October 5, 2009

Innovation and Gameplay Advancements with NBA 2K10's Erick Boenisch and Rob Jones
By Louis Bedigian

"Everyday that you play the game the commentary is going to be fresh."

It's hard to believe that NBA 2K is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. Launching with the Dreamcast in 1999, the first NBA 2K introduced players to a new realm of basketball gaming. The developers have been working hard to top themselves ever since.

"With NBA 2K10, we knew this was our tenth anniversary and a great opportunity to put [something special] out there for the fans," said Erick Boenisch, Lead Feature Designer. "The first thing is that we're having a collector's edition." According to the retail listing at GameStop.com, the collection includes:

• NBA 2K10 video game
• 2K Sports’ NBA 2K10 game locker
• 3” Figurine of Kobe Bryant by McFarlane Toys
• 16” x 36” Kobe Bryant poster
• Commemorative NBA 2K 10th anniversary DVD
• Access to the Gold Room, the NBA 2K10 VIP online lobby (accessible only with Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network membership)

"A big thing this year was that people really wanted an upgrade on presentation and commentary. NBA Today, my favorite feature in the game. Every day you turn your console on and connect, we're going to give you a list of all the day's matchups from the actual day of the NBA's schedule. And it's more than just an interface to play with what's happening in the NBA. As soon as you get into the game, the commentary is going to pull some real stats as it's happening.

"Every single night we update our dynamic commentary database. So every time you go into the game they're going to be talking about what Kobe did last night, how the Lakers did on their current road trip, how they did on their last home game or how they're doing in the standings, how many points they're scoring, or how many trades are affecting injuries. Everything that happens in the real NBA season is going to be brought into the game and talked about by our commentators. So everyday that you play the game the commentary is going to be fresh."

As far as specific issues are concerned, Boenisch said that they have eliminated the financial issues that plagued last year's franchise mode. "We had an issue in franchise mode last year where players would ask for too much money when their contract was up, which would in turn lead to inflated salaries, which would in turn lead to inflated money across the league. We've definitely corrected that issue, players are asking for an appropriate amount."

The Tendency to be Innovative

Rob Jones, Gameplay Director, is very excited about NBA 2K10's attention to player tendencies. "It does two things to the game," he says. "When the AI player has the ball, he is a lot more recognizable than what his animations are going to be. So his decision-making tree is based on what we've studied, what we've tracked, and all this data that is driving this new decision-making engine that we built from scratch this year. The nice thing about it is that when they don't have the ball, you can expect guys to be waiting for passes and doing the things you'd expect them to do, based on their tendencies as well.

"For example, [the Spurs], Mr. I'm-no-longer-there Bruce Bowen, we knew where he would be on the court, what was his favorite shot. Well, he was one guy that everyone knew, so trying to get his tendency, to have him sit in the corner, was quite easy to come up with. But what about every other player and their tendencies to be in a particular spot or like to cut to the basket or go for alley-oops? Every single one of those things is now built into the game, so there should be an immediate impact that is felt when playing against the AI.

"Defensively we spent a lot of time trying to build what I call 'true defensive rotation' because rotating in basketball is a team-based concept that is actually pre-planned by the coach. That's something that we weren't doing, we were using more of a generic solution to play defense than more of a strategy-based one. In those two, and there are several other nuances, but in those two I think you'll feel the change between NBA 2K9 and previous iterations [when compared to] NBA 2K10."

Online Newness

"One thing you can do this year," says Boenisch, speaking about the new online content, "a really simple feature but it's really cool, is that while you're playing the game you can pause it, go into Replay mode and you can upload what's in your replay buffer directly to your 2K Sports account without having to go through the Reel Maker feature.

"Another [new] feature we have this year is called Crew, [which is] the ability to make a persistent team with friends, people you like to play online with. It's a team-up feature where you're playing against other crews to show crew superiority, to show that your crew is better than other crews. We have a crew leader board to see who the best of the best is. Another cool thing with Crew is that it's a complete customization mode. Our Create Team feature is another new aspect this year, and Crew uses it to create uniforms, you can change logos, colors of the uniform, customization modes that we've never given people before."

Regarding the presentation, Boenisch is proud of the way the virtual crowd responds within the game. "The crowd is part of that experience, the experience that draws you into the arena. One of the things you'll see is the crowd sitting and standing at the appropriate times. The audible levels will be more in line with what's happening on the court."

The Ups and Downs of the Development Process

When asked about the ups and downs of working on the NBA 2K series, Jones said that the hardest thing for the team has been new console launches. "Approaching new technology, how to move, what everybody expects from you, that great game without losing any features, without downsizing the game itself. And that's always tough, especially for a developer that's not the largest. We're very focused, we're very hungry. We have some of the most talented people I've had a chance to work with at the company. And those pushers, when we jumped from Dreamcast, PS2 and Xbox original to PS3, and this year just trying to get on Wii and PSP, those make for huge hurdles. I don't want to say those are downs, but it makes it really, really hard.

"Ups, we've had great breakthroughs. For one thing, Dreamcast, I wasn't even here for Dreamcast. But when [2K Sports] first launched the Dreamcast [version], and how the fans reacted to that, through the years of 2K2, and the major changes we made starting with 2K6, 2K7, we got to the point where our fans recognize us as the top basketball game they're going to pick up."

We've Come Far But Not Far Enough

Despite the advancement in game technology, there are some things the developers of NBA 2K (and every other sports franchise) have yet to achieve. Someday, in the not-too-distant future, Jones hopes to change that. "Regardless of how many mechanics we create, and no matter how you play the five-on-five game, you aren't really playing the game as you would on the court. And I'm not talking about changing the experience where you're playing a first-person view, because you know what? I don't want to play a first-person view game.

"But how do I feel the involvement in being one-on-one with a guy that's heavier than me? Ratings can say that he can push you back, but how do I feel it? I don't think that games have become that intimate at this point in time. So what I try to strive for is, how can that experience feel true to what you feel when you're on the court.

"One of the things that goes against that is this God mode view where you can look four steps ahead of what you're planning on doing because you can see everything as it develops. In real life you would be limited. I'm not talking about passing a vision code in our game, but trying to figure out a way to make that experience a little more real to what you would have to deal with if you were on the basketball court."

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