I’m more of a ‘glass is half full’ type guy, and I thought I’d throw my two cents in from a perspective I haven’t seen others tackle.
No new-gen port reaction (x4)
I’ll begin with my annual reaction to finding out the latest game is a last-gen port.
No new port for 2K21: “alright, that’s similar to 2K14 being last-gen on PC. Sucks, but fair enough”
No new port for 2K22: “the dev team may still be recovering from the pandemic, so I’ll give them a pass”
No new port for 2K23: “Really sh*tty. Landscape of the industry: FIFA 23 is a next-gen PC port, but Madden 23 wasn’t. Hopefully NBA 2K and Madden take the leap next year.”
Now 2K24 is STILL the last-gen PC port, while Madden’s isn’t. NBA 2K devs being outdone by the putrid Madden devs????? That WREAKS of laziness.
With that being said,
Since the NBA 2K PC community has been getting the same last-gen version of the game year after year, this statement gets thrown out more and more:
“NBA 2K is just the same game every year”
I absolutely resent that argument, and this is coming from a guy who EXCLUSIVELY plays MyLeague lmaooooo
(a mode for better or for worse has been a blatant copy and paste for years now)
The Glass is Half Full
Presentation
With NBA 2K21 on next-gen, they added the alternative commentary crew (Brian Anderson/Grant Hill/Allie LaForce).
This EASILYYYY could have been a next-gen exclusive feature,
(and for months, it looked like it was),
but the devs the following year implemented this into the current-gen version.
And not only that, on BOTH versions of NBA 2K22, they also added the PA announcers from all 30 teams.
That’s two MASSIVE additions!!!
Thinking back to something 2K19s lifespan, these additions would have seemed completely inconceivable.
Imagine reading a post on here during that time, “Yeah I know the PS5 is around the corner, but 2K will cram a whole new play-by-play guy and 30 PA announcers into this current-generation.”
Let’s not be neglectful over this, hearing that in the moment would LITERALLY be insane.
But it seems like we've completely taken it for granted. I swear I'm NOT just harping over a back-of-the-box bullet point.
“Well those additions were in NBA 2K22. We’re in 2K24 now buddy.”
In my opinion, the most important aspect is the gameplay.
(Again, this coming from a MyLeague guy who simulates 90% of the game!!!!).
Gameplay
Let me preface this section by saying these are MY thoughts from MY experience.
There’s a wide range of factors; what difficulty you play on, what sliders you use, or quite simply how YOU play the game.
I’ll summarize my thoughts game by game.
2K18:
introduced a new (half-baked) motion system, layups were impossible, tons of animation glitches, objectively the low-point in the PS4 era of 2K
2K19:
ironed out a bunch of the issues 2K18 had motion system wise, massive illegal screen issue (which I found made the game unplayable),
overall steps in the right direction, but far from perfection
2K20:
if the motion system introduced in 2K18 was “Alpha”,then 2K19 was “Beta, and 2K20 feels like where the devs imagined the motion system (realistically) should have been after 2K17. Imo the most complete game (between 18,19, and 20)
2K21:
felt like a massive step back, the pace of the game felt too fast. Could effortlessly drive for 2 points over and over again. No slider/difficulty combos could break that “arcade-like” feel for me
Now why did I go back to 2K18 for this point?
For one, I really wanted to spit on the graves of people who believe “it’s the same game every year.”
But more importantly, I wanted to show how I believe the game regressed from 2K20 to 2K21.
With the next-gen consoles already released and PC sticking on current-gen for the following years,
we EASILY could have been stuck with a COMPLETE copy and paste of 2K21.
Sure, all the innovations for MyLeague are now exclusive to next-gen platforms (MyNBA).
(And I’m sure there’s other parallels across other modes too).
But the core gameplay and presentation has continued to evolve, especially with 2K22 and 2K23.
2K22:
completely fixed that arcade-like feel from 2K21, an upgrade over 2K20, and feels like the best version of what a post-2K17 last-gen engine has to offer,
(also the presentation!!)
2K23:
feels like the biggest deviation from the formula (since 2K17 to 2K18).
It could just be as simple as they made the shot-timing success rate narrower (so if you don’t green the shot, its way less likely to go in). If I had to guess, this probably resembles the next-gen engine a bit closer(?), but I don’t own a next-gen console, so I wouldn’t know. Going from 2K22 to 2K23, theres absolutely a steeper learning curve.
The Main Point
I’ve absolutely rambled on, so I’ll make my key point.
I don’t see NBA 2K having a next-gen PC release as a binary issue. (i.e. Good if we get it, Bad if we don't)
When it comes to first impressions (like the reveal 2K24 is old-gen on PC), it’s very easy to overreact. “F 2K, F the microtransactions, F the devs.” While there’s truth to that in some aspects,
the MAIN thing that matters is whether the version we end up getting continues to evolve with its gameplay and presentation.
NBA 2K22 and 2K23 CLEARLY has in both regards, and all we can do is hope 2K24 continues the trend.
Will that trend last forever?
History tells us not, I mean have you seen NBA 2K18 on PS3??? It’s a frankenstein version of 2K15 with outdated player models on a newer roster, soullessly slapped together. With how the internet overreacts, that’s what an outsider probably thinks we are getting lmaoooo.
In a perfect world, we'd be able to buy BOTH versions for PC.
In an ideal world, we'd be able to play the superior port.
In the worst case, we just get a soulless copy and paste with nothing new.
But where we currently are is a degree between ideal and worst which no one addresses.
And let me be clear, that degree is FAR closer to 'ideal' than 'worst case'.
Overreactions
As a final point; I’ve seen a number of people toss around the idea of piracy.
“Well if 2K is going to be lazy and cut corners with PC, I refuse to financially support them.”
If that’s your principals, sure, do whatever you want.
However, in my opinion, pirating NBA 2K (ESPECIALLY in mass) is such a narrow-minded, short-sighted approach.
I’m sure there are many NBA 2K devs who are basketball junkies like the rest of us, that would LOVE to have the next-gen port on PC, and really see their work hit the maximum potential from hard work of our modding community.
But in all likelihood, its due to the suits at the top who only see in shades of green.
I’ve seen this train of logic as a reasoning to support piracy, but buddy let’s dig a little more deeper, shall we?
What do you think will happen when Take-Two Interactive sees a slip in NBA 2K PC sales?
You’re a delusional moron if you think the knee-jerk reaction is “Oh man, well we gotta give them the latest port instead as soon as possible!!”
It’d FAR more likely be a cut throat “Oh sales are dropping on PC? How much money are we spending on it? Alright cut the cost to it to maximize profit.”
That’s how you get a soulless copy and paste game like NBA 2K18 on ps3.
And that’s just the “lesser of two evils”.
By this point its more of an urban legend, but there’s been claims for well over a decade that EA Sports pulled the plug with NHL on PC releases due to piracy.
Do I think it’ll ever go that far with NBA 2K, where they pull from the PC market entirely?
No.
But things can ALWAYS be worse.
That line isn't meant to be a scare tactic. Its an observation on the PC communities for other major sports.
We could be getting LITERAL broken copy and paste disasters every year (like Madden), or nothing at all (like NHL or MLB fans)
Appreciate how green the grass has been.
And to the pirates out there, no I’m not simping for a billion-dollar corporation and implying you HAVE to pre-order the super deluxe mamba forever version of the game for $500.
Again, this shouldn’t be a binary topic, and that shouldn't be ANYONES takeaway.
The franchise has a track record of going on sale every summer for a little less than $10 on Steam.
Its very simple, if the game seems like an improvement over 2K23 to the point where you are interested in playing it, just buy it during that sale.
Thats the best way to make a statement. Show you are interested in basketball on this platform, but you aren't a sucker going to buy ANYTHING at full price day 1.
And if the threshold for this new basketball game on an old-gen engine doesnt meet your standards, just stick to 2K23, or 2K22, or 2K21, or whatever you own and want to play.
Conclusion
Regardless if you agree, thank you to anyone who takes the time to read my thoughts (even if its just the tl;dr below). Also apologies to Andrew if this post would have been better off as a response to the reaction to old-gen 2K24 thread (as opposed to starting a new one)
tl;dr No next-gen shouldn't be THE dealbreaker, the dealbreaker should be how this game stacks up to its predecessors (2K23, 2K22, 2K21 on PC).
Do not let the fact we are still on an old-gen engine deceive you, the past 3 NBA 2K releases DO NOT qualify as a lazy 'copy-and-paste' products
