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Tuesday, January 09, 2007 |
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Gamebreaker Q & A
IGN asks the questions, EA has the answers!
Todd Batty
Producer
EA Canada
1. How has the gamebreaker changed?
In NBA Street Homecourt, the money ball represents the gamebreaker. Doing tricks and executing combos during regular gameplay builds up your trick meter, and once that meter is filled your team can unleash the money ball from its place in the HUD. This is where the fun really begins. Once in play, whoever holds the money ball holds the gamebreaker until somebody finally scores. The player in possession of the moneyball can unleash different tricks, passes, and dunks with abilities magnified well beyond his regular gameplay abilities. This means little guys like Nash can air it out and score huge dunks, and big guys like Shaq can do tricks like you’ve never seen before. It’s only for a brief period of time, and it makes it loads of fun to both play and watch.
2. How is this style of gamebreaker a shift from the past? Why is this better?
Our vision for the gamebreaker this year was to make it a completely outrageous, fun gameplay activity. Probably the biggest difference is that NBA Street Homecourt is the first of the Street series to introduce a true defensive element into the gamebreaker. Since the franchise was really built on the premise of fun-to-play defense, we thought that it would be a good idea to carry that philosophy over into the gamebreaker and give the defense a chance to not only stop the gamebreaker, but to actually steal it from the other team. We think this is a nice addition for a number of reasons, and it really creates some frenetic, incredibly fun stretches of gameplay when the ball ends up going back and forth a couple times before somebody finally scores.
3. How does scoring work?
When the gamebreaker is initially activated and the money ball is released from the HUD, we instantly reward the team that activated it by taking a point away (-1) from their opponent. This is important, since the money ball can be stolen, along with the potential reward for the team that actually puts it in the basket. Once play begins, the User has a couple of options. They can try and score immediately and be content with receiving the regular points for the basket. Or, they can try and execute Trick Remixer moves, heezy passes, and Jump-off dunks in an attempt to build up an additional reward. This reward can be 1, 2, or even 3 extra points, resulting in some pretty huge point swings. Just as in regular gameplay, however, these points are only ‘cashed in’ if the player finishes the play with a basket. If the ball is stolen, his potential reward is lost.
4. What's the risk/reward?
If you want to score instantly and take your small reward of (-1) deducted from the opponent’s score, that is a pretty safe bet. We give defense a chance during gamebreaker, but the play still favors the offense with this strategy. However, if you want to try and build your reward up to the maximum of (+3) added to your score, you are going to have to execute some pretty good tricks. The riskier the tricks you pull off, the quicker your reward will build. But with every trick comes an added possibility the defense will counter your moves and steal the money ball, thus stealing the gamebreaker. If that happens, they will then be faced with the same decision. So, the reward can be very high, but so is the risk. It is a pretty simple system to learn, but the outcome possibilities are limitless.
5. What different tricks can you pull off when in it?
Yet another feature to entice you to try and build up your reward during the gamebreaker is that all of the skill moves such as dunks or tricks are replaced with bigger, even more stylish moves when you are holding the money ball. There are so many moves to discover we even allow you to audition them in practice mode. Here you will see a whole collection of things you’ve never seen before in a basketball title - everything from back flips and backboard grabs to a kick-pass off a defender’s head to an alley-ooping teammate.
6. What strategy do you usually use when you go head to head?
One of the things we really wanted to do with this title was to give the consumer enough weapons on both offense and defense that they would be able to shift gears at multiple points in a game. This means that there are many different strategies to employ and you will see people switch it up depending on who they are playing and what strategy that person is using against them. Overall, though, most people tend to gravitate towards the bigger reward during the gamebreaker. If it was only about the extra points, you would probably see more people playing it safe, but when you factor in all of the crazy moves, it is just too entertaining to resist.
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