Day 327, Game 327 - NBA 2K14

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When I made the decision to buy both of the new consoles that were launching within a week of each other, I really had to do some soul searching about why I wanted both systems, and more specifically, if I could justify getting an Xbox One. Considering how far removed I have been from Microsoft consoles, it seemed hard for me to explain at first why I wouldn't just go the PS4 route. If anything, it seemed like, if anything, I wanted the new Xbox because it was new and shiny, and no other reason. 

Thankfully, the only person I really had to justify my purchase to was myself. Unfortunately, I am my own worse critic and deterrent from doing foolish things in life, which means the only person I had to convince was also the hardest person as well. 

My biggest issue I was debating with myself was what games I would play on the Xbox One, other than the Microsoft exclusives, of course. Because I had completely turned to Sony to play all the multi-platform games, I would need to make a compromise with myself, change my habits or just admit that the Xbox One would be a system to play exclusives on, and that's it. After some serious soul searching, I decided that I would give up sports games on PlayStation, and use the Xbox One for them. 

The only real reason for that decision is that the way I figure it, if I am using my PS4 for all the big, really cool games, I'm not going to have time to use the same machine to play the random sports games that I pick up from here on out. Granted, the PS4 will still be my baseball console, thanks to the Sony exclusive The Show being so awesome, but other than that, sports was a genre I was willing to give up and hand over to the Xbox One. Initially, I also thought first person shooters, like the Call of Duty franchise, but that idea fizzled when I decided to go with Ghosts on the PS4. 

So with that, one of my day one purchases for the glorious Xbox One was NBA 2K14. Simply put, I love this franchise, all the way back to the Dreamcast days when I played it over at my friends house. Back then, gamers had a legitimate dilemma on their hands, however, since NBA Live was another great basketball franchise. Over the years, however, the 2K franchise started to pull away from its competition, which eventually led to two big moments in the arms race for basketball video game supremacy. 

The NBA Live franchise fell on its face, as EA all but conceited victory to 2K Sports. A scheduled Live game was delayed, delayed again and then flat out cancelled, and despite the constant rumors, just kept absent. Around the same time as the NBA Live franchise flop, 2K managed to do the unthinkable and secure Michael Jordan's likeness for their newest game. This was huge because MJ was extremely resistant to being featured in NBA licensed video games. With the inclusion of His Airness and the disappearance of the competition, NBA 2K was set to be king of the mountain. 

Well, with the new systems came the rebirth of the NBA Live franchise, but from everything I hear and have seen from the game, it is a sub-par return the dance. As far as the 2K franchise is concerned, however, they moved on from Jordan and finally let The King sit atop their throne. Lebron James is the cover athlete, and despite my personal dislike for him, I have to admit it is well deserved. 

Anyway, the game is awesome. The players look amazing, with the graphical power of the new system showing off how awesome it is. You can see individual drops of sweat, muscle definition and skin tones are spot on, and even facial hair is astonishing, as you can see all the different hairs in beards. It't quite amazing. 

The controls of the game feel a lot more realistic as well, as there is a lot of resistance and a solid weight behind the movements of the players you are controlling. Everything else is great as well, from the commentary pulling real-life stats from the internet to interject to the teams playing, to the coaches animations and even the reactions of the players are fun to watch. Never before has a basketball game felt so realistic to the point of almost forgetting you are playing and not just watching. If this is just the tip of the iceberg as far as what these new systems are capable, it's going to be a great generation. 

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