IGN Review 9.5

[benji]

I think it's really funny that when NBA 2K11 gets a well deserved, amazing score...all the Live or "Elite" fans come out of the woodworks to bash on it. It looks really great and IGN usually gets it pretty spot on

lol

IGN is pretty much worthless. They score games based on advertising budgets and the text is glorified press releases. They don't even have the same person review the game each year so you can't compare the scores to any baseline. A 9.5, hell even a 9, from any review publication for 2K11 should be suspicious as hell. If there's a bunch of scores like this you know 2K threw out the money hats.

Have you ever read a review of a basketball game from a major publication that sounds like the person even understands basketball? I could probably count the ones that have on one hand.

Calm down people, its based off performance, not ratings!! ... but I'm sorry for us liking to work for everything we have! Smh.....

Not how it worked last year. Fouls were the only way to keep you off the floor.

[Houndy]

I personally want to see what Game Informer and other mags say.

[inbar]

Haha did you read the review itself? Or watch the video? Normally you might be right about it being advertising but this guy really knew what he was talking about. He's an avid NBA fan like us and has played games in the past. I like his score.

Also I can't wait to see what Game Informer says!

[The X]

I can see when benji is coming from. This Hillary guy (who people use to thought was a girl) has been a very questionable reviewer of basketball titles for years. I'm glad the game got a high score & all, but surprised so high. Hard for me to say without having played it, but I didn't expect anymore than 8.5 out of 10 on a normal scale. Even for a hardcore bball fan, anymore than 9 out of 10 seems hard to fathom for PS3 version with jaggies & graphics that don't match up to 360 version. Game should be good though. Hopefully as enjoyable as College Hoops 2k8.

[benji]

Of course you like his score, it was chosen specifically to tell you what you want to hear, that 2K11 is amazing and a 9.5 and you need to buy it now!

Goldstein seems to basically be IGN's go-to-moneyhat reviewer. This is the guy who awarded GTA IV 10's across the board, said it had no flaws and coined "oscar worth story". Calling it the "sports game of the generation", and saying things like "1:1 control/dribbling", "pure awesome" and "99 of the time plays like a dream" is just as over the top and silly as the GTA IV review. There are basically no flaws named in the review, which makes it completely worthless and an obvious hype train review instead of a serious evaluation of the game. The only real complaint he can muster is that My Player is boring for being the way it should be.

[inbar]

Of course you like his score, it was chosen specifically to tell you what you want to hear, that 2K11 is amazing and a 9.5 and you need to buy it now!

Goldstein seems to basically be IGN's go-to-moneyhat reviewer. This is the guy who awarded GTA IV 10's across the board, said it had no flaws and coined "oscar worth story". Calling it the "sports game of the generation", and saying things like "1:1 control/dribbling", "pure awesome" and "99 of the time plays like a dream" is just as over the top and silly as the GTA IV review. There are basically no flaws named in the review, which makes it completely worthless and an obvious hype train review instead of a serious evaluation of the game. The only real complaint he can muster is that My Player is boring for being the way it should be.

Haha whaat are you talking about? EVERYONE games GTA IV a 10. Everyone haha. Even Game Informer. And the guy gave out all the flaws. He talked about the My Player mode and how he thought it was too difficult. He talked about how a lot of the players don't look right "Kobe looks like an alien". He talks about how the players are too ballhawking. "Denying that part of the game, making it too easy to snatch balls going through the lane, breaks the beautifully crafted realism of 2K11. It's cheap, and it makes the game harder than it should be." He gives a fair review

[benji]

Yes, the GTA IV moneyhat, and the entire limited review situation, is still a major black eye for every publication that went along with it. Game Informer is just as bad, maybe even worse, than IGN, their primary job is to sell you games at GameStop and have been more than suspect since the Enter The Matrix moneyhat reviews at least.

Those are not possibly the only flaws (if we're even going to accept they count as actual flaws), read IGN's 2K10 review and then read the 2K11 review. The 2K10 review sounds like the game was played and analyzed, Goldstein's review, like normal, sounds like he spent an hour or two with the game and didn't even think about it or look very closely at anything other to confirm that all the bullet points on the press release were indeed in the game. If the completely absurd score alone wasn't proof the review is worthless, the text itself would be.

Unless you're going to make the extraordinary claim that VC somehow in ten months, whilst adding gobs of new content, eliminated all the myrid flaws in the gameplay engine, not to mention managed to remove all the legacy quirks that have been in it for thirteen years. Something they've never done before despite having spent nearly a decade and a half with the core engine. Is it not more reasonable to assume that VC did what they always do and just piled more on top and tried small tweaks under the hood? Other than the network code of course, which they were forced to overhaul after last years disaster.

Why are there no other reviews yet? Was IGN given the first review in return for a good score? Was the embargo score 9? 9.5? If this is the only review out there until Tuesday, with that laughable score plastered on it, then I think things are pretty obvious.

[inbar]

I think you're just a live junkie who has to finally come to grips with the fact that 2k is that much better and probably has been since 2003. Seems pretty obvious

[miklac90]

benji, How do you know what score 2k11 deserve without even playing the game yet?? Last I checked the game doesn't come out till tuesday. Wait untill you have tried the actual game before you start accusing 2k11 of being overrated. And since we are talking about games being overated, Live 10's score last year given by ign was a bit too high imo. The game was 7.5 at best. But I didn't complain or make up wild theories on how EA paid ign loads of cash to overate their game. You know why?? Bcuz at the end of day it's just a F#$%ING VIDEO GAME!!!

[airBerlin]

Oh I'm sorry, typos here and there with a few statements thrown together, didnt know this was english class. I do enough of proof reading in college!

UPDATED FOR THOSE WHO COULD NOT UNDERSTAND, PLEASE RECOGNIZE MY APOLOGIES!

LOL, I said you and inbar lack reading comprehension... So you edit your post?
I'll break down your post anyways, even though I doubt you'll understand what I'm saying.

Calm down people, its based off performance, not ratings!! If I ,right now, was to back up for CP3, and he was struggling for about a month with 12pts & 5ast. Then, I come along and average 15pts with 7ast while having limited minutes. The coaches are going to say "Lets see how he plays with more minutes" and allow Paul to come off the bench. Also, in 2k11, you will not be drafted by a team that doesn't need you. So, I probably will not get drafted by a team with a superstar point guard. Instead of New Orleans, teams such as 76ers, Pacers, or even the Lakers, who doesnt have a 75 rated point guard, would pick me up. Also, this is a videogame, so loyalty is not an attribute and doesn't play a factor. I'm sure a few of you may try to continue nitpicking something about the mode, but I'm sorry for us liking to work for everything we have! Smh.....

"its based off performance, not ratings!!" It's not entirely based on performance, in 2k10 you got a decent amount of playing time regardless. Besides, it SHOULD be based on BOTH performance and ratings.

"you will not be drafted by a team that doesn't need you." I've already read about this and I hope this is true, but I have my doubts. There's already been users posting about the Carmelo as a free agent. Restarting their system several times and him joining a different team after each restart. Where's the consistency?

"Also, this is a videogame, so loyalty is not an attribute and doesn't play a factor." You do realize that there is a loyalty attribute in game right? 2K has also said that those personality traits are supposed to play a bigger role this year too.

"but I'm sorry for us liking to work for everything we have" Like I said, if you were capable of comprehending my previous posts, you'd probably agree with what I was saying. What I don't understand is how you praise that it's not based on ratings but claim you like to work for what you have. Being put as a starter a month into a season is hardly "working for what you have".

I think you're just a live junkie who has to finally come to grips with the fact that 2k is that much better and probably has been since 2003. Seems pretty obvious

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen so much fanboyism. It's sad.

"all the Live or "Elite" fans come out of the woodworks to bash on it." FYI: I haven't played a Live/Elite game in years, have bought 2K's game annually since, and will continue to do so this year.

[inbar]

Haha that was me talking about the live junkie part not DVoc. How about we wait and see how the game is ourselves before we argue about it?

[airBerlin]

I haven't been arguing. I've posted what I'd like them to do with the My Player based on what I've already read/heard about the mode.

[DVocShoeBox]

Ok, It doesnt matter, this is a videogame. I'm not making money off of it so who cares. You win my man, I understand your side of the story... I guess.... ***Shrug***

[benji]

benji, How do you know what score 2k11 deserve without even playing the game yet?? Last I checked the game doesn't come out till tuesday. Wait untill you have tried the actual game before you start accusing 2k11 of being overrated.

Lots of people have it already, that said, VC has never put out a game that deserves higher than an eight which is very good. What are the odds in ten months they didn't make the move from a seven to an eight, they jumped to the greatest sports game this generation and one of the best of all time? Considering their entire history, this seems highly unlikely.

And since we are talking about games being overated, Live 10's score last year given by ign was a bit too high imo. The game was 7.5 at best. But I didn't complain or make up wild theories on how EA paid ign loads of cash to overate their game. You know why?? Bcuz at the end of day it's just a F#$%ING VIDEO GAME!!!

IGN gave it a 8.2, nobody moneyhats for 8.2's. 9+'s is what you drop money on.

But who said anything about Live? Who cares about that defunct and derelict franchise?

I think you're just a live junkie who has to finally come to grips with the fact that 2k is that much better and probably has been since 2003. Seems pretty obvious

Since 2003? EA's only ever bested VC with Live 2000. They weren't even definitively better with Live 98 due to its terrible gameplay. And 2000 was a seven, same as Live 2005. And same as most of 2K's basketball games.

Nines and tens are for those games that don't have fundamental flaws (in particular broken logic), function as they are supposed to and deliver transcendent experiences. Do sports games have a higher burden to meet simply because we can compare them to reality? Yes, of course. But that has not stood in the way of sports games from actually being able to step into that range at times even while taking small liberties. You might have lots of faith that VC will finally put it together, but I don't. Slightly more faith than I do in EA ever producing a playable basketball simulation, but still very little.

The fact that Goldstein is the reviewer, the fact it is IGN, the fact it is the only review available, the fact the review suggests the game is near flawless, and the fact it is a 9.5 is what screams moneyhats to me.

Re: Live junkie/Elite fanboy. Well, technically yeah, I've been on this site for as long as VC has been producing basketball games. I ran the only other site in the community to ever top the NLSC in daily/weekly/monthly/yearly hits. But I basically entirely gave up on Live in 07 (as everyone here has heard over and over again, hell, I'm the one who wrote the infamous letter about how shitty it and EA were) and only had that because it was purchased for me by one of the greatest members in this communities history. And then EA gave up on me and everyone else here by not only not porting the current gen games but giving up PC Live altogether. But VC and 2K have been smart enough to keep producing on the PC, and I have been there at day one for both of the first two PC versions, and as my Steam stats (low as they always are) show I play plenty of 2K:

NBA 2K9
53.2 hrs on record

NBA 2K10
188.5 hrs on record

[inbar]

Let's just see how it goes when you get the game. If you don't think it deserves a 9.5 alright. Hell I might even agree. but we have to wait and see

[atlwarrior]

I wont judge until i actually play the game. But I never really liked IGN and their reviews that much. Theyre review ratings are all over place and sometimes way off.

[LittleMan]

it deserves a nine just for jordan !!!!!!!not even mentioning alll the upgrades this year..a 9 at least

[Patr1ck]

benji derailed Live for PC! Kill him!

On another note, who bought it for you?

[DVocShoeBox]

benji derailed Live for PC! Kill him!

And I thought i was the only one who caught that....

[nicosantos76]

Metacritic is 92 by now...

Best game ever... truest to date... loveletter to basketball fans... best sport game ever... worthy of Michael jordan... it's hard to imagine how someone could ever make a better basketball game... this are just some of the phrases i've read on current reviews on internet. So, is IGN score overrated?? Has VC paid to every site reviewing games out there, even blogs?

I think it's time to admit the game is really great, is really improved on gameplay, has a ton of features and game modes. I think it's great that the reviews are rewarding the effort and attention to detail put on this game. Just by adding Jordan challenge and some gameplay tweaks they would have sold a lot, but instead of speculating they came out big with a lot of new and improved stuff.

Haters won't change their mind, so i won't lose anymore of my time writing here and will return to my 360 to have more fun with NBA 2K11.

[shadowgrin]

I ran the only other site in the community to ever top the NLSC in daily/weekly/monthly/yearly hits.

Proof or ban.

[airBerlin]

After playing the My Player mode, there's no doubt there is still a lot of room for improvement. Though, the interviews haven't been nearly as bad as I had expected. I'm not getting them after EVERY game like I read on 2K forums and 10+ games into the NBA season I have yet to get a duplicate, so we'll see.