Trailer:
And my summary of the blog:
- The map for The City is much, much larger than any of the previous Neighborhoods. As the name would imply, it's a metropolis with skyscrapers, plazas, and four distinct boroughs. Each borough has its own design and Park Affiliation.
- A MyPLAYER's journey begins in the Rookieville docks. By proving your skills, you'll be able to enter The City proper.
- The Event Center is where all events will be held. These include events we've previously seen in The Neighborhood, and new events for Next Gen.
- Exploration is encouraged. It will be possible to play pickup games and HORSE at hoops scattered throughout the map, with large VC multipliers for the first five games played each day. These games are referred to as Garage Hoops.
- NPCs can be also be found throughout the game world, and will provide quests/objectives. These NPCs will have coloured arrows over their heads indicating that they can be interacted with. Quests will involve playing various games throughout The City, with unique clothing/accessories up for grabs.
- The Gatorade Gym has been expanded with a second floor. The first floor contains all of the familiar gym requipment, while the second floor contains Rental Courts where you can play uninterrupted games with friends and other gamers you meet in The City.
- There are a couple of unaffiliated courts, including the Black Mamba Court which pays tribute to Kobe Bryant. You can also earn a fire ball (similar to the one that's been available in MyTEAM), and the Pink Diamond Plaza hosts all MyTEAM Triple Threat Online games.
- Familiar stores are returning along with some new ones, including two called Alter Ego and Drip Brothers.
- Affiliations have returned, and there are four to choose from: North Side Knights, South City Vipers, Beasts of the East, and Western Wildcats. As previously mentioned, each Affiliation is tied to one of the four boroughs.
- Once you reach Pro 1 in Rookieville, you'll be assigned an Affiliation. You can change this Affiliation, however doing so will reset your Rep level back to Pro 1. Playing on your own affiliated courts will earn more Rep. There will also be inter-borough competition in the form of Rival Day Conquest, and Rival Day Championship.
- Each Affiliation will be represented by a Mayor, who will be a prominent influencer in the NBA 2K community. Mayors will create videos, design courts and murals, customise playlists, and select uniforms for their "citizens". Every six weeks, there will be elections for the next Mayor of each borough.
- A MyPLAYER will need to keep a basketball in their inventory to take part in Garage Hoops and Rental Courts games. You can also dribble the ball as you navigate The City, and find an NPC that will teach you new moves.
- Improvements have been made to vehicles, and it's possible to do tricks with bikes and skateboards. For those who want to mix Tony Hawks' Pro Skater with NBA 2K, it will be possible to grind rails around The City. A free, fully kitted out skateboard will be available to everyone in Decks.
- MyPLAYER customisation has been expanded with new hairstyles, apparel, and accessories.
