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NBA 2K13: Pros and Cons Thus Far

Since its debut on Spike TV and particularly over the last 2 weeks, much has been revealed about NBA 2K13. As a fan of the franchise, I found some of these revelations exciting and others not so much. Here are some of my NBA 2k13 pros and cons based on what we have seen and heard to this point.

Pros

Dynamic Shot Generator - This is an aspect that has the potential to take 2K basketball to the next level. Ever since the first significant inclusion of collisions in a basketball game with NBA Live 2005, I personally have been waiting for NBA 2K to really implement and master this element. In some of the recent gameplay videos I noticed some nice collisions under the basket, in the air and in the paint, but it remains to be seen how consistently they occur when a player is already in a layup or dunk animation. But beyond collision detection, the dynamic shot generator aims to provide for almost limitless possibilities when an offensive and defensive player interact. The potential of each trip down the court being unique and contextual could add an air of realism never before seen in an NBA 2K game. Though animations were plentiful in past 2K efforts, the did eventually get repetitive. Several gamers who have experienced 2K13 hands-on have praised the shot generator as one of the stand-out additions in the game.

Defense/Player movement - Defense in NBA 2K12 needed an upgrade on the user and AI side of the ball. On the user side, there didn't seem to be enough tools at the defenders disposal to play effective on-the-ball defense or to properly utilize help defense. On the AI side, unrealistic defensive recovery, warping and speed bursts lead to an experience that felt cheap in many ways. OS's own vannwolfhawk in his hands-on impressions of the game reported some encouraging things regarding fixed help defense rotations and on-the-ball defense. Additionally, the improved foot planting and realistic momentum have me optimistic that defense could be just as fun as offense in 2K13.

Improved passing2K heard the complaints of the fans and made improving passing a priority this year. The decoupling of the pass animations promises to allow more variety to passing and a more "loose" feeling to the ball between passer and receiver according to the developers. The manual bounce pass is also something fans have been awaiting to return to the game and according to a few of the hands-on reviews, it changes the dynamic on fast-breaks and pick and rolls. The pass targeting system also promises greater accuracy this year returning a sense of control to the user that is more than welcome.

Signature Skills - The addition of player specific signature skills can add an element of uniqueness to players in the game that the rating system just could not provide. In NBA 2K12 a high 3 point rating would be represented by a 3 point icon, but that's not how signature skill icons are allotted. From my understanding, a signature skill does not merely reflect a high rating in a particular area. Rather, these skills go beyond numerical ratings and tendencies to capture intangibles which are hard to measure. Skills such as chase down block and defensive anchor are good examples of this. I am excited to see how this manifests in gameplay.

The 1992 Dream Team and Charles Barkley – It is very fitting to include the Dream team in what may be the best NBA 2K yet and better still on the Dream Team's 20th anniversary. Could there be more to this addition than repetitively pitting the Dream Team vs. the 2012 National team for bragging rights? There is some speculation that there may be and I certainly hope so. Asked for including Sir Charles, all I have to say is, it’s about time.

All-Star Weekend – Many NBA 2K fans have been asking for a fully fleshed out official All-Star weekend year after year. This year, they got it, I'm excited about it.

Cons

Presentation elements – From the small sample I have seen in the videos, I prefer some presentation elements from NBA 2K12 over 2K13. Replays and player introductions resemble more of a blacktop feel than an NBA game feel in my opinion wih the new ornamentation, speaker, microphone and crest background graphics. I'm crossing my fingers that the game has a more TNT-like presentation upon release but that seems optimistic.

Slow-motion crossovers – From the footage I have seen in certain instances, some crossovers appear to be extra slow. It could be user error, such as someone using the size-up crossover in the wrong situation or it could be an extension of the slow-motion animations which have been common in some of the recent NBA 2K efforts. From the impressions out there, this doesn't seem to be an issue however and I hope that the speed of moves and of movement feels right in the retail version.

Crossover packages? - Something I picked up watching gameplay footage is how similar most of the player's ball handling appears to be, though the speeds are different. In one video I noticed that Shane Battier had the same step-back crossover as Mario Chalmers and in another video, Kendrick Perkins had a similar dribbling style. It seems that dribble packages are still in the game because I have noticed the star players look unique, though most other players appear to dribble the same. Hopefully this is just a demo issue, because it would be a major tragedy if dribble packages have been scrapped or streamlined due to the new control system.

Rebounding and boxing out- In one instance of Gamescom gameplay footage I witnessed Kendrick Perkins who was boxed out by Chris Bosh and Shane Battier, elevate over both to grab an offensive rebound. That particular play reminded me a lot of NBA 2K12 and no hands-on impression I have seen thus-far has suggested that this area was fully addressed. As the offensive rebounding imbalance was a major negative for me in 2K12, I hope box-outs and rebounding are tuned correctly before release.

All-Star Weekend dunk contest controls – The Guitar-Hero-esque control scheme of the dunk contest confused me a bit when it was first revealed. If that is the only control option, I’m not sure I see myself playing that mode much.

Barkley only playable on the Dream Team and no Scottie Pippen – The announcement of the 1992 Dream team was bittersweet to me once it was confirmed that Scottie Pippen would not be included in NBA 2K13. Not only does this render the Dream Team incomplete but what of the classic Chicago Bulls teams? Discovering that Sir Charles is only playable on the dream team and not on any classic team was an added disappointment.

Pregame rituals with warm-ups on – This is more of a nitpick than a con. Seeing Lebron do the chalk toss with warm-ups on just doesn’t look right.

UPDATE: via Jerson Sapida, Gameplay Producer of NBA 2K13
The warm-ups during pre-tip intros was a bug in the Gamescon demo. It's already fixed.
 

There you have it, my NBA 2K13 pros and cons so far. What are some of your pros and cons based on what we have seen to date?


NBA 2K13 Videos
Member Comments
# 1 1WEiRDguy @ 08/23/12 02:49 PM
i still havent figured out why they just dont adopt the passing system from CH2k8...why leave anything to chance based on the AI? If i wanted to throw a bounce pass, there was a button for that...a chest pass?? there was a button for that...
 
# 2 Control-X @ 08/23/12 02:49 PM
I haven't read or heard about NBA 2K in a very long time. This is the first article I found. I'm very happy to hear about the inclusion of SIr Charles, finally he's in the game. But why limit him just on the Dream Team? And why do they took out Scottie Pippen? Damn what is this 2K? Is this a "You win some, you lose some" issue or something?
 
# 3 sactown_13 @ 08/23/12 02:58 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Control-X
I haven't read or heard about NBA 2K in a very long time. This is the first article I found. I'm very happy to hear about the inclusion of SIr Charles, finally he's in the game. But why limit him just on the Dream Team? And why do they took out Scottie Pippen? Damn what is this 2K? Is this a "You win some, you lose some" issue or something?
Its been said that Scottie was asking for way too much money this year around.
 
# 4 mreyes930 @ 08/23/12 02:59 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Control-X
I haven't read or heard about NBA 2K in a very long time. This is the first article I found. I'm very happy to hear about the inclusion of SIr Charles, finally he's in the game. But why limit him just on the Dream Team? And why do they took out Scottie Pippen? Damn what is this 2K? Is this a "You win some, you lose some" issue or something?
According to rumors, Barkley only gave 2K permission to use his likeness for the Dream Team and Pippen and 2K couldn't come to terms on a deal. Sadly, money makes the world go round.
 
# 5 Steve_OS @ 08/23/12 03:02 PM
UPDATE: via Jerson Sapida, Gameplay Producer of NBA 2K13
Quote:
The warm-ups during pre-tip intros was a bug in the Gamescon demo. It's already fixed.
 
# 6 exposedaking @ 08/23/12 03:04 PM
I definitely agree about the presentation. To me its ugly, they should shoot for a more traditional network broadcast, it looks too nba jam-ish

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2
 
# 7 EllCee @ 08/23/12 03:08 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve_OS
UPDATE: via Jerson Sapida, Gameplay Producer of NBA 2K13
I'm glad it was just a bug.
Also, great read.
A pro of mine is the Soundtrack. One of the things I look for in games is the soundtrack. I think this year's selection is great!
 
# 8 eko718 @ 08/23/12 03:10 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Control-X
I haven't read or heard about NBA 2K in a very long time. This is the first article I found. I'm very happy to hear about the inclusion of SIr Charles, finally he's in the game. But why limit him just on the Dream Team? And why do they took out Scottie Pippen? Damn what is this 2K? Is this a "You win some, you lose some" issue or something?
Yeah it sucks, but it seems like their hands were tied with that one. I can only hope Scottie has a change of heart before launch.
 
# 9 jersez @ 08/23/12 03:20 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1WEiRDguy
i still havent figured out why they just dont adopt the passing system from CH2k8...why leave anything to chance based on the AI? If i wanted to throw a bounce pass, there was a button for that...a chest pass?? there was a button for that...
They did, there are manual bounce passes this year.
 
# 10 vannwolfhawk @ 08/23/12 03:21 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by jersez
They did, there are manual bounce passes this year, from what Da_Czar tweeted if you hold down the pass button it will throw a bullet pass.
No, there is no pressure sensitive passing in the game this year.
 
# 11 BlackRome @ 08/23/12 03:27 PM
I ioved the introductions in the old 2k. Like 2k1. When the game would start you would see the players being introduced. They need to bring that back. Now when you join the game the announcements have already happened.
 
# 12 vannwolfhawk @ 08/23/12 03:31 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by jersez
He was wrong. I asked devs after seeing this tweet and they said no, czar said it must have been placebo and that it was discussed last year so he thought it was in.
 
# 13 vannwolfhawk @ 08/23/12 03:33 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackRome
I ioved the introductions in the old 2k. Like 2k1. When the game would start you would see the players being introduced. They need to bring that back. Now when you join the game the announcements have already happened.
I miss that too! If you don't want to watch it x thru it. This used to get me and my bro all fired up!!! I'd love to see that come back!
 
# 14 iLLosophy @ 08/23/12 03:34 PM
That sucks to hear about the rebounding. Was a major issue with 2k12.
 
# 15 youALREADYknow @ 08/23/12 03:42 PM
Signature skills are still a Con to me. There's no upside to binary skills when they replace more comprehensive tendencies or ratings. A handful of the skills are indeed Pros, but that doesn't outweigh the negative impact of the other 15-20 skills. The real impact will be felt using default rosters, which I'm assuming will be the standard for Online play.
 
# 16 jersez @ 08/23/12 03:42 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by vannwolfhawk
He was wrong. I asked devs after seeing this tweet and they said no, czar said it must have been placebo and that it was discussed last year so he thought it was in.

I never saw that tweet or post, I apologize to Da_Czar didn't mean to put that misleading information out there.
 
# 17 kevin23 @ 08/23/12 03:51 PM
2K people are a bunch of scam artists.
 
# 18 Joobieo @ 08/23/12 04:01 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by sactown_13
Its been said that Scottie was asking for way too much money this year around.
Never thought Scottie out of all people would want a large amount of money .
 
# 19 BezO @ 08/23/12 04:03 PM
Quote:
All-Star Weekend dunk contest controls – The Guitar-Hero-esque control scheme of the dunk contest confused me a bit when it was first revealed. If that is the only control option, I’m not sure I see myself playing that mode much.
This is the most confusing. 2K clearly aims to improve gameplay. They address way more gameplay issues then not. When something is not addressed, I lean towards everything couldn't make the cut.

But the dunk contest controls? WTF? How does that fit along side such a simulated gameplay experience? Or is that their way of satisfying the casual fan? Or am I just getting old?
 
# 20 Joobieo @ 08/23/12 04:08 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlackRome
I ioved the introductions in the old 2k. Like 2k1. When the game would start you would see the players being introduced. They need to bring that back. Now when you join the game the announcements have already happened.
I agree . I would love to have this , I know us the sim players would love it back , but it's the casual players who generally skip over it .
 

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