On release night, the word was that 2K12 was the "Greatest Video Game Ever!"
And now it's a failure???
Amazing how the power of suggestion works. Because it's still the same game. Nothing changed. So it's a question of perception rather than reality. And the reality is that NBA2K12 is still an awesome experience.

I missed the part where NBA 2K12 came up short...perhaps you meant this article for another sport, but certainly not NBA 2K12....flaws? Yes...disappointing...Ummm...wrong game. #2K12

This is the same thing that has happened with NHL 12 and MLB The Show 11 . . . all 3 are very good games but the change from the previous year to this year's version was more of the subtle, evolution variety. All have suffered from a been there, done that feeling, in my opinion. I don't know what the answer is, maybe it is going to take the next generation of systems before things start to dramatically improve. It's the problem with yearly updates to games and why it may be time to push back the yearly releases.

Brian

first of all very good comments by all. I will say that online is broken the way it is in video game hockey, football, and basketball. There is too much lag in all these titles until the new systems come out and technology increases online in my imo is not working it has to get like playing an offline game to get me to play online until then offline is the way to go.

2K12 is a good game. can i say its way better than 2k11, No! But generally speaking the game has added lots to its list.
Lets face it; it was the lockout that killed sales, and the Hardcore elite of 2k played the game on release nite, and then kicked the game to the curb. They trashed the game so badly, i couldn't watch alot of the videos anywhere about the game; it was pure negative publicity. So until i purchased the game and played for hours at a time, i loved the game; and then i ran into some flaws/bugs/glitches that i have seen in previous versions, and that is what has thrown off lot of gamers. when you purchase something approx 1 year prior, and find bugs and glitches and flaws; you expect those bugs/flaws/glitches to be fixed by the next year, right? well 2K fell short on that, this year as well. Consumers are becoming "Critic beacons"; and what i mean by that is; if somebody on Youtube plays a game and runs into a glitch, that glitch now reaches thousands in minutes virally. Really big YouTube channels can help or destroy a game before it hits the market; why do you think these gaming companies put out these "embargos" on videos before the release dates on games! Word of mouth/net is the most popular form of advertisement in the world today, and covering up a bad/flawed product will only tarnish a gaming companies chances of releasing any product.
I believe alot of gamers like the game, until they actually found out what was in the game, and felt ripped off by 2K for supporting them for such alongtime. As for "New (NOOB)" gamers, they could care less; and love the game, and believe the game is the "Greatest video Game Ever!", and those are the customers Big game companies are focusing on now and in the future!
2K12 hasnt fallen short, nor did they have a huge step forward; same game? Just different title!
cheers

For me it was annoying little things like not being able to change their ages, not being able to simply use legends in all modes easily, certain attributes were no longer there,etc. Those little things added up for me and I'm not one of those who is a *****, the game looked great, felt great but for some reason it just didn't connect with me. It's the first NBA 2K game that once I put down I haven't gone back to.

I love the game. Definitely think its better then 2k11. Only downfall to me was the lockout. I'm more of a association/ Franchsie player when it comes to sports games so the online issues don't effect me at all. I'm just patiently waiting for the season to begin. I need my basketball fix...

I think this game is really good and the best is to come with rookies being added, NBA Today and more frequent updates. For those of us that enjoy MLB 2K we know that they fixed a lot of the online issues in that game after release and IMO, the few online games I have played have been great and without all of these problems that people come up with. I agree with those that express the sentiment of the best way to enjoy this game and most for that matter these days is to stay off of blogs like this where people try to render your opinion invalid with there opinion that they some type of way try to present as fact. Fact is the people I know don't even think of the term fail when it comes to this game. A few say, they change too much, too often, heck I still don't know how to do all the moves and they keep changing the way you do them. Stuff like that, not this game is a failure. Blogs like these ruining games for weak minds.

If people just play on a lower difficulty setting then they would enjoy it more. More personally its a pride thing, I have been playing on superstar for almost a month now, and I switch backed to pro and all-star because the game is more enjoyable to me. Even though I can win on superstar I think the game is more balance on lower settings, and I don't see as much as those cheating tactics by the cpu.

I love 2K12 gameplay wise other than some online exploits.. Why they removed oonoline leagues was baffling and my crew had just grown on me in 2k11 I was looking forward to actually playing MyPlayer and seeing him on the court against other created players. so Gameplay wise = Good. Features wise = Blah

This game is a very good experience offline (even thought it can be improved a lot) but it is a mess online (at least from a simulation point of view)...

Cheers! ;-)

SMH that's all I can do and say. More NBA 2k12 bashing. Just amazed a company makes a great game and steps it up from and already amazing game and ppl still find a way to complain. Are ppl really thinking 2k didn't improve this game? Are we playing the same game? Does the game have some problems yes it does, what game doesn't. Still haven't been a patch yet for the game so most of your problems should be fix, again I said should. Even with it's flaws this game is Amazing. Gameplay is great and smoother than 2k11. The post game is so much fun to play and so much more realistic. They added the different camera angle for each team. The commentary is the best I have heard in any sports game to date. Ppl are still nit picking about heat check are you kidding me come on now. I understand being upset they took some features away but some stuff is just nitpicking.

I don't play online much but yes I feel online is bad, but I don't really play it much b/c it's not Sim to me anyway. Ppl are bashing the hell out of this game and will continue to buy Madden year in and year out give me a break. Mlb The Show and Nba 2k don't need drastic changes because their games are already top notch. If it isn't broke don't fix it. Gameplay wise which is what matters most this game is great and best Sim Basketball I have played in my 29yrs of gaming.

Someone posted earlier that ppl buy the game and look for problems more than try to just enjoy the game and I think that's the problem with these boards. So now I just buy games and play em and yes I know they will have problems and I work around em and fix em on my own or wait til patched. But if I go on the boards I tend to let them bring me down and now enjoy the games as much.

It's just said when a game is this great and all you hear are ppl hating on it. Because for NBA 2k11 to be the greatest basketball game ever man 2k showed us they can still make it better and they did that with NBA 2k12 IMO.

I think the biggest problem with sales was the lockout and the economy. Sorry the NBA isn't that popular for one until the playoffs. No lockout made more ppl less interested in 2k12. Plus you had all these other great AAA games released around the same time. The economy is bad ppl don't have money like they use too. So no nba season I think most ppl put 2k12 and bought the other AAA games. This game is amazing. If you don't have 2k12 don't let these boards and articles fool you b/c yes this game is better than 2k11 and you are missing out.

I wouldn't label it failed just yet. There is a second wind in sales coming: the start of the season. I think sales will pick up significantly Dec. 25 when commercials are shown during games and people see basketball again. And by that time a patch will be out that will enhance the gameplay significantly. There will be a lot of gamers who have never played the game pre-patch. Will it match last year's sales? No, but it won't follow the usual projections based on it's sales over the first two months.

^We can't edit posts in the blog format, so what I meant to say was, 'And by that time a patch will be out that will presumably enhance the gameplay.'

In my opinion 2K12 is a better game than 2K11. It just hasn't made the strides forward that 2K11 made on it's predecessor. Everyone was hyped for 2K11 in such a big way, one of the major reasons being it's amazing broadcast presentation. Well the presentation in 2K12 is even better, thanks to the introduction of Steve Kerr & proper functioning halftime shows in Association Mode but like most of this years game these are refinements on last year & not stand out new modes so therefore don't get the praise they deserve.
For me the only real area where the criticism of 2K12 is justified is the Online, elsewhere this game delivers so much more than any other sport sim.
Many are accusing 2K of complacency this year, I actually think it is us, the consumer that kas been complacent in our expectations that somehow 2K were going to find a whole different way of playing console basketball. Do we really want 2K to go down the road EA went in trying to reinvent their game? We all know how that worked out.