Kinda off topic, but I wanted to rant at how for the first time ever I think I regret purchasing a videogame.
I have purchased several 'bad' games through my gaming life, including plenty of those nickelodeon games (I have a young cousin) and yet never did I regreted a purchase.
I do however believe so far that NBA 2k13 is my worst purchase ever. Yes, I just bought game a week ago for my Wii U given that there is no NBA 2k14 for us this year and that I'm not buying a new console for a multiplat sports game.
But god, NBA 2k13 is basically broken to the point of being unplayable. If I'm connected to the internet the game seems to crash because I'm connected. If I disconnect the internet the game seems to crash because it can't find the connection. I have managed a few tricks to get around this but basically I have to pray to the gods that my game doesn't freezes on me when is trying to do something that involves the internet connection in some way. And why it tries to use the internet in my first time? Never in my life I indicated to the game that I wanted to save my info online (and I don't want to). Much less trying to update what appears to be some online record after I win or lose a game. I wouldn't mind usually, but I mind when that is causing that I can't use the product that I purchased.
I guess it would be easy to blame Nintendo's online on this, but by reading several forums it appears that this is a problem that was (or is) present in all consoles. I saw some 2k developers promise fixes for ALL consoles (and specifically included the Wii U) in those forums but perhaps more things went wrong and since I doubt anybody else cares at this point I don't think I'll ever see another update for my Wii U copy.
To make things worst here in Mexico you can't return a product for a reason like this. I would be able to return it if the game didn't worked at all, but if it's a bugged product then you are at fault for not researching first.
On top of that, I see a game with several head-scratching design choices. For the little time that I have been able to play I simulated a few seasons trying to quickly get through free agency and drafts the missing pieces that my team needed, just to see that unlike in previous NBA 2k games I can't edit the age of my players to avoid their retirement. So by the time I had the team that I wanted to have all my god damn favorite players were retiring without me being able to do anything but helplessly watch. According to the 2k devs that I saw commenting about this they did it because "they wanted to give a more realistic feel to the association mode" this would be all good except for the fact that when you play the game itself I see anything but a realistic feeling, and is still very easy to cheat in association mode since you can edit your players contract's to have max cap-room and is pretty easy to steal high draft picks from other teams. But this age thing really bothers me... what is the poing of being able to play with Wilt Chamberlain if he is going to retire after a year or two?
The only positive that I see on the association mode compared to NBA 2k11 was that in 2k11 the contracts that the computer gave were beyond dumb (garbage players like Shannon Brown and Jerryd bayless had little problem getting 12+ per year from the computer)
In NBA 2k11 (which was my latest) I took pride at some very nice defensive sets that I used to run with precise rotations and tunneling the opposing offense to the spots where I wanted them to be. My teams were very clever and fast helping each other and staying between the ball and the basket. Now in defense I see most of my players running around worthlessly like if they were a bunch of drunk teenagers playing hot potato in the beach. Scrub players like Mo williams can get to the basket at will. Perhaps I need a little more training with my defense but so far I have noticed that almost all PGs are just too quick and basically unstoppable when they want to attack the basket.
The offense seems to be heavily favored in this game. I haven't lost a game yet (unlike nba 2k11, where I think it took me weeks before I was able to consistently win games) and that's probably due to the fact that I just stand in the 3pt line launching threes and almost all of them go in, regardless of who is shooting. It makes me feel like I was playing NBA jam actually.
And while my experience may improve in the upcoming weeks I feel seriously disappointed. 2k sports have been doing this kind of games for the last 15 years and yet they manage to screw a very easy formula. I have enjoyed several NBA 2k games in the past but I wouldn't recommend this version to anybody (and seems like NBA 2k14 is not much better according to the reviews)
But all the in-game flaws that I have commented here are even beyond the point when the game freezes for not being connected to the internet... and for being connected too. All in all, the worst gaming purchase I have made so far. I only payed 30$ for this but even 10$ would have been an scam given the product that I got for my money.
Final score: 2/10 - broken game. But atleast shannon brown can't get 12 million+ per year anymore.
carlos710 - Capitán Primero: Nintendo Defense Force
"Wii are legion, for Wii are many"
