Author Bio
Monday, May 15, 2017
01:55 PM - May 15, 2017. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
At this point, it feels like the NBA 2K series is in a perpetual state of success. I have enough faith in the series that even if no information was publicly available prior to the release date, I would still happily plop down $59.99 on day one to get the game.
But that doesn’t mean NBA 2K17 is perfect. So what did the developers get right with 2K17 and what could they do better in 2K18? Let’s take a look.
Read More - What Went Right in NBA 2K17, What Needs Improving in NBA 2K18
Monday, March 20, 2017
On the heels of the massive success that is Rocket League comes High Horse Entertainment’s Disc Jam. A quick pick-up-and-play match-style game between two players (or two teams) with basic controls, simple rules and a whole lot of fun. It features gameplay that is addicting, but after playing the game for a little over a week, one has to wonder if there is enough here to keep people coming back.
Read More - Disc Jam Review (PS4)
Friday, March 10, 2017
08:11 PM - March 10, 2017. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Brandon Kosal
We’re just under four weeks away from WrestleMania 33. WrestleMania season is the time of year many wrestling fans look forward to the most. It begins with the Royal Rumble, regarded by many as the best PPV of the year -- above even the Granddaddy of Them All -- and ends with WrestleMania weekend, which is chock-full of independent wrestling events, conventions and, of course, the Hall of Fame ceremony. It all culminates Sunday, April 3rd, live from the Orlando Citrus Bowl
With only a handful of matches officially announced so far, wrestling fans across the world are speculating on what the final card will look like., wrestling fans across the world are speculating on what the final card will look like. Imaginations are running wild as fans play fantasy booker, putting together what their ideal WrestleMania card would look like. Fortunately enough for WrestleMania-holics, WWE 2K17 allows wrestling fans to play fantasy booker in a much more personal way. Forget just pen and paper, you can make the match-ups come to life at home.
With the assistance of the infamous "wrestling newz sites," we’ll see how the rumored official card stacks up. And then we’ll add some legends into the mix and come up with a card featuring current stars vs. legends.
Read More - WrestleMania 33 in WWE 2K17 - (Written by: Brandon Kosal)
Monday, February 27, 2017
05:27 PM - February 27, 2017. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
But these trades have an impact on something far more important than that: how does it change who we use in NBA 2K17? Let’s take a look...
Read More - Breaking Down the Trade Deadline Moves in NBA 2K17
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
10:40 PM - February 21, 2017. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
When discussing the fighting game genre, WWE 2K isn’t the first series to come to mind for most people. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Marvel vs. Capcom, Tekken, and others are at the forefront. You can draw many differences between these and 2K, but the one we are going to focus on today is ratings.
What do we make of a fighting game that uses player ratings? Die-hard Mortal Kombat fans no doubt have their favorite fighter. Some might choose Scorpion while others are fans of Liu Kang, but these preferences are based more on what moves, combos and fatalities each fighter has.
Wrestling games used to operate the same way. Wrestlers were not given overall ratings, so character selection was based more on what you were feeling at the time. So if you wanted to take on The Undertaker with Spike Dudley, you didn’t feel at a huge disadvantage.
But this has changed in recent years. Even though you could (as I did) argue that WWE 2K is more of a fighting game, it’s typically lumped in with the other sports games, almost all of which focus heavily on ratings. NBA 2K and Madden, for example, promote ratings updates when they are released to users.
Read More - Rating the Ratings in WWE 2K17
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
11:22 AM - February 8, 2017. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
NBA All-Star Weekend is just around the corner, and you know what that means: time to debate the validity of the all-star rosters! And this year is no different, with the added wrinkle that there is a legitimate argument to be made that the reigning, back-to-back MVP should come off the bench this year because half-human half-cyborg Russell Westbrook could average a triple double for the entire season.
But that’s part of what makes this season so fun. Even if All-Star Weekend isn’t your cup of tea -- even if you think the game itself is nothing more than a real-life NBA Jam -- the event itself gives us time to reflect on the season so far while taking stock of the current state of the league.
Read More - Alternate NBA All-Star Game Lineups
Friday, January 20, 2017
12:49 PM - January 20, 2017. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
Wrestling video games have an interesting history. Much like real-life WWE where there is a segment of fans who insist that the "good ol’ days" of wrestling passed us by decades ago, there are many fans of this genre who insist that the last great wrestling game released was WWF No Mercy for the Nintendo 64. No Mercy was no doubt a great game, but those who ignore the strides wrestling games have made since 2K Sports took over are missing out.
I’ve written before how I took a long break from the franchise. For me, the 2000s simply were not fun from a gameplay standpoint. I took a stab at WWE 12 but left feeling underwhelmed. WWE 2K17, on the other hand, feels like a whole new ballgame. The graphics are much improved along with smoother animations. However, as far as video games have come, it’s still tricky to nail down human animation so that it comes across as natural. Wrestling games have long been one of the worst offenders in this department, but 2K17 definitely has a more natural feel to all of the movements.
Read More - WWE 2K17 On Solid Ground, Has Room to Grow
Monday, November 7, 2016
05:52 PM - November 7, 2016. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
When Kevin Durant announced he was signing with the Golden State Warriors, it turned the NBA world upside down. Fresh off a season where they set the NBA single-season wins record, had the first unanimous MVP and came within a Kyrie and Iguodala of winning back-to-back titles, the Warriors went ahead and added a former MVP and one of the most dynamic scorers to ever play the game. The move was universally regarded as one of, if not the most significant, free-agent signings of all time -- all but guaranteeing the Warriors the 2017 NBA title.
For video game fans, KD to the Warriors affected something even greater: NBA 2K. In NBA 2K16, the Warriors were already borderline unfair to use. With Steph and Klay, arguably the two best shooters of all time, alongside Draymond Green, the proverbial NBA Swiss army knife, anyone who ran with the Warriors in 2K16 had a clear statistical advantage over their opponent (especially after some late patches).
Read More - Beating the Warriors in NBA 2K17
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
12:23 PM - October 25, 2016. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
As fans of sports video games, we tend to gravitate towards franchises we know we like, while also being cool on the franchises we know we don’t like. For instance, I am a die-hard fan of NBA 2K and MLB The Show. NASCAR and golf, however, are not necessarily in my wheelhouse. For the past few years, WWE games fell in sort of a gray area.
Prior to WWE 2K17, the last wrestling game I purchased was WWE 11 on the PlayStation 3, which followed a gap of another five years or so between purchases. Like many of you, I looked back lovingly on the days of WWF No Mercy on the N64 and felt that modern-day WWE games were unpolished and clunky.
That’s why I let six years go by before even considering another purchase. I perked up once 2K took over, but decided I would give them a few years before diving back in. Now that I’ve spent some time with WWE 2K17, I realize this break was well worth it and that, while some nagging issues remain, 2K is definitely taking this franchise in the right direction.
Read More - Why You Should Come Back To WWE Games
Friday, September 30, 2016
11:38 AM - September 30, 2016. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
As I spend more and more time with NBA 2K17 and the polish wears off, I settle into a routine with the game -- many of you likely do the same. 2K offers so many different modes that it would be impossible to dedicate yourself full-time to each of them. We all have our favorite modes, and we usually have one particular mode where we spend most of our time.
Technically, my most-played mode would be quick game because I spend the most time playing friends in person one-on-one. We play 12-minute quarters to simulate as realistic a basketball game as possible. It’s really competitive and very addictive. But quick game is just that, a game. If I had to single out a specific game mode, I gotta go, once again, with MyLeague.
Omitting MyGM was intentional, as I find that side of the franchise experience a tad unrealistic. If judging it as an RPG take on franchise mode, it's fine. But this year, MyLeague offers more than ever before, including a much more realistic front office experience. Some frustrations remain, which I will get to in a bit, but overall, MyLeague remains my favorite mode because it has one significant upgrade and several promising tweaks that give me hope for the future of this mode.
Read More - NBA 2K17: MyLeague Brings It Again
Thursday, September 15, 2016
04:07 PM - September 15, 2016. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
Given that I spend the majority of my 2K time with these modes, I am ecstatic about all of the improvements that were announced. But I wouldn’t be a video game fan if I wasn’t also disappointed in a few omissions as well. Let’s take a closer look into what was announced and why we should be, first and foremost, excited.
Read More - NBA 2K17 MyLEAGUE/MyGM: What's Hot and What's Not
Monday, July 25, 2016
Ever since Paul George was announced as NBA 2K17’s cover athlete, fans of the series have focused on a small, but key cover detail: one of the pictures of Paul George features him in his Team USA uniform. Of course, this doesn’t guarantee we will see some sort of international competition in the game, but it would be an odd choice to feature that jersey on the cover if it weren’t somehow in the game.
If 2K does decide to include Olympic teams, it wouldn’t be the first time. Back in NBA 2K13, users could not only play as the star-studded 2012 team, but also the original 1992 Dream Team, including Charles Barkley. There wasn’t much beyond the surface, though. Users could use these teams in exhibition mode, and that was about it.
Read More - Team USA in NBA 2K17?
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
02:32 PM - July 13, 2016. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
The WWE video game series lingered around directionless for years. The graphics weren’t great, gameplay was stale and it often didn’t feel like a wrestling game at all. Once it got brought under the 2K umbrella, fans of other 2K series’ immediately had high hopes and felt the series would finally make a leap to the next level. After a few years in the partnership, there is reason for optimism. Let’s take a look at a few things WWE 2K17 should focus on improving.
Read More - WWE 2K17: Keys to Success
Monday, June 20, 2016
10:21 AM - June 20, 2016. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
This year’s E3 expo had no significant basketball presence as we didn’t learn anything new about the future of NBA 2K or NBA Live. This isn’t unexpected, given that it’s been some time since we last saw 2K with a big presence at E3, and we already knew Live wasn't coming out this year. Either way where does each game go from here in the short term?
Read More - Another E3 Passes With No Basketball News
Thursday, June 9, 2016
06:24 PM - June 9, 2016. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Brandon Kosal
With nearly 20 releases under its belt, NBA 2K has nestled into an elite category of game franchises. When the new Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear Solid, or Uncharted releases, fans automatically expect greatness. The same can be said of NBA 2K. For the folks over at 2K, it’s a wonderful problem to have -- a much better problem than the alternative.
But it still does present a problem, because once a franchise achieves greatness, each release can feel a bit stale. How do you improve a game many consider to be nearly flawless? Games with huge, glaring issues can at least point to the obvious of what didn’t work and what they are doing to fix the issues for the next release. But that wasn’t the case as we approached the NBA 2K16 release date.
So how did the game stack up against the usual weight of its expectations? How do I feel this season went as we now begin to look ahead to NBA 2K17? Well...
Read More - NBA 2K16: The Best Game in the Series' History?
Working...