Why this is my LAST year playing NBA2K
I am not an unreasonable person, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, if anything, I have been one of 2K's biggest supporters. I am not sure what the number is, but I doubt there is a high percentage of current 2k owners who can say they have owned every single version of NBA2k, beginning all the way back to the Dreamcast days (I loved that system).
There have been versions I have loved, versions I have hated, and years where 2k was just rather forgettable. But, all things considered, 2k is the ONLY company who has received my business for 13 years or so. Literally, the only one.
So how has it come to this? Honestly, I am not nearly as outraged as many on this forum about 2k's current version. Is it perfect? No. Is it a step back in some ways from last year? Yes. But in the end, is there a better basketball game on the market? (Ok, I know there are no other games on the market but you get my point.) Would you really like 2k to be of the same quality as other sports titles that have had the time or the fortune to exist in a world where they are the only brand in town? Think hard about that question. Madden has been a disaster compared to NBA2k since NFL 2k lost its ability to exist. We went through a HORRIBLE stretch of terrible baseball games following the demise of MVP Baseball (One that some of us are still going through if you don't have a PS3). NBA 2K still may be the best sports title on the market (I think it's a close second to San Diego Studios' MLB franchise on the PS3). But with all of that said, I just can't buy this game anymore.
In fairness, NBA basketball is not my favorite sport. I am a diehard Celtics fan dating back to their dismal days in the late 90's, but baseball and now football have sort of taken the top spot (in that order) in my sports watching pyramid and I don't see the NBA topping them anytime soon. Perhaps if basketball were my favorite sport, I wouldn't be writing any of this.
Then again...maybe I would. My reasons for dumping this game are not based in anger or frustration. I like this year's version. It all comes down to one thing though: Innovation. I have waited years, and I mean YEARS, for 2k to take that next step in adding something to the game we have never seen before; they haven't. The legends thing was a nice touch, but I would rather have a deeper association or a more creative online experience instead.
This game just isn't keeping interested and I think I realized that more than ever today. I don't get much time to play video games anymore (I am in law school), so when I had a chance to play today, I was pretty excited. But as soon as I put the game in, I just didn't want to play. Every single year it's essentially the same thing. I am tired of waiting for that one great feature that emerges from this studio every 4 years or so (like signature shots several years ago). It seems like everytime I give up on them, they come up with something great for one year and then live off of that improvement for at least 2 years before coming up with something more. I don't think 2k is lazy, not at all. I just think they are lacking in creativity.
I could sit here and name 100 different improvements that would make the game unbelievable, but what's the point? Next year's version will be just like this year's version...a little more polished, a little bit better, fixes to this year's errors for sure, but still the same product. Every year I get excited when it comes out but can't finish a single season...I don't feel connected to this game anymore and I don't know if I ever will again unless some dramatic changes occur.
It probably doesn't matter; NBA2k will make its money and people will continue to buy the game. What I think DOES NOT MATTER. But, like everything great that has ever existed, success often breeds laziness and a lack of competition leads to a failure in innovation. In that sense, I guess this is all EA sports' fault; they couldn't put a single good game on the shelf for years and 2k knew it (They couldn't even put anything on the shelf this year). As a result, 2k stopped innovating, stopped looking for greatness and settled instead for "good but not great." NBA2k is the Joe Johnson of sports games; all the tools, none of the desire. Sure Hawks fans can hope, but in the end, Joe Johnson will never be anything but Joe Johnson and this game will never be anything more than it has been for the last decade, and I don't want to be here ten years from now still complaining about how this game hasn't changed enough, hasn't innovated, and how it never will. For me, the movie is over. It had some good scenes, great cinemtograpgy, but the ending...well, the ending just sucked.
There have been versions I have loved, versions I have hated, and years where 2k was just rather forgettable. But, all things considered, 2k is the ONLY company who has received my business for 13 years or so. Literally, the only one.
So how has it come to this? Honestly, I am not nearly as outraged as many on this forum about 2k's current version. Is it perfect? No. Is it a step back in some ways from last year? Yes. But in the end, is there a better basketball game on the market? (Ok, I know there are no other games on the market but you get my point.) Would you really like 2k to be of the same quality as other sports titles that have had the time or the fortune to exist in a world where they are the only brand in town? Think hard about that question. Madden has been a disaster compared to NBA2k since NFL 2k lost its ability to exist. We went through a HORRIBLE stretch of terrible baseball games following the demise of MVP Baseball (One that some of us are still going through if you don't have a PS3). NBA 2K still may be the best sports title on the market (I think it's a close second to San Diego Studios' MLB franchise on the PS3). But with all of that said, I just can't buy this game anymore.
In fairness, NBA basketball is not my favorite sport. I am a diehard Celtics fan dating back to their dismal days in the late 90's, but baseball and now football have sort of taken the top spot (in that order) in my sports watching pyramid and I don't see the NBA topping them anytime soon. Perhaps if basketball were my favorite sport, I wouldn't be writing any of this.
Then again...maybe I would. My reasons for dumping this game are not based in anger or frustration. I like this year's version. It all comes down to one thing though: Innovation. I have waited years, and I mean YEARS, for 2k to take that next step in adding something to the game we have never seen before; they haven't. The legends thing was a nice touch, but I would rather have a deeper association or a more creative online experience instead.
This game just isn't keeping interested and I think I realized that more than ever today. I don't get much time to play video games anymore (I am in law school), so when I had a chance to play today, I was pretty excited. But as soon as I put the game in, I just didn't want to play. Every single year it's essentially the same thing. I am tired of waiting for that one great feature that emerges from this studio every 4 years or so (like signature shots several years ago). It seems like everytime I give up on them, they come up with something great for one year and then live off of that improvement for at least 2 years before coming up with something more. I don't think 2k is lazy, not at all. I just think they are lacking in creativity.
I could sit here and name 100 different improvements that would make the game unbelievable, but what's the point? Next year's version will be just like this year's version...a little more polished, a little bit better, fixes to this year's errors for sure, but still the same product. Every year I get excited when it comes out but can't finish a single season...I don't feel connected to this game anymore and I don't know if I ever will again unless some dramatic changes occur.
It probably doesn't matter; NBA2k will make its money and people will continue to buy the game. What I think DOES NOT MATTER. But, like everything great that has ever existed, success often breeds laziness and a lack of competition leads to a failure in innovation. In that sense, I guess this is all EA sports' fault; they couldn't put a single good game on the shelf for years and 2k knew it (They couldn't even put anything on the shelf this year). As a result, 2k stopped innovating, stopped looking for greatness and settled instead for "good but not great." NBA2k is the Joe Johnson of sports games; all the tools, none of the desire. Sure Hawks fans can hope, but in the end, Joe Johnson will never be anything but Joe Johnson and this game will never be anything more than it has been for the last decade, and I don't want to be here ten years from now still complaining about how this game hasn't changed enough, hasn't innovated, and how it never will. For me, the movie is over. It had some good scenes, great cinemtograpgy, but the ending...well, the ending just sucked.
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