The paradox that is 2k Sports: MLB 2k9 (and 10 for that matter) vs NBA 2k11 - jestep123's Blog

jestep123's Blog

The paradox that is 2k Sports: MLB 2k9 (and 10 for that matter) vs NBA 2k11

Posted on October 15, 2010 at 02:38 PM.

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Since this is my first blog, let me introduce myself. My name is Jeremy, I am 35 years old and I have been playing video games since the early 80's. If you can name a major system, I have owned it. If you can name a major sports game, I have played it. I am not a hardcore gamer. I do not understand ALL of the intricucies of what goes into creating a game or dev cycles or anything like that. Alot of of what I am going to say here is not based on fact. It is pure speculation on my part.

With that out of the way, lets take care of some other business. I can say with conviction that MLB 2k9 was one of the worst, if not the worst games that I have ever played. Not just baseball, not just sports, not just this generation or last, all games that I have played, EVER!

I recieved an xbox360 as a gift from my wife for Christmas in 2008. I could not wait to get an MLB game. At the time, I did not realize that 2k9 was the only option. I monitored the 2k boards closely as release date drew near and gamers generally seemed to be pumped about the game. The general vibe was that 2k8 was not a good effort but now that the development had been handed to VC, everything was going to be alright.

I went and got the game on release day and everything began well. The Show, which I had played on my PS2 for the last 4 years didnt have anything on this. Controlling pitching and hitting with the analog sticks, what is not to love? Unfortunantly, the answer to that was, well just about everything else. The rest of the game was terrible. Going back and reading the reviews now, one of them actually suggested that THE BIGS 2 was a better option for baseball fans on the 360 and for PS3 owners the choice was clear. OUCH.

By September of 2009, I had grown tired of the excuses made being made for 2k9 being so bad. Among them were:

"Well we didnt have a full development cycle."
"We completely overhauled the game."
"We have a new dev team"

On the last point, it struck me as funny that what consumers thought, and 2k touted, as major change for the good was now being used to explain why the game was so bad.

I was also now envious of those trolls that had come over touting the greatness of the Show. I hated that so much that I defended 2k. In my heart I knew they were right. 2k was terrible and the Show was the place to be.

At the risk of alienating my wife and having her never buy me a gift again, I approached her about selling my xbox to get a PS3. I used everything in the aresenal because I knew doing this was kind of wrong. I touted the free online gaming and I even went as far as to to explain how I wanted to get a platform game called Little Big Planet because I thought my 3 year old would love it. (Now that he is almost 5 he does love it but I must admit, using a 3 year old to get what you want is kind of wrong).

In the end, she begrudgingly agreed and a PS3 sits in my living room today. I call it the best entertainment decison I have made in my life and it was all because MLB 2k9 was just that terrible. I have never seen a game in my life that has convinced so many people to not just put down the game and try something else, but to switch consoles entirely, but that is what 2k9 did.

This begs the question, How can MLB 2k9 be so bad and less than 2 years later NBA 2k11 is being thought of as a contender for the best sports game of all time? Is the excellence of 2k11 somehow related to how bad MLB 2k9 was? Also, while it was marginally better, lets not forget that MLB 2k10 was not exactly a glaring example of gaming excellence.

2k skipped hockey, they cant do football, they cant do college basketball and they cant seem to get baseball right.

It seems like MJ on the cover and all the things they did this year were more of a "have to" thing than any anything else. I mean Live 10 was better, for the Live series, but it still wasnt in a real position to challenge 2k in pro baskeball. I have seen alot here about how NBA 2k12 can top 2k11. I am pretty sure 2k and VC have the same concerns.

The questions I pose to the community are, was 2k forced into making NBA 2k11 one of the best sports games of all time and did the realitive faliures of their other major sports franchisce(s) have something to do with it?

Comments

# 1 texasgmr @ Oct 15

Great title. I think that with the demise of the other sports titles that 2K has and the success of the basketball title pretty much put them to do just that, make THE BEST BASKETBALL TITLE to date for the company.

I used to try out 2K baseball titles and frankly did not care for them at all. The Show on the PS3 is what we all feel 2K's basketball titles are, AMAZING!

# 2 jestep123 @ Oct 15

Thanks, I edited the title like 4 times. I even looked up the word paradox just to make sure I was using it properly lol. I agree with you but I cant escape the feeling that the atrociousness of MLB 2k9 and how outclassed NHL 2k10 was by NHL 10 has something, if not everything to do with why we saw them lay it all on the line so to speak with 2k11. Thanks for reading.

# 3 10yard-Fight @ Oct 15

i liked mlb 2k7. the others were week imo, but thankfully once i got a ps3 i didn't have to worry about that... and nba 2k11 is definitely on another level. my goodness. i too have been gaming since the 80's. Mid 80's actually but you get my point.

# 4 10yard-Fight @ Oct 15

i can't believe i just typed week instead weak... i need some rest.

# 5 Galarius @ Oct 19

If the author has played every sports game ever made, then wouldn't he know that 2k had been kicking EA's butt for 8 years until EA started gettin serious in 2008????...yeah, their baseball has been traditionally bad or mediocre, but football and hoops have been premo, and their hockey game was always decent too...Until NHL by EA became great 3 years ago that was pretty much a neck and neck race most years

# 6 jestep123 @ Oct 19

Yes I absolutely do know all of that. That is kind of the point of the blog. You are right that 2k has really done good things with basketball and to a lesser extent, hockey. So why dont we see that kind of effort out of 2k all the time? Especially with the limited sports titles they are able to produce?

2k backed off hockey much in the same way that EA backed off Elite. It doesnt have to be for the same reasons, the fact is that it happened. If EA NHL was not as popular (and high quality) as it is, we'd be seeing an NHL 2k11.

I dont get why everybody wants to turn everything into a dev war. My question/statement is very simple. With limited opportunities, wouldnt you think we would see better and more consistant efforts from 2k?

I mean lets be honest, APF2k8 was good but its not a great football title. The people who breathe life into that game arent doing it so much because the game is spectacular more than they are because it is alternative to Madden.