NBA 2K21 teaser at PS5 reveal event

[Andrew]

Official video (not ripped from lossy stream):

phpBB [video]

Zion Williamson is there, fair to assume he's gonna be our new cover athlete at least for some edition since he's also on camera on PS5 stream.
Overall there is some jump in aesthetics, but not quite sure if they fully utilized ray tracing yet.

Not much more to say, it's just Zion dribbling a bit and then going to basket in half dark gym. Looks like they focused on lighting in the teaser. And sweat as is the tradition.

[TGsoGood]

OP posted the actual video so no need for this one

[big-shot-ROB]

Yeah, model and texture wise I feel we are quite capped if we don't want to eat everyones RAM.

People won't realize but the jump in the new gen is going to be lightning centered with the addition of ray tracing and new computer graphic techniques.

At some point we will also reach the point where even if you try, we are so far from computer generated people looking real. If Hollywood can't make it work for 5 seconds, it won't work on videogames.

Anyway, graphically the game is at the point where lightning improvements are cool, but I rather 2k invest time in their AI and start using neural networks for the CPU rather than just plain aesthetic looks.
Improvement in modes would also be very appreciated.

[[Q]]

I agree the biggest jump graphically to next gen seems to be the day tracing and lighting, which won't really help 2K improve much on the surface. They'll definitely need to spend more time shoring up the gameplay.

Not sure if it even matters at this point, people will buy 2k every year even if Mike Wang takes a dump on a blank disc and slaps a 2k label on it lol

No competition means they can do whatever they want, even if that means selling more imaginary money to play Barbie doll dress up

[Andrew]

Certainly impressive and tantalising, though I do wonder if the final product will end up looking that good. I'll also have to echo the sentiments that have already been posted here. Graphical improvements are given with a new generation looming, but that's the least of my concern. The approach to recurrent revenue mechanics, the quality of AI, legacy gameplay issues, depth of modes, and whether online play has proper matchmaking or continues to be skewed towards encouraging elitism and toxicity, are frankly more pressing issues.

[tyabolical]

Can't wait to see what they do with teammate AI, or AI in general.

[ThaLiveKing]

Best trailer ever!!! wooooo lol

[miki_92]

Next year we will have someone pouring buckets of sweat on the cover athlete just so they can say improved graphics

my takeaway is that shoes look better but jersey physics are stil bland AF

Will PC get this improved version this year or we will have to wait one more year like we did with 2K14

[Andrew]

Good question in regards to the PC release. We'll have to wait and see; I wouldn't be totally surprised if it's a similar situation to NBA 2K14, but hopefully I'm wrong.

[miki_92]

Good question in regards to the PC release. We'll have to wait and see; I wouldn't be totally surprised if it's a similar situation to NBA 2K14, but hopefully I'm wrong.

if I have to bet my money on it we are getting current gen release in September alongside PS4 and Xbox

they probably have exclusivity deal with consoles

[Andrew]

That certainly makes sense and seems likely. On the plus side, it would probably mean getting another year out of the current tools and tutorials.

[ThePointForward]

I wouldn't be so fast with exclusivity - Xbox is making all their exclusives available on PC since like 2018 and Sony started reacting with releasing some of theirs too (Horizon: Zero Dawn about to release this summer).

Not to mention some games are popping up with full crossplay across PC, PS and Xbox - most prominently it's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, but recently No Man's Sky got the patch for crossplay.
Should crossplay be a factor I'd say PC will be either isolated or it will force 2K to actually invest time in anti-cheat methods.

[Andrew]

Cross-play would be awesome, but yeah, a complete mess without better anti-cheat systems in place.

If there's an earlier release for PS4/X1 though, then I do think it's quite possible that the PC version will remain a port of that version for the first year.

[ThePointForward]

In which case it will be probably a nice change of pace to skip a year. No offence to devs, but my free time is limited and I might as well wait for full release while I'm not planning on getting console this time around - I'm planning an upgrade to my GPU and like I mentioned bunch of exclusives are coming to PC anyway.

Or might pick it up in May/June/Whatever for 3 Euro and see what changed.

[DEIBYS2KMOD]

[Andrew]

With NBA 2K14, I'd say it was more a case of the PC version being an established port of the prior gen consoles, and that version coming out a couple of months before the PS4/X1 versions did, since those consoles didn't launch until November 2013. It was probably more a case of the PC version being an afterthought than a scheme to get PC users to buy a next gen console, especially as the very next game was a PS4/X1 port on PC.

In any event, we don't know for sure yet, but once we do that'll give everyone an idea of what they want to do this year. I've been double-dipping with the PC and PS4 versions this generation so that's probably what I'll continue to do on next gen.

Having said that, it's going to be interesting to see what they do with PS4 and X1. Previous generations of games suggest that they'll still get a release for at least a few years, but it's hard to imagine those versions getting the same amount of content in terms of MyTEAM and MyCAREER. Those questions will of course be answered in time, but I'm assuming if they are still getting a release, the prior gen platforms will be very much an afterthought.

I'm also hoping that with the PS5/XSX version being rebuilt from the ground up, we don't have a repeat of the PS4/X1 version of NBA 2K14, which was missing staple features.

[ThaLiveKing]

they did say built from the ground up for PS5, so we might need a new console to play this

[miki_92]

they did say built from the ground up for PS5, so we might need a new console to play this

yes, you will need PS5 / Series X for new gen release

but they will also release version for current gen prior to that

ain't no way they are leaving any money on the table, not everyone is switching to new gen day 1

if they don't release new gen for PC I am skipping, unless I pull the trigger and buy PS5 for their exclusives

I spent more time collecting cards in AH rather than playing MyTEAM, that's how exciting this 2K20 was

[ThaLiveKing]

they did say built from the ground up for PS5, so we might need a new console to play this

yes, you will need PS5 / Series X for new gen release

but they will also release version for current gen prior to that

ain't no way they are leaving any money on the table, not everyone is switching to new gen day 1

if they don't release new gen for PC I am skipping, unless I pull the trigger and buy PS5 for their exclusives

I spent more time collecting cards in AH rather than playing MyTEAM, that's how exciting this 2K20 was

yeah, of course they will have the game available for current gen since there's millions of them out there, I just hope 2K doesn't slack with their marketing in showing the game. I bought an Xbox One just to play Live 14 and look how that turned out lol. I've been getting more into FPS and open world games anyways, but it would be nice if 2K don't go the same route they've been going the last few years. If NBA Live isn't dropping, which looks like the case then they should be more aggressive.

Also if it wasn't for the modding community, I wouldn't be playing 2K21 at the moment lol.

[Andrew]

Based on what happened with the previous generation, I'm guessing that NBA 2K21 last gen could still be a worthwhile game. I'm guessing NBA 2K22 and beyond will be when it really becomes an afterthought, and it will be quite apparent.

[[Q]]

With the focus on the sweat in the video, I really hope they don't add crazy detailed sweat mechanics (something you really can't see zoomed out) and make it a big selling point

[Andrew]

Sweat seems to be the go-to "look how next gen this is!" gimmick for three generations running.

[ThaLiveKing]

I don't think sweat is gimmicky, I really hated NBA Live 19 graphics because players wouldn't sweat, even in FIFA they don't. Live 18 at least had players glistening a bit lol.

[Andrew]

I'm not saying it isn't necessary, but it seems like it's the focus of every next gen teaser, starting with the Xbox 360.

[[Q]]

Yeah, I remember in the hype of older games, people would see the sweat and just mark out over something like that but miss the point on stuff that actually mattered.

I think either Live 18 or 19 had not live sweat but they would progressively add more sweat after every quarter. It was a bit more apparent in The Streets, as sweat was easier to see on plain tanks and street clothes.