NBA 2K10 News Thread (The Game Is OUt)

[Bonafide]

Originally Posted by Im Not You

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Don't understand why some of you are expecting a BRAND NEW GAME instead of a simple touch up

Alot of these dudes aren't hardcore sim fans or either just have unrealistic expectations of game progression. They believe the transistion from 2k9 to 2k10 is supposed to be like the transition from Street Fighter 3 to 4 or something.

Exactly. They are looking to see a flashy 360 ally oop dunk or something.

 

[ydbounce]

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Originally Posted by Im Not You

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Don't understand why some of you are expecting a BRAND NEW GAME instead of a simple touch up

Alot of these dudes aren't hardcore sim fans or either just have unrealistic expectations of game progression. They believe the transistion from 2k9 to 2k10 is supposed to be like the transition from Street Fighter 3 to 4 or something.

I mean I just don't get it seriously. Every comment is speaking of cosmetic issues.

if they played the draft combine they'd see the game does indeed feel different

 

[jsindaa]

Originally Posted by YDBoUnCe

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Originally Posted by Im Not You

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Don't understand why some of you are expecting a BRAND NEW GAME instead of a simple touch up

Alot of these dudes aren't hardcore sim fans or either just have unrealistic expectations of game progression. They believe the transistion from 2k9 to 2k10 is supposed to be like the transition from Street Fighter 3 to 4 or something.

I mean I just don't get it seriously. Every comment is speaking of cosmetic issues.

if they played the draft ombine they'd see the game does indeed feel different

Combine....and this

 

[da r entertainment]

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Don't understand why some of you are expecting a BRAND NEW GAME instead of a simple touch up

Some people expectations are just not realistic at all. As long as the great realistic gameplay stays intact I'm good.

 

[ydbounce]

The only thing I want really is an option for a custom soundtrack, which I know wont be there.
I want MJ's Jam as the opening track
That would be piff, cuz the soundtrack posted seems pretty wack especially considering last year's
But it's pretty trivial

 

[ydbounce]

The only thing I want really is an option for a custom soundtrack, which I know wont be there.
I want MJ's Jam as the opening track
That would be piff, cuz the soundtrack posted seems pretty wack especially considering last year's
But it's pretty trivial

 

[Bonafide]

Anyone in NYC got the hook up on getting it early?

 

[DCAllAfrican]

Originally Posted by YDBoUnCe

The only thing I want really is an option for a custom soundtrack, which I know wont be there.
I want MJ's Jam as the opening track
That would be piff, cuz the soundtrack posted seems pretty wack especially considering last year's
But it's pretty trivial

I guess you haven't been checking in periodically. That feature was announced in July man

Or you could do it the old fashioned way and just play YOUR music while the game is booted up and turn it off when the actual GAME starts

 

[dano4o8]

I haven't purchased a sports game in many years...I think the last one I bought was NBA Live 98 or something like that...far back, but recently I startedplaying 2K9 with gf's brother and I'm hooked as to how much change there is and detail sports games are now..Hell, my last madden game was on the N64hahaha.

 

[xblaze23]

wow Nba Live 98 with Timmy Hardaway on the cover.

 

[outacontrol music]

nba 2K9.5

Intro's were sick and the commentary on Pau and after the putback dunk was refreshing.


But they should replace Kellogg with Doug Collins....

 

[DYNAMICS]

Nice to see LBJ missing shots in that clip and not bullying over everyone.

 

[DCAllAfrican]

http://nba-2k.com/more-nba-2k10-screens/

 

[crazy ebw]

Damn I need this game.

 

[knightngale]

Originally Posted by Im Not You

Originally Posted by DCAllAmerican

Don't understand why some of you are expecting a BRAND NEW GAME instead of a simple touch up

Alot of these dudes aren't hardcore sim fans or either just have unrealistic expectations of game progression. They believe the transistion from 2k9 to 2k10 is supposed to be like the transition from Street Fighter 3 to 4 or something.

some people are complaining about BASIC stuff that needs to be fixed
nothing flashy or better graphics

 

[goldmember]

NBA 2K10: The Quest for Supremacy

By: Travis Heath � Last Updated: 9/23/09 2:48 PM ET | 1735 times read







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The air is getting cooler and the start of NBA training camps is right around the corner.� If you're like me that can only mean one thing: a new batch of NBA video games has you feeling positively giddy.
Unlike the NFL which sold the exclusive video game rights to one company, the NBA is open for competition.� The end result seems to be rapid advancements in basketball gaming.

Over the course of last several seasons, NBA2K has evolved into the unquestioned leader in basketball simulation.� However, the good folks over at 2K can feel EA Sports nipping at their heels.� As a result, 2K has created what people like Gameplay Director Rob Jones believe is the best basketball simulation to date.��

Jones took some time recently to speak with HOOPSWORLD about the newest iteration of the 2K series.

"What makes me excited is that I feel like the game, for once, is polished in every single aspect," Jones explained.� "We've always been famous for having a great game-playing experience, but maybe we weren't as full-feature as others.� Or, maybe our presentation or our front-end was not as clean.� This year I just feel like we've put every single stone in the right order to build something that just feels complete from beginning to end."

Jones began by breaking down one of the games new features the team is really excited about entitled "NBA Today."

"From the moment you turn the game on we take you to the screen called NBA Today.� NBA Today is a concept and way of us doing things that is completely different than what we've done in the past.� In a nutshell, what it does is it bring what's going on in the real NBA and streams it into your console.� So as you're playing NBA2K all the things that you would want to know about the real NBA are right there at your fingertips.� On the landing page you get tonight's schedule of games.� That slate of games are the games that are being played in the real NBA.� The same page has stats available, shows you last night's scores.� When you select one of those games to play, the information that the commentators and all the presentations elements about the season -- the two teams that are playing, the playoff picture, the day of the year -- all of those things are dynamically built to give you an experience that is today's NBA."

While 2K has always been skilled at emulating the NBA game, this year the team took it to another level by forming a partnership with the website 82games.com.� The purpose of this partnership was to form a system that allowed every player in the game to play just like his real life counterpart in every way possible.

"We've long been considered kings of signature -- animations, jump-shots, ambient animations.� We wanted to carry that to a new level to a point where you would know immediately that, 'Hey, Carmelo attacks me like that, or Kobe does this particular thing.'� Every player has something that makes him tick.� He may do some spectacular things that are sort of outside of his character, but his character brings him back to particular ways of attacking his opponent based on what he likes to do.� With Carmelo you know you can expect that jab-step and pull-up from the triple-threat a lot because he likes that shot.� He will do other things, I'm not saying he won't attack you, but if you watch he will do that to you a bunch.� You see Kobe and obviously he likes his high-post game.��

"With 82games what we wanted to achieve is to get this guy to perform the way I expect him to perform in real life and not just streaming together a bunch of animations that don't necessarily reflect his way of being.� We approached 82games to help us figure out what are a player's tendencies to do particular moves, why and from where.� Where do they like to spot-up?�� Where do they like to come off screens?� All of those things were things that we didn't have, so we created another 36-40 tendencies that were added into the game this year.� They define how a player will be, specifically on offense.� We have a couple of defensive ones, but mostly the offensive side of the game is the side that people really are concerned about."

In addition to adding player tendencies, 2K also focused quite a bit on animations.� This focus should translate into a unique gaming experience even for people who have played the 2K series for the better part of the last decade.� Gone are many of the animations that have become repetitive and stale over the years, and new this year are specific animations for superstars and even guys who may not get the pub a LeBron James or Kobe Bryant typically receive.

"This year I captured about 9,000 animations," Jones explained.� "Like you said, some of those old animations were dated.� Some guys aren't even doing those things they were doing when we first did signature style.� We captured the ambient intro for a bunch of the different superstars from D-Wade pulling himself up on the rim, to the way Chauncey squeezes the ball to see how it feels before the game starts.� Different players have different rituals.� Kevin Garnett will bang his head against the basket support.� So we went in and captured individual superstar introductions and rituals.� Then, we also tried to capture as much as possible the way the arenas are introduced in particular places.� In Boston you'll get a specific style and in Denver you'll get something completely different.

"That's just the beginning.� We also wanted true reactions to plays and to replace as much as possible from years prior.� If you've been playing our game for a long time, you know what those animations are.� You'll know this animation or that animation has been there since like 2K3.� So one of the mandates right at the beginning was we're going to dump as much as we can that was prior to 2K9 and fill the holes with new stuff.� That's one of the reasons we shot as much as we did this year.� The other thing that we needed to do was spread out to players that didn't get that much love.� When we had Shaq in we were able to get some Shaq moves out of the big guy.� But guys like Gasol and Yao Ming and Nene, guys that are still premiere players but they're not as exciting to most users as a Kobe or a LeBron, we spent a ton of time building specific animations sets to those kind of players.� So now when you play with them not only are you more effective, but also they move, shoot, dunk, and dribble the way that you expect a guy that size to.� That was a huge deal because that at least triples the number of animations.� We also reshot all of our defensive movement animations and the dribbling was completely reshot.� It's just been a ton of work."

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As a NBA gamer for many years, your friendly neighborhood columnist brought up one specific animation that has troubled many 2K users over the years -- the double-team.� In year's gone by, players would be forced into a double-team animation that lasted for a period of seconds that seized control from the user.� Much to the relief of many 2K fans, this animation is no more.
"We actually had a new engineer come in and we talked about cleaning up double-teams," said Jones.� "He came in and the first thing he said is this whole thing plays out like a movie once it starts.� I want to be doing stuff, I don't want to be watching.� The double-team system is completely different than it has been.� You call it, and you actually have control of that guy within the double-team and he responds to you on your button press.� Now the moment you hit that button he's going to attempt that steal for you.� There's an immediate response to what you do."

For all of you armchair GM's out there, NBA2K has expanded its already stellar "Association" mode.� Restricted free agency is now included in the game, which means you too can hold your young players hostage just as teams like the New York Knicks and Charlotte Bobcats have done with players like David Lee and Raymond Felton this offseason.� In addition, users can control all 30 teams in Association mode this year should they wish their season to mimic that of the actual NBA.� One other feature that is sure to be well received is in-game saves that will allow users to save the game at any point when life comes calling.� Perhaps the most interesting addition to Association mode is the inclusion of the D-League and what it means for player progression.

"We changed the progression of the players by incorporating the D-League," said Jones.� "You can play the D-League games.� The important part of playing the D-League games is the way that the progression is done now it is based on experience.� So what that means to you is that if you draft a player and you put him on the pine, he's not coming along because he's not getting any experience in the league.� So the whole idea of moving a guy down to the D-League is so he can actually get court time and progress."

One other mode that will likely interest hoops fanatics is the "My Player" mode where the user can create a player and try and help him achieve NBA glory.�

"My Player mode is where you create a player of a particular type and then build him up to make it into the league and go on to have a long career," Jones explained.� "We're really, really excited about it because we think if offers a new way for the user to play our game and basketball games in general.� You are player locked.� All of your improvement comes from achieving what we are calling skill points.� Skill points are given to you because you reach objectives in the game, either objectives that the coach gives you right at the beginning or the second part of it, which is a really heavy component of it, is a teammate grade.� We have a grading system that is inside the game that continuously monitors what you're doing, not just in terms of what your stats are but whether you're chucking up bad shots, playing your man, cherry picking.� What it does is it delivers you a grade, and this grade is so important to how many advancement points you're going to get.� The reason we do that is because we're trying to teach players to be teammates and not just be worried about scoring 40 points to advance your player super easy.� Your overall performance will also kick in some bonus points if you do well."

If case you haven't been brought up to speed, some guy named Kobe Bryant will grace the cover of NBA 2K10.� Unlike some players, Bryant wasn't just a pretty face for the cover.� In fact, he actually dropped some knowledge on the development team that helped enhance the game's authenticity.

"We picked Kobe's brain when he was watching us with the new game about areas of play-calling and if they were accurate and how the players react to particular events," said Jones.� "We took that information as he watched us play the game to help us build on the game.� When guys have knowledge like Kobe does that isn't just instinctual, they can explain to you how they are breaking things down on the court.� For him to tell me that this set-up or play-call is incorrect and you need to adjust this or you need to have Pau get into the post quicker than he's doing right now, all of those little nuances were things Kobe brought to the table when we were trying to build the A.I."

Of course, any conversation with the 2K team wouldn't be complete without a conversation about their number one competitor, NBA Live 10.� This story becomes even more intriguing when you learn that Lead Gameplay Designer for Live 10, Mike Wang, recently left 2K as a free agent and signed with EA Sports.� It becomes apparent pretty quickly when speaking with people in the videogame industry that the world of the virtual NBA is darned near as competitive as the actual NBA.

"I would be stupid not to see what they're doing, especially in Live 10," Jones admitted.� "Much has been made that the guy (Wang) that used to sit right next to me in the office went over to the NBA Live team this year.� What I'm seeing in NBA Live is that he's bringing to them what conceptually I brought to NBA 2K6 and NBA 2K7 when I took over this role.� I watch it, and he's delivering.� He's delivering on the concepts that have made us very good up to this point.� Is he trying to better some of the things that we've been doing?� Yes, they're trying to better some of the things that we've been doing well over here.� Every year we have competition, I go out and play it.� I've taken away the good, and I've chucked away the bad.� I've said, 'Hey, we need to be better in these areas.'� That's what we work towards.� In the end, the answer is simple.� Yes, you look at the competition every year.� Every time they say they are going to do something you want to know what they're doing, are they doing it well, are they doing it in a way that is realistic to the sport of basketball, and does it feel right.� Then, you set out to make your game feel the way you think basketball should feel.� We can't concern ourselves too much with what they're doing if we think we are walking down the right path, anyway.

"In the end when we look at how this year plays out, I think you'll see two games that are very similar.� A lot of the mechanics have kind of blurred the line.� Whether it's them taking some of our signature stuff and mechanics and trying to make those better, and now next year I think people on both teams will be thinking more about how to differentiate rather than copy what the other guy's doing."

NBA 2K initially burst onto the scene as the challenger.� Now, a decade later, the company is trying to hold onto their spot atop the mountain.�

Simply put, it's a great time to be a NBA gamer.

Release date, October 6th, is just around the corner.�

May the best game win.

Special thanks to Bryan Lam, Rob Jones and all of the fine folks at 2K Sports for taking time to speak with HOOPSWORLD.

 

[8tothe24]

, I haven't bought an NBA game in years and the last one I got wasLive. I almost got 2k last year, but after seeing the previews, this is the year to pull the trigger.

 

[goldmember]

Defensive Gameplay
By: DaCurse | Wednesday September 23 2009
What's up fans,

This is Jerson Sapida, along with Rob Jones. We're here today to talk about defensive changes you will see in NBA 2K10 -- everything from gameplay AI, the blocking system (with new blocking animations), new Shut Down D, and much more. Defense is much more fun and intuitive now, because you are in complete control of the actual outcome and actions of your player. With smarter player rotation and help defense, you will no longer feel like 'babysitting' your CPU teammates on defense to get them in the correct position on the court. The defensive AI has made some huge advances. With that, let's talk about Defense.

Shut Down D
In recent years, one of the underlying features in our game has been Lock-On Defense. The idea was originally spawned from a user's failure to always know how to defend the ball handler, and it gave a player an assist in staying with a dribbler as he moved around the court. It also allowed the defender to shade a player to a particular direction, albeit sometimes with dubious results.

With Shut Down D, we aimed at doing two things. The first and foremost goal was to allow the defender to be more physical with the ball handler than ever before. So, when holding the LT on XBOX 360 or L2 on PlayStation 3, you will see your defender crowd a stationary ball handler and apply pressure in a way that we've not allowed before. The trigger also gives the defender a greater ability to change a dribbler's drive direction. So, as an example, a great on-ball defender like Derek Fisher will be able to push a driving dribbler more to the sideline when employing the Shut Down D mechanic. You will notice the outer ring of your player indicator turn Red when Shut Down D is activated.

The counterbalance to this is that changes of direction to players who are too aggressive are more likely to throw the defender out of position. However, if you know your matchup and you can anticipate where the dribbler is trying to drive, using Shut Down D can help you maintain the ball handler on the perimeter, instead of getting past you for an easy drive to the basket. It isn't a silver bullet, as no defender can really impede progress of a good ballhandler for very long, but being able to delay penetration can be the difference between allowing an easy score or a hard jumper at the end of the shot clock. The key is to read and react to your opponent's every move. Using the Left Stick (while Shut Down D is active), apply pressure to the ballhandler by cutting him off and cutting off the angle he wants to attack. This might take some time to perfect when you first pick up NBA 2K10, so stick with it. But like everything else, once you have learned the system through practice, you can easily shut down a predictable opponent.

Defensive Rotations
Defensive Rotations are new in NBA 2K10. Last year, our Help Defense system relied on assessing the best defender to help based on distance from ball and closeness to basket. However, it failed to truly represent the fact that rotations in basketball are part of an underlying strategy by the coaches to cater to their defensive strengths. In NBA 2K10, we spent a ton of time trying to balance these rotations correctly based on defensive awareness and ball position.

The rotation of the defense usually creates an opening that the offense will have. Think of it as pulling a short blanket to cover your body. As you pull it one way, another extremity will be exposed. The game is to expose the least important extremity, and hope that the offense doesn't realize where that extremity is.

The new fun element on defense now is a security that help comes in a timely fashion, but if the offensive player recognizes where the rotation leaves the open man, you will need to recover as quickly to him as possible, and that isn't always feasible.

Rotations also factor in the double team logic, now. What that means to the user is that the rest of the team will rotate to cover in case of a double team. Again, all of this because playing team defense is a preset strategy and not just an awareness check.
In doing all this, we created a new dynamic in playing team offense and defense and added a dimension to our game that was previously lacking.

Double Teams
Double teams also received a complete re-write from last year. The mechanic itself has improved in order to give the user a more interactive approach. As you remember in 2K9, once the double team was initiated, it seemed like a full feature movie played out until a particular resolution was achieved. This year, we re-worked the mechanic to have completely independent and controllable actors within the double team animations, so that each controlled player can request a particular action independently of what the other player is doing. Last year, this was just a timing issue; but now, a steal attempt happens when you request it and not just when the code decides to resolve to one. All in all, the game now provides a much better experience in terms of response to being in a double team. As an offensive player, you can counter by dribbling out, splitting, passing and shooting. Some of these resolutions were available before, but never with the involvement we've added to it this year. Double teams can also be canceled, so you can fake the call and then send the defender back to his man by just hitting the DT button again (LB on Xbox 360, L1 on PS3).

Two-Player Blocks
In previous versions of the game, the user would be in perfect position to block a shot, but would sometimes get a block animation that picked the incorrect blocking hand, or worse, would take them further from the shooter. There's nothing more frustrating than playing great defense and not being rewarded for it. With your defender in front of or close to the shooter, you would expect some contact to play out. In 2K10 we've ensured that this happens when a block is timed correctly. New animations were added that cover all possible blocking angles. 2K10's two-player block system allows us to perfectly blend from any shooting animation; whether it is a jump shot, under basket layup/dunk, or running layup. I also wanted to point out that these are not canned block animations. We do not determine ahead of time that a shooter will be blocked or not even before reading in the defender's position and controller input. Everything is done on the fly where we will blend to the block animations if the requirements are met to warrant such a block.
We have improved the timing window for blocking shots. Just like in real life, blocking is all about guessing when the shooter will go up with the rock. The idea is to time the Block button with the shot attempt. From when the shot is initiated, you have a small window up until close to the actual shot release from which to press Block. If timed correctly, along with a formula for the player's Block rating and height differential between shooter and defender, you will likely get a two-player block animation.

Once you have mastered the timing and get to know your opponent's habits on shooting, you can really dominate defensively. With this new system, it also allows you to run down an opponent on a fastbreak and get one of those highlight blocks from behind that can get the crowd off their seats. One memorable game-ending sequence we had in the office was a fastbreak block from behind by Lebron with seconds left in the 4th quarter.

Defending Under Basket Shots
In last year's game, it was very easy to get in the paint and get that high percentage shot close to the basket. This was an exploit because of the following: defensive logic with passes to the paint was lacking, poor block selection, and the absence of contact shots.

Let's start with the pass defense. Part of the problem last year was that it was too easy to thread the needle with passes to teammates in the paint. Defenders were either not reacting at all or too late to attempt to swat the ball away, leading to an easy penetration and bucket. Passes like these should be very risky since the receiver is usually in heavy traffic. Defenders are now smarter in tipping or stealing this type of pass.

When defending shots from underneath or close to the basket, there was a lack of physicality or shot contention in last year's game. It even felt like defenders were not affecting the shots at all. Shooters will jump for an under basket layup, ghosting through defenders. To address this issue, you will now see more physical contact shots. In 2K10, if there's a defender nearby, you will most certainly get bodied up and draw contact underneath the basket. This in turn, has a lower shot % than a regular uncontested shot. Overall, shot percentages underneath the basket have been tuned when defenders are around to contest.

As I have touched upon earlier, with the two-player block system, you will also see more of these underneath the basket when the defender times their block correctly, allowing them to have more presence in the paint. The combination of these three changes will enhance your overall ability to be a presence in the paint.

Defensive Movements
Defensive movement has been completely updated for 2k10. We brought players of different sizes into our mo-cap studio and captured their movements. Our goal has always been about feel and realism, and part of that is really capturing the style of movement of varying player sizes. Another reason is that these unique movement models give the game a more realistic look. We don't want the game to have that robotic feel where all 5 players move in the same manner. Guards usually tend to get lower when guarding their match-ups, while the bigs are more upright. On top of each model, they also have different versions of stances, which really give each player a sense of individuality. You will not see synchronized defensive movements in a 2K basketball game.

Defensive sliding was a problem in last year's game in part because of Lock-On D and issues with the movement model itself. We have added new steps and turns into the model that improves upon the movement so that players actually plant and turn before jetting off in another direction.

We also wanted the game to realistically represent players of different sizes and speed when it comes to running and sprinting. A big player like Yao will not move as quickly or as fast as a guard. Tuning an animation based on the player's Speed rating is one way of achieving this, but this alone is not enough. We can slow down or speed up the same animation, but it will not feel right seeing it play for big and small guys. If you compare their runs, big men generally take longer and slower strides, while smaller players perform shorter but quicker strides. That was really a challenge in years past because of the tremendous variety of athletic ability in the big men of the NBA. We have given many big men their own styles, more conducive to their skill set and tendencies. Specific players we targeted were Yao (may his career be resurrected next year), Nene , Pau Gasol, Shaq, and many others. The idea was to ensure that big men performed like big men and not like athletic forwards. In that, we made a huge step forward. The game uses varying kinds of run and sprint animations that accurately reflect players of all sizes. You will really see and feel the difference.

In previous versions of the game, fans complained that the defenders were too casual on the floor, almost looking like they are not paying attention to what's going on around them. In 2K10, players will now appear more intense off the ball, especially when their match-up is only one pass away from the ball handler. You will see players position themselves to defend a pass, stick their arms out in the passing lane, reach out and feel their man when looking at the ball, and many other little nuances that makes defender more active and gives the game that realistic feel.

Final Notes
There are many more improvements to defense than what is mentioned here. Turbo, for instance is intricately tied to playing physical defense and double team. For those of you who have already downloaded and played the NBA 2K10: Draft Combine game, you already know about the new Turbo system and how it heavily changes the way you play the game, both offensively and defensively. This will be touched upon in another upcoming Insight which will delve into how we've integrated the Turbo system into the game. But until then, thanks for reading, we look forward to your feedback.

- Rob Jones and Jerson Sapida
Gameplay Producers

 

[informerx]

Why is Kanye in this game?

 

[metrokid26]

Playable celebrities in the game, He might interrupt you during your association to tell you Jordan's the greatest of all time

 

[rafool]

^^^

 

[DCAllAfrican]

2K always wastes time putting some stupid celebrities in the game

 

[DCAllAfrican]

 

[nublee]

Originally Posted by Informerx

Why is Kanye in this game?

 

[jaflash]

Wow at Sheed, LOL