what makes a great basketball video game? - kolanji's Blog

kolanji's Blog

what makes a great basketball video game?

Posted on September 26, 2011 at 05:28 PM.

(2)

Hey i am Lonnie Trapp 29 yrs old and i am an Belizean from Central America. I love video games and i currently play organized basketball here in my hometown. I guess it is only natural for me then to love basketball video games.
The Dev team that had me captivated is VC from ever since they were published by saga sports way back to the Dreamcast era.

But before such a great of a game in nba 2k there were many that came before it that had a very strong impact on me being being both a basketball and video game fanatic.
just to name a few,there were games like double dribble

Jordan vs Bird

ncaa basketball on the SNES

and nba live 97

Kobe Bryant's NBA Courtside

All these games help along the way of my exposure to basketball video games; along with some unmentioned few, and my appreciation to where it is now as of pre release of NBA 2k12.

A game as early as Double Dribble is still playable today because it has very strong ties to what makes basketball what it is today..the fundamental rules and concept of team ball.As a matter of fact that game had great menu where u shoot to change the settings and teams,an opening scene that shows crowds of ppl entering a stadium,and it even had a half time show with dancing cheerleaders.That was very well appreciated at that era even at the limitations of a console such as NES.what this game also had that a lot of basketball games to this date seems to struggle with is balance, what u put in is what u got out of any team u played with, the only limitations as to a simple game of basketball was how and what the players themselves input.

basketball games have come a long way since then with each game along the way helping to bring the game as close to playing real basketball with signature look feel and ability of real players and teams.as the fans get younger the concept and direction is maybe losing focus of the timeline set before 2k to maximize fundamentals as the primary focus of basketball.even more so in a time where the audience is more occupied with more youths and basketball learning minds.

So many a times have we deviated from basketball in regards to getting the fundamentals in place to focus on a headband logo that is not in the right place which is somehow more impact full than a manual bounce pass.even the color palette is more game breaking than the lack of getting the charge/blocking function balance that teaches good placement and defense working functionally in the game.

Great sites like OS has given us a voice and we live in a world where majority wins.and if majority says that they want focus on headbands then you have to give the ppl what they want to buy.so i cant blame VC for their efforts towards the community request and delivering.
2k10 was one of the 2k i had very little time playing i really never felt like i was playing basketball but a video game for the first time in a nba 2k game.
then NBA 2k11 was a breath of fresh air and 2k11 seemed to be the standard NBA 2k since 2k7 and was the best at delivering a great fundamental game of basketball first over all else put in the game.yes it wasn't perfect and had open doors for abuse such as the pro hop that have no stops or balance in 2k11.

then along came NBA 2k12 demo that seems so fundamentally sound and balance so far that it is scary.i mean all games are gonna have their faults and hiccups, but this one has become so fundamentally sound that any person with very little basketball know how and knowledge can easily crossover into playing.this game seem to be on par with what the WII motion controller has done for a lot of ppl and that is to make things u already know a very smooth and easy transition from a person to game relation with the feeling of you always being in control of all outcomes as a result of your own input.

People are disappointed that NBA 2k12 demo seem so bare bones and striped down that they couldn't get a feel for it,well i say that opposite. it helps from the distraction of all the bells and whistles and shows more focus on basketball improvements such as the A.I., the fast breaks,posting up, rebounding and most of all for me the controls and feeling of way less 2 man animations,and suction animations.

so all in all as time has gone by over the years with basketball video games a whole lot has change but a whole lot has remain the same.NBA 2k12 gets it that no matter what you add in,in the end fundamentals and balance must remain for a great basketball game.

only thing remains now is to decide which cover will i be getting!

Comments

# 1 ajc25 @ Sep 26

I just wanted to say that michael jordan has appeared in multiple video games since "Jordan vs. Bird". i.e. NBA Live 2000, NBA Street Vol.2, and NBA Live 2003.

# 2 kolanji @ Sep 27

thank u for ur input and the corrections had been made