventing 2K from prominently using them in pre-release hype and marketing.

[eda]

Oh get a room you two! (shadowgrin Jaosming)

[JaoSming]

Oh get a room you two! (shadowgrin Jaosming)

We miss each other too much during the week, between our weekend getaways.........sorry guys

[Andrew]

So, getting back the topic...does anyone feel Ronnie's Tweet is a hint, given the circumstances? Does anyone think the series will end with NBA Live 13 or that NBA Live 13 will be cancelled at this point?

[22cedric]

I believe the NBA Live series will continue this is not a one term deal.

[Andrew]

With the renewed licensing agreement, I think so too. As I've said elsewhere, I think they need to release NBA Live 13 in the best shape it possibly can be, weather any bad scores and negative reception, take the feedback on board and keep building.

[jenz]

I know a lot of people have very high hopes for NBA Live 13, but even from the scarce information we're getting of the game, I personally see this being cancelled after a while. We have different opinions on the matter, but seeing the trailer they've released, it's disappointing. I don't care much about the cyberfaces and somehow awkward models, it's not my habit to pause the game and stare at the players. But the animation, man, it's a dealbreaker. I think the dev team made a cowardly move of just showing us one-player animations. I know it's just a trailer but there's a fine line of not giving too much in order to hype your audience and giving nothing at all to the point of making them look like suckers.

Given that, with the horrible animations, I know it will take a while longer time to "improve" the animations and the gameplay. So yeah, I see them just saying wth, and just scratch the whole thing. A pessimist me, i know.

[Andrew]

I still think cancelling the game again is more damaging to the brand and the series than releasing a game that ends up being poorly received. Don't get me wrong, neither is an ideal scenario and a choice you'd want to make, but I still see releasing a game and weathering bad reviews is the lesser of two evils because you can get valuable consumer feedback. I think they'd want to avoid another cancellation, instead trying their luck with NBA Live 13 and keep building on it for NBA Live 14; it would seem they're still hiring people to be a part of the development team so no matter which way they go this year, it appears the commitment is there to keep making the game.