Polygon: NBA Live's future is 'guaranteed'

[cdj]

From Polygon:

The case for NBA Live, the series, is also the case against NBA Live 15, the game hitting stores in 10 days. Sean O'Brien, the game's executive producer, knows this.

Here is the guarantee O'Brien will make, though: NBA Live 15 will be better than NBA Live 14 by about this much, he says, holding one hand about a foot above the other. And then NBA Live 16 will be here, he says, sitting up to reach higher.

"So, you're guaranteeing there will be an NBA Live 16," I say.

"Guaranteed." O'Brien says. "We've already started development on 16. We're staffing up. We're actually increasing investment on what 16 — and 17 — look like."

***

"We're a work in progress," O'Brien admits. The three-week delay this year, embarassing [sic] though it is, basically means the game can ship with a bunch of stuff that would have to be polished in a day-one patch anyway, O'Brien said. That's probably why there is no pre-release demo, which is rightfully held against the game, but it's not a statement of no confidence from the developer. It's just an admission the thing needs all the time it can get before release.

Without the tuning, O'Brien said, defense was too difficult given the level of ballhandling control Live 15 offers to players. And, yes, on day one, there will be another patch polishing even more things the team is uncovering right now, O'Brien admitted. NBA Live 14 launched with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in November 2013, meaning this edition's gestation is shorter than 12 months. Some of O'Brien's optimism for future years of NBA Live is knowing that it will get a full one-year development cycle before hitting the court.


Click here to read the entire article from Owen Good.

[CLW]

Last I checked an executive producer for a title cannot "guarantee" anything. If this game does not sell there is nothing that would/could stop EA from cancelling 16/the series.

[Rudy]

I agree. The NCAA guys were hard at work on their title and they got shut down. You just never know what an executive is going to do. The sales numbers will tell a big story although it's a bit unfair to compare them to 2K when you release three weeks later. The one thing EA has going for them is that some of us old school gamers still have fond memories of Live 95. EA should have taken a page out of the NHL and included that old game as part of the new release anniversary type edition.

EA really hurt what was once a great game. Live 95 on SNES was just a blast and the entire Live series was a lot of fun through the PS1. But the move to the PS2 was terrible. The transition was bad and I stopped buying the game. It opened the door for 2K basketball. And cancelling the Live series after Live 10 which was viewed as a good game despite weaker sales was a big mistake. I think many fans would take a ported Live 10 on the PS4 right now.

[JBHuskers]

Unfortunately, wasn't the NHL "retro" version just old controls and the blue dot on updated graphics? IIRC that was how it was and I was really disappointed in it.

[SmoothPancakes]

Unfortunately, wasn't the NHL "retro" version just old controls and the blue dot on updated graphics? IIRC that was how it was and I was really disappointed in it.

Yeah, it didn't really seem anything special of a mode when NHL did that.

Sent from my Droid Maxx using Tapatalk because I'm a lazy ass

[JBHuskers]

My guess with NBA, it'll be something someone plays once and that's it. Not worth spending resources for IMO.

Using Tapatalk on my Samsung Galaxy S5 for shats & gaggles.

[Rudy]

I thought EA should have done an NCAA 06 version one year. That would have been fun.

I said it before - I think EA misses the boat a bit on the season pass. They should spend more on "anniversary editions" that are an extra $20, comes with some DLC and crap but releases a week earlier than the standard edition. You'd get all kinds of people paying more early. I think it would be more profitable than Season Pass. OR offer bonus content for those that pre-order the game digitally. That makes them more money and yet people that buy digital often miss out on sales and can't trade the game either.

[Rudy]

My guess with NBA, it'll be something someone plays once and that's it. Not worth spending resources for IMO.

Using Tapatalk on my Samsung Galaxy S5 for shats & gaggles.

Probably true since those graphics would be hideous. Too bad they couldn't use the current graphics with the old isometric camera. Mark Price was money in Live 95!