This past Friday was #2kday.

This was a big deal.

NBA 2k is criticized for the lack of changes made each year to the game, but to be honest, changes or not, I am stoked for the new 2k to come out.

There are changes being made like how the Park, where players can play against other real people in 2v2 or 3v3 games, is now the 2k Beach. 2k had not changed the Park for two years now, so a change here was much needed even if it was minimal. 2k removed the “Quickdraw” badge from the shooting badges, badges are things that a player has to achieve and when gained, badges help their player become significantly better. Taking away Quickdraw was needed because a fast release is needed to be a successful shooter in the game, but to use four highly valuable badges on quickdraw was a necessary waste of four badges. Obviously 2k is coming out with a new soundtrack, which does not seem like a huge deal, but for players who have spent considerable time on 2k20 and know all the songs on the game like the back of their hands, a new soundtrack is badly needed.

I have to admit, there is some fear in my heart about the new game. The demo came out last week, and despite a generous way of going about things, I was not impressed. I could only make a limited amount of player builds and the gameplay when testing out said players was subpar. Because 2k is criticized for not changing the game, small changes like the shot meter are changed to make new things for the game but the new shot meter is one that I’ll be changing immediately. It is horrendous, but luckily, 2k normally gives the option to change the shot meter, which I will be taking them up on. 

The cover athletes this year include a well-deserved, Damian Lilliard for the standard game, Zion Williamson, which came with reasonable controversy because he is so young, for the next gen version of the game when the new Xbox and Playstation consoles come out and finally, the Mamba Forever Edition features the late Kobe Bryant on the cover. Kobe affected all basketball fans in an indescribable way. It was only right for him to be on the cover. 

It is pretty easy to tell that I couldn’t wait for the game to come out Friday, and I will for sure be spending a good amount of time on it in the near future.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.