The NBA 2K13 Online Issues are just inexcusable at this point.

Aaron Ondrey - Fiction. Let's start with the servers. They are not perfect, maybe not even up to par with expectations, but compared to last year the servers have made strides in the right direction. I've played more games that are perfectly smooth online, than games that have constant lag and/or connections dropped. While the occasional "waiting for opponent" countdown screen pops up, it's a greatly improved over last year.

As for online gameplay, it still has it's problems. Steals and three pointers are still a bit overpowered. Spin dunks and off-the-glass oops are very easy to do, which can get tiring to deal with. Overall, the stability has been a lot better than expected, and the 3v3 Blacktop Mode has been a surprisingly fun mode.

Bishop Tart - Fiction: It seems as though every year we have a discussion about how bad the online connectivity is. Good for Visual Concepts and 2K that 2K13 is immensely better than past years *cough* 2K10 *cough*. In my short time with the online, I had some minor issues but nothing as bad as past iterations. The servers seem much more stable and online games are not as jittery.

NBA 2K13's gameplay is the best for a basketball game ever.

Aaron Ondrey - Fact. I can't remember a time outside of NBA 2K11 that provided this type of gameplay in a basketball game. From the dribble controls, to the improved physics, to the variety of animations, to signature skills. Players perform more realistically than they ever have, and the game speed is as close to perfection as I've ever seen. NBA 2K13 has the best gameplay for a basketball game ever.

Bishop Tart - Fact: The new controls and animations make this year's gameplay much more enjoyable, on top of being a more smooth all-around game. The player's weight mean more this year. Add that to the new animations, and you get a much more refined look and feel. As Ondrey mentioned, the speed of the game is near perfection and the all-new signature skills are simply superb. No question; this is hands down, the best gameplay featured in a basketball game ever.

"No question; this is hands down, the best gameplay featured in a basketball game ever." - Bishop Tart

2K13 is sorely missing the historical modes this year.

Aaron Ondrey - Fiction. For me, I only played the historical modes last year at the beginning because they were fresh. I actually prefer the modes not being in the game because I can just go into a quick game and play with whatever matchups I want to, without having to spend a lot of time unlocking all the historical teams.

Bishop Tart - Fiction: These modes were great in theory and fun for a little while, but it's time they move on. The gameplay and other modes are great on their own that we really don't need them anymore. Honestly, I'm going to say a very small percentage of people kept playing those modes a week or a month after the game's release anyway.

Playing as the Dream Team is a cool feature that was worth all the time and money invested.

Aaron Ondrey - Fiction. Once again, this was a very cool feature on the first day or two. Now that a bit has gone by, I find myself having only used the team once or twice, and that was against the 2012 Olympic Team. I don't know how much money and time was invested to bring the Dream Team into the game, but I would imagine it wasn't worth the lack of time I will be using it. Perhaps if NBA 2K13 included a FIBA, or Olympic tournament mode, I would definitely say that it was worth it.

Bishop Tart - Fact & Fiction: Playing as the Dream Team is a cool feature, that part is 100% fact. However, I don't think it was worth the time and money to include it in the game. Much like the historical modes, the majority of people probably will play as the Dream Team only a couple of times and then move on. That time and money could have been used to improve offline association a little bit more, but I won't get into that here.