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| Source // PlayStation |
Basketball. That's a much better sport than golf. Keeps itself out of the countryside, played on a small and impossibly squeaky court under a million light bulbs, and instead of having to purchase an entire set of clubs that you can't tell the difference between, you simply have to be lucky enough to have been born with a few extra feet in height, ensuring that everybody can play some B-ball.
I've played some basketball. Wasn't very good. I've played some basketball video games too and actually played them long before this 1001 list introduced them to us. Again, I wasn't very good. I've never owned a basketball ball game. I've only just played them.
But now I own NBA 2K10, picked up secondhand from the electronics store because for some reason I had completely overlooked its existence on this 1001 list. Whoops.
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
Frustrations
NBA 2K10 does what many sports games tend to do these days, in that it starts us off in a quick match so that we can get right into the action without having to worry about menus and settings. "Here's what you came for, have a quick go while we install in the background" or whatever it is this game is hiding.
At least I think that's what it is doing... we'll get to that, right after the Lakers take on the Magic something-or-others. I don't know too many basketball teams.
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| Source // PlayStation |
I know what I need to do here - put the ball through the hoop - but how 2K10 wants me to do it isn't quite translating into my fingers and through my Xbox 360 controller.
The game is a simulation of the sport, obviously, so players have a bit of weight to their movement and take a bit of time to do whatever it is their animation is about to have them do. Want to swipe a hand out to try and steal the ball? You best be positioned correctly, time it right, and hope the ref doesn't call a foul for reasons you don't know about.
As basketball has a quick turnaround of possession, you'll get to experience the weirdly sluggish nature of attacking, too. I was never confident of where any pass I made would go - any of them. I was never confident of when my players would actually shoot when I pressed the shoot button, either. If I was absolutely mad, I could use the right stick to shoot instead. No, thanks. You're already confusing me.
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| Source // PlayStation |
It was well presented, though, both in terms of authenticity to the way it's seen on TV and in more direct, gameplay specific ways - I always knew which player I was controlling,, for example. Indeed, for someone familiar with basketball, 2K10 looks to offer a lot.
If only I could play the bastard thing and have a chance of scoring. Every other attack of mine failed, no doubt because I didn't know who I was even shooting with, or where they were shooting from. The inevitable turnover saw the opposition dart towards my basket, and even if they were the weaker team stat-wise, they managed point after point after point.
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| Source // Giant Bomb |
I quit out of this first game and tried to see what 2K10 had to offer from the menus, but the menus are awful. They're all on a distorted, ball-like grid of 9 choices, and criminally don't ever look like main menus. I genuinely thought I was in some sort of pause menu for the longest time.
There are some practice modes, but I didn't see any obvious tutorials, or even options relating to the difficulty. What good is heading into a tournament or league if I'm not even confident in how to navigate your menus, let alone how to control my team and score some baskets?
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| Source // PlayStation |
I went back into a quick match, this time as the 2K All-Stars, maxed out stats, against whatever I thought was the weakest team, I think with an overall rating of 66, versus my 99.
It's at this point that I must concede that there are a lot of teams in here, from current to old, to best of the best from decades back to the 60s, separated into east and west coasts, because apparently, that's really important in basketball (I don't know). If you're a fan of the sport, 2K10 is where you want to be.
But it's not where I want to be. Do you know what a 66 rated team does against a 99 rated team? They take - and sink - three-pointer after three-pointer when I can't even manage a damn dunk. What utter show-offs.
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| Source // Nintendo |
Final Word
I started four or five different matches between different teams, hoping to find one that would work for me. I didn't finish a single match. I didn't even get to the end of a quarter. They use quarters in basketball, right?
What I wanted was a game like FIFA, where I'd be able to do the basics but would need to understand the details to compete properly. What I got was something closer to NHL 10, where I didn't have a damn clue what was going on and what I was supposed to do.
The result is that instead of being welcomed into a sport, I was dunked on and felt miserable. Not a good way to start a game. Entirely my fault? Some of it, sure. The instructional manual is around here somewhere, and it does come from a time when they weren't a single sheet of paper...
I left NBA 2K10 in a huff, that much is certain. I suspect I could grow to like it on account of having no real ill feelings towards basketball itself, but why would I want to play a decade old basketball game? It's got a year in the title for goodness sake, it's going to get improved upon year by year.
Maybe I'll learn something playing as the old teams. I might broaden my knowledge of basketball players to... let's see, Jordan, Kobe, Shaq... four. Perhaps I'll learn how to actually play basketball, in terms of when to shoot and when not to. After all, I'm not going to catch fire in this game, and the rules are much stricter than those of the streets.
In another timeline, I enjoyed NBA 2K10. I know I did. It does lots of things right - graphics, presentation (outside of the menus), commentary, content. It probably even controls really well too, so long as you're not a dummy like me.
Is there any game I am good at? Do I even like video games?
Fun Facts
Fans were able to vote for the final cover image, so long as they picked Kobe Bryant in Lakers yellow.
NBA 2K10, developed by Visual Concepts, first released in 2009.
Version played: Xbox 360, 2009.