NBA Live Loses Mike Wang

by pastapadre
Posted February 1st, 2010 at 3:21 pm

Some news today that could have huge effect on the future of the NBA Live series as provided by community manager Yaw Obiri-Yeboah. Lead Gameplay Designer Mike Wang has left the development team after just one year heading up the franchise. This is a discouraging development given the stature he was presented as having by EA Sports and the drastic improvements seen from NBA Live as of late.

Given the sales discrepancy between NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 it is shaping up to be a critical year. While NBA Live 10 gained traction in terms of reviews and consumer response it actually fell further behind the competition in sales. With a concentration on profitability and cutting of titles that don’t make the grade it will be the sales performance of NBA Live 11 that could very well determine whether the series continues on or gets cut.

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Hungryandrew

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh EA Sucks. Wang was like “Dam why did I ever leave 2k basketball for this wasteland, Im outta here”
GeorgeCostanza

Here comes the monopoly on basketball video games
catch21_2

What a sad day; it's never good to lose your Wang. Poor EA.
Lake Allen

Well this is terrible news. Pretty sure it means they're going with more of an arcade game now. What a kick to the nuts. Maybe Sony comes back next year with a legit basketball game cause it concerns me that 2K not only gets away with all the problems they have but been gaining sales and thats with competition from Live.
Boox

Live is done anyway.. tried Live 10 and with Wang it wasn't that much of an improvement just call it quits NBA 2K took this gen
NELL86

Haha Live is finished..
http://twitter.com/cdub71323 Corey Poche

Is he just retiring or is he going to return back to 2K?
Chai

Live 10 wasn't all that great anyways. In my opinion NBA Live 09 was much better. The game this year was tooo similar to the 2K series. Live fans will like Live for its style and 2k fans will like 2k for its style. Simple as that. The getting rid of right trigger defensive slide and using only one shot button, amongst other things were changes that did not need to be made in my opinion. Hopefully they try to build off of Live 09 or at least mix up the old gameplay that many Live fans enjoyed. They should focus on KEEPING Live fans rather than grabbing 2k fans.
AAAAA

Who cares!

Larry Bird 2011 Developed by Cracker Studios and Produced by Ku Klux Productions

will shit on nba2k and live!

Coming to Xbox 360 PC PS3 PSP PS2 August 11 2010!

Going to be best Basketball Game ever!

White People get a bonus 5 points per basket 10 per dunk!
http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

No word on where he went…
Jamin

Are you serious?
vatoe loco

wang wised up and should be headed back to 2k.
http://twitter.com/teknyl Kevin Amankwah

Pretty terrible news. Wang's influence helped mold this game into a serious competitor for 2K. Now you can't tell what the direction of Live 11 will be.
Hungryandrew

Wang said “2K Sports 4 Life!!!”
James

The NBA Live series is at the point where it would take 10 years to catch up… the only way they could catch up any sooner is if 2k keeps releasing buggy incomplete games.

Oh and Pasta I read at OS that Russell sent you some MLB The Show pics… where are they?? I'm hyped to see them!
http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

Posting some up this evening and spreading the others out over the course of the week.
beau21

If you got any of Kauffman Stadium (or the Royals in general) can you post them tonight?
http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

I don't remember any of them being related to KC but I'll double check later
lilrobda1

Its official, 2k will take over the basketball video game world.
2K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
legendoflegends

Even the Great Mike Wang could save that pathetic garbage they call NBA Live. What a joke of a basketball game. EA needs to just start all over or just stick to other sports and focus on Madden
legendoflegends

Even the Great Mike Wang could save that pathetic garbage they call NBA Live. What a joke of a basketball game. EA needs to just start all over or just stick to other sports and focus on Madden
legendoflegends

Even the Great Mike Wang could save that pathetic garbage they call NBA Live. What a joke of a basketball game. EA needs to just start all over or just stick to other sports and focus on Madden
gomagic

All this means is that Live 11 and 12 and maybe even 13 will still be in good shape to gain ground on 2K. Just because he isnt there this year, doesnt mean all the stuff he talked about over an entire year goes away. Im sure he shared his philosophies with the team so they should have a clear idea for AT LEAST a couple of years i would hope.
Jamin

Have you played live?
slacker7dy7

I actually interested in where he went. I read somewhere he stayed at EA and went to the Madden team. Which I am not sure of…but if he went to say Sony and revitalized NBA Shootout or The Inside or whatever they call it. That could be great. I personally hope and believe that Sony should stay with basketball on PS3. I see no reason why San Diego Studios can make the Show and NBA the Inside every year. The other thing I would be curious about would be if EA does drop NCAA Basketball brand. Would Sony or 2k pick it up the license and run with it. Would Wang be interested in a project like that? I personally hope the NCAA games expand and not shrink. No NCAA basketball made at all is a crime to me. I would also love to see hockey and lacrosse.
RONNIE2K

WORD???? #EVL- evil voice laugh
pdawg17

You 2k fanboys should actually be bummed that Wang left…Live 10 was actually a good improvement and if you look at reviews you'll see that Live has actually gotten close to the “2k level”…without Wang Live will suck again and 2k will have no reason to put extra effort into its game…get ready for a few years of roster updates for 2k…
Sportsgamer

And if Wang is back at 2K?
pdawg17

Good point…I would love Wang to work on a good SCEA NBA game though…
http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

That's understandable, it's just tough from an outsider standpoint to view it that way right now. Given that Live was already in an unstable situation losing the top guy and really the face of the franchise is unsettling.
http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre

2K is making an NBA announcement in the morning. Everything seems lined up for them to state that he is back with them. It's probably why EA made this information public to get out in front of the story because typically they don't put out a release about people leaving development teams.
legendoflegends

Yeah…when I had my modded xbox 360 a guy came over with a bunch of games for $6 bucks…he threw in live and I played for two quarters and told him it's not even worth buying at bootleg price, I'll rather have the Batman….he started laughing.
legendoflegends

Live close to 2k level? Are you dumb or just pretending to be?
deepen03

hahahaha live is done!! thats what they get for robbing 2k's lead designer!! lmao.. take that EA! even with Wang on board, they could barely compete with 2k10, now its over.. Wang will probably go back to 2k now and help make it even better.
deepen03

yea lets hope, 2k needs some more innovation for 2k11. it is the king of NBA games, but they can still improve..
deepen03

hell yea!! WELCOME BACK TO 2K, MIKE WANG! (the leader of the masterpiece NBA 2k7!)
deepen03

lol and even if they don't put effort who cares? the game is already as close as you can get to the real thing. NBA 2k is the king of Basketball games and nothing can ever change that. I would pay them 60 bucks a year forever even if it is same game with a roster update.
pdawg17

I like how you changed your post when you realized I was right…look at Metacritic:

Live 10: 36 reviews – Avg 80 (user score 80)
2k10: 37 reviews – Avg 83 (user score 81)

As close as it gets to the real thing? Man, 2k counts on having fanboys like you…raking in the cash with minimal effort…and believe it or not I have bought 2k for the last 6 years…so you can't call me a Live fanboy…I bought both this year…
pdawg17

Check my post above yours…look in the mirror before you call someone dumb…
andre100672

I think the same thing would have happened to the madden series if 2k would have continued to make NFL games IMO
thashadow911

I am shocked that so many people are happy for this. Did everyone forget about Madden over 2k. It's never good to only have one type of game. I hope that live is still good next year and 2k also.
CLEfan23

theres know way hes serious
cbtaylo

Wow, he was only there for a short time and he has bolted EA that quick! I did see noticeable improvements in the Live series this time around, it was pathetic before Wang got there. The reign of NBA 2K series will continue, the best sim around, bar none….now if 2K could only get college basketball back! That would be great! Please EA, kill your NCAA license and let us have real video game basketball back. Its time they got a bite in their a**** for buying the license and putting out crap.
http://twitter.com/deepen03 deepen03

what r u talkin about? i never changed my post.. And i'm not talking about this year. Look at Live 06, 07 and 08? They got reviews of around 6-7 out of 10 every year on IGN and Gamespot. While 2k had solid 8.5's every year. So I'll take that.
http://twitter.com/deepen03 deepen03

yea he probably realized that the game is so bad, that even he couldn't fix it. They need to start over and go back to basics. Basically trash the whole engine and start over. Thats the only hope for NBA Live now or else 2k will continue to dominate them every year..
Anonymous

Wow, he was only there for a short time and he has bolted EA that quick! I did see noticeable improvements in the Live series this time around, it was pathetic before Wang got there. The reign of NBA 2K series will continue, the best sim around, bar none….now if 2K could only get college basketball back! That would be great! Please EA, kill your NCAA license and let us have real video game basketball back. Its time they got a bite in their a**** for buying the license and putting out crap.
mefive

good riddance….don't let the door hit you on your way out.
mefive

I said it from the get go. Wang was no saviour and the sales numbers have proven me right. If live wants to get back to former glories they have to put back the multi-team dynasty, stop forcing create a players to play two positions, stop trying to copy Wnba 2k and get back to being live basketball. The only thing live has done right since 2003 is to add all-star weekend with the slam dunk competition.
mefive

good riddance….don't let the door hit you on your way out.
mefive

I said it from the get go. Wang was no saviour and the sales numbers have proven me right. If live wants to get back to former glories they have to put back the multi-team dynasty, stop forcing create a players to play two positions, stop trying to copy Wnba 2k and get back to being live basketball. The only thing live has done right since 2003 is to add all-star weekend with the slam dunk competition.