Shortly after the news broke that the NBA Live series was being renamed to NBA Elite starting with 2011's title, an EA representative said that the changes in the upcoming game will "usher in the future of basketball games." It was a bold, however, unsubstantiated claim. And it still is--but, the official announcement of the name change this morning carried a few details about the mechanical changes that gives us a glimpse at what that representative was spitting the big game about.

Foremost, NBA Elite 11 won't feature dice rolls. A skill-based shooting system that takes into account inputs based on position will replace the behind-the-scenes voodoo that once decided if a player's shot hits or not. In addition to this, NBA Elite 11 will feature a control scheme that maps movement one-to-one, no longer shackling you to animations. The physics system will supposedly be better than the norm as well. According to the press release, players will now move independently of one other, thus "removing the two-man interactions that have long taken the user control" out of b-ball simulation. 

Shortly after the news broke that the NBA Live series was being renamed to NBA Elite starting with 2011's title, an EA representative said that the changes in the upcoming game will "usher in the future of basketball games." It was a bold, however, unsubstantiated claim. And it still is--but, the official announcement of the name change this morning carried a few details about the mechanical changes that gives us a glimpse at what that representative was spitting the big game about.

Foremost, NBA Elite 11 won't feature dice rolls. A skill-based shooting system that takes into account inputs based on position will replace the behind-the-scenes voodoo that once decided if a player's shot hits or not. In addition to this, NBA Elite 11 will feature a control scheme that maps movement one-to-one, no longer shackling you to animations. The physics system will supposedly be better than the norm as well. According to the press release, players will now move independently of one other, thus "removing the two-man interactions that have long taken the user control" out of b-ball simulation. 

cool bro

SOunds cool

Sounds interesting. Interested to see this game in action now. I'll give EA credit, I'm interested in this now. Can't say much about an EA basketball game since the Sega Genesis.
 
Bulls vs. Lakers FTW!

The lack of dice rolls actually has me a little worried. You can be the best shooter in the world but occasionally, you're going to get an unlucky bounce or two. Obviously, we don't know exactly what this new system will entail but I hope it's implemented well because it could lead to some easy exploitation.

Breaking News: EA makes a basketball game this year and they promise it's gonna be better than ever before!

It sounds interesting, at least, but I'd need to try it out myself before I could judge.

It sounds interesting but I still don't like the new name, NBA Live is much better in my opinion.

" cool bro "

" This sounds pretty interesting.  I'm picturing in my head something along the lines of what MLB2K did with it's total control pitching system or the Skate 1 or 2 trick system, but attributing it somehow to shooting baskets or ball handling controls. "

My first thoughts were NBA RPG. Don't try and stop me now, the dream is already seeded.

This intrigues me.   
 
I love basketball, but every time I have TRIED to get into Basketball video games I have been turned off by the feel of the controls.  This will hopefully be similar to what EA's NHL 08 did for hockey video games in giving the users a higher level of control.   

And maybe now I will be able to enjoy playing basketball games that are not NBA Jam.

" My first thoughts were NBA RPG. Don't try and stop me now, the dream is already seeded. "

im not a big fan on this title gentlemen

Sounds like a bunch of bull shit to me. They know that their basketball game has been the far worse one for the past few years and this seems to be a desperate grab at innovation after 2K10 basically raped Live 10 in sales. The dumbest part about this whole thing is the name change. The only reason anyone buys the Live games anymore is because they know the name. Now that the name no longer exists, its going to set EA's basketball games back even more. Someone needs to tell EA that they can just try and make the game better, they dont have to change the name entirely. Thats why Madden has gotten so stale and shitty over the years, that and a lack of competition. 
 
I honestly hope I eat my words when NBA Elite 11 comes out and it turns out to be great. Though I seriously doubt it, but we will see.

trailer will say "NBA Elite 11" and then a colon will come between the ones to make "1:1", or vice versa.
calling it.

So without dice rolls, what does that mean for different teams and players?  Will all PCs handle exactly the same, or will timing be tighter on a less skilled player?  Will only the CPU players reflect their real life counter parts?  What does it all mean?

Also, no clue how you make a CPU without dice rolls.  Even if it's just a 2-sided die, something has to determine whether the CPU sinks or bricks.

Yeah, we'll see if this goes well. I'm more of a 2K baller. College is my favorite, but who knows.

EA trying to use a gimmick to combat the 2k series. I'm sorry but they should just scrap the entire project. 2k has EA's balls in a vice grip.

Sounds interesting. But I kinda wish they renamed it something less generic. Like NBA Fastbreak or something

I'll give them a chance. I really disliked both basketball games last year. The menu system 2K has adopted drives me insane. 

i think Backbreaker, despite being loaded with its low budget issues, has ushered in the true future for physical sports games like football, hockey, basketball, and soccer etc (not baseball, although, the show has pretty badass pitching and batting physics that seem totally realistic to me) 
 
they need to start making everything physics based instead, like the article says, voodoo-like. 

I made the switch to 2K in 2001 and haven't considered Live, but if this game is really as good as it sounds I'd give it a try.

So if it's all based on player input instead of "dice rolling" how are they going to take into account the different skills of the simulated players?  Relax the timing requirements for better players or something?

Sounds... Interesting? I dunno the last time I cared about an NBA game, Jordan was still with the Bulls (for the first time) and there was a lot less rapists and thugs in the league... At least not getting caught.

" The lack of dice rolls actually has me a little worried. You can be the best shooter in the world but occasionally, you're going to get an unlucky bounce or two. Obviously, we don't know exactly what this new system will entail but I hope it's implemented well because it could lead to some easy exploitation. "

giant bomb only cares about sports games fans.

So there will be tailor designed controllers for cheating right?

Dice rolls to dunk and missing dunks does seem kind of bad.

This sounds really good and even looks good in some of the early videos. I have never really loved the 2k series. Something about the way the players look and hunch over is really weird but they have played better. I loved the older Live games and look forward to this one as well.

i havent bought a basketball game in years. im looking forward to whate 2k and ea both bring to the table this year. if it turns out great i'll buy this but otherwise i'll just stick to my NHL 11 and MLB 11 THE SHOW as my two sports games  (and maybe madden 11)