EA shows clearest 'bullshot' in a long time

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 15th 2007 at 10:03AM }

"Bullshot" is a term used for a screenshot that's been altered through ~~the Devil's workshop~~ Photoshop to be more than it is. A large majority of screenshots are altered before they go out for public consumption. Things will be a little crisper, glossier and/or just plain altered to make the game look better than it is. Although the latest batch of NBA Live '08 screens on Gamespot all look altered, the one above is a standout of the bunch. It's the one you can clearly point to and say, "Beyond the things I think are altered, that's definitely been Photoshopped." Can you see it? Click the image to enlarge if you need it -- answer is after the break.

The answer lies in the man to the left -- the far left. Yes, that is Stone Temple Pilots you hear in your head singing, "I'm half the man I used to be." Beyond the issue of the half-missing player in this "bullshot," we could go on about things we think are altered, but there's no proof. One thing that looks consistently wrong (not only in the image above, but in many of the shots, with another example below) is the ball. Once again, we can't be sure about all the things that were altered in these images, but we can be sure that a man half air-brushed out proves that these images had a little work done on them. Our little PSA: Never take a "screenshot" at face value, for it may merely be "bullshot."

Tags: bullshot, ea, nba, superultrabullshot

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Markster @ Aug 15th 2007 10:15AM

That was amazing.

Simply amazing.

Jacob P. @ Aug 15th 2007 10:15AM

I find it odd that the logo for Spalding is perfectly centered facing the camera in the second photo...

Kye @ Aug 15th 2007 11:06AM

I was just thinking the same thing.
It's too perfect.

colin @ Aug 15th 2007 5:54PM

it also seems like the other knicks player's jersey says "NEY YORK" it could just be bunched fabric tho.

Tim @ Aug 17th 2007 2:56AM

Not to mention that this conveniently-orientated ball is also floating in front of his thumb and yet still remains attached to his hand.

onesidezero2481 @ Aug 15th 2007 10:17AM

another great example... the back of the box shot of jerry rice on all-pro football 2k8. the in-game faces are nothing short of fugly but the screenshot? rendered to every pore on the receivers face. made me giddy until i actually played the game and realized... that shot was a "bullshot".

Phaeton_X @ Aug 17th 2007 5:16PM

Ummm it look just like that on my TV when I Zoom one someones face .......

baby sea tuna @ Aug 15th 2007 10:17AM

Haha, kinda reminds me of that "ghost boy" in Three Men and a Baby...

Freelance @ Aug 15th 2007 12:25PM

Maybe its a ghost in the machine!Ha Ha Get it, ghost in the machine, its a computer. Oy, you people have no sense of humor.

Rich @ Aug 17th 2007 10:05AM

Interesting! I was busy looking at "Randolph" thinking the name was just a little too crisp in comparison to everything else...

HB96st @ Aug 15th 2007 10:27AM

WOW... Look at C. Bosh's shorts! Photoshopped out!! Thanks EA for the screwed up Live 07... I'm a NBA 2K player now and I'm not coming back over to play with you.

bigd7387 @ Aug 15th 2007 10:40AM

And yet "Why don't they Photoshop out the Clipping they show in some of their shots"? Just goes to show you that everything EA does is half-assed.

Dr. @ Aug 15th 2007 10:38AM

And here I thought the tipoff was the Raptors having possession of the ball.

waynski1457 @ Aug 15th 2007 10:41AM

lmao, that made my morning!

Steve-O @ Aug 15th 2007 12:17PM

And how many games back of the Raptors were the Knicks last year?

Steve-O @ Aug 15th 2007 12:20PM

Oh, right, 14.

AK @ Aug 15th 2007 10:43AM

When will people stop buying nba live games they are utter crap but still sell well

ForceUnleashed @ Aug 15th 2007 10:46AM

You're a hater...

This is looking to be the best basketball game of the entire year.

Ryan @ Aug 15th 2007 10:57AM

Oh my god did they cancel 2k8?

Daniel @ Aug 15th 2007 11:01AM

With all those clever polys bouncing around realistically on the players cloths I highly doubt the names on the shirts are that clear.

Daniel @ Aug 15th 2007 11:02AM

See the RAN of Randolph.

Captain Obvious @ Aug 15th 2007 11:03AM

@Jody

The PS3 only comes with composite cables? I thought they included component cables, but I could be wrong...

Captain Obvious @ Aug 15th 2007 11:03AM

@Jody

The PS3 only comes with composite cables? I thought they included component cables, but I could be wrong...

Captain Obvious @ Aug 15th 2007 11:04AM

Sorry about that guys. Man I hate whatever feature of Vista it is that fills in my credentials.

Kazi @ Aug 15th 2007 11:07AM

Looks like someone forgot to scroll left while they were editing in photoshop!

Lucas @ Aug 15th 2007 12:57PM

yep, looks like they left half a man standig

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Aug 15th 2007 11:32AM

Actually, Bullshot is more a term for screens which are the product of offline rendering or are target renders. The Photoshopping is optional.

These renders have traits like far better lighting, incredible anti-aliasing and polygon counts that could not be sustained in realtime on the target hardware.

Rob @ Aug 15th 2007 11:54AM

actually you know how I know this is a bullshot?

Zach Randolph doesn't play defense!

plyx @ Aug 15th 2007 11:55AM

To make it a little more obvious:

Notice how in the bottom left portion of the screen the player is missing about half of his body.

PhrawzT @ Aug 15th 2007 12:18PM

That is hilarious.

vagrantA @ Aug 15th 2007 12:09PM

are u saying its not obvious enough?"Beyond the issue of the half-missing player in this "bullshot,""

plyx @ Aug 15th 2007 5:43PM

Oops, didn't read anymore after the jump.

Fady @ Aug 15th 2007 12:04PM

This is just speculation but the Knicks' player (Randolph) looks like his sneakers are photoshopped... they just seem to stand out a bit from context if it was an in game screenshot. Also, his jersey name, I would think if the jersey was flowing, the R in his name would be cut off as it wouldn't be facing the camera, but that's also just me, maybe it is photoshopped, maybe not.

Freelance @ Aug 15th 2007 12:36PM

Look at his sock on his left foot. This is almost like those newpapers games when you look at a picture and find whats moved or out of place.

Hamled @ Aug 16th 2007 10:01AM

Well, I agree with you about the name, it looks at least partially photoshopped. As to the shoes comment (and the reply about the socks), the most likely cause of that is inaccuracy in the rendering. Even with self shadowing and high quality lighting, a lot of times in a screenshot items will appear out of place because they don't have the same lighting as their surroundings, and it's generally not the work of Photoshop.

One thing that I do find interesting, however, is that the shorts for every player seem to use the same normal map (as is clear from the various team pictures.)

cjb @ Aug 15th 2007 12:18PM

Actually, the most suspicious thing about this shot is that is depicts Zach Randolph playing defense.

jps @ Aug 15th 2007 12:36PM

You know how this happened? The photoshop monkey thought this image was going to be cropped just to the left of the EA watermark logo and didn't bother finishing to airbrush out that guy to the left. It's kind of obvious, given the odd location of the EA logo in the picture.

Whoever was in charge of cropping these images (and frankly: do you NEED someone else in charge of cropping these images?) messed up. Or its possible someone greenlighted an older draft because it fit the size/resolution better, not realizing that the older draft was in fact incomplete.

Either way: hilarious.

Kevin @ Aug 15th 2007 12:35PM

Just look at all of those lens flares! j/k :P

Darren Tilley @ Aug 15th 2007 1:08PM

What seems hilarious to me, is that not one single person on the development team has noticed that all the lens flares go behind the players.

Anyone who knows anything about how a camera works will understand that the rays of a lensflare cannot be partially obstructed like that, since they occur inside the camera's lens.

OnimushaSoki @ Aug 15th 2007 12:43PM

I have trouble believing that many people would attend a Knicks vs Raptors game. :\

Wubbytoes @ Aug 15th 2007 12:44PM

Haha, how the hell did they miss that?

z0mbi @ Aug 15th 2007 1:01PM

This is why you never give marketing your .PSD's. Always smash it down before handing it off. Marketing dude probably accidentally nudged a layer before saving it out as a .jpg.

Mr_oHH @ Aug 15th 2007 1:50PM

Even with the "bullshots" they create, doesn't hide the fact the gameplay sucks. Even their own coverboy prefers the competition.

Sporty @ Aug 15th 2007 2:04PM

My Jerry Rice at the coin toss from APF looks just like it did in the image they put out. Are you looking at it on High def?

EA always doctors there stuff. Remember the ridiculous rendered trailer they put out for Madden for Next gen and then the game came out and it still looked like crap. I still doesn't look as good as the trailer they put out. I honestly think VC is better about representing their games.

soupbase @ Aug 15th 2007 3:46PM

I still don't see it.

MYPS3KilledMy360 @ Aug 15th 2007 5:32PM

Off in the distance you can hear somebody cleaning out there desk. EA has done it again showing off how lazy they are.

NBA 2K8 FTW!

Patrick @ Aug 15th 2007 8:41PM

The production guy ("Photoshop monkey?" seriously?) might simply have been asked to remove the player on the left because the composition was better without a red jersey over at the edge. Either the patch layer got turned off, or he didn't scroll over far enough. Pretty bonehead error, but these things can happen when you have to edit a whole bunch of files on a tight deadline.

By the way -- not saying EA hasn't ever done anything sneaky, of course -- but this example doesn't mean they were trying to fake any effects or misrepresent the graphical quality of the game, it just shows that they thought the guy on the left was distracting.