Monday Tip-Off: Finishing Seasons On The Virtual Hardwood
We’re at midcourt, and the ball is about to go up…it’s Monday Tip-Off! Join me as I begin the week here at the NLSC with my opinions and commentary on basketball gaming topics, as well as tales of the fun I’ve been having on the virtual hardwood. This week, I’m tipping things off with some thoughts on the rewarding feeling of finishing seasons in basketball video games.
I’ve previously said that completion is what we make it when it comes to the virtual hardwood. Indeed, I dedicated an entire article to exploring that notion. I still stand by that. While it can be extremely fulfilling to be a completionist when it comes to the games we play, it isn’t a necessity to have fun. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t collect all of the cards in MyTEAM, reach the Hall of Fame in MyCAREER, or play through to a championship in a mode representing the NBA season. As you long as you enjoyed your time with a game and feel like you got your money’s worth, that’s what counts.
With that being said, there’s great joy to be had in playing through seasons from start to finish. If you manage to play multiple seasons – either before the next game comes out, or by returning to an old favourite – it can be an even more rewarding experience. It’s a tall order, especially with a full 82-game season on twelve minute quarters with no simulation, as I’ve often aimed to achieve. No matter which settings you prefer however, there’s a feeling of accomplishment when a season is in the books, and your team is standing at midcourt raising the Larry O’Brien trophy. Even before that, of course, there’s a journey that I strongly advise everyone to savour along the way.
Simply put, if you’re racing through a game as quickly as possible and treating the journey as a means to an end, you’re probably not getting the most you can out of the experience. That excludes the art of speedrunning of course, not to mention poorly-designed games (or ones with pushy microtransactions) where the journey isn’t as fun as it should be. I’m talking about games that are worth playing though; ones that even speedrunners will have played “properly” first. NBA seasons are a marathon, and they can certainly drag at times in video games. However, it’s important to enjoy the ride, as it ultimately makes the destination even more satisfying when you finally reach it.
I’ve made the mistake of focusing on endings and completion before, in basketball games and other genres. In my first playthrough of Fallout 3 on Xbox 360, I finished the game well before hitting the original level cap. There were tons of side quests and a bevy of content that I missed because I kept following the main quest markers, and focusing on those objectives rather than freely exploring and paying attention to the environmental details. I completed one of the major side quests with the quickest solution that avoided exploration, and wasted a Perk slot with the immediate upgrade of “Here and Now“. I was at the (original) ending much quicker than I’d anticipated.
Of course, that’s sometimes how it goes with your first playthrough of a game. I was new to the Fallout series, and didn’t realise the benefits of stopping to smell the roses (or poke around in radioactive muck, as the case may be). It didn’t stand in the way of having a blast and falling in love with the series, but it missed the point of the journey and intended open world experience. There are other games – great ones – that I’ve also tried to breeze through, focusing too much on the end goal than enjoying how I was getting there. That impatience to complete a game has carried over to the virtual hardwood, especially as I do prefer 82-game seasons with twelve minute quarters.
It’s made a hypocrite out of me, too. I’ve traditionally enjoyed the real NBA season for its rollercoaster ride from October to April. It’s led me to scoff at suggestions that it needs to be shorter, and mock the short attention spans of my fellow fans. Yet, when it comes to NBA 2K (and previously, NBA Live), I’ve also experienced fatigue while playing through seasons. The second half of the season following the All-Star break in particular tends to drag. No doubt it’s because the Playoffs are looming, and unless you’re fighting for a seed, you probably want to get there as quickly as possible. After all, you’ve come too far to stop now, but there are still around thirty games remaining.
You may certainly want to simulate at this point, and given the length of the NBA season, it’s a handy feature to have at your disposal in video games. One could argue that it’s essential when it comes to multi-season play; otherwise, you’re probably not going to get through too many in-game years before the next title is released. If you are determined to play every game (or a bulk of them) however, there are ways to enjoy this stretch between the All-Star break and the Playoffs. It’s something that I’ve been trying to do more as I’ve played through multiple seasons in my MyCAREER in NBA 2K14 for PlayStation 4, which I’ve enjoyed so much over the past two years.
If you’re playing a full length season on regulation quarters, there’s ample opportunity to aim for records and historical performances. As I’ve noted, I’ve made it a mission to make generated rookie Terry Hanson into a superstar, in addition to dominating the league with my avatar. I’ve also made a point of checking the standings and emerging Playoff picture, and imagining how the postseason will likely play out between the AI-controlled teams. This is obviously something that can be done in franchise modes as well, often to even greater effect as you can control every player on the floor if you wish. The NBA season is a sandbox to experience a multitude of fun scenarios.
This is true even if you’re only playing a single season. In the early days of basketball gaming, playing through Season mode and winning the championship felt like a huge accomplishment, even without the bells and whistles of modern presentation. It can be just as satisfying to play a lone campaign in the newer games, too. It’s a great feeling when you can finish what you’ve started, racking up wins and statistics along the way. In-depth stat tracking is something we take for granted these days, but there was a time when it was a major innovation in season play. I can attest to it being even more enjoyable when you do finish multiple seasons, and the stats continue to pile up.
Needless to say, I wouldn’t be four years and counting into a MyCAREER game in NBA 2K14 on PS4, playing every single game, if it was just about the numbers. Nor would I have seen fit to return to my Chicago Bulls Dynasty in NBA Live 06 PC and play through multiple seasons there either. In both cases, I enjoy the gameplay. It is gratifying to see career stats adding up and league history being written, though. In both cases, it’s felt like I’ve actually been getting the most of the mode, and enjoying the intended experience. More than any other games that I’ve played, they’ve truly felt like I’m experiencing the career of an NBA star, or building a dynasty with a team.
They’ve also presented me with challenges and storylines that are purely derived from what happens during gameplay. In the first season of my NBA Live 06 Dynasty, I was without Ben Gordon for twenty games when he broke his wrist. I had to scramble to replace his scoring, and ended up signing Latrell Sprewell. In addition to Hanson, my NBA 2K14 MyCAREER has seen Carmelo Anthony join me on the 76ers, and then miss most of the fourth season after injuring his knee in the 2016 Playoffs. Even when the seasons end up the same way – my team winning it all – each has had its own road to that destination. There’ll always be familiarity, but also unique twists and turns.
Speaking of winning championships, it’s one of those inevitabilities when we play through seasons. Difficulty and sliders can make a difference, especially when using a weaker team, but quite often our stick skills can compensate. I can’t recall finishing a season without winning a championship. I don’t say that to brag; I expect that’s how it usually goes for most basketball gamers who play through entire seasons. As such, I have tremendous respect for my fellow hoops gamers who will endure losing seasons as part of a rebuilding effort, or decline to replay a lost championship series, accepting the results as part of the experience. In multi-season play, it sets up a redemption year.
Once again, I’ll stress that completion is what you make it. Even though the ultimate goal of a virtual NBA team is the same as their real life counterpart – compete for and win championships – it’s not always how it goes down. Only one team can win it all, and other clubs can still have respectable seasons full of fun moments. If you take control of an underdog team, guide them to the Playoffs, and lose in a dramatic seven game second round series, you’ve still finished a season, and hopefully had a great time on the virtual hardwood. You’ve still partaken in a virtual NBA experience, and would likely say that you’ve got your money’s worth after so many hours with a game.
These days there are multiple ways of playing basketball video games, some of which don’t include participating in a virtual representation of the NBA season. It was never a requirement, but more than ever, finishing a season is not an indication that you’ve completed a basketball game, or that you managed to get the most out of it. Still, if you are interested in modes that replicate the league such as franchise or the NBA side of career modes, I recommend playing through a full season at least once. It isn’t something I’ve been able to do every single year in every game I’ve owned, but it’s always been rewarding when my passion for a title has allowed me to go the distance.
As a final note, this doesn’t mean that simulation has to be a dirty word, particularly if you are aiming to progress through multiple seasons. It can be fun using franchise modes as management games, or just simming occasionally to keep things moving. At the end of the day, it’s all about seeing a season through to the end, and enjoying the stats and trophies adding up. I’m glad I traded trying to level up a MyPLAYER as quickly as possible every year for playing multiple NBA seasons in a title I enjoy. I no longer feel like I’m replicating my first Fallout 3 playthrough in virtual hardwood form, rushing to the finish line and not truly appreciating the journey along the way.
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