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Monday Tip-Off: Set Trends, Don’t Follow Them

Monday Tip-Off: Set Trends, Don't Follow Them

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 basketball video games chasing trends in gaming, rather than doing their own thing.

I’m going to make a comparison here. Although I’m not a fan of Adam Silver and I have some gripes with his NBA, I won’t pretend that the late David Stern always got it right, either. Like many older fans, I rolled my eyes whenever he talked about the pipe dream of expanding into Europe; an idea that seemed like a logistical nightmare for a league in which teams play four to five games per week, and players can get traded wherever and whenever, whether they like it or not. In particular, I remember cringing when he once used the word “friendlies” when referring to exhibition games.

Obviously, those two words do mean the same thing in terms of sports. Of course, “friendlies” is commonly used in football (that is, association football, or soccer if you prefer) to describe a match that doesn’t count, and is more of a British/European term. Conversely, American leagues such as the NBA tend to use the word “exhibition” for such games. As an Australian, they’re interchangeable terms for me. As for Stern, he was clearly trying to sell the NBA to the European market and ingratiate himself by using a familiar term. I understood that, but I still cringed because it felt inauthentic. Basketball video games chasing trends instead of setting them reminds me of that.

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The Friday Five: 5 Issues That Keep Sneaking Back into NBA 2K

The Friday Five

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five issues that keep sneaking back into NBA 2K games.

Look, video game design is more difficult than a lot of gamers believe it to be. I know it sounds like I’m stating the obvious, but it bears repeating because there are people out there who seem to think creating the perfect basketball title is as simple as typing plain English into a word processor. Even more cynically, there’s a belief that the developers are capable of creating a much better game, but intentionally holding back on doing so in order to sell next year’s release. I can see the thought process behind that, but if creating a near-flawless game were feasible, it would’ve happened already.

What I’m getting at here is that video game development is challenging. Developers do care about making a great game – the suits may not, but the people actually putting in hard work absolutely do – and they want us to enjoy the fruits of their labour. In all fairness, NBA 2K has maintained a consistently high level of quality throughout the years. Even some of the more problematic and controversial releases over the past decade are still a far cry from being the worst hoops games ever made. There are some legacy issues that manage to keep sneaking back into new NBA 2K titles though, and with a new generation upon us, now is the time to shut them out.

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Monday Tip-Off: Arguing For & Against Green Releases

Monday Tip-Off: Arguing For & Against Green Releases

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on Green Releases, specifically the arguments for and against the mechanic.

Back in May 2017, I discussed the future of Green Releases in NBA 2K. Three years on, the mechanic still remains an issue. It’s funny to look back and see that Mike Wang was talking about weaning gamers off the concept of Green Releases, only for them to still be in the game, relatively unchanged. I say relatively because NBA 2K18 attempted to artificially nerf them with a “Good” release actually only having a 5% chance of going in – less than a Slightly Early or Slightly Late release – and other games have also seen Beluba and co tinker with the perfect release windows.

Apart from that, the basic idea remains the same. Green Releases result in a made shot every time, unless it’s blocked or you’re too far behind the backboard. If you can learn the precise timing of a jumpshot animation and pay attention to the rumble feedback cues, you’ll be greening attempts with ease and regularity. We’re still as reliant on the approach as ever, and it doesn’t look like it’s something that NBA 2K – or NBA Live, now that it’s adopted the same style of shot mechanics and feedback – will be able to move away from. The question is: should it? It feels like we’re at a stalemate on the issue, so let’s go over the pros and cons of Green Releases once again.

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The Friday Five: 5 Ideas That Were Better In Theory

The Friday Five

Welcome to this week’s edition of The Friday Five! The Friday Five is a feature that I post every Friday in which I give my thoughts on a topic that’s related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games, as well as the real NBA, and other areas of interest to our community. The feature is presented as either a list of five items, or in the form of a Top 5 countdown. This week’s Five is a list of five ideas in basketball games that I believe were better in theory.

Basketball video games – and sports games in general – are often accused of being little more than expensive annual roster updates. As my interview with former NBA Live programmer Rod Reddekopp revealed though, even in the early days, a lot of code had to be rewritten and updated every year. Unless there are significant and noticeable changes in the modes, graphics, or gameplay however, it’s quite likely that we won’t appreciate all that work. On top of that, each new game needs some kind of hook, a fancy selling point that can be promoted in previews and on the back cover.

From our point of view, we want basketball games to keep getting better and add new content, and that means exploring new ideas. Whether it’s a change to the controls or a new gameplay mechanic, improved presentation and details, a new or enhanced mode, or additional historical content, we always want to see freshness and innovation. Our Wishlists show that we have plenty of ideas of our own that we’d like to see added in future games, and developers also have their own roadmap. The problem is that not all ideas pan out, no matter how creative and promising they once seemed. Ideas like the ones I’m talking about today were good in theory, but not in execution.

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Monday Tip-Off: Revenge of the Nerfs

Monday Tip-Off: Revenge of the Nerfs

We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Start your week here at the NLSC with a feature that’s dedicated to opinions, commentary, and other fun stuff related to NBA Live, NBA 2K, and other basketball video games. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on the recent nerfs to VC rewards in NBA 2K20, and the underlying issues with transparency that they represent.

By now, you’ve probably heard that a recent update for NBA 2K20 has nerfed the amount of VC for starting salaries and endorsements in MyCAREER. While the nerfs to salaries only apply to new games, several NBA 2K20 gamers have reported that the amount of VC they’ve already negotiated for endorsement deals has been retroactively reduced. On top of that, it’s now far more difficult to negotiate with teams and brands, as there’s very little wiggle room in the counteroffers that they will accept. In short, VC can no longer be earned as quickly as it could be at launch.

Nerfs to VC, Badge progression, and other aspects of NBA 2K games are nothing new. Changes like this are always going to be controversial and anger a portion of the userbase, but the main point of contention for most gamers is that we didn’t receive any notice. The nerfs weren’t listed among the laughably short list of patch notes for the most recent update, nor were they announced or explained via the game’s official social media accounts. While this particular issue only affects MyCAREER, it’s emblematic of a much bigger and recurring problem with NBA 2K, that being an overall lack of transparency, communication, and goodwill.

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