NBA 2K13 News Post

What NBA 2K13 Did Right

06:18 PM - April 10, 2013 by RaychelSnr

It can be hard to see the positive when things are working—it’s much easier to see what’s wrong. It’s a distinction that was first put into philosophical terms by Martin Heidegger as the difference between the ready-at-hand and the present-at-hand and, weirdly, it’s really really easy to see in video games. When the mechanics of a game are ready-at-hand, we perform an action with the controller and what we expect to happen happens; when things don’t happen the way we expect or want, we call them “broken” and they are merely present-at-hand. In other words, lying there in front of us and useless.

You can feel free to ignore that whole paragraph, though. Here’s what you need to know: having already dipped into what NBA 2K14 should look to fix, it’s time to turn a kinder eye on the series and look at what it already does well. Some of these things really stand out when you compare 2K13 to older versions of the game, even as recently as 2K10.

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Game: NBA 2K13Reader Score: 8.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PC / PS3 / Xbox 360Votes for game: 75 - View All

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# 1 VDusen04 @ 04/10/13 06:59 PM

I cannot read this article at the moment, but I look forward to it. I imagine game developers have to have some thick skin, for the closer they seem to move toward creating a realistic environment, the more the unrealistic portions of the game seem to stick out like a sore thumb.

I always wonder about 2K in particular. Someone from that company has to get frustrated with their user feedback at some point, right? We beg for classic teams, they deliver. Then we complain about the lack of classic team choices. Then they add more classic teams. Then we complain about the lack of a Dream Team. They add a Dream Team. Then we complain about the inability to edit shoes so it doesn't look like they're all wearing navy and red boxes. It's like they're constantly trying to plug an endless stream of holes, like in that one Kinect game:

While a lot of complaints are valid (I really did have an issue immersing myself with the Dream Team without a real opponent and box shoes), I sometimes worry the good gets overlooked and 2K will assume their small improvements are in vain. We've had so many weird issues ironed out over the years that it's honestly tough for me to think of one off the top of my head.

Here's one: remember when it used to be impossible to shoot a corner three? How a player's feet used to always stand on the line? Or when the bounce pass didn't exist? When tip dunks didn't exist? When there weren't 15 individual custom dunk slots for every single player?

I definitely still have my quarrels with things missing from this game, alongside some questions about the direction they're heading, but I also very much appreciate their progress over the years.

# 2 Gramps91 @ 04/10/13 07:54 PM

There is very little 2k13 did wrong. I would like some changes in Association, some new additions as there has been little of that in recent years, would love to see a weekly highlight show like in CH 2k8. Also I want to be able to wear whatever brand of shoes I want to (as I like Converse) in My Career mode.

# 3 wallofhate @ 04/10/13 09:28 PM

The subtleties the "little things" the small movements and gestures that the could have ignored and still got a great passing grade but they wanted to be better and be called the best. That hands down to me is what's overall impressive. Especially with no competition to still be the best video basketball game ever imo makes me wonder what the future holds. They are def things that should and could be better but the way they top themselves over and over again makes me sure most of my gripes will be fixed.

# 4 DJ @ 04/10/13 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eaterofworlds888


	There is very little 2k13 did wrong. I would like some changes in Association, some new additions as there has been little of that in recent years, would love to see a weekly highlight show like in CH 2k8. Also I want to be able to wear whatever brand of shoes I want to (as I like Converse) in My Career mode.

I agree. While I haven't played 2K13 as much as 2K11-12, that's more due to a lack of gaming time than my feelings towards the game. NBA 2K and MLB The Show are the two sports franchises I can count on to put out quality games every year.

The commentary and presentation in 2K are standard-bearers for the sports game genre. The CPU AI is better than what you find in most games. The immersion factor is really high. Legend teams was a terrific addition to draw in fans of my generation that may not care for today's NBA. The new R-stick controls were a nice addition, even if it means giving up the Shot Stick (not a fan of the modifier).

I think 2K will continue to grow the game as the PS4/720 systems are rolled out.

# 5 VDusen04 @ 04/10/13 11:14 PM

I just had an opportunity to read the article and I thought it was well done. In fact, I think the great things mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. 2K13 does a ton right (though I remain steadfastly anti-Jay-Z & Friends presentation and soundtrack cornering, which was mentioned as a possible positive in the article).

Here's a question though - do you guys feel 2K13 had as many "little things" additions as with previous 2K's? The Little Things thread here seemed to drop into the cellar pretty quickly and in my own regard, it didn't seem like I was seeing as many of those new inclusions. Maybe I've just grown numb to them, but I do not think so.

# 6 DJ @ 04/11/13 12:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VDusen04


	I just had an opportunity to read the article and I thought it was well done. In fact, I think the great things mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. 2K13 does a ton right (though I remain steadfastly anti-Jay-Z & Friends presentation and soundtrack cornering, which was mentioned as a possible positive in the article). Here's a question though - do you guys feel 2K13 had as many "little things" additions as with previous 2K's? The Little Things thread here seemed to drop into the cellar pretty quickly and in my own regard, it didn't seem like I was seeing as many of those new inclusions. Maybe I've just grown numb to them, but I do not think so.

No, but I think that's because it's just small tweaks and refinements from 2K11-12. Same thing with MLB 13 The Show. It doesn't look a lot different from 12 but there are a lot of small changes.

# 7 ffaacc03 @ 04/11/13 01:59 AM

To me, each version of the game has been an improvement, when looking at the overall package ... not that all versions show the same improvement jump from one to another ... in fact, each version has some regressions on some portions of the game ... I can even understand that introducing new features can lead to these regressions but what I cant understand is why do they take away things that worked ... why not expand or evolve based on them.

What 2k13 mostly did good was to sustain the level of sales in a depressing videogame market, to bounce back and successfully insert itself into the current trend of micro transactions and to introduce their game into the consoles downloadable digital world ... it did many other things good tho, or otherwise it wouldnt be an overall improvement.

What 2k14 must do right, specially within the next generation of consoles is to:
- Take full advantage of the new consoles processing and memory ram power
- Take full advantage of the discs space
- Provide a nearly flawless online experience
- Add new features/content and build/refine upon them, not take away anything
- Provide a physics engine or a better alternative than current one
- Build and expand on customization/editability/options
- Provide the same features and level of control and customization for offline/online
- Provide valuable DLC, even if paid DLC, like an official roster/my career/association editor ... not just the fancy microtransactions
- Fix recurring bugs/glitches
- Provide more signature animations, tendencies, ratings, playbooks, team strategies, hot spots ...

And most importantly, it needs to ...
- Provide us with what we need and not only with what we want.

# 8 spankdatazz22 @ 04/11/13 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VDusen04


	I just had an opportunity to read the article and I thought it was well done. In fact, I think the great things mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg.

I'd agree. I think 2K13 got a tremendous amount of things right. The series has been so good for so long that I think many things are taken for granted. You could have a 20page+Little Things thread on the historical teams content alone imo. I constantly marvel at the visual detail in the game be it tattoos, coach/bench/crowd animations/reactions, the way 2K continues to top itself with in-game presentation elements... Just so much to list. Some of my fave things with this year's game:

- Player distinctiveness/individuality
- Improvements to the animation system, player interaction
- continuation, some plays continuing after the whistle
- stellar commentary, from the guys calling the game, to the sideline reports, to the real-time live halftime reports/updates (NBA Today)
- visual/presentation improvements to Blacktop mode
- added more classic teams, Dream Team
- gameplay tuner tweaks that work with customized rosters
- etc, etc, etc.

I've played this game since launch and I'd still say I've only touched on *maybe* 30% of what it has to offer. That 2K's been able to sneak in tuner gameplay tweaks which has made the game play even better is icing on an already delicious cake. Huge kudos for a stellar release.

# 9 JasonMartin @ 04/11/13 07:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ffaacc03


	What 2k14 must do right, specially within the next generation of consoles is to: -

When will we see the first 2K for the next gen console?

There hasn't been a specific release date yet for the new consoles but I imagine that 2K14 will be current gen and possibly next gen like Battlefield 3 will do. But I hope 2K doesn't make 1 copy, and just transfers it to the next gen. I hope they make a 2K13 PS3/Xbox360 version and one for the next gen with more details/graphics/stuff to it.

So 2K15 has to be the the start of a new era on the next console right? They have to blow everyone out of the water with the new range of possibilities with that console.

# 10 ffaacc03 @ 04/11/13 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JasonMartin


	When will we see the first 2K for the next gen console? There hasn't been a specific release date yet for the new consoles but I imagine that 2K14 will be current gen and possibly next gen like Battlefield 3 will do. But I hope 2K doesn't make 1 copy, and just transfers it to the next gen. I hope they make a 2K13 PS3/Xbox360 version and one for the next gen with more details/graphics/stuff to it. So 2K15 has to be the the start of a new era on the next console right? They have to blow everyone out of the water with the new range of possibilities with that console.

2k14 for next generation of consoles hasnt been confirmed ... nor denied ... so all we have is past experience ... PS3 brought us 2k6, an integral port (from PS2, at least gamemodes wise) with just graphical updates.

I expect the same, even when the correct thing to do would be to create the game for such new console and port it into the PS3 ... anyways, this new generation of consoles, should leave little to no room for any kind of restrictions ... while 2k15 would undoubtedly must be a defining game (as 2k7 was for this generation), 2k14 should be the game that makes us believe that 2k would push the bar as far as their creativity and determination can and not as far as the hardware lets.

P.S:
IMHO, 2k13 offers the best complete package of all NBA2k games, so it did more than some things right ... but still has plenty of things to fix, a lot to reintroduce and many features to improve and expand upon.

# 11 blues rocker @ 04/11/13 03:41 PM

There's a ton of stuff they did right in 2k13. Jump shooting is awesome and is the best it's ever been. You can finally stop on a dime and do quick pull-up jumpers, and the moving momentum shots are awesome when shooting off the dribble.

The dribbling is pretty sweet as well and is definitely the best it's been. The moves could react a bit quicker to your controller input, but overall the dribbling feels great. Each year 2k adds a little bit more control and comes closer to making you feel like you're controlling a real basketball player.

Layup and dunk animations are great as well. Finally you can knife through the lane and squeeze through small openings on drives rather than being unrealistically pulled and suctioned into defenders. For the most part, the dunks and layups are quicker and players do more "moving one-legged jumps" rather than slow 2-footed gathers that plagued 2k12. however, there's sometimes still not enough contact on dunks...sometimes there's just no physics at all as the dunker knocks defenders aside like bowling pins, but I'm hoping they'll work on that for 2k14.

# 12 Thelorn @ 04/12/13 12:07 AM

The commentary the rest is ****. Whatever happen from an almost perfect 2k11 to this?

# 13 bumpyface @ 04/12/13 01:02 AM

I'm amazed at all the good reviews here. Maybe I'm not playing the same game as you guys. Anyway, there are a couple things that I would not like to see in the next gen bball games. 1: Too many canimations. The animations are rediculous at times and I'm always drawn into this long animation that I don't need. 2-I would like an option for the momentum stuff. Too many times I start the game off with a great lead, making smart decision all throughout the game. 2nd half I can't make a shot, turnover every possession, time-outs don't work. I'm sick of it. If my opponent isn't as good as I am with decision making and basketball know-how, he shouldn't get a handicap. That should be something that has to be adjusted in an option menu. Rebounding and passing need to be on point. If you don't have rebounding or passing you don't have basketball, period.

# 14 Rob19ny @ 04/12/13 04:02 AM

Hope in 2K15, 2K gets the spin move animation right.

# 15 thedream2k13 @ 04/12/13 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blues rocker


	There's a ton of stuff they did right in 2k13. Jump shooting is awesome and is the best it's ever been. You can finally stop on a dime and do quick pull-up jumpers, and the moving momentum shots are awesome when shooting off the dribble. The dribbling is pretty sweet as well and is definitely the best it's been. The moves could react a bit quicker to your controller input, but overall the dribbling feels great. Each year 2k adds a little bit more control and comes closer to making you feel like you're controlling a real basketball player. Layup and dunk animations are great as well. Finally you can knife through the lane and squeeze through small openings on drives rather than being unrealistically pulled and suctioned into defenders. For the most part, the dunks and layups are quicker and players do more "moving one-legged jumps" rather than slow 2-footed gathers that plagued 2k12. however, there's sometimes still not enough contact on dunks...sometimes there's just no physics at all as the dunker knocks defenders aside like bowling pins, but I'm hoping they'll work on that for 2k14.

jumpshooting is decent, just way to easy compared to older versions of the game due to the lack of player specific releases. They also game star players super quick releases to make it even easier. Kobe shoots faster than ray allen in this game

# 16 UnbelievablyRAW @ 04/12/13 11:05 PM

They improve the offensive stuff every year but defense gets worse and worse in order to make people feel competent when they first play the game.

There is an obvious controller lag in responses when you're on defense, making rotation defense near nonexistent, and the onball defense is the same because defensive foot speed is terrible.

Like I said, the offensive stuff was improved (not the post game), and the small additions to the m career mode were welcome (except the inclusion of VC. That thing shouldn't have replaced skill points)

# 17 ThaPhenom21 @ 04/12/13 11:52 PM

i wanna see some new servers

# 18 kolanji @ 04/13/13 12:20 PM

to be honest this game seems to be more appreciated by gamers who plays associations and my player....and to be honest I am neither of them....this game seems to me to be designed to play against the AI which in that case is like I mentioned works fine..

then their are the modes than me and all my friend's prefer and gravitate to and that is just where we find all d frustrations with NBA 2k13, player vs player offline and online modes.

the AI in player vs player makes the game feels way too assisted and casual..player A is more inclined to hit a bad timing jumpshot with moderate defense if he is losing by a set amount of points over player B winning and taking the same logical and appropriate open jumpshot that has him in the lead to begin with.....

the lack of initiating contact is made more apparent ,in PvP games , in the paint where defenders sense of location and presence have very little impact on collisions and the outcome of attempt animations of scoring.....

just for clarification this is on Xbox 360 for I have no other experience on other platforms but I have played 2k12 on a pc at a friend's house with an Xbox 360 controller and it was by far the best 2k experience I have ever had ,but again I can't say other wise for 2k13

I could be far from the truth when I say this but teams hardcoded to behave and responds close to real life teams and players in this game is what probably makes the game feels like its on rails at times because even though ur playing and inexperienced or new comer to.NBA 2k13 in player vs player , it's hard to force experience over the noob simply cause he is using heats, which by definition should be a better team than pacers, outplays me with very to little effort...am taking wide open ,with perfect timing compared to his forced attempts to dunk all game also he is playing away from the ball with no attempts at playing passing lanes lacking defensive know how only to be victorious at steals and fastbreak points simple cause am literally playing against a hardcoded AI more so than the player with the controller

gone are the days when PvP games could render a team like heats taking a pounding by a team like bobcat because
the user of bobcats skills over team skills were more dominant
compared to user of heats who generally use this team to compensate for the lack of know how skills.

if the defense it better off in the up and coming NBA 2k14 it should be more balance in PvP in my opinion..but I have a feeling that it's only so on consoles due to the bottleneck of the specs of the current consoles......

don't get me wrong I love NBA 2k with my soul it's a game that I was there with from start to now ....

there is so much thing NBA 2k does right its hard to post them all and I appreciate every last one of em...this is the only thing I think I can say negative about it...

really looking forward to next gen NBA 2k games and congrats to take two and 2k games with the WWE

# 19 blues rocker @ 04/13/13 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kolanji


	to be honest this game seems to be more appreciated by gamers who plays associations and my player....and to be honest I am neither of them....this game seems to me to be designed to play against the AI which in that case is like I mentioned works fine.. then their are the modes than me and all my friend's prefer and gravitate to and that is just where we find all d frustrations with NBA 2k13, player vs player offline and online modes. the AI in player vs player makes the game feels way too assisted and casual..player A is more inclined to hit a bad timing jumpshot with moderate defense if he is losing by a set amount of points over player B winning and taking the same logical and appropriate open jumpshot that has him in the lead to begin with..... the lack of initiating contact is made more apparent ,in PvP games , in the paint where defenders sense of location and presence have very little impact on collisions and the outcome of attempt animations of scoring..... just for clarification this is on Xbox 360 for I have no other experience on other platforms but I have played 2k12 on a pc at a friend's house with an Xbox 360 controller and it was by far the best 2k experience I have ever had ,but again I can't say other wise for 2k13 I could be far from the truth when I say this but teams hardcoded to behave and responds close to real life teams and players in this game is what probably makes the game feels like its on rails at times because even though ur playing and inexperienced or new comer to.NBA 2k13 in player vs player , it's hard to force experience over the noob simply cause he is using heats, which by definition should be a better team than pacers, outplays me with very to little effort...am taking wide open ,with perfect timing compared to his forced attempts to dunk all game also he is playing away from the ball with no attempts at playing passing lanes lacking defensive know how only to be victorious at steals and fastbreak points simple cause am literally playing against a hardcoded AI more so than the player with the controller gone are the days when PvP games could render a team like heats taking a pounding by a team like bobcat because the user of bobcats skills over team skills were more dominant compared to user of heats who generally use this team to compensate for the lack of know how skills. if the defense it better off in the up and coming NBA 2k14 it should be more balance in PvP in my opinion..but I have a feeling that it's only so on consoles due to the bottleneck of the specs of the current consoles...... don't get me wrong I love NBA 2k with my soul it's a game that I was there with from start to now .... there is so much thing NBA 2k does right its hard to post them all and I appreciate every last one of em...this is the only thing I think I can say negative about it... really looking forward to next gen NBA 2k games and congrats to take two and 2k games with the WWE

Yeah, I haven't played player vs player, like I said, so I can't speak to this stuff. from what I have read, a lot of people seem to be noticing the game "assisting" the team that is down in order to keep the games close, regardless of how the actual users are playing. I can't verify it in 2k13, but i saw hints of this in 2k12 when I went online. it seemed like 2k really didn't want people to get blown out and get their feelings hurt, so if you started to run up the score on the other person, they would suddenly start making all of their shots but without changing their strategy or playing better...it was like the game just wanted to help them out. i can't confirm for sure this is going on, but if so, it goes against everything that is right in the realm of competitive video games. it should all be about skill...if user A is making great decisions and getting open looks, and user B is just trying to ram it into the paint or jack up 3's, then user A should be able to blow out user B by 30 points.
quality play should be able to dominate poor play. i think this "assisting the loser phenomenon" reflects the overall cultural attitude of "there are no losers, and no one should have their feelings hurt"...blah blah blah. it's a competitive game...if you're not good at it, you need to practice more or move on to something else. the game should't coddle you and give your team a boost just to give you a false sense of confidence. real life doesn't coddle you, so these people might as well learn to deal with that.

I also think it has to do with what teams are being used. it seems like the "super teams" can win no matter how many terrible shots they take, just because they're the Heat or the Thunder. it seems like a forced attempt to make the great teams seem so much better, even if the so called "great" team is being controlled by a terrible user who is taking bad shots.

I get it from a business standpoint, though...i mean in the end 2k's real goal is to have a many people playing their game for as long as possible. i'm sure they have whole departments of people who analyzed numbers like how many losses a casual gamer can endure before they give up on a game...if too many casuals are getting blown out and feel the game is too hard, they will give up on the game and move on to something else...so from a business perspective, I understand why 2k might employ this "comeback assist" to give the casuals just enough hope to keep playing their game.

# 20 Slava Medvadenko @ 04/13/13 10:50 PM

I'm very satisfied with 2k13. I'm still playing it regularly, which is a good sign. What I hope they do for next year is to not make aspects of the game worse, like the cpu not boxing out and overpowered dunks. The first rule that doctors must follow is "Do no harm", which is don't make the patient worse than he is. Every year there seems to be a few things that worked fine last year that took a step back. If it ain't broke, don't break it.

I'm sure they will take care of the major complaints-the dunking, the boxing out, on-ball D, etc. The one thing that I think needs a lot of improvement is the passing. If that is on point, along with the other fixes, and they make sure any changes aren't a step back from past years, then great.

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