Competition is something that the sports simulation market needs. Even if one title is thought of as being “superior” to the other, competition continues to push the envelope for each individual game. EA SPORTS has been out of the game for the past few years with their NBA title after cancelling it, but they’re set to release the new game this year.
No name has been announced, and it’s a pretty safe bet that “Elite” won’t be used since it was associated with the cancelled game. While NBA 2K has been a strong series, it definitely has its holes. The hiatus that EA has been on allows them to approach the market with a fresh slate in an attempt to capture a portion of the fans back. Don’t expect them to grab a huge share, because this year will be all about setting a great foundation.
Below, we’ve compiled our top five things we want to see in EA SPORTS’ NBA 13 basketball simulation title.
5. Deep Franchise Mode – The game has been off of the market for awhile, but it needs to have a deep franchise mode. We don’t expect EA SPORTS to completely compete with 2K Sports in terms of the amount of modes, but a deep franchise mode is what the game needs. Allowing players to progress through a ton of seasons, the ability to edit incoming rookies or draft classes, training players mid-season, great trade logic, etc. We don’t expect it, but an on franchise mode would be a huge attraction for basketball fans. Even without the franchise being online between multiple users, depth will be one of the most important factors to the mode.
3. Animations & Signature Styles – One of the biggest noticeable pieces that 2K has had over EA in their sports titles would be the animations and signature styles. While EA had put together a solid amount of signature shots in NBA Live 10, it was still nowhere near the amount featured in the NBA 2K series. Not only shots but dribbling, dunking, and other specific athletic animations need to be talent specific as well. Derrick Rose needs to feel different than Lebron James in the upcoming basketball simulation from EA SPORTS.
2. Online Play – The last few entries in the NBA Live series did one thing extremely well: online play. Whether it was the team up mode or just online play in general, matches were lag free and incredibly easy to setup. Players were easily able to setup their teams in the Team-Up lobby and compete in both ranked or unranked matches. NBA Live also featured clubs, which while basic, were still pretty entertaining as long as you had a good amount of friends with you. Even if EA just brought the same online features to their NBA simulation title this year, it’d be welcomed as 2K Sports continues to struggle with online performance.
1. Gameplay – Even though it should be the most important factor in any sports title, it’ll be even more important than ever with EA’s NBA 13 simulation title. From good spacing and movement by the AI teammates to great controls that make the title easy to play, gameplay has to come first. NBA Live, as a series, was heavily dominated by the point guards in the game. Even an average player could dominate a game with Chris Duhon in a game of NBA Live. It’s important to allow the great players to shine on offense, but still give gamers the ability to shut someone down on defense.
The NBA is an offensive league, but a few great defensive players are still around. Putting Thabo Sefalosha on Kobe Bryant should have a bigger effect on how Kobe plays than if you put Lazar Hayward. Thabo is quickly becoming known as one of the better defensive players in the league, and having him on the opposing team’s best player needs to benefit you in some shape or form. We could easily put a thousand additional words here along with gameplay, but that’s just because it is easily the most important area to focus on the new game.
What do you hope to see out of the upcoming basketball simulation title from EA SPORTS? Do you agree or disagree with our top five list? Be sure to let us know what you think by leaving us a comment below, or discuss EA SPORTS upcoming basketball game in our forums.