14 DAY TRIAL // EA Sports has announced that the first athlete to grace the cover of a basketball simulation bearing the NBA Elite name will be Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Before this, the player was seen on the cover of NCAA March Madness 08. He joins Tim Duncan and Steve Francis in the exclusive club of players who were both promising prospects and then managed to confirm their status as superb professional players.
Kevin Durant was selected second overall in the NBA Draft by the Seattle Supersonics and in 2008 got the title of Rookie of the Year. He then went on to lead the renamed Oklahoma City Thunder to the playoffs and is one of the up and coming stars of the NBA. His presence on the cover of the new Elite franchise signals EA Sports' intent on bringing a more youthful vibe to its long running basketball simulation franchise.
NBA Elite 11 will see some major changes compared to last year’s installment. The canned animations, which were used until now, with players beginning a move and having no choice but to follow it up to completion, are replaced.
The fresh system is called Hands On Control and will allow the gamer to better control the on the court player they are in charge of, actually leading them on both the defensive and the offensive, with direct control over dribbling, shooting, passing, steals, blocks and passing. Apparently, the concept will bring the entire experience of NBA Elite 11 closer to real life.
It will be nice to see how players receive the change from Live to Elite. Some might be confused about the fresh title but there's also a chance newcomers could be interested in the product. EA Sports has not yet talked about whether NBA Elite 11 will in any way support Kinect from Microsoft or the PlayStation Move from Sony.