NBA ELITE 11 Delayed

According to Peter Moore’s official blog, NBA Elite 11 for Xbox 360 and PS3 has been removed from the previous October release window and delayed with no new release date currently set.

Moore says : “Unfortunately, NBA Elite 11 is not yet ready and we have made a decision to delay next month’s launch. We are going to keep working until we’re certain we can deliver a breakthrough basketball experience.”

This kind of delay isn’t uncommon, but the wording of Peter Moore’s statement hints that perhaps more than a little polish is required.

“Why make this decision now? As with all of our titles, we continue to evaluate and improve the code right up until launch. Feedback from consumers is a very important part of the process . NBA ELITE had the benefit of play-testing, a demo and a lot of our own research. All that feedback revealed some concerns about gameplay polish, so we’ve listened to your feedback, and made a judgment that the game would benefit from more time in development”

NBA JAM on the Nintendo Wii is unnaffected and will still launch on time, but it seems the confusion surrounding the Xbox 360 and PS3 version might finally be cleared up. Previously it was thought that a version would be an exclusive bonus for NBA Elite buyers with a later, revised version of NBA JAM available at a later date. Moore has this to say on the matter :

“In addition to the Wii version, we’re going to ship NBA Jam as a standalone product on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in time for the holidays. Watch for more news soon on the exact timing of that release”

Delays are never what fans of games want to hear, but if it’s to make the game better then ultimately it has to be worth the wait.  Being a reboot of a franchise they need to get the game just right, so the decision makes complete sense.

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