http://www.gamespot.com/news/6249192.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=hot-stories&tag=hot-stories%3Bstory%3B1
http://www.operationsports.com/feature.php?id=1006
The moment I read the title of this GameSpot article, I saw images of the NBA Live franchise fading as one of my favorite video games. Clearly, if there is a definition of being a loyal gamer to NBA Live, I think I belong to that category. But this has to be one of the most disappointing moves by EA Sports.
Just when they were on the verge of righting its ship and redeeming the legend that NBA Live once was, they let Mike Wang slip away. And the reason for his leaving? OperationSports has got it covered. 'Nuff said:
"Mike: After NBA Live 10 wrapped up and we started going through the pre-production planning phase for '11, we held several meetings to discuss the future of the franchise. After going through those meetings, it became very clear that the vision I had for the game was different from where the leadership wanted to take it. I parted ways with EA shortly after and came back on-board with the NBA 2K team last November."
Definitely, the EA Sports management does not care about bringing quality back to its basketball video game franchise. Mike Wang was the lead game designer of NBA Live 10 and obviously it has gotten really good reviews and there is now a bright future for the franchise. Sure NBA Live 11 will still have Beluba's (Mike Wang) influence in the game but with his departure, what will NBA Live 12 look like? Obviously, in the last decade while being a loyal fan of NBA Live, the game has progressed very slowly. It came to a point where it needed pirating of the competitor's lead designer to radically influence the entire staff to overhaul NBA Live as it is.
This has to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Probaby NBA Live 11 will still look good but Beluba's departure and his reasons of leaving will make me shift to NBA 2K. Even my fellow OperationSports forum posters were definitely upset about it.
So what do we expect of NBA Live on the future? Unless Mike Wang's departure didn't make a slap on the face of reality in their quality of video games and make an effort to completely turn around their games, they will continue to have just gimmicks and shallow gameplay on their video games.
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