I've been writing up a prediction article for the past month or so and finally narrowed it down enough (and made it less wishlisty) to post on the main page yesterday before the teaser was released. You can check it out
here but I was curious as to what you guys think about my predictions and if you had any to make before E3 (hopefully) gives us more information.
Last Updated 9/29/2011 -
Correct Prediction -
Wrong PredictionWith E3 giving us our first look at NBA 2K12 next week and our first teaser coming tonight (with 2K11 footage), I wanted get some of my predictions for NBA 2K12 public before the information begins rolling out. Here is my list of predictions followed by my reasoning behind them, feel free to discuss my thoughts in the comments.
Derrick Rose on the Cover -
wrong, MJ, Bird, Magic...honestly, who could have called that?More Historic Teams -
correct, although we are still getting a lot of repeat teamsChallenges for other Historic Players -
correct, right on the noseStart My Player as a College Star or as a Scrub -
you start the game in a college all-star game, not the draft combineAn Online League expanding on Crews -
Crews have been removed from 2K12Removal of Blacktop Mode -
wrong, never been so happy to be wrongTNT Presentation Package -
early gameplay footage confirms this is wrongDirect Uploads to YouTube -
confirmed in the manual, Facebook uploads tooThe Cover
For the cover of NBA 2K12 I see 2K going with the MVP of this season Derrick Rose. Rose has shown up on the cover for 2K10's standalone Draft Combine and was involved in 2K's advertising this past year. I don't think Jordan will get the cover for a second year (even though Shaq and Iverson had multi-year covers) but 2K would be silly to drop Jordan from the game, which brings me to.....wrong all over, strike oneHistoric TeamsThe inclusion of historic teams in NBA 2K11 was one of the best selling points for 2K gearing towards both the casual gamer and hardcore basketball fans. The Jordan challenge, covering 10 of the greatest Jordan moments (thankfully not crossing over to MLB 2K11), should be seen as a great success despite the historic teams only having 6-8 players licensed and only having 10 different teams (not including duplicate Bulls and Jazz teams).
I want to see 2K expand the historical content this year with a similar Jordan challenge mode that extends to more players. Reggie Miller, Kobe, Bird, Magic, all have defining performances that could translate to this mode. 2K made a huge splash with Jordan this year they should build on that momentum into next year's game even if it overshadows the (possibly locked-out) 2012 NBA season.
the people wanted challenges for Kobe, Miller and Barkley, too bad we didn't get themMy PlayerMy Player saw a nice improvement over 2K10's initial offering but nothing can explain why my 44 OVR, 2nd round drafted, rookie is the 6th man of my team. I hope that in 2K12, if you are 44 OVR, then you are in the D-League for the foreseeable future. Making the mode tougher and more realistic would be a fantastic change to some players, but many people complained that 2K10's mode was way too hard, and despite having wicked stats in their combine, they still got thrown down to the NBDL. 2K should give us the option next year of either being a scrub who is working their way into the NBA, or a one-and-done
college star who could realistically play a major factor in their rookie year.you start the My Player mode playing in a College All-Star game at MSG. gotta be a star to get in the ASG right? also, looks like we start around 65 OVR for a rating.2KBAOne of the most exciting features in the canceled NBA Elite 11 for me was the EASBA. Playing off the success of the EA NHL series' EASHL, you take your created player, create a team with your friends, and play in a fictional league where every player is human controlled in a Team-Up mode. This kind of online league has been a success in EA's hockey and fighting games, so 2K should capitalize on the off-year for EA's NBA series and get this mode out for basketball first. Earning skill points in My Player by playing street pick up games is already fun and 2K already has their Crew system to build upon. Speaking of pick up games....Confirmed by those who have the game early, Crews have been completely removed from 2K12.Blacktop ModeI realize that most “sim heads” hate the Blacktop mode and think that the disc space would be better used on more animations. Personally, I play more pick up games in Blacktop mode than I play NBA Today games, but I know that I am in the far minority when it comes to that. Many people still play the Blacktop mode, especially locally with other people on the couch, but I don't think that will save the mode. Unfortunately I think 2K will cut the mode completely and finally integrate the dunk contest and 3 point shootout into Association mode.
PresentationPresentation-wise 2K has been a juggernaut. The “live” commentary through the NBA Today mode and integrating it with Association mode finally was a brilliant move. Unfortunately, this didn't prevent me from turning the commentary off again this year. The same team or player specific stories get played game after game, which like 2K10's commentary, was very refreshing and cool at first, and now is just plain annoying. We already know that Steve Kerr will be coming over to the 2K series for the first time
so hopefully a new voice (reading new lines) can freshen up the commentary. I think 2K will also bring TNT's license with in as well, finally giving 2K a non-generic broadcast for the first time since 2K5. early impressions are that Kerr has freshened up the commentary but there is no sign of a TNT licenseYouTubeFinally, my last prediction is that we will be able to upload our reelmaker videos straight to YouTube this year instead of uploading them to the slow community website. You may remember this tweet from Ronnie2K in December that where he mentioned talking with YouTube representatives. Yes, that makes this a very safe prediction to end this article but YouTube integration will allow 2K12 fan videos to get much more popular than the community videos that we've been uploading since 2K9.confirmed in the manual