NBA Playgrounds (BOOMSHAKALAKA!)

SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION!SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION!SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION! SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION!

You get the idea, NBA playgrounds is looking very NBA Jam/street & it is out in May as a download only title. I AM EXCITED!

Firstly, Jas, that post read exactly like Cappa. I mean, it was uncanny. Un. Can. Knee.

Secondly, Jas, the most recent NBA Jam revival was dog (I thought, natch). Let's hope Playgrounds can take the role with more aplomb.

Altogether now: "From downtown!" "He's heating up!"

Bleagghhhh, massive heads, ugh. Other than that, cool. Haven't played a good arcade sports game since NBA Street Vol. 2

ZeroJones wrote:

Firstly, Jas, that post read exactly like Cappa. I mean, it was uncanny. Un. Can. Knee.

Secondly, Jas, the most recent NBA Jam revival was dog (I thought, natch). Let's hope Playgrounds can take the role with more aplomb.

Altogether now: "From downtown!" "He's heating up!"

You think that seemed like Cappa? Maybe if I used the words 'pure' & 'mince' then possibly. I didn't mind the last Jam revival, obviously it didn't match the same level of character as the original but the ARCADE ACTION! was fun enough.

Top announcer quotes there but I was always a fan of: "And I just got my Dunkin' Degree from DUNKIN' ON U!"

I'm sure this will play a mean game o' B-Ball, but here's hoping it has plenty of madcap humour to boot.

New gameplay trailer & info which I found on the playstation blog:  

Quote :

Shooting and Dunking

Whether you’re shooting 3-pointers, pulling off major dunks, showing off your finger-roll game, or defying analytics and winning with long 2-pointers – timing is key. Letting go of the shoot button at the peak of your shooting motion will not only increase your shot percentage, it will actually give you bonus points if the timing is perfect. The same goes for layups and dunks. This brings an added layer to NBA Playgrounds, where advanced players can be rewarded for learning the animations.
NBA Playgrounds

Lottery Pick System

Pour in enough buckets, and your team will get to spin the Lottery Pick wheel for a short term bonus. Bonuses include super speed shoes, 12 inches of extra height on dunks, a glowing blue ball that increases your shot percentage, and a 2x 3-pointer. Another cool aspect of the Lottery Pick system is that it makes you think twice about pushing down your opponent on defense, as you lose your lottery bar momentum. It’s playground rules, but playing a cleaner game can bring you some good karma.

Defense

Defense wins championships – it also wins a ton of games in NBA Playgrounds, whether it’s against the AI, your friend on the couch, or online competition. Timing your swipes to get steals is key. On the other side of the coin, if you see a defender going in for a steal, that’s the perfect time to pull off a crossover and sprint towards the basket or the 3-point line. A good player will also experiment with and learn the perfect time to jump to block a dunk or a jump shot. Key moments – like when a player is about to shoot a 6-pointer during the Lottery Pick 3-pointer bonus – also call for you to push your opponent down – it’s playground rules after all!

Upgrade your Players

NBA Playgrounds rewards winning by giving the player new card packs that unlock new current and retired players. Sticking with a team for a while and focusing on unlocking their XP by playing through games will give those players new moves. Lots of players also have signature moves, so be sure to keep progressing in the game!
That should give you a rundown of the gameplay basics. We’re sure advanced players will find cool metas to the game as they rise up in online tournaments. Stay tuned for more NBA Playgrounds news!

I'm quite interested in getting this soon. Basketball games should be off-the-wall like this, and NBA Jam, and especially NBA Street. Stuff like NBA 2K and NBA Live is just too strict, too hardcore, and - I feel - a shambolic use of the license. Basketball games have been stepping backwards since the GameCube days, by and large.

I'd be interested in finding out who's developing Playgrounds before I get too excited though - does anybody know?

Says 'Saber Interactive' here, boss. Never 'eard of 'em, meself.

It looks like they are mainly on port duty for the most part but that is with a massive franchise in Halo, their most well known stuff they have done by themselves are Timeshift & Inversion both of which received average reviews.

Neither are anything like an arcade sports game so make of that what you will.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saber_Interactive#Games

Aren't the NBA 2K games widely considered to be the best sports games around, though.

They are certainly well polished games but I think the point TCK was making is the non contact rules etc can make them quite frustrating to play & therefore less fun when compared to Jam/street.

Sure and if not big on the sport can see why they might be like their going in the a certain direction not to your liking, even if best in its genre.

Yeah - more of a sports sim than SPORTS! ARCADE ACTION!, I would say. It's whatever floats your boat, of course.

Yeah hopefully this does well and we get other arcade sport games instead of sims but those are the ones that bring in the dolla dolla.

I'd happily live on Jam Street.

I've always preferred arcadey sports games over straight up sports sims, so I'll be looking at this with an interested eye. A work colleague actually brought this up to me (primarily a PC gamer, recently picked up a Switch) so it's catching some attention at the very least.

Drunkalilly wrote:

I'd happily live on Jam Street.

Who wouldn't?

Drunkalilly wrote:

I'd happily live on Jam Street.

21 Jam Street?

masofdas wrote:

Aren't the NBA 2K games widely considered to be the best sports games around, though.  

Aye, if you're a fucking dick. They're miraculous technical accomplishments, but deadly dull like no game ever developed before. Give me a four hundred hour JRPG before you sit me in front of NBA 2K, any day. What an absolute waste of ability.

Reckon you can get duller by playing MLB The Show.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

masofdas wrote:

Aren't the NBA 2K games widely considered to be the best sports games around, though.  

Aye, if you're a fucking dick. They're miraculous technical accomplishments, but deadly dull like no game ever developed before. Give me a four hundred hour JRPG before you sit me in front of NBA 2K, any day. What an absolute waste of ability.

I think that's a problem with 2K's sports games in general - their WWE games are pretty boring to play too, to be honest.

I think there is a slight difference as the NBA games are meant to be sims of a real sport, just like FIFA or PES but we care more about football and understand why they're like they are. From what I've played off NBA 2K do a good of that, where the WWE games are being made as sims like FIFA, PES etc for something that's scripted and sometimes over the top like a upcoming house of horrors match.

I get what they want to do with the WWE games but doesn't quite work for me.

I don't know what that card opening thing was but the collect-o-maniac that I am has made me want it immediately, you know, providing the gameplay is actually any good.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

masofdas wrote:

Aren't the NBA 2K games widely considered to be the best sports games around, though.  

Aye, if you're a fucking dick. They're miraculous technical accomplishments, but deadly dull like no game ever developed before. Give me a four hundred hour JRPG before you sit me in front of NBA 2K, any day. What an absolute waste of ability.

masofdas wrote:

I think there is a slight difference as the NBA games are meant to be sims of a real sport, just like FIFA or PES but we care more about football and understand why they're like they are. From what I've played off NBA 2K do a good of that, where the WWE games are being made as sims like FIFA, PES etc for something that's scripted and sometimes over the top like a upcoming house of horrors match

I think that might be a big problem with the sport of basketball itself. There are so many games and so many "scores" that the actual technical game leaves a bit to be desired, and doesn't feel like much of an achievement; hence why NBA Jam works better as an idealistic "fun" version. Football however has evolved in to a cleverer sport. Hence FIFA and PES are accurate simulations (one notable rule excepted) but also fun as videogames.

I often wonder how weirder sports get invented. Football, you can picture: some lads are kicking a ball about and they say "we'll try and get it in that hole, you try and get it in that one." Even cricket, one guy throws a ball and the other hits it with a stick, and the various bat sports come from there. But like, snooker? "You hit the balls into the holes, but you have to use this long poking stick, and you don't hit the ball, you hit the white ball into the ball, and there are different colours . . ."
Apparently netball actually predates Basketball. I suppose dribbling evolved as a form of "I'm not technically moving with the ball" fuckery.