NBA Live goes Elite in 2011 @ Gaming Target

Written by John Scalzo on June 02, 2010

News: A name change headlines the many changes EA has in store for the NBA Live series.

EA Sports has announced that after 16 years, the NBA Live series is no more. The next entry in the basketball franchise will be known as NBA Elite 11 when it ships for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this October.

The name change was the result of EA's desire to give gamers more control over their team on the court. This control comes in the form of a new gameplay scheme known as "Hands-On Control" and a new physics engine that "allows each player on the court to move independently of one another" and adds a new "skill-based" shooting system.

The development team at EA Canada are thrilled about the new innovations they're putting in NBA Elite 11:

The new "Hands-On Control" scheme allows for one-to-one responsiveness of a player's movement and actions on the court, as opposed to traditional predetermined animations that require users to wait while a scenario played out before making the next move. Hands-on Control applies to everything within a player's offensive and defensive arsenal, including: dribble moves, dunks, drives to the basket, fadeaways, mid-air adjustments, blocks, steals and more.

"NBA Elite 11 will give gamers the same skill set that a pro basketball player has at his disposal," said David Littman, Creative Director, NBA Elite 11. "This is the first basketball simulation video game where you are controlling every movement, dribble move, shot, dunk, lay-up, steal and block in real time with one-to-one control. 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 video game."

We'll have more soon.