Reading between the lines of an open letter by NBA Live's new executive producer, one understands that whatever comes next in that franchise is really no continuation of last year's effort, which, like its 2010 predecessor, was aborted a few weeks before its assumed date of release.
In 2010, EA Sports brought NBA Elite 11 to E3 as a shootaround demo only. I remember this vividly. You played as one player in a practice setting, learning the timing of the new stick-shooting controls. If you still have the ill-fated NBA Elite 11 demo, go to its practice mode, that's what we saw three years ago.
Well, this is strange. Chris Sanner of Operation Sports spotted a survey looking for people in the Vancouver area to serve in a focus group on a "New NBA Concept." EA Canada, in nearby Burnaby, for years was the studio responsible for the label's NBA products, right up to the ignominious cancellation of NBA Elite 11.
Inside a publisher or a studio, there are few surprises when a video game bombs in its reviews. Before it goes from gold master to warehouse to retailer, the focus groups are empaneled, the "mock reviewers" are contracted, and their verdicts are in. Everyone knows roughly where the game will land in the all-controlling…
Though recently promoted to Electronic Arts' chief operating officer, EA Sports' old boss, Peter Moore, still is involved with products coming out of that division. And in an interview with IndustryGamers, he said he doesn't expect their next NBA simulation, due in 2012 after a two-year hiatus, to compete with NBA 2K…
About this time last year, at E3, I was chewing the fat with a 2K Sports representative about NBA 2K11 which already looked to be the monster it would become. Long dominant in the pro basketball genre, the game with Michael Jordan on its cover was going to be 2K's Sunday punch to EA Sports. "That's the idea," the guy…
For a brief moment Tuesday, I wasn't sure we'd be seeing any basketball video game this year, even though I'd taken for granted that NBA 2K12 would release, a death-and-taxes sure thing in October for more than 10 years.
After the disastrous, last minute cancellation
In sports collectibles, one company's mistake is another man's fortune. (Ask Billy Ripken.) Five months after NBA Elite 11's embarrassing cancellation, copies of the game are still circulating over eBay - as well as box art, download cards, and other mementoes of the game that never was.
With NBA Jam on shelves and earning praise (deservedly), EA Sports is being a little more candid about NBA Elite, the canceled title and Jam's original dancing partner.
EA Sports' decision to indefinitely delay NBA Elite 11
Coming back from E3 in June, I decided I'd seen my excuse to go get a Wii. NBA Jam, which we'd given a best-of nomination
NBA Elite 11 was indefinitely postponed on Monday
Kevin Durant, the cover athlete for NBA Elite 11, "spoke with noticeably more sullenness" in his first comments since EA Sports indefinitely postponed the game
Yesterday, we reported that a delay of NBA Elite 11's release lasting past the end of the year jeopardizes the sale of as many as 1.1 million copies
The most fateful day for NBA Elite 11 was not Monday, Sept. 27, the day it was postponed indefinitely. It's Sept. 21, the day it was crucified.
Just one week before it was scheduled to hit shelves, EA Sports on Monday indefinitely delayed NBA Elite 11 for the Xbox 360 and PS3, indicating that quality concerns raised by the demo's dismal showing necessitated the postponement.
Soundtracks in sports titles are typically a compilation of licensed works from recognizable artists. NBA Elite 11 this year changed course, going with a fully custom soundtrack composed by producer 9th Wonder and J. Cole, from Jay-Z's Roc Nation label.
The demo for NBA Elite 11, teased in this video
Gameplay video for NBA Elite has been conspicuously rare up to now. Yesterday, Operation Sports got its hands on directly captured gameplay video from EA Sports, giving five minute looks at the flow of the player-vs.-player and player-vs-CPU action.
As tipped last week
A video of NBA Elite shown at the NBA draft last week did plenty to rile fans of both sides in sports gaming's last real competition. One sent a link to NBA 2K's community manager, who tweet-replied "That looks awful."
EA Sports' rechristened NBA franchise picked Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder for its cover today. He's the third player to make the cover of an EA Sports video game both as a collegian and as a pro.
