NBASky.com

Author: Dustin Toms

From: http://www.operationsports.com/feature.php?id=1007

1. Fix My Player

The My Player mode had a lot of momentum before NBA 2K10 was released. After purchasing the NBA 2K10 Draft Combine and playing that over and over again, it was a letdown when all of that build up went away when I booted up NBA 2K10.

My Player mode had the potential, but a bunch of bugs ruined any chance it had to be truly successful. Obviously, some of the bugs were fixed in the patches but there is still much to work on.

One thing is that a 64-rated shooting guard should not be starting ahead of Wade or Kobe. Is does not matter that you can cheese your way into triple doubles every night, you should not be starting ahead of either one of them. Also a 5-foot-11 point guard cannot do anything at the small forward position. I would really like to see a lot of time implemented into the lineup adjustments for MY player.

Also can we get some contracts? No more of this one-year contract business before heading off to another team. If you want My Player to feel real, then let me make it real. Rarely does a NBA player play on his favorite team, so why should it have to happen here? Obviously, you should still let gamers play for their favorite team if they want to go that route, but let other gamers like me play for a long-term contract or a small deal where I have to come off the bench.

2. Put Online Play in the Game

I love playing Madden online, why not play some NBA 2K online also? Wait, you mean it is already implemented into the game? Interesting, when the game came out I could barely even play it online, and the online leagues did not even work correctly until after the second patch.

Simply put, fix online play. Let it be playable and functional from the start. The online leagues are a great idea, and with the layout and Web site that come along them, it makes it even more fun to follow them. So whatever it takes, make sure online play is working with little to no hiccups when NBA 2K11 is released.

3. Defense

A lot of people believe that defense was improved this year. Those people are right and wrong. In reality, the elimination of the one-on-one isolation drive before an easy dunk was the only truly major fix. Jump shots are still falling down left and right. Now, I also love the fact that we have sliders, but I do not like spending one month adjusting sliders to finally get my game the way I want it.

Man-on-man defense did take a slight step forward this year as well, but it is still too easy to get a quick shot off. Tighter, more aggressive defense needs to be implemented. Zone defenses also need to be adjusted. The whole point of a zone is to help when help is needed, not to stand there and stare as you see Rajon Rondo fly by for an easy layup.

4. Atmosphere

Atmosphere is something that has been needed for every sports-related game this generation. When NBA 2K9 hit store shelves in 2008, all the hype was around the big bad video that would play after you won the championship. Everyone who ended up seeing that video knows it was not anything special.

For those of you who play full 82-game seasons, it would be nice to experience something different in the playoffs. There needs to be louder crowds, home-court advantage and beer getting thrown on the scorer's table. We all know playoff basketball is a whole new game, so that should shine through when playing in a heated seven-game playoff series.

5. Player Movement and Animations

One thing that has been rather bothersome with past NBA 2K games is the player movements and animations. Too many times gamers see their point guard run in a circle only to get called for over-and-back. There are times when post defenders do not move the right way when going to block a shot. Getting stuck in these animations can almost ruin a perfect game, and since we have not had that "perfect" game yet, tweaking these elements is one way to get closer to the unattainable.

6. Relocate Teams

My bias is going to come out here. Most of you might not even care about this feature, but I can guarantee you that there are plenty of people who would gladly move the Oklahoma City Thunder to a certain rainy city -- having past NBA logos and jerseys for relocated teams would not be half-bad idea either.