MJ vs the World - MarkWilliam's Blog

MarkWilliam's Blog

MJ vs the World

Posted on August 3, 2016 at 09:42 AM.

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So it's August. 6 weeks away from that time of the year. We've had a snippet of news recently. Announced on a weekend (which really caught me off guard). Firstly, a picture of the 2016 Olympic squad. Nice. Some would speculate a more complete version of the iffy pic released earlier in the week to steady the ship. Make amends. Whatever, all good.

And then this;

And then let's emphasize - this;

This picture fills me (and I'm sure many others) with a range of mixed emotions.

Rewind back to 2010. NBA 2K11 was just around the corner and 2K just did something BIG. I mean MONUMENTAL. They just announced their cover athlete will be none other than the GOAT - Michael Jeffrey Jordan. 2K sports took the greatest to ever play, recreated him digitally better than has ever done prior and created a mode that would make basketball purists change their definition of pornography if only for a short while. Michael looked good. I mean, he looked great. He moved great. Ranging from 86 Celtics invasion to 98 Jazz ring denial. It was.... beautiful.

So what happened? How've we gone backwards when everything else has gone forwards?

Let's make a list;

Pro Am
Virtual Currency
My Park
#BeTheStory
Face Scanning
Locker Codes

Since the release of gen 4 it appears technology has swooped in, grabbed this beautiful franchise (2K) by the horns and taken it in a specific direction. With a new focus that can be summed up with 1 word.

Online.

Online is the future. Online allows people to connect. Online is a game changer. And boy has it changed games. NBA 2K is no exception. 2K would be crazy not to join the party, heck I know I would push for this if I were sitting atop the incredibly successful cash cow that is the 2K tree.

But the kicker is, only so much time and man power can be poured into a game within a 1 year development cycle. To accommodate this revolution of online gaming surely it has to come at some sort of expense right? Well scroll up and take another look and tell me we haven't found it.

Barring some sort of marketing ploy it appears Michael Jordan's digital self will unfortunately take a back seat for another year at least to allow the world to re-connect online, to scan faces, create players, teams, courts and jerseys and aspire to be as great as said legend.

I'm merely speculating of course...

But hey, we still have 6 weeks. And if not this year, maybe next. Or the one after that. If there's one thing I know as an avid fan of 90s basketball it's this, Michael Jordan (digital or not) doesn't take a back seat forever. No matter who he's up against....