Tag Archives: MyPLAYER

Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five remnants of missing and removed features in basketball video games.

Features and content are removed from all genres of video games for a variety of reasons, from design changes and technical challenges to deadlines and legal issues. It’s unfortunate even when it’s understandable, but it’s also entertaining to discover the remnants of cut content. They’re intriguing mysteries when we stumble upon them, fascinating What Ifs when we know their back stories, and sometimes even things that can be restored through modding. Our community has definitely been able to make good use of leftover content in NBA Live and NBA 2K!

Of course, the remnants of cut content can also be annoying. Not only are they proof of what we missed out on, but sometimes they’re a sign of anti-consumer design. A feature that would’ve been useful to have – and indeed was in a previous game – may have been removed because it isn’t conducive to recurrent revenue mechanics being as profitable as they could be. That may not be quite as insidious as removing content in order to sell it as downloadable content, but it’s still lacking in goodwill! Whatever the case, there have been some memorable remnants of missing and removed features in basketball video games over the years. Here are five that spring to mind for me.

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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 some reflections on how I’m just as passionate about getting rebounds on the virtual hardwood as I am racking up assists.

I’ve spoken at length about my love of tallying assists in video games. It all began with MyCAREER in NBA 2K13, where my player – a shooting guard – was thrust into the role of starting point guard when Ty Lawson went down for the year with an injury. One of the dynamic goals challenged me to break Fat Lever’s team record for assists in a single game, and that was that. In future games, my MyPLAYER was a point guard, built to get dimes. This carried over into playing online with NLSC THRILLHO, as I relished setting up the guys to score.

However, assists aren’t the only statistical column that I enjoy filling up in basketball video games. I also really relish getting rebounds! There’s something so satisfying about snaring a board, whether I’m controlling all five players or I’m locked to my career mode avatar. Indeed, on the couple of occasions that I’ve created a big man instead of a playmaking point guard, I’ve switched my focus from dropping dimes to cleaning the glass. Mind you, given how averaging a triple-double in MyCAREER becomes a habit when you have the strategy down pat, my point guards grab a lot of boards as well. Whichever game and however I’m playing, I truly do love rebounds.

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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 some thoughts on how despite some interesting ideas here and there, MyCAREER keeps telling us the same old story.

When the Next Gen version of NBA 2K14 launched with the very first MyCAREER story, it was a bold attempt to innovate with the single player career experience. The mode had already been expanding since its debut in NBA 2K10 as My Player, but introducing a narrative with cutscenes and further role-playing elements continued to differentiate it from the franchise modes. Once 2K began working with big name filmmakers and actors, MyCAREER came to feature impressive production values and deeper stories, which I’ve come to appreciate.

There are some recurring problems with the story-driven approach to MyCAREER, of course. Not everyone is interested in flavour content like that, especially if they just want to build up a player for the online scene. The quality of the stories has varied over the years, with a few of them being very obnoxious in tone. There have been some distracting disconnections between the story and the MyPLAYER protagonist, where a very specific back story doesn’t suit the concept of avatar customisation. If nothing else, we’re not rated like we’re a future star! However, the biggest issue is that even in the best case scenario, we end up being told the same old MyCAREER story.

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Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five improvements in basketball video games that I believe are somewhat underappreciated.

Basketball video games have come a long way, in ways that are extremely obvious. Technological improvements have allowed them to look more realistic, include more modes, content, and features, and generally achieve more accuracy throughout the years. However, the little things do matter, and often go a long way in making games more enjoyable. Of course, sometimes the big improvements are underappreciated as well, particularly if we focus on their potential drawbacks rather than how they’ve benefitted the genre.

If nothing else, some milestone improvements are underappreciated because they’ve been a part of basketball video games for so long, leading us to simply expect to see them and thus take them for granted. As such, I’d like to spotlight five improvements that I believe are underappreciated these days. Sure, they’ve become standard features so they’re not necessarily exciting anymore, and it’s not as though we need to grovel in gratitude. Nevertheless, they still deserve recognition for improving the games and pushing them forward. As someone who has been playing basketball games since the 90s, I’d suggest that these five improvements are among the most underappreciated.

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Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five interactive areas that were featured in basketball video games before The Neighborhood (and The City).

I don’t enjoy feeling cynical about basketball video games, or any of my hobbies and interests for that matter. Some might argue that cynicism and experience go hand-in-hand – there’s a scene from the old Dilbert animated series that suggests as such – but I’d like to think that we’re not doomed to become Debbie Downers about our favourite things! With that being said, it’s impossible not to notice when game design is lacking in goodwill and incorporating greedy recurrent revenue mechanics, or is frustrating and problematic in some other way.

It’s why I’ve always had my reservations about The Neighborhood (and subsequently The City) in MyCAREER. In some ways it’s interesting and immersive to have an open world to explore, but as I’ve explained, it’s not necessarily a good fit for the genre. More to the point, once you look beyond the creativity of the concept, you can see how it pushes advertising and recurrent revenue mechanics on gamers, while also padding out playtime. It’s a shame that it’s so cynically corporate, because there was a time when interactive areas in basketball games were a fun idea. To that end, here are five interactive areas that preceded The Neighborhood that were definitely cool to see.

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Patch 4.0 is out now for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S version of NBA 2K26, with the PC patch set to be released this Friday in time for Season 4. As always, it should come through automatically as long as you’re online. If it doesn’t, try restarting your console or Steam client, or checking for updates manually.

Unlike the mysterious update back in December, we do actually have patch notes this time around. In addition to preparing NBA 2K26 for Season 4 in MyTEAM and MyCAREER, Patch 4.0 includes new RealVoice player interviews, likeness updates, and corrections to classic jerseys. There are also technical fixes for issues throughout the game modes, and a couple of PC-specific updates to improve performance.

You can find the full notes for Patch 4.0 below, as well as in the NBA 2K26 update history in our Wiki. Feel free to share any impressions in the comments, as well as join in the discussion here in the Forum!

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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 some thoughts on revisiting games in which I mostly played MyCAREER, and enjoying some fresh experiences.

When it comes to our impressions of basketball games with an array of modes, what we play is a significant factor. After all, while the underlying gameplay mechanics are obviously the same, their suitability and our tolerance for any issues can vary from mode to mode. There have definitely been games that were more enjoyable in certain modes, depending on the tuning and whether or not we could alter it. As such, if you mostly stick to one mode, you may not be aware of some of a game’s strengths and weaknesses. It’s why we can remember the same games very differently.

After really getting into MyCAREER in NBA 2K13, it became my mode of choice for the next seven years or so. That’s not to say that it was the only mode I played, but when it comes to NBA 2K on PlayStation 4 and PC, many of my fondest memories are of MyCAREER and its connected experiences. I don’t regret that, as it represents hours of fun on the virtual hardwood. At the same time, it does mean that there were modes and content I wasn’t able to truly enjoy, since levelling up a MyPLAYER and playing through an NBA season is a huge commitment. To that end, revisiting some of those games and playing something other than MyCAREER has been refreshing.

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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 some thoughts on the dichotomy of shooting mechanics in modern basketball video games.

Over the decades, developers of basketball video games have strived to make their controls and gameplay mechanics deeper and more skill-based. This has of course resulted in hits and misses throughout the years, as some ideas have proven to be better – and more fun – than others. The successful ideas have become staples of the genre, persisting even as other elements of the games are revamped. To that end, just as modern basketball games aren’t about to eschew right stick dribbling controls, it’s difficult to see them shying away from shooting mechanics based on Green Releases.

Once again, there’s a reason that both of those concepts have prevailed as staples of NBA 2K, as well as the last two NBA Live games. Modern dribbling controls offer precision that wasn’t possible by simply tapping a crossover or spin move button, while today’s shooting mechanics avoid the somewhat contrived ambiguity of RNG; well, for the most part, anyway. At the same time, this skill-based approach definitely isn’t perfect either. There’s undoubtedly merit in rewarding gamers for precise timing with a 100% chance of success, but it can be punishingly challenging, not to mention unbalanced and unrealistic. And so, there’s a dichotomy to these shooting mechanics.

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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 some thoughts on how tasks in basketball video games are often fun when they’re optional, but a chore when they’re mandatory.

I’ve made my thoughts on grinding in basketball video games very clear. In short, I’m not a fan of forcing gamers to turn play into work in order to make a game enjoyable. I couldn’t disagree more when people defend grinding by suggesting that their fellow gamers are lazy and don’t want to put in the effort. Contrary to the apologist rhetoric, not everyone desires to be 99 Overall in MyCAREER, or have a stacked MyTEAM squad, within a week of a new game coming out. They just want to progress at a fair rate, and not be forced to choose between mindless grinding and paying for shortcuts.

Moreover, while there have been a number of methods to assist with the grind and avoid spending money, they’re not necessarily fun, or as effective as we’d like. Even if they’re useful in speeding up progress, they can still become tiresome to repeat over and over again. Beyond that, there have been other concepts in basketball games – in particular MyCAREER in NBA 2K – that can be fun if they’re optional, but quickly become a chore if they’re mandatory. In my view, the fastest way to ruin a basketball game is to force us into extracurricular tasks and activities that have nothing to do with playing virtual hoops. It won’t be long before they become dreary busywork.

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Patch 3.0 is now available for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S version of NBA 2K26, and will be out on PC on November 28th in time for the tip-off of Season 3. As always, it should come through automatically as long as you’re online. If it doesn’t, try restarting your console or Steam client – come the 28th in the case of the latter – or checking for updates manually.

In addition to preparing NBA 2K26 for Season 3 in MyCAREER and MyTEAM, Patch 3.0 includes more player likeness updates and technical fixes. It also adds support for the NBA’s new heave rule, and addresses an issue with 3-second violations in The City’s game modes. Apart from that, there have been no major changes to the gameplay. Additionally, the PC update will also include further optimisation tweaks for better stability and performance.

Full release notes for Patch 3.0 can be found below, as well as in the NBA 2K26 update history in our Wiki. Feel free to share any impressions and other thoughts in the comments, as well as join in the discussion here in the Forum!

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Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five features that we’ve lost, yet for some reason don’t talk about enough.

One of the unfortunate realities of long-running annual sports video games is that over the years, features will be lost. Contrary to popular belief, the code is re-written every year, as it’s necessary to accommodate new features and mechanics. As such, anything that is incompatible or otherwise causes issues with the new code is at risk of ending up on the cutting room floor, particularly if the telemetry data indicates that it isn’t a very popular feature. With that being said, some features are dropped because they’re no longer useful or relevant, or indeed, stand in the way of recurrent revenue.

I’m sure that we can all cite plenty of examples of lost features that we’ve fervently wished were still in NBA 2K, NBA Live, and other games. Indeed, I’ve mentioned some of my own picks in previous articles and on our podcast! However, there are lost features that really should receive more attention than they do, yet people seldom bring them up. To that end, I’m as guilty as anyone else of glossing over some of these lost features that were once staples of basketball video games, so I figured it’s about time that I spotlight a few of them. While some of them may not seem like a big deal, they’re still basic functionality that’s bewilderingly absent in otherwise deep games.

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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 confession: I can’t (totally) hate the open worlds in NBA 2K.

I’ve discussed the problems with MyCAREER incorporating open worlds before. I dedicated a Monday Tip-Off column to explaining how it gives the mode an identity crisis, forcing an ill-fitting concept into a genre that doesn’t need it. I further outlined some of the major issues with mixing open worlds with sports games in a Friday Five article. From pointless time wasting to propping up recurrent revenue mechanics to putting an end to offline MyCAREER, there’s a lot to dislike – even hate – about NBA 2K’s open worlds. I stand by all of that criticism.

However, I have to confess that I can’t and don’t completely hate the open worlds of The Neighborhood and The City! That’s not to say that I believe they’re absolutely necessary, because again, I stand by my previous criticisms. Nevertheless, I do have a certain appreciation for them, and they ultimately didn’t prevent me from enjoying my time with MyCAREER in NBA 2K19. Granted, you don’t have much choice except to grow accustomed to the open world approach if you want to play MyCAREER! Still, when it’s done right, the concept definitely has its moments. And so, I won’t deny that I’ve found The Neighborhood and The City to be engaging and enjoyable…at times.

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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 some thoughts on fictional players in sim basketball games.

By definition, sim basketball games are anchored in reality. Unlike arcade games, we don’t expect or desire to see mascots and other secret characters being playable on team rosters. However, we are invited to create fictional scenarios through fantasy drafts and the trades and signings of our choice in franchise play, as well as the card collecting and old school custom teams modes. We can also inject NBA Legends and classic teams into the current NBA, play inter-era exhibitions, and mod in fictional characters. The All-Time Teams in NBA 2K are ready-made fantasy scenarios, too.

In other words, sim games aren’t always serious business, or about playing with real rosters, be they contemporary or historical. That is still the default starting point, of course. Any breaks from reality that we see are either at our discretion, or intrinsic to the concept of a specific mode. Furthermore, these fictional scenarios still involve real players. We’re generally not clamouring to see completely fictional characters inserted into modes where rosters are expected to reflect reality; at least to begin with. With that being said, we have seen fictional players who aren’t placeholders take part in modes based around the real NBA. I certainly have mixed feelings about that idea.

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Welcome to another edition of The Friday Five! Every Friday I cover a topic related to basketball gaming, either as a list of five items, or a Top 5 countdown. The topics for these lists and countdowns include everything from fun facts and recollections to commentary and critique. This week’s Five is a list of five roadblocks that stood in my way of returning to franchise gaming for far too long.

At long last, I’ve returned to franchise gaming on the virtual hardwood. It’s been a goal of mine since 2017, so to say that it’s overdue is a massive understatement! It feels great to be back, and while it hasn’t completely replaced career mode play in my basketball gaming rotation, I anticipate splitting my time more evenly between the two moving forward. That’s because I’ve been able to overcome the roadblocks that were the cause of my lengthy detour from franchise gaming. As soon as I was able to start those new franchise games, I was hooked, just as I was all those years ago.

Of course, that may sound melodramatic. What roadblocks can there be when those modes are readily available, and I can freely choose to play whatever I want? Well, it’s not quite that simple. From habits I’d formed to various concerns about the modes in recent titles, it’s been more difficult than I’d anticipated to return to what was once my mode of choice, and the flagship experience in sim basketball video games. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has fallen into a basketball gaming rut that has lasted for way too long. To that end, hopefully discussing the roadblocks that I encountered can help you to overcome any that stand in the way of your virtual hardwood fun.

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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 some thoughts on whether reviews of NBA 2K should be harsher on microtransactions.

Many years ago, I used to post bulletins about other sites’ reviews of the latest game. It’s something our founders did, and I followed their example as it certainly seemed like the logical thing to do. With the preview season at an end and a new game now available, sharing those reviews reported on its general reception, and provided our community with an assortment of professional opinions as they considered picking it up. In recent years, I’ve stopped doing that. Beyond the lack of any reciprocation as far as sending other sites traffic, I’ve been unimpressed by so many reviews.

When it came to NBA Live reviews during the eighth generation, it felt like several publications were more interested in being snarky and delighting in its shortcomings, rather than being informative and constructively critical. As for NBA 2K, while there has been more to praise, it’s also felt as though some reviewers are far too gentle and forgiving. It’s not surprising in an era of content creators and access journalism, but it’s dismaying to see major issues being glossed over. In particular, it bugs me when microtransactions are basically met with a resigned shrug, or ignored altogether. Still, it’s fair to wonder if there’s any point in reviews being harsher on microtransactions.

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