NBA 2K19 Newcomers Outraged By In-Game Video Advertisments

Slow news day? It's cool, just five more days until Mario Maker 2 takes over the conversation.

New or not, it's scummy. "Oh, but it adds immersion like a real game"...really? Remember why we play videogames in the first place.

More things for gamers to rant about I suppose.

Just a reminder that sports games are trash.

It was on sale?

There's nothing "questionable" here, it's a downright disgusting practice. This is not a basketball game on network TV, it's a piece of software that you paid for.

And how considerate of them to let you disable the ads via the settings menu. Tell you what, I'll disable them by not buying the game. I'd honestly like to "disable" 2K altogether on my Switch. Unfortunately, they published Civ VI which is one of my top games on Switch. But at least Civ is ad-free.

@Sabrewing I never get people who comment "slow news day?". What is your point?
Showing that your day is so slow too that you even read articles you don't care about? I really don't get it.

But hey, I will let you happily comment here so nintendolife can see the engagement stats of those articles grow, lol.

@Kalmaro : there was a huuuge sale during the NBA finale or something (but only in the US)

It's good that they have the setting to turn Ads on, some people like to watch them.

Sounds like they're a bit late on this, I got the game back when it was 50% off and I had my own complaints but they never made a whole article about it back then, only now that the game is old is this mentioned outside of forums.

I guess they’re testing the waters to see if people will tolerate this. I fear that soon 2K might not even let you skip/disable these ads.

More 60 dollar games being treated like free-to-play mobile games. A new low for Take Two.

Was not impressed. Was playing a game while my son was relaxing on the couch and then an advertisement for violence and drugs comes on. I had to turn the tv off because I couldn't skip the ad. Glad this solution is available.

Well they designed the game with an in game economy equivalent to a free-to-play game, so this is just the natural evolution.

@neufel I'd say I'm upset I missed out, but those games are never that interesting to me anyway.

@Kalmaro Same.
And if I remember correctly the game is almost 32GB, which is a bit much for a game I would play twice.

@BloodyMurder that’s a bit... hmmm.. what’s the term for judging all things as the same when it comes to sports games... sportist?

"Questionable"????? No, real ads in a paid game are unacceptable!

Sports games are full of ads anyway, whether they be on the uniforms of certain teams, on the field itself, or across the walls that surround the field (there's probably a specific name for this).

There are PS4 Pro ads in FIFA 19 for crying out loud; and yes, that includes the Switch version, and I would assume the Bone/PC versions as well.

But to have advertisement videos within the game itself that are not merely incidental is unacceptable. They have already cut corners on the cartridge, polluted the game with in-game transactions, accepted sponsorships from countless parties, and they want to include video ads as well?

Customers need to vote with their wallets and not support this kind of despicable crap.

Why was this not mentioned in the Nintendo Life review?

@neufel Ohhhh, this was THAT game. I remember hearing about that ages ago.

Yikes. Game publishers/developers competing in a race to the bottom. Unfortunately, it’s a hard-fought battle, with far too many potential ‘winners’...

Strange that NL's reviewer didn't mention this issue way back when the game was first reviewed. Was it added on later (though the people quoted in this "article" says it's nothing new)?

@Dom

Love video games but "gamers" are becoming insufferable. Geez everyday it's just something new to be upset about, gets annoying. Great game though, glad more people have been able to play it

The real shame is that this is the best sports game around. The devs must of spent countless hours collecting face-scans even for the most minor of player and their create a team is exceptionally robust. The on court game is also crisp and smooth and the GM mode is out of this world with its narratives and negotiation process which I would love to see EA take some pointers for their NHL games... But this practice of using in game ads to halt your gameplay is just trash.

Damn, how did I miss that sale!?? Have been waiting for a big drop in price on NBA since last year and this was HUGE Well, no basketball for me... (is not a popular sport here but I enjoy the odd match = not worth the full or even half the price of admission for me)

@Sabrewing I direct you to this article by the great Chris Scullion:

https://tiredoldhack.com/2019/04/08/14-things-you-should-never-say-to-a-games-journalist/

If you're too lazy to read it, I'll paraphrase. Saying 'slow news day?' is a lazy and trite thing to do. Because it probably genuinely is a slow news day and you saying that doesn't make you clever or interesting. The exact opposite of both of those things, in fact. It isn't good discussion and just makes you look like an obnoxious idiot. Leave it out. Nobody appreciates it at all.

I almost bought it...but then I remembered that I hate sports.

I picked it up at 2.99. Hadn't bought a sports game of any kind in over 10 years. But that deal was too good pass up. I've played two quick games and haven't encountered any kind of video ads as of yet. But I imagine it wouldn't have been thay big of a deal if I did.

Much like cheap mobile games you still have to buy and they still have ads because it's part of a rewards medhanic. Surprise mutha trucker. Just have product placement.

it was 3.99 on Xbox with 4k and hdr. But the switch one let's me bring it to the park and instead of playing real basketball set it on a picnic table and play like a real anti social forum member.

Oh what a surprise 2K games.........

Sports games and fighters are really leading the way with regard to nickel and diming people with selling cut content back to players and now in game ads. What has happened here? I used to love both of these genres now I stay away like they have the plague. Such a shame

I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear that this is why they discounted the game so heavily, just to sell us some advertisements. Looks I will be disabling 2kTV from now on.

@Silly_G Problem with voting with your wallet when it comes to licenced sports games is there isn't much alternative nowadays.

And in general gamers don't vote woth their wallets anyway no matter what companies do. Sure there may be an outcry every so often and a publisher will put something right but I would bet you they will try again in a year or two.

@DABYX agree, there is nearly no alternatives to these games now. Back in the day there used to be a ton. The lack of competition has made the main developers lazy and greedy.

I'd be pissed too if a paid a whopping $2.99 for a game and it had ads in it.

Every game is an ad. Putting ads for other stuff inside an ad is absurd and we should never tolerate it. Especially with sports. Every team is a corporation with their logos and players being ads. Incredibly stupid and insulting to load corporate advertisements with other corporate ads. What a huge pile of steamy hot garbage!

@Sabrewing If you don't mind me saying, be glad that's it's not another "We Had No Good News Today So Here's A List We Made Two Years Ago About Our Favorite Games" article.

Lol hold my beer to the point stinginess created players.

The fake outrage over these "in-game advertisements" seems to mainly be created from those who have never played NBA 2k. These "in game advertisements" are not even advertisements - they are the studio show that 2k produces where their host interviews actual NBA players, 2k players, developers, sports commentators, and other relevant NBA personalities. These videos only play while the game is LOADING, so the developers stuck them in there as entertainment while the player has nothing else to do. The studio show is sponsored, so yes there is some advertising going on but not any more than you would see in any other straight up studio show.

I am beginning to notice more and more that whenever one of these outrage articles comes out, the majority of people who seem to be outraged are people who have never played the game itself that the outrage is supposed to be about. The same thing happened in MK11 where the people who seemed most outraged about the fact that cosmetics were locked behind a somewhat random loot system were people who admitted they had not even played the game. Too many people offering up what I consider to be worthless opinions on topics they themselves have no experience in are the ones making the most noise in these articles.

@dleec8 I was going to say this. 2K TV has been a thing for years now and the only people who wouldn’t know this are the ones who haven’t been playing the game at all. Not only that, but it lets you skip the 2KTV show after the game finishes loading. It’s weird that Nintendo Life would post this article without actually knowing what is going on

I considered buying it when it was 3 bucks on eShop just cause that's a heck of a good price for a AAA game, even though I haven't really gotten into a basketball game since NBA Jam. Glad I didn't pull the trigger on this one.

@DABYX : The fact that there are no alternatives is what gives consumers power in situations like these.

It's not as if anybody absolutely needs the game. It's a bloody hobby.

If the customer base decide that they're fed up and decide not to support the game, you can bet that 2K will get their act together, or perhaps sell the licence to somebody that will.

But I have little faith in the gaming market as far as rectifying dodgy practices are concerned. Sadly, gamers can be among the stupidest and most complacent of consumers, and dodgy publishers will exploit and exploit to their advantage. I've abandoned franchises to which I was very loyal, as I will not continue to be treated like crap by publishers and reward them for mistreating both the franchise and their customer base.

@BloodyMurder

Pro Evo Soccer isn't trash, neither is Formula 1 series or Cricket 19 but the sport is more niche.

If I could get a refund for my $3, I would have. My biggest problems were having to buy a 64GB card just for this game. My son's witch didn't need one til now. And a cheap 32GB card, even totally empty wasn't big enough. Add to it a 3GB save file (more games from system memory had to be removed).... oh yeah... and you cant play it offline. I'll have to see if turning the ads off changes this last bit but I doubt it. This game is a hot mess. No wonder they had to shill it for $2.99. $2.99 I'd love to have back. I'd get more pleasure from a 44oz Coke and a pack of Ding Dongs at the corner 7-11

The faux outrage here is hilarious.

2ktv was a brilliant addition to the NBA series. The “adverts” and show segments are brilliant and are to cover loading times and skip able once it’s load. The game presentation is top notch and 2k TV adds to this. As clearly one of the only basketball fans on here take your outrage elsewhere... the micro transactions and stupid VC are the real issue in this series.

Those asking why 2k Tv wasn’t mentioned in the review as a negative because it isn’t... and it’s skippable and turn offable. I’d imagine the presentation and pregame and half shows were mentioned and they all all part of 2k tv

@JereJK @dleec8 haha!! I commented after about 25 comments and before seeing yours. Spot on!

lol lotta talk here from folks not familiar with the franchise. This is not news.

The game came out about 10 months ago, and 2kTV is not strictly a commercial. And yes, it can be disabled. And last year's game had it. And people really lose their cool about NBA2k when it's an incredibly well-made and supported game.