Video summary
The speaker argues that making NBA 2K overly realistic would ultimately ruin the game by sacrificing its core fun and responsiveness for the sake of simulation accuracy. While some players demand mechanics like Stephen Curry's real-life shooting percentages or dribble moves be replicated exactly, the creator contends that a true-to-life basketball experience in a video game would result in slow-paced half-court sets, unresponsive controls, and excessive timeouts, making it boring to play. He illustrates this point by comparing NBA 2K unfavorably to gambling-style simulation games seen on Twitch; while those simulations look realistic with perfect physics, no one actually wants to play them because they lack the immediate feedback and excitement that define enjoyable sports video games.
To maintain an engaging experience, the speaker emphasizes three essential pillars for a fun game: it must be entertaining first, affordable second, and only then consider realism third. He highlights specific elements of NBA 2K that contribute to its enjoyment, such as rare but impactful highlight moments like ankle breakers, the thrill of competitive wins down to the buzzer, and rewarding progression systems where players unlock new moves and badges through practice. The video explains that a meaningful skill gap is crucial for player satisfaction; it allows beginners to improve over time without being punished by an unforgiving system, whereas excessive randomness or unrealistic difficulty spikes can frustrate dedicated fans who strive to master the game's mechanics.
The central thesis of the discussion is finding a delicate balance between realistic visuals and responsive gameplay, noting that many games fail when they prioritize one at the expense of the other. The speaker points out historical examples where NBA Live prioritized realism by making inputs feel laggy or animations overly stiff, which led to player dissatisfaction despite looking authentic. In contrast, titles like NBA 2K16 succeeded because they allowed for high-speed dribbling and fluid movement while still maintaining a believable aesthetic. He concludes that even games designed to look realistic inevitably contain mechanics that defy real-life physics solely to ensure the game remains playable and enjoyable, suggesting that developers should avoid making basketball simulations so rigid that they feel like watching a replay rather than participating in an interactive sport.
Read the full video transcript
If you get what you want, a realistic
basketball experience, it will quite
literally ruin the game that we all once
enjoyed. If you're new to the channel,
man, be sure to subscribe. Hey, but I'm
sick of people trying to tell me that
because Curry shoots like 45-50% from
three, 43% from
that he should be shooting the same in
the game. That because a dribble move
isn't done exactly the way it's done in
real life in the video game, therefore
it doesn't belong in the video game. I
was watching the NBA playoffs and I saw
the meanest Curry slide I've seen in my
life. while it's not every time you see
an exact NBA 2K dribble move in real
life, it made me reflect. I don't know
if y'all have ever been on Twitch
before. For some reason on Twitch,
people like there's a lot of gambling
going on. And one of the things people
gamble on is like simulation basketball
games, but not NBA 2K. This is what the
game looks like. And and by all metrics,
it looks it looks pretty realistic. So,
I I see people look at footage like this
right here and think, "Oh my god, if
only NBA 2K could look as realistic as
this game looks." But if NBA 2K played
anything like this gambling filled
basketball simulated plays like. None of
y'all would play it. You guys would call
it unresponsive, unfun, too slow. And
believe it or not, NBA 2K has actually
made games like this in the past. I
think NBA 2K 13 is the best example.
There's a huge difference between video
games and real life. In real life, war
is not fun. Call of Duty, fun. In real
life, basketball is fun. So, a lot of
people seem to believe that it should be
just like it is in real life. The
problem is the things that make video
games enjoyable are not the things that
make playing basketball in real life
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video. So, let's look at the tier list
of things that make video games fun. At
the top of the list, game has to be fun,
bro. You can put together the most
fantastic, realistic, most immersive
experience of all time. But kind of like
No Man's Sky when that game launched, if
there is nothing to do, there is no
reason to play, it is not fun. Number
two, it has to be affordable. Could be
the greatest game of all time. If the
[ __ ] costs $200, nobody's playing it.
And third on the list is finally
realistic. That's where NBA Live fell
because they just kept coming out with
games that had unrealistic animations.
So, now we established that, let's take
a look at some of the things that make
NBA 2K fun to play. For one, is the
highlight moments. There's nothing more
enjoyable than getting a mean ankle
breaker. He gets up and you dick him
down with like an elbow hand contact
animation. Those like rare moments that
trigger from time to time are quite
random, kind of like how they are in
real life. But man, when it hits, man,
you clip it, you post it on socials, and
you [ __ ] on your friend the next day at
school or work. Number two is
competitive [ __ ] Like there's no better
feeling than a good game down to the
buzzer, and then somebody on your team
hits a game win. Winning, winning feels
great. It doesn't matter how great the
game is. If you spend the whole time
losing, there's only so much fun you can
have. And then like progression or RPG,
the story mode. You want to feel like as
you play the game, not only are you
getting better, but you're rewarded for
playing the game in ways that make you
want to play it more. So, good RPGs find
a way to do this successfully. I think
2K nailed it low-key with NBA 2K22, at
least on the next gen. So, those two
things are always seen eye to eye.
Making the game more realistic could
come at the cost of the game actually
being good. But a realistic 2K would
look like of half-court sets, slow-paced
game, timeouts. It would be like
whatever tier would be above Hall of
Fame difficulty, it would be that. And
that's because in all reality, when
you're playing video games, what's more
important is creating a skills gap
that's fun to climb. A gap that rewards
people for playing the game and
improving their skill, but at the same
time doesn't like punish people for
being new at the game. It's a meaningful
balance, man. It's part of the reason
why so many people hate skill-based
matchmaking. One of the best feelings in
gaming is starting off on a game, being
horrible. You play the game, you give it
effort, you put in time, you're
unlocking rewards and attributes and
badges and stuff like that. And then now
you're able to unlock moves, you're
consistently doing impressive stuff,
you're climbing in the leaderboards,
you're playing against more like
impressive opponents. Yo, there's no
better feeling than progressing like
that. It makes you not want to stop
playing the game. It's always a
challenge, and it's a fun one. But at
the same time, the more randomness you
add, the more you reduce the skill gap.
Basketball is pretty random. YOU PUT UP
A SHOT, it's wide open, you released it
well and all, man, and it hits
backboard, and it goes flying as a long
rebound. That's random. And we're a lot
more forgiving for those random moments
in real life. In a video game, yo, if I
HAVE A 93-POINT SHOT WITH ALL my badges
and I get the perfect release window, if
I'm not hitting that, bro, I'm about to
start getting upset, bro. It's a random
sport, though. Yo, how many times have
we seen a a dog [ __ ] team beat a really
good team? Sometimes really good teams
just have an off day, so that should be
possible in the video game, too. True,
yes, that is true. But the more you
reduce randomness and reward people for
proper inputs and improving in the video
game, the more fun it becomes. So, to
actually make NBA 2K realistic, you need
to make shooting more random, slow the
pace of the game down, simplify the
dribble move dramatically, and give
people less control over defense.
Because again, bringing back to this
horrible simulator here, those are all
things they do. The game slows down
dramatically, but it feels real. They're
running plays in a half-court set. The
animations look like something you would
see out of real life. Like a mean heads
right there, they kick it wide open
three. Like all of it feels like stuff
that would happen in real life. And NBA
2K13 was just like that. Even though it
felt like the game at first took a huge
leap in realism, but usually what that
meant is every time LeBron drive, it
doesn't matter what type of defense I
played, I was getting [ __ ] down cuz he
was getting contact dunks. But the
contact dunks wasn't starting when he
clicked the button. It started well
before that. It started with the blow-by
animation, and now you're stuck in this
animation and and there's no going
nowhere, man. You're sticking with the
player. Oh, you get [ __ ] down, and
you're like, "Bro, what am I supposed to
do defensively? I have a good defensive
player, and I hit all the correct
inputs. At what point am I going to get
rewarded for that?" I hear it said all
the time when it comes to the ISO and
dribbling community. People tell the
dribblers all the time, "Yo, that's not
real life. People can't play like that
in real life." That don't mean make the
game unrealistic now, all right, bro.
Unless you're playing like NBA Street
game or something like that. You also
want the game to be realistic. It's
about finding a balance. 2K16 was pretty
[ __ ] realistic. The defense felt
good, the offense felt good, the dribble
moves felt good, but it was also like
pretty high speed. You could string
together dribble moves to do things and
boost in different directions. It had
skill. And it also rewarded you for good
shots and good dribble moves. It was a
consistent game. Although it wasn't
perfect, even though it wasn't a perfect
game, it was one of the best examples of
being able to balance a realistic look
with a fun feel. And this actually
applies to almost every video game. Any
video game that's like designed to look
realistic, like Uncharted, there's going
to be parts of the game that that has
nothing to do with real life. It just
has to do with making the game more fun
and enjoyable to play. And then there's
going to be other parts in the game
that's designed for realism. For those
of you who played any of the UFC games
that EA's ever come out with, you know
what I'm talking about. That game,
especially when you play online, bro, it
takes like 16 centuries for an input to
actually register in the video game. So,
there's like a disconnect you feel
because it's like when you click it, it
doesn't happen. It happens at some point
in the future. And then usually it's
because your character is already doing
something, maybe like there's some form
of resistance against him. And the
reality is is sometimes when you're
fighting somebody, you could place an
input, maybe try and punch him, but if
he's holding your arm, there's nothing
you can do. But it also applied to NBA
Live, their basketball game. Bro, man,
that [ __ ] was a hella unresponsive. And
I think they made it that unresponsive
so the animations looked a little bit
more realistic because the main
criticism they were getting was the game
didn't feel real. And then that's where
games like NBA 2K11 shine, where it
wasn't bogged down and slow in the name
of realism. The game was responsive as
[ __ ] bro. If you moved your character
in a direction, as long as he didn't
have to contort his body to go in
another direction, he immediately went
in the direction you asked him to. Yo,
so again, there's a balance there. And
because NBA 2K is a notoriously
unresponsive laggy [ __ ] of a video game,
the last thing we need is to make the
game even less responsive. Hopefully
that made sense. It does in my brain, at
least. But again, at the end of the day,
it's all about finding a good balance.
Unfortunately, NBA 2K also went in the
wrong direction with the season six
update. If you missed that video, go
ahead, click that right there. If you
guys enjoyed the video, drop a like,
subscribe to the channel. Otherwise,
I'll catch you guys in the next one.
Peace.