NBA PLAYOFFS CONFERENCE SEMI-FINALS SPECIAL!!! (AIR HORN NOISE)- NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 (Switch, PC)

Microtransactions. Grind. Kevin Durant to the Knicks on July 1st. Refs in the Rockets v. Warriors series…Lot’s of conversations are happening right now as the NBA Playoffs begins their second round.

What I want to focus on is THE GRIND and how it relates to NBA 2K Playgrounds 2. While Mortal Kombat 11 has brought this conversation back to the forefront, the idea of full price games being riddled free-to-play microtransactions and a gameplay grind that is balanced in a way to make you want to spend is far too common.

Recently, I purchased NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 for nine dollars on PC. NBA Playgrounds 1 and 2 have a terrible system of unlocking players where it’s all loot boxes. There is no way to unlock players you want without finding said players in a pack. For better or worse, the first NBA Playgrounds had 0 microtransaction, you had to earn packs through gameplay. You’d level up and get packs. I beat every tournament in that game and did most of the challenges and played a few matches on-line and never unlocked Patrick Ewing. I use him as an example, because he is who I always want in these games, but the larger issue is that there were teams that I had only 2 players for. I would earn a pack and get duplicate players! It was insane, but there was no way to pay for packs with real money and no auction house. It was noble on one hand, but also paced terribly on the other.

In NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 they have a similar grind. Players have to be found in packs, it’s random unless you win a championship with a team and then you earn a special player. BUT in the sequel you can pay 10 dollars and unlock everyone. I paid that for the PC version of the game. I have everyone. It is amazing, the roster is huge and an NBA nerd’s dream come true. Everybody from Joe Johnson to Drazen Petrovich and of course Patrick Ewing was available. Having the full roster in this game is amazing because I never came close to it on the original game. In addition to having access to a full roster, NBA Playgrounds 2 plays really well especially when compared to the first one. I would argue that the single player gameplay loop is better with the season mode and playoffs. Even with all these positives, I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have felt like to play the season + playoff loop in Playgrounds 2 to unlock players… would I make currency at a rate to buy packs quickly? Is it rewarding? Did I cheat myself out of a fun gameplay loop of unlocking players? To test this, I bought the Switch port and decided not to spend any money on cards. You can earn baller bucks or something to buy packs and every game you play adds currency. I only used in game currency to unlock players.

When you turn on Playgrounds 2 new you are able to open 3 packs that will net you 12 players in the game. Those are the only players you have. I went to start a season to play through (they have 15 game season and then a playoff to see if you can win a title and unlock a special player)and realized that I could only pick teams that I had players for. I had no Knicks players so I could not choose them. I chose the Suns because I opened a Steve Nash legendary card and a Cedric Ceballos. Nash was the best player I had at the time but this team was unbalanced to say the least. Playgrounds 2 provides a decent challenge on normal mode, but it’s hard when your players and roster aren’t very good. As the Suns, I played the Spurs in a regular season game and they had David Robinson and Manu Ginobli. That’s a hard game to win. Nash is a 6’3 PG and Ceballos is a 6’7 SF. I can’t stop The Admiral and they can block everything I put up. In my attempt to get Steve Nash to the finals, something D’antoni couldn’t do, I really struggled. I lost 2-1 in the finals to the Bucks.

I played through a few seasons and playoff runs and opened packs every 2 games. Even after opening probably 20 packs there were teams in the NBA that I had 0 players for. I still can’t pick the Knicks for season play because I don’t have any Knicks players unlocked. If you only have 1 player from a team you’re just stuck, can’t use them until you open a second. This is a sports game where people have favorite teams, not being able to pick them after hours of gameplay sucks. Not having access to Ewing is one thing, not having access to the Knicks is a much larger issue. The side effect of this that can be seen as a positive is that it forces you to use players and teams you may not have normally chosen. I used the Celtics for a season because I opened an epic Larry Bird. Bird is my best player by far so I used the Celtics. I also opened a Dennis Johnson card. There is something to be said for a game forcing you to see the roster and use different people. The game does a great job of making players feel different. My thought is the game doesn’t need these kind of hooks to add replayablilty. The game feels great and is fun, beyond that every player levels up the more you use them and beat their specific player challenges. You might unlock Patrick Ewing, but to get the best Ewing you need to play as him in lots of games. That’s a fun hook. I want the best Knicks with Ewing and Starks, I have to lead them to a title. There are 4 difficulty levels for the single player content with no shortage of reasons to play. Gating off teams from the beginning is tough. I don’t remember Playgrounds 1 having that issue but I might be wrong.

Opening packs on the switch version is a thrilling experiences because the potential is there to gain access to entire teams. It’s also cripplingly disappointing because you may not unlock anything new that you want. On the PC version where I unlocked everything, the thrill is more seeing all of these legends and teams I have access to and picking who I want to try and who I want to level up. The mystique of the card packs and gaining currency is gone. I guess at this point in my life where time is limited for gaming, I would rather have options and control my experience.

The grind notwithstanding, NBA 2K Playgrounds 2’s gameplay ascends the pantheons of arcade basketball games. The first Playgrounds was very stiff and rebounding and rim-feel was rigid and off. The newest Playgrounds game feels buttery smooth. The ability to use a player’s crossover into a jumpshot or dunk feels amazing (much better than the first game). Defense feels more natural too. You can attempt steals more and blocks feel more organic now. The first game limited steals with the turbo meter and the second allows more steal attempts. It feels like a small thing but defense in NBA Jam-like games is reduced to pushing or steals and Playgrounds penalizes pushing very harshly. Being able to attempt steals more makes defense feel much better. The player models look better in the new game and courts are awesome. Teams have home courts now and they look amazing. The fans in the stands are all well animated. The commentary is fun. They use Youtubers CashNasty and Troydan and a few others you can choose for commentary and that’s a fun touch.

PATRICK EWING!

NBA 2K Playgrounds 2 is a perfect example of microtransactions getting in the way of something special. Not being able to access teams without hours of gameplay is a pacing problem and seems like a direct way to push players towards spending money. If you have friends you want to play with, you want to have every team unlocked. NBA Jam TE expanded the roster after you beat all 27 teams. It feels great, it’s a fun reward for playing the game and it can be done in less than 5 or 6 hours. It’s not random, you do the task and everyone unlocks. The randomness of the packs is a problem. I want the Knicks. I can buy 50 packs and may never get all or any of the Knicks players. This paradigm of gaming where the initial 30 or 60 dollars isn’t enough to unlock content is problematic. If you’re going to force people to pay money, let us pay for what we want and not be forced into loot boxes and random packs all the time. That said, I really enjoy NBA Playgrounds 2. A flawed gem. Peace.

Black Characters in Gaming- Lebron James (NBA Live/2K/Street/Jam/Shootout/Courtside/Ballers)

Now seems like the perfect time to choose a real life black athlete who plays like a video game created player. That player, of course, is Lebron James. He has taken his game and legacy to new heights with this championship (#ALLIN, #DROUGHTSOVER, #BELIEVELAND) and put up numbers in the NBA Finals this year that seemingly could only be done in NBA 2K. He did it against another game breaking player in Steph Curry (who famously ruined NBA 2K because he can hit 3’s from anywhere at anytime and that ruins video game balance).

I will give you the abridged version of why Lebron matters in real life and then why in video games. Lebron was born in North East, Ohio. Was a legend for the people of Akron. He was the prophet seemingly born to bring a championship to the Cleveland. He was drafted by the Cavs and started an epic stat filling career. Lebron went to the Finals early, got ruined by the Spurs but gave hope. Then Lebron dumped Cleveland for Miami, won some rings and came home. He didn’t just come home, he came back to Cleveland and promised a ring (no pressure right?) and he pulled it off.

Lebron in video games is a very interesting thing, to give context he exists in a world where gamer’s grew up not having access to the greatest players of all time. Michael Jordan was in “Jordan vs. Bird” back in the early Genesis era but after that he disappeared.

In NBA Jam, there was no Jordan. It was crazy, the most fun basketball game ever made didn’t have Jordan. A game about glorifying the dunk was missing his airness… but that was the 90’s.

I remember feeling cheated in NBA Live ’98 when the Bulls would trot out “Player” who was a bald black SG but was not MJ.

It cheapened an entire generation of games because the biggest icon in the league was missing. Cut to Lebron James. He had every right to not be in video games but that wasn’t the case. He was as accessible in games as he was off the court. He was seemingly a real life game character that leaped out of the Xbox 360 and onto TNT Thursday nights. I envy kids who got to grow up using Lebron in NBA 2K.

LBJ is a fascinating figure in games. He basically broke 2K ratings from the jump. He was rated a human 78 overall because he a kid coming out of High School. Who knew he would be able to man up at 18 the way he did. NBA2K4 has a human 78 Lebron who can’t shoot a jumper but is athletic and can dunk. He was also listed as a PG in that game! We all know he was a center masquerading as a small forward.

From his second year on Lebrons rise in ratings in 2K is meteoric. 88 to 97 to basically 100’s. How do you rate a guy who can dribble like Anthony Mason, Pass like Magic Johnson, Shoot like Charles Oakley, and defend/rebound like Rodman. He’s a gamebreaker and who doesn’t want to play with the gamebreaker! 

Significance of Lebron as a black video game character- Lebron is the rare combination of a transcendent athlete and a masterful role model. He accomplishes this by not conforming to white standards or losing his “realness”. Lebron is covered in tattoos and rolls around with a crew of his boys from the hood yet still connects with everybody. Where Iverson was/is a polarizing hyper black figure that is incorrectly and offensively labeled a thug, Lebron avoided all of this. He was liked by white people and emulated by black people. He has Jordan-like shoes without the Jordan-like stigman. He’s married and didn’t cheat on his wife. He shows the world that a black man with tattoos from a low income environment isn’t a criminal in waiting.

Lebron also forced a generation of devs to constantly work on their representations of tattoos.

Stereotypes

Black Athlete as thug- As stated above, he’s stayed out of trouble. He’s been authentic. He’s stayed true to his roots.

Black Athlete as womanizer/rapist- He is a great father and is happily married.

Black Athlete as selfish (unwilling to pass, doesn’t care about his people)- Lebron’s biggest crime is he passes too much. He is willing to let guys like JR Smith shine, hence the high rating in passing every year for LBJ.

Black man as criminal- He has a few speeding tickets?

Black man as lazy- There is this idea that black greatness is a result of talent and not hard work. Watching Lebron grow as a player and athletically has been incredible. His 2K ratings show it in the gaming world but the eye test shows how much Lebron has improved. Hard work personified is Lyndon B. Johnson, I mean LBJ. Lebron James.

Black man loves white women- He married a black woman so BOOM! Take that society! Lebron bucking all the trends!

Ain’t that some racist shit….

Is Lebron James (and his representation in video games) problematic?

Being able to select a Cleveland team in a video game and know that they are the reigning champs will be magical. It has never been done before. Lebron has been the most accessible transcendent talent in gaming since Bo Jackson, Mike Vick, and Kobe. James has been the small market hero sports gaming needs. So to answer the question, No. Lebron is not problematic and frankly most sports game are in a position to not present him in a problematic light. There really isn’t a story mode where you can be Lebron and take through Cleveland. MyPlayer mode might have a chance interaction with a real pro but most of the interactions happen on the court. Except in NBA Ballers. That shit was problematic! That is a post for another time. Peace! Go Cavs! Lebron did it big! 3-1 to 4-3! 52 year drought OVER!!!!

Really hard to find a Cleveland version of this…

I’m just playin…

Why no WNBA Game?

With the inclusion of female athletes in the new FIFA game, why can’t we have a WNBA game?

Let’s look at a brief history of woman in basketball video games-

NBA Street! The NBA Street series has always been very gender inclusive. They have had WNBA stars such as Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi as well as the pop group 3LW.

I am going to be honest with you… this is all I found. There might be more but in a world where Arena Football has a blitz clone AND an EA game you’re telling me we can’t have a WNBA game?!?!

People say they’ll support the WNBA when they can dunk….they can. They have the talent, the women in NBA Street were extremely fun to control in the game.

Females have been in Tennis games, soccer, golf, volleyball but why not a simulation basketball game?

The WNBA is not some fly-by-night league. It is one of the premier leagues for women’s basketball in the world.

Now is the best time to make this game. WNBA 2K16 will have Elena Delle Donne, Skylar Diggins, Brittany Griner, Candace Parker, as well as legends like Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings still playing.

Lisa Leslie is being inducted into the basketball hall of fame. There is a history and present day that deserves to be immortalized in video games. American Collegiate legends are going to the WNBA instead of over seas. Let’s make it happen.

Before the world cries out “But nobody watches the WNBA and a game would never sell!” I will respond that more people would watch if they learned about the players and teams via gaming. Have a WNBA mode in NBA Live or NBA 2K. Women are gaming! Sports games sell! DO IT!

Clash of the Titans! NBA 2K15 vs NBA Live 15 (and a look at Race in these games)

I have now played both major NBA games this year for significant lengths of time. I like them both. I hate them both. I love the NBA.

I want to use some football metaphors to describe these NBA games. NBA 2K15 is the New England Patriots. It is always good and winning titles but there is a lot to hate about the franchise. The VC system and servers issues break the game (see: Spy Gate) but the gameplay is so good you can’t help but enjoy it. NBA Live is the Cleveland Browns. Live left for a few years, came back last year and was awful. This year NBA Live 15 is 7-5 and offers a lot to love but it is still not quite a contender for the title.

Method– I played both games back to back. I would play a game/mode in NBA Live 15 then immediately switch to NBA 2K15. The mode I played on most were the games respective ultimate team modes. I used a similar camera angle in each game for graphical comparisons.

Gameplay- Live is super smooth. The games flows extremely well. It’s fast and rebounding feels natural. 2K feels very jerky. Live wants the fast break where 2K wants to slow you down to run a “2K smart play”. Player intelligence is much better offensively in 2K. Players in NBA 2K are always moving where there are times in Live where everyone stands still and waits for direction.

NBA Live uses the X button to shoot and put dribble moves on the right stick. The left trigger calls for screens. NBA 2K maps everything to the right stick both shooting and dribbling (it’s too much) but the X button can be used to shoot. Screens are called for in 2K via the B button. Both control schemes work well and feel intuitive. My issue with 2K is that sometimes I am trying to do a dribble move and accidentally shoot. In NBA live the shooting mechanic requires an unbelievably quick press of the button. Both games give feedback for how you shot the ball.

Both games handle balancing the game of basketball differently. NBA Live balances the ability to score easily by making shot blocking and stealing easy and having a crazy fast and punishing shooting mechanic.

NBA 2K utilizes missing shots as the balance. You will miss countless open shots in NBA 2K and when a ball falls off the rim everyone waits for a second before they move to rebound. Most rebounds in 2K seem to be players picking the ball up off the floor. It’s really weird. The worst thing about 2K is that you spend all of your time staring at a meter under your player on offense. When you shoot in 2K the players have a meter with a blue patch in it and a line. When the meter fills up to the line you make the shot. The blue patch gets bigger and smaller depending on where the defender is. I hope that made sense…. but the issue is that you end staring at the meter and not looking at the defense or anything. It turns offense and shooting into a weird mini-game. I don’t love it.

In Live steals on lower difficulty settings are way to easy to come by and you  have to press LB to make players go into motion on offense. It makes running plays less smooth than in 2K.

Graphics- The faces are incredible in Live. The jerseys look like trash. In 2K the jerseys are literal masterpieces of modern technology but hair and faces are real hit or miss. The courts look great on each. NBA 2K player models hold up better and look better up close than the Live player models. NBA Live players are super swole. Everyone in Live is muscular. 2K does a good job of having player body types differ realistically. My biggest issues with graphics in 2K is that  Kyrie Irving looks like a spot on clone to his real life counterpart but lesser players like Matt Bonner look like cobbled together aliens. NBA Live has good likenesses even for lesser-known players. But the jerseys look plastic in Live….

I love the ESPN presentation live brings to games. It looks awesome. The presentation on 2K is very clean and good looking as well. 2K is great about showing a lot of info on your players during the game.

Ultimate Team mode- NBA 2K wants you to spend money and lose. NBA Live rewards your money spent and wants you to keep playing. Ultimate team (Live) or MYteam (2K) is where I spend most of my time in these modes. You get packs of player cards and contracts and put together a fantasy team and pit them against computer challenges and other opponents. I spent around 25 dollars on each game for comparison sake. To illustrate my point, when you buy special packs in Live they guarantee a good player or item, where 2K says you have a higher percentage. The best player I have gotten from 2K is Kyrie Irving (rating 86). On Live I have opened Kevin Durant, Lenny Wilkins (rating 88), LaMarcus Aldridge (89), and Rajon Rondo (twice) (86). My team in Live is a fantasy team. My team in 2K is cobbled together monster.

NBA 2K also uses an injury system in their MyTeam mode. Players get hurt and have to buy and use cards to heal them. I shot a 3 with Chris Bosh. He broke his leg. Out 16 games. I will have to buy injury cards that cure 5 games at a time at most. Fuck that. Worst still, if you get disconnected from a game you will lose contracts. It happens often in 2K, almost never in Live.

My biggest problem with both games is the games in the ultimate team modes are too long. 6 minute quarters in 2K, and 5 minute quarters in Live. Why? In Madden you play 3 minutes quarters mostly and then 4 or 5 minute in special segments. Basketball games should not take longer than football games. There is no need for it.

Both modes are great at staying current and giving new challenges and legendary player cards. Kobe has a triple double, the next day 2K had a competition to beat the Lakers with mega-Kobe. NBA Live has a Penny Hardawar card, play him and see how good he is. They are awesome and they keep adding gameplay and value as the season goes on. EA has done a better job on this mode. They have a lot of practice though as Madden Ultimate Team is amazing too.

My player mode- 2K has a story in their Myplayer and it feels good. The similar mode in NBA Live is very bare bones. I did not spend a lot of time in these modes this year. They are fun but I like controlling the entire team and not just one player on the court.

Fun factor- NBA Live is more fun. NBA 2K is broken. Every mode in 2K requires server connectivity and the servers in 2K are barely up. I have been pulled out of 10 games mid-session in 2k. They have challenges in their “Myteam” mode where you need to win 3 games in a row to complete the challenge. I have lost the challenges multiple times because during the third game the servers sever and I get the loss. It forces me to play all 3 games again and it wastes contracts for players. It literally cost me money when the servers disconnect. 2K uses the VC system to monetize the game in a shitty way and they don’t have the infrastructure to handle it. I can’t play single player in 2K because of server issues. That’s shit. NBA Live works. The online is great, the ultimate team mode never disconnects from the servers. While the game in 2K is better, I at least know I can finish the games in Live.

Which one to buy? Buy NBA Live or neither. Supporting 2K when their servers don’t work reinforces a bad system and reaffirms 2K’s consumer-unfriendly business model.

How is race handled in these games? Why do you care?

Race is a touchy issue in term of the NBA because the league has a predominance of black players. The NBA has always a lot of flavor for this reason. I have a lot of black friends who don’t game but they NBA 2K because we take a lot of ownership. No games have more black people than NBA games (maybe Resident Evil 5 but….that didn’t end well). This really shows up in the MyPlayer modes in the game because the avatars personality is more than skin deep in these modes. In my opinion, the MyPlayer voice always feel black. He’s kind of arrogant and black regardless of what color you make your player. I wish they had more options for this. The music choices, the visuals and create a player mode all have racial implications.

2K and Live are the only games I have played with current black hair cuts. You can have a high top fade! and a frohawk thing. It’s great to have more options than bald or corn rows. NBA Live has rap music top to bottom. They went all in with Rap music and then at certain times they have Jalen Rose talk about current events.

The presentation is very stylish and they are constantly focusing on throwbacks and using player nicknames in spots where they can. It feels very black to me. NBA 2K plays a much wider range of music, from rap to rock. It’s an eclectic mix. The background defaults to a white woman showing PR stories about NBA players and charity. It’s very “professional” and less in your face than Live 15. 2K also tries to replicate the playground experience where you wait for next to play in pick up games. Going for that Rucker Park authentic feel is really cool. Both games do a great job of appealing to the black community while not alienating others and I love it.

In conclusion, both games are a lot of fun this year. 2K is the better game of basketball of the Ultimate team mode in Live is far superior. If 2K gets it’s servers right, buy it. Live is worth a try too.

If you want to hear me wax poetic about gaming and more list to the EBONY AND IVORYCAST (THE podcast I talk on).