While I am a huge fan of sports, I am not particularly an avid follower of sports video games. During my undergraduate years, I would consistently slay anyone who dared to challenge me in Madden, NCAA, 2K, and even Top Spin (yo, my backhand was nasty). My interest for these games waned as I realized no one could beat me.
With the release of NBA 2K16, I have gained a renewed interest given Spike Lee’s direction of the “Livin Da Dream” story line. My next few blog posts will be dedicated to a critical examination of the characters and storyline and my own reintegration into the NBA 2K series. This is the Pre-Game Warmup.
NBA 2K16 is the 17th installment of the NBA 2K franchise. If you all can remember, it was exclusively on the Sega Dreamcast. I didn’t have the Dreamcast so I went to my friend Terrence’s house to play. My mama upgraded me to the first Playstation from Sega and Super Nintendo.
NBA 2K’s direct competitor is the NBA Live series from EA Sports. While there are only subtle differences between these two games in my opinion, there are distinct lines drawn between the two among fans. NBA 2K has traditionally dominated the competition. But NBA Live saw a resurgence in popularity mostly due to improved graphics (that’s their trump card – graphics). They even took the time to face scan about 90% of the NBA. But they still fucked up Russell Westbrook.
What captured the hearts and minds of gamers was the life like replica of players all the way down to their mannerisms, free throw quirks, and Lebron James’ hand pump thing (what is that exactly?). NBA 2K14 paid significant attention to detail and even incorporated the twist to the franchise mode allowing players to become general managers.
NBA Live still struggled to smooth the gameplay and improve movement efficiency. I’ll admit, it can get awkward. The players look like robots sometimes. The incorporation of BounceTek which allows for greater control of the ball may be a bit too fancy: too much too soon. I still can’t pick and roll for shit.
While NBA Live dominated in the graphics department, NBA 2K excelled in game mechanics and functionality. Unfortunately for NBA Live, NBA 2K16 looks pretty awesome.
But sports games in the contemporary era are going to have to do more than just be pretty. Gameplay, presentation, online features, and overall fun factor have to be incorporated as well. Gamers now are spending significant time in “My Park” Multiplayer Modes, upgrading character attributes, and getting all nostalgic and playing with Shawn Kemp and Gary Peyton’s Seattle SuperSonics. To keep it all the way real, they had the best tag team on NBA Jam.
But gamers mention small things when it comes to which game wins out: dribbling, servers, and announcers are among frequent things in online forums. While they should blame their thumbs for not perfecting the analog technology, they blame the game for their shortcomings. Servers, yes I get that. 2K is notorious for its awful servers which impacts us folks who ball online. And yes, I agree, Shaq falls flat in his half-time commentary.
But the 2K series is going for gold this year as it has teamed up with Spike Lee in directing the story narrative (btw, Living Da Dream is only available for PS4, Xbox One, and PC).
I have not yet read any reviews but the grapevine says it’s pretty emotional and impactful. One of my students even said that he got an ugly glimpse of the business side which generated some sympathy for player decisions (which seem cray cray to us at times. Lebron back to Cleveland anyone?).
And what drew me even more to the game was CEE-CEE. The main players’ strong sister with the natural.
So I anticipate having plenty to discuss along the lines of race, gender, class and the intersections therein. So stay tuned for the next post in the series of #BeTheStory: The First Quarter.
