Following last week’s report that the NBA Live franchise was getting a name change, EA has announced today that NBA Elite 11 will indeed be the first in the ongoing NBA Elite series. In addition to a new name, EA promises that NBA Elite, in development at EA Canada, will “revolutionize the way basketball simulation games are played, with an all-new technology base, a new control scheme and a real-time physics system.” Unlike previous titles, the game is only being developed for the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 at this time, with a projected release date of October.
“We plan to profoundly evolve the interactive basketball experience in a way that the category has not seen for a decade,” said EA Sports President Peter Moore. “In NBA Elite 11, we’ll introduce a gameplay experience that gives fans the control on the court that they have been begging for in a basketball game for years.”
The title will add a new control scheme, allowing players to make one-to-one changes in the game, without waiting for a canned animation. This is made possible by a new real-time physics system, making characters interact realistically on the digital court. Finally, players will need to bone up on their skills, as the new accurate shooting system requires a deft hand based on the player’s position on the court.
“NBA Elite 11 will give gamers the same skill set that a pro basketball player has at his disposal. This is the first basketball simulation videogame where you are controlling every movement, dribble move, shot, dunk, lay-up, steal and block in real time with one-to-one control,” NBA Elite 11 Creative Director David Littman explained. “You’re no longer going to push a button and watch the computer generate a long animation sequence. It is like being on a basketball court with an amazing set of skills. This is going to change what people have come to expect from a basketball simulation videogame.”
“From the first day of development on this product, it was clear that we intended to pioneer a groundbreaking change in the basketball videogame segment,” said Jordan Edelstein, VP Marketing at EA Sports. “It’s a whole new game that warranted a brand new name to fully capture the transformation we intend to deliver in NBA Elite.”
