The NBA 2K games have become the standard in basketball sims. That’s through innovations including the Jordan Challenges and also because EA can’t get a product out consistently.

2K’s Achilles heel has been online play. It takes a long time to get matches and disconnects and lags are a frequent problem. A patch on the 360 that was supposed to iron these problems out didn’t and seems to have created more. Game invites aren’t working properly. Finding a random match already is difficult, with the inability to invite friends to games online is an even bigger mess.

It was the perfect opportunity for NBA 2K11. Not only did it land the power of Michael Jordan, but EA Sports didn’t release a basketball game for the 2010-11 season. As the Houston Rockets did when Jordan left the game to pursue baseball, NBA 2K11 took full advantage. Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick crowed about the development in an investor call February 8, 2011.

It could be argued that the video game basketball battle has been a one-horse race for years. EA’s decision to postpone the release of NBA Elite 11 likely made it official. EA’s best hope was that NBA 2K11 took a step back, leaving fans thirsty for another b-ball option.

EA Sports’ overhaul of its NBA basketball series is going about as well as the Los Angeles Clippers’ eternal rebuilding project.

Just days before its planned October 5, 2010, release, EA Sports President Peter Moore announced on his It’s In The Game blog that NBA Elite 11 will be delayed.

Here’s an interesting fact that came near the tail end of Take-Two Interactive’s earnings call earlier today. An investor asked how well Grand Theft Auto IV has sold in Japan since October 2008. If you’re only after numbers, GTA IV has sold somewhere in the area of 400,000 copies in Japan.

The sports gaming world is watching as EA Sports reinvents its basketball title as NBA Elite. More details about the new face of EA basketball are coming out, including a Be A Pro mode allowing you to play out an NBA career. EA dabbled with this NBA Live 09, but this sounds as if going’s to be more complex with character progression.

Los Angeles Lakers’ star and 2009 NBA Finals’ MVP Kobe Bryant is the cover boy for Take-Two’s NBA 2K10. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he makes a pretty effective pitchman as well.

Bryant told the LA Times this latest incarnation of digital basketball is so realistic it’s “like practicing without getting hurt.” The superstar comes from a family of gamers as he said his father, uncle, sister and six of his cousins all played the NES classic Double Dribble back in the day. That game had no NBA license and players with virtually no distinctive characteristics. These days, designers can make incredible replicas of our favorite athletes and Bryant’s game representation reflects his unique mannerisms. The virtual Bryant even juts his jaw out during crunch time the same way the real All-Star guard does.