NBA 2K11 Gets Free Stereoscopic 3D Update on January 16th

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Ronnie2K here! Back in October, I discussed NBA 2K11’s PlayStation Move functionality along with a deep look on all the great features NBA 2K11 has to offer. And if you ever have suggestions for NBA2K, hit me up on Twitter and follow us on Facebook.

NBA 2K11 has garnered more than two dozen Sports Game of the Year awards, has been called “the greatest sports game of this generation” in earning a 9.5 from IGN, and continues to be one of the most talked about games across social networks. And the nostalgia behind the return of Michael Jordan to the virtual hardwood continues to be overwhelming. For the few of you who have been holding out for a copy or have put your NBA 2K11 on the shelf for a couple weeks, I just wanted to give you heads-up about the upcoming game update. Especially anyone who was lucky enough to pick up a stereoscopic 3D TV over the holidays.

NBA 2K11 for PS3

For those of you who missed out on the 3D retail exclusive at Best Buy released back in November, this Sunday, January 16th, we will be offering a free title update to your NBA 2K11 game that will allow PlayStation 3 users, who have a 3D television and online connectivity, to experience NBA 2K11 in 3D! Just pop your game in and it will update before the title screen. From there, you can turn on your TV’s 3D capabilities, grab those awesome 3D glasses, and experience the NBA game you love with an extra layer of depth (an extra dimension even!) to what many have hailed as the deepest, most immersive, and best sports game of this generation.

Many have been lucky enough to play the Best Buy 3D exclusive extensively over the past couple of months. This has led to the question of what goes on behind the scenes to make 3D possible in NBA 2K11. So I got together with Visual Concepts, the creators of NBA 2K11, and asked them!

All 3D effects come down to one simple idea: make each of a viewer’s eyes see a slightly different image and you can create the illusion of depth on a 2D screen. Technology to create 3D movies evolved from two-color images, called anaglyphs, into the more modern projection systems that use differently polarized light. Most of the new 3D televisions use a technique called “alternate-frame sequencing” in which they first display the image for one eye and then display the image for the other eye, holding each image on the screen for 1/120th of a second. To make sure viewers see the correct images with each eye, glasses that cover-up one eye in exact synchronization with the television display, called active-shutter glasses, are used. What’s most exciting about the new technology is the quality of the images it produces. The new generation of active-shutter HDTVs let us make a 3D game using full resolution HDTV images at framerates up to 120Hz.

NBA 2K11 for PS3

To properly drive one of these televisions, NBA 2K11 must create two separate images every game frame–one for each eye. We create a virtual stereoscopic (two-eyed) camera and render the whole scene in full HD resolution twice, once for each eye of the camera. These two images are packaged together and delivered to the television as one “frame” which the television decodes and displays as two consecutive images, one for each eye of the viewer. Just in case anyone has a pair of the old-school [red-and-blue] 3D glasses lying around, NBA 2K11 will render using the anaglyph method as well.

The intelligence of the Visual Concepts guys, in programming NBA 2K11 as one of the finest sports games to be playable in 3D, is remarkable. And from personal experience, it’s absolutely amazing how your player literally jumps off the screen when going for a thunderous dunk. Or maybe a certain President in 3D? It must be witnessed to be believed!

NBA 2K11 for PS3

I’d be remiss to mention that some other minor tweaks, including some updates to our online experience, are also included in this update. These changes should enhance the experience. So make sure to grab it and get to some 2K11 gaming immediately!

As always, thanks to the great people at PlayStation for giving me this time to talk to you about the latest NBA 2K11 update. And of course, thanks to you passionate Sony fans who have helped us make the NBA 2K Franchise what it is. Development for NBA 2K12 is already well underway and it’ll be October before we know it! How do we take it to the next level? Mark sure to follow us on Facebook to see exclusive info for the NBA 2K Franchise in the coming months.

I’ll be taking questions below so feel free to ask any follow-up questions. Thanks for reading!

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136 Comments

51 Author Replies

  • Hey guys, here to take questions. Lay them on me!

  • Does this patch add Navigation Controller support to the game?

    • No it does not. While the Move is on the retail version of the disk even though it’s only a few months old, Navigation control will have to wait until next year.

  • Does this mean that we will see NFL 2K12 soon?

    • Don’t have to look too far for a fan of the NFL franchise. I still think NFL 2K5 is one of the best sports games of all time, right behind NBA 2K11. However, we don’t own the license to make NFL games so until that changes, there won’t be an NFL licensed game.

  • Does this patch fix any of the Crew mode glitches? People calling random timeouts toward the end of the game, making substitutions, and etc. which don’t make the game COUNT. Every game needs to be reported…even when people quit. It is very inconsistent. I want my stats counted for!

    • Please provide me as much info as you can on this. I wasn’t aware of end of game timeouts affecting crew game records, though I have gotten reports of crew games not counting. I’ll make sure to work with our online team to get that looked at server side.

  • Does this patch update other things besides give 3D support?

    • Hi Rapier,
      Yes it does. A few things are tweaked, most notably an issue we had with unranked games that made it difficult for certain people to play their friends. That should be resolved with the release of this patch.

  • Will they restore playcalling during My Player mode? I haven’t played the game much since it was removed. How did removing that feature improve the game? As an experienced player and coach, players have to be able to change the play on the fly depending on game situations, especially in the half court game. The removal of the entire feature completely ruined that mode, though.

    • Hi JBundy,
      This feature wasn’t removed. You just have to get your teammate chemistry high enough. Think about it like in real life… would you be allowed to fight for plays you want to call when you’re not a good teammate or not the superstar on the team? Once you get your rating high enough, you can call plays.

      And for those who don’t like running the plays that are called, you don’t have to. Go against the play, ask for the ball and play how you normally would.

  • Hey u guys are doing a great job with the game keep it up! So 2k12 is under way…being a basketball fan & sneaker fan I would like to see a little more detail in the kicks we have to choose from although the customization part is cool & all it lacks the detail of the shoes, for example all the Jordan retros possessed something different other than colorway like elephant or cement print. Last years NBA Live had a lot of limited kicks & details in the shoes which I loved, I’m not hating on the game which is near perfect but having that same detail like that would just put it over the top for me! Thanks

    • I really think in general we need to think of DLC such as shoes. It’s something I’ve been pushing here but I hear you DJKid.

  • Hey whats up Ronnie! You already know how much I love 2k11 already haha. I wanted to know if there were updates to gameplay.

    • Good question jeebs, wanted to point this out actually: gameplay wasn’t touched. We are unrivaled in our gameplay and felt that it was perfect enough to leave alone. The thing about patches is that sometimes you can undo a lot of good you have done when you try to get too fine. Know what I mean?

  • Hey Ronnie,
    Love this game! (first time i have bought a basketball game in years) I really love the Jordan Challenge and was hoping you would have some more challenges available as DLC. So many more classic Jordan moments to replay. Is this a possibility?

    • Hi Illini,
      Thanks for the support and welcome to the NBA 2K family. DLC is something we really need to get into and plan on it, but there’s none slated for 2K11. How great would it be if you could grab a team that maybe isn’t as popular with everyone but is special to you? Or the kicks from a previous post? Or, and I have been asking this since I feel for people who work like crazy, skill points for a My Player. All of these are just ideas I am throwing out there so don’t go quoting me, but no doubt there’s a lot we could do… just not this year. Feel free to send me ideas on Twitter for next year though!

  • I love this game with such a passion. Only problem is playing rank games with your friends gets a little annoying when both Players need the same settings in order to avoid network errors. Does the new patch address this minor issue?

    • Glad you brought this up Mexica. This has been fixed for the new patch. You should not need the same settings to play your friends now!

  • Hey how are you, i noticed a glitch were pau gasol of the lakers got fouled out of the game and he finishes the rest of the game, and another one where gerald wallace was hurt and on the njury report it said “out” and i could still sub him back in, and last but not least i requested a trade to the knicks and sure enough i ended up there and i got traded for amare stoudemire and my had only a 49 overall.
    please tell me if you guys can fix this

    • The firs two things we have looked and hope to have fixed for this patch.

      The third I haven’t heard of at all, and I am usually the guy that’d hear… that’s really odd. You must really have had some upside! Haha, just kidding. I will ask the team to look into the trading logic as that shouldn’t happen.

  • I know exactly what you mean… I remember 2k9…haha Thanks again…

  • Ronnie Singh in the house!!!
    NBA 2K11 is the BEST GAME EVER!!!
    I hope NBA 2K12 is even better, and I am sure with you helping 2K it will be!

    • Haha thanks Daniel.

      After 2K11 release, I wondered where we could possibly go from here (except of course continuing to improve the online experience is a no brainer), but I have heard some of the things in play for 2K12 and somehow, I think we’ll blow your minds even more. Too early to get into that, but never doubt Visual Concepts, the NBA 2K dev team. I have read critics asking “Where do they go from here?” Well we get that every year… and every year we push the envelope. 2K12 will be no different, I can promise you that.

  • Wait one question… any changes to custom music? I don’t expect any but it always good to get it out of my mind.

    • What do you mean? That was brought on this year on PlayStation 3 and then tweaked to be better in first patch in November.

  • How much further can 2K12 or 2k13 go?… will 12 have smells? will 13 allow you to feel the sweat of another player as you stand and take the charge? my brain hurts.

    I wonder if the the 160 Ft HD Video screen in the Dallas Cowboys new stadium is and or could ever be able to display stereoscopic 3D… I can only dream of being able to play a PS3 game on that beast of a HDTV

    • Haha I am sure it can. That stadium was expensive/lavish enough…

      But don’t you agree that as fans, we say that every year about the NBA2K franchise and yet we figure out a way to blow your mind further?

  • The one thing I really like when Ronnie Singh comes on the PS Blog is that he answers everyone’s questions! That is what I call GREAT service!

  • Ronnie-I am sure it is much to late to get this in 2K11, maybe for 2K12 though.

    As a Utah Jazz fan, it is disappointing to me that pretty much every team’s mascot is represented in the game, except the Jazz Bear. Bear is possibly the best entertainer of all NBA mascots.

    Rides out onto the court on a Harley before starting lineups? Check.

    Sliding down the entire stairwell of the lower bowl on a body board? Check.

    Golfing on the biggest stilts ever seen? Check.

    Climbing a ladder that goes nearly all the way up to the scoreboard, ON SAID STILTS, to hold up signs and pump up the crowd? Check.

    Please show the Jazz and the Jazz Bear the love. Even if just the motorcycle entrance during starting lineups.

    Thanks!

    p.s. the only DLC I think I would ever buy for NBA 2K would be COMPLETE CLASSIC TEAM LINEUPS, not just the limited rosters as there are now.

    • I should probably be up on the history of the Jazz Bear, but forgive me that I am not (OKC fan here). Is he a new mascot? Because generally we don’t miss details like that…

      In terms of classic players, I should note that getting a legacy player to show up in our game is tougher than creating and putting him in there. We have to get consent/approval from each individual player to put their likeness in the game. I am sure you can imagine that can often tough for the 12th man on certain teams! Not to say this won’t happen, but this was the first year we aimed at having those Jordan legacy teams along with the ones he faced. I am sure we’ll look to more down the road.

  • How now we need a 3dtv because on facebook it said this update will be available for 3d and regulartv’s

  • Is this a 5th grade intramural game or an NBA game? No professional should be so handcuffed that they can’t take the initiative to at least call a darn play. Your position implies that a player should have mental handcuffs on because the My Player’s chemistry grade isn’t high enough or that the player is not a superstar? Do you not see how this is like playing with your arms behind your back. There is no logic in that if your player is in a position to call a play, when, I don’t know, he has the ball in his hands! If the teammates on the floor (and indirectly, those on the bench), feel that was a bad time to call a play, THEN and only then should the player get dinged for not sticking to the gameplan, something also missing from NBA 2k11 that leaves My Player lopsided towards yielding to this “your player isn’t a superstar, shut up” syndrome of not being able to participate in the real outcomes of games other than flailing your player’s arm up to get dinged for calling for the ball one play into the game. Are you sure that’s what was intended by Naismith?

    • What you say makes good points… however, you don’t get dinged for avoiding the play/gameplan. It’s just a guide to go by and you can change the play when you’re rating is high enough. Why is that rating something people don’t want to work on? It’s an extra dimension of realism.

  • @ JBundyLive

    Play calling has nothing to do with the grade you get, maybe a little but not all of it. Once you finish a game is My Player, the press asks you a question, if you answer the professional way your team chemistry goes up. Once you have a few chemistry arrows up, you get the play call system (which makes a lot of sense if you ask me). Once you start answering with arrogance, or the others, you have a chance to have your team chemistry messed up, and will be taken away.

  • I can break down the My Play Press event for people if they want.

    Answer with Arrogance:

    + Have a better chance of getting MJ Shoe Deal faster, and get’s you lots of All-Star votes

    – Can lose team chemistry which will lead to your coach taking away play-calling

    Answer with Professionalism:

    + Team chemistry goes up almost all of the time, local fan arrow goes up too

    – Harder to get league wide whcih leads to get all-star votes, and hard to get MJ endoesments

  • I’ve noticed the past couple of times I’ve played 2K11 the audio commentary doesn’t work. Meaning it doesn’t come on, just curious as to why this is happening?

  • Hey Ronnie, I was wondering when the new alternate jerseys will be up for teams like the magic,hornets and t-wolves ?

    • We are waiting for a couple of the unreleased ones to be worn. We were hoping that’d happen by Monday but we’ll see. Either way, it’s soon.

  • Will the patch fix the AI players fouling out of games and being able to return after a timeout in My Player mode. Yao Ming had 8 fouls one game and Mike Conley had 9. What about outlet passes 70% of the time its a bad pass anything over quarter of the court? What about the lack of fouls during collisions with players blatantly jumping on your back or into your body? Yall really screwd the pooch with that previous patch.

    • Talked about that earlier. We tried to duplicate this but it seems to only be happening some of the time. We think we put a fix in place for this rare bug but are not sure.

      Passing got an overhaul this year and most people are very happy with the fact that it’s not a cherry pick/fast break fest.

  • Also how come you cant adjust the playbook like you could last year in My player mode? The AI coach picks the worst plays for players. there is no reason Eric Gordon should be posting up when hes a perimeter player. And why doesnt the AI coach change match ups and defense intensity? Every player on my team sags off the cpu opponent. Why would you sag off Kobe on the perimiter or Ray Allen. Minuscule details like this should allow the player to adjust it or have AI coach provide a more comprehensive gameplan.

  • The playbook is set by the 2K Insider but can be changed by the user before games. To discuss these sorts of issues, please check out the 2K Insider blog: http://community.2ksports.com/community/2kinsider/

  • Thanks for the answer. I wasn’t referring to the cherry picking I hated that also. More less cross court passes and couldn’t you guys alleviate the long cherry pick passes by making the AI player get back on D instead of the entire team crashing like they were before? Just a suggestion I love the game dont get me wrong just somethings make the game frustrating I really appreciate the feedback though :)

  • I Love Nba 2k11 maybe more than my girl..haha.. My only problems are the online issues which I cant wait to check on Sunday. Since 2k12 is being worked on here are my wishes for it. All official lineup entrances. You know Bulls with their song, just like what you see on Tv that be really cool. Another would be were you can play your friends online and be able to use INJURED players, you know like right now Greg,Roy,Noah,Garnett etc. But only on unraked matches 1vs1. OHH and for NBA2K12 get DERRICK ROSE ON THE COVER!!!!!!!!!!!

    • DRose is a great player. It could happen.

      Activating injured players in unranked games makes sense. You can do that in quick game, you aware of that?

      Player intros are always discussed. The Jordan entrance on the title screen is out of this world. Be cool to have it for all of them.

  • LOL I know you are tired of seeing me post Ronnie. But there is no coaching menu in my player mode this year. No way to adjust plays for particular players or coaching style, Unless im completely blind or havent traversed all the menus. If this feature is in my player mode and someone tells me how to get there I will love you guys for ever and ever haha. And after all these months I will really feel like a noob if these features are in the MY PLAYER mode. Im not talkin about the Association mode.

  • @ Agent_Clutch

    Read comment 20, and 21

  • First, sorry for my english.

    I just want to say if in this patch u will remove the auto-play in My Player mode, I mean… If i can turn it off, and when I want it, turn it on again… I don’t know if u will understand me…

    • No though as I said above, you can choose to ignore the play and call for the ball or if your teammate chemistry is high enough, change the play altogether.

  • This happens to me in every mode, so in turn I have to go to the My Player mode and in that case the audio commentary works and then I quit My Player and the audio commentary works for every mode of game play. Also, every time I try to play a friend online it boots our game and gives an error message “Network connection problem”, in turn we had to start a league in order to play each other.

    • The network connection problem should be completely fixed with the release of this patch.

      I wonder if it’s a settings file that’s getting stuck. Next time, go into your audio settings and see if things are normal. Tweet/email me and let me know.

  • Ronnie, I forgot to ask, how big (size of download) is the new patch?

    • That’s a question I don’t know the answer to. Let me see if I can find out and get back to you. I don’t think it’ll be that large.

  • One problem I have had is adjusting to the new shot stick timing that was altered with the patch. For the longest I’ve always believed you are supposed to release your shot at the top of your jump for maximum accuracy, but after the patch, say with Kobe for instance, maximum accuracy is attained by releasing the ball very quickly after starting the shot. Is this new method across the board or only player specific?

    • It’s across the board. You may have to take a bit to get used to the players you use. I spent a few minutes in Practice mode with my OKC Thunder & Memphis Grizzlies and now I am back to not having difficulty.

      Just an FYI, the reason shot release timing was changed was to make it more like offline and we succeeded there.

  • For my football needs NFL 2K5 is still my top choice! I will pray the NFL stops this monopoly of the license and lets the real guys make a true next gen football game for a change. You already scared your competition away in NBA, Madden would piss its pants! :P

  • About my player all star votes and MVP votes, as a rookie I don’t get any, and I don’t know why, I lead the league in points and rebounds per game, just wondering why? If there was a update after I started i wouldn’t know, I haven’t made another my player.

  • i heard that allen iverson will be on the cover of nba 2k12. is this true?

  • First off, let me say thank you for coming here to listen to the gamers.

    I haven’t really play 2k11 since the last patch in November, because a lot of the things the patch did was made it less enjoyable and at times frustrating.

    Things like passing needs to be address; too many times passes get tip or intercepted because the passer would not make the right kind of passes, I feel there should be an option to bounce pass instead of randomly doing it.

    The last patch made “My player mode” into a halfcourt game and I do not like the plays the coaches will call. And if I do not like the plays and demand the ball, I get penalized for asking for the ball too much and it will effect my grades at the end of the game.

    • Hi Phat,
      I have spoken about your second point. As long as you don’t button mash asking for the ball, your grade won’t be docked. When you get your teammate chemistry high enough, you can change the plays.

      Passing wasn’t really changed in the first patch, but in general it’s different this year than year’s past. I personally like it a lot and it seems like most gamers do too. In years past, the AI has seemed to completely lack awareness as passes flew by their heads. Not the case this year.

  • I have a question. How do I get this game to display in 1080p? It says on the box it supports it, and I know for a fact my TV supports it (Gran Turismo 5), but NBA 2k11 only plays in 720p. Thanks for help in advance.

  • Is it just me, or does Ronnie look like a character from the Sims 1??? Sorry Ronnie! LOL

  • Ronnie! Just showing my love for the best sports game i have ever played :D
    what will the patch do for online???

    • Good question. We are hoping it indirectly helps with online leagues and crews, but we are quite sure that it will remove any issues with unranked games with friends.

  • What you mean free? This ugly ps3 version of a game was always said to have 3d support before even released… And its now that you going to release this wow….. I rather play my pirated 360 or pc version since it has better graphics and more effort put into them..

  • Also, why do you not put screen shots of the ps3 version of the game? Cause the ps3 version look no where in hell close to that.

  • Will the patch also bring the option to decide how strong the 3D effect is?

  • Roonnie, can you please tell me if it is possible in my player mode to edit the team plays or choose another one from the team list of calls adjusted to my player skills? For instance, I want to put more 3-point calls for my point guard or passing easily to a teammate for three? I had played for the Lakers on my rookie season and using their calls I had 10 assists avg but now during the second season with Heat I have only 3 assts avg because I don’t like their calls.
    Thanks for your big help.
    NBA 2K11 Addicted!

    • Increase your teammate chemistry and you can change the plays. Team playbooks are dependent on the living roster you had when you began your My Player.

  • First off I would like to say, excellent game. The bar that you guys raise year after year is remarkable.

    A few quick questions… I wish there were some way of changing the settings, say, manual subs, and manual timeouts, but in a league, at the start of every game both players must press pause to change this. Is this something that can be easily fixed, or do we just wait till 2k12. It would be nice to view the great presentation that you offer going right into the tip off, instead of having to press pause lol.

    And the second concern is… in my player, I noticed that no matter how good you play, example you can have 30 points in the first half, your never the man they show at halftime on the highlights. They show you as the key player comparison, but never highlighted…

    Last… after popping in my 2k11 for the first time, we see the classic Bulls introductions. At one point I was hoping that my “my player” could achieve those intros at one point in his career, are there any plans for 2k12 to have player introductions at the beginning of the game like the first 2k did, because the graphics look incredible during the old bulls introduction…

    Thanks for your time.

    • This was fixed in the first patch. Certain things (like online playbooks) are attached to roster updates and can’t be changed but a lot of these coach settings can be now. Maybe you’re not saving your settings? Hit me up on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/Ronnie2K) if you can’t get it.

      I remember this being a problem too before the first patch but that should have been fixed as well.

      That’s a great idea: custom My Player intros. I’ll pass it on to the dev team.

  • whats up Ronnie Ive had a few ideas for the game that i think would be cool how about practice mode like freestyle but where you can practice with your friends online like more than 1 player or for crew purposes or team pick up scrimmages that would be cool………and fix the eurostep glitches lol

  • ohhhhh and my suggestios were for 2k12 lol

  • hey i ur love the game adding jordan was a nice touch i havent played a game w the real jordan in it since jordan vs bird

    • The nostalgia behind his return to games has really been incredible. And I haven’t heard one complaint about how we didn’t capture something about MJ properly. Amazing…

  • love ur lol typo

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