
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with a few thoughts on the suggestion that every game in the NBA 2K series gets labelled the “worst game ever”, until its successors make it retroactively liked.
There are apologists in the basketball gaming community, who shamelessly shill and defend NBA 2K at every turn. Of course, there are also haters who are disinterested in offering fair and constructive criticism. You’ve got also got fans who can sometimes be overzealous in looking at things through rose-coloured glasses, and critics who don’t necessarily take certain factors into account. There are many opinions that are expressed loudly, and they aren’t always the most nuanced takes. Thanks to their volume however, they’re the ones that stand out, even if they’re in the minority.
And then, there’s the alleged phenomenon of every NBA 2K being labelled the worst in the series, only to be praised when the next game is released. Frankly, this notion that the community bashes every single game before retroactively loving it isn’t fair or accurate. If you go back to some user reviews of older games, you’ll find plenty of positivity. However, there’s truth in saying that some gamers seemingly dislike every new release, while others appear to change their tune years later. It leads to criticism being downplayed on the basis that “every new game is always hated”. We even see developers allude to that notion when defensively duelling with disgruntled gamers.