Video: Here's What NBA 2K18 Looks Like on the Switch

The guy in the thumbnail makes me feel weird.

Bleh sports games...especially a switch version.

Ew....
Try to be Realistic made me Phew...

One more thing, they looked "Dead", like a Robot with No Natural emotions.

That man has a shrunken head!! I'm not a fan of sports sims, but the gameplay look pretty darn good.

They couldn't find a single person to review this that actually knows a single thing about basketball? I get that its not polished on Switch, but the gameplay is really solid. If reviewing a BASKETBALL SIMULATION, you might want to know something about BASKETBALL.

Definitely getting a horrifying "uncanny valley" vibe from the guy in the video thumbnail...

Truly a special game.

Maybe have someone good at sports games or actually interested in it review the game in the future.. just a thought.

Is the game running 1080p docked? Maybe they should just run it 720p docked instead? That might help.
For such a title it would be an acceptable compromise.

@SplashSunny agreed. This game seems to be attracting a lot of hate.

I like the gameplay. Good presentation. It has the best commentary I've ever heard (by far)

Definitely wait for a second print on the carts( if there is one)

"Have these limitations put you off the game..?"

No, seeing them charge $149 for a digital copy of a game that still includes microtransactions put me off from it.

@Danrenfroe2016 There hasn't even been a first run yet, since the physical release doesn't come until end October.

@SplashSunny @getyourak Im pretty sure the actual NL review was by someone who talked a lot about the mechanics

Never watched the NBA, you say? Well, how do you know that that's not just what they look like..?!

I hear that, if you meet Steph Curry in real life, he looks more low-res than you'd expect...same with LeBron James, who apparently suffers from a rare 'anti-aliasing' deficiency (which he takes vitamins for) ..Dwight Howard looks like a 2D sprite (unless viewed in stereoscopic 3D) - and you actually need special glasses to be able to see Dwayne Wade!

Yeah, by the looks of things, this is actually more realistic than on other consoles! [/lie]

They should mod Breath of the Wild to look like that

@GreenMonkie

What the hell is in the $149 version?

Awesome, another crappy 3rd part port.
_{told you this stuff would happen, lol}

Those faces man i can,t stop laughing!

I won't be picking this up. I've never been a fan of straight-up sport sims I've always leaned more towards things like Golf story (hopefully it's good) and Mario sports games.

I'll just be sitting over here with my free copy of NBA 2K16 I got from PS plus last year.

@GreenMonkie $149 is just the SUPER ULTRA MEGA TURBO DELUXE EDITION!!!! (Or something like that)
The base price is $59.99. But you probably knew that, and I'm just nit-picking at this point.

@SplashSunny I agree, but this wasn't the actual review.

please everybody boycott this and take a look at the steam reviews. thankfully people seem fed up with this sort of evil scam. this has to flop hard on every platform. trust me: this is not the 3rd-party support you want.

Aaaaand Bulls Vs. Lakers & the NBA Playoffs (from 1991) continues to be my favorite NBA game ever.

I just hope that the WWE crew is fairing better better for their 1st Switch game.

The game has issues but so do the other versions and 2K NBA games are notorious for being glitchy at launch so it's not just switch.

The game plays a great great realistic game of bball. So I rate the game pretty high since the gameplay is amazing.

I guess making changes to accommodate for a port on a console is too much work for annual sports releases.

@feelinsupersonic

Nah I won't be boycotting this game. the microtransactions are a bigger problem for me.

That's where 2K are getting out of hand. As I not bothered about career mode I can live without it.

@Jeronan they better delay the first run until they fix this... software companies are so so lazy

Is there any need for this type of thing? Mocking? The game has zero appeal to me but it seems like people all over the place are going big time out of their way to attack it.

The game is really great. I have no interest in the extra modes. I just like to play a game. I’m glad this game is on the switch. Hopefully they’ll patch the problems, but I certainly wouldn’t prefer it wasn’t on the system at all.

Ugly game but it plays pretty well.

Lol what's going on with Dirk's hair at the end of the video?

(Pulls string) The Internet says:

"Nintendo needs third party games, or Switch will fail!"

Releases AAA NBA2k18

"30FPS? 5GB saves? This game is trash."

Doesn't release NBA2K19

"Switch is going to fail."

In the image, it looks like the guy is wearing a heavy suit of armor painted to look like a suit and tie.

Imagine the fights that are gonna happen when this is 20$ on Black Friday at Walmart............

NBA games for the past decade = lame
NBA games on the switch = even lamer

@HatosBlack well, this game is trash, and 2k's greed is currently out of control. as for next year, we can't yet say for sure.

@kobashi100 that's the problem, indeed. you pay 60 dollars and then get introduced to the sort of environment you find in the worst free-to-start mobile games.

Embarrassing...

Don't want to sound cynical, but the models in the Switch version of the game look PS2/GCN era, at best.

Shaq Poo

@MarioPhD
To answer your question, it's for people like me who are still on the fence. The video was a simple and fun one to show you what to expect if you buy the game. Not sure why your blaming NT for being hateful but they haven't even scored the game to give them a chance to fix it. That's not a hateful act at all. They have also stated that it's a fun game, it just has its problems, which is kind of their job so I for one am glad their doing it.

That's hilariously bad. If I gave a damn about the genre, I'd already be passing on the game due to the broken audio, especially if I were playing on a PC or PS4 where I'd think something was wrong with my system or the disc and be in for quite a scare. Either that or it'd be something to laugh at while enjoying the gameplay (if it's solid enough). Not sure which.

@Deadlyblack
I play PS2/GCN games every week and not to sound controversial but no they don't.

@SplashSunny THANK YOU, i from myself loving the game, is it perfect no, the sluggish cinematic in my career are dull in slow mo yes, but the basketball is amazing. Plus I can take it with me on the go! People here keep saying there is no 3rd party support but when we have one it's already about the POLISH? we spend our time defending Nintendo that gameplay is better than graphics, which by the way i'm sorry but way better than i thought the switch could do

This video review is terrible. The gameplay is on par with the PS4/XBO versions which are phenomenal. The issues that have occurred with the save files are not specific to the Switch version, and have already been remedied with a patch on other consoles. Hopefully, we will see Nintendo approve this soon unlike what they did with NBA Playgrounds.

After hours of gameplay, I have yet to have the issues the reviewer experienced with audio or huge drop in framerates. Makes me wonder if perhaps the issue is with his MicroSD card.

Another issue with the reviewer is that he’s chosen to mark certain issues with models in the games. Most players have great looking models, but he focuses primarily on the horrible looking coach models. The coaches in NBA2K games have always looked horrible in comparison to the player models themselves. This is almost a non-issue since you rarely see them

On another note, nitpicking on what the title will play like when it goes retro and you can’t download a patch is a bit out of bounds. You can say the same about most titles out there due to the lack of polish most developers have at release time. Let’s all be honest, when it comes to polishing a title, very few companies take the care Nintendo does to not rush it out the door.

One item I can say takes getting used to if you play on any other console is that the Switch version seems to have a very slight input lag. I would have to believe this is possibly due to the differences in the FPS. I am hoping that the lag gets patched along with the save file patch that has already been released on other consoles.

Aside from that, this is a very impressive release as it contains pretty much everything that you would see on other more powerful consoles. If you’re a basketball fan, it’s well worth the purchase. If you hate sports titles, then obviously you will hate it regardless of how great it plays. Here’s to hoping 2K release the patches in a timely fashion and that we see Nintendo not hold up the approval process.

I was never interested in this game myself, but I have been following it just because it's been so talked about. From what I have heard, it's buggy on every version. But what I just do not understand still is why the save files take so much space. 5GB?! WHY?

@feelinsupersonic Agree with you on this. This is probably the biggest issue with the title on any console. They keep this up and they may need to watch out with EA’s NBA Live which is a huge improvement this year soon.

@Heavyarms55 I’ve noticed the same issue on other consoles the past couple of years. Why the file needs to be over 1GB makes zero sense. It shouldn’t even get that close.

@hall31 For other 2k games or games in general? To be fair I've rarely checked how much individual save files take for more games. But a save file should just save your progress, your characters and your inventory. Everything else seems like it would just be always there, part of the main game.

@Heavyarms55 You know, I’ve never check for other 2K games, but I know I had a corrupted save in 2K last year on XBO and was shocked to see it was 2-3GB to begin with. What happened to the days of “large” save files being 100MB?

Looks like ass... And not nice ass, I'm talking poo ass lol

@Damo Ah yes, Alex-- Mr. "Sonic Forces is worse than 06" despite the lack of glitches, terrible design choices, and terrible storyline.

Since when is pointing out flaws on a 3rd party title translate to not wanting 3rd party games? I mean, I want as much 3rd party support on the Switch as possible, but are we not allowed to point out glaring flaws? Switch gamers should support 3rd party titles, yes but let's not act like all 3rd parties can do no wrong or put their games on a higher pedestal. These are some minor flaws to me in NBA and most of which will probably be patched so I'm remaining positive, but let's not act like pointing out said flaws means we don't want 3rd party games.

@DarkmarkUnited I think people want it to look, and perform decently. I don't think that's asking too much, especially when they're still charging full MSRP for it. So far, it's only redeeming quality, is it's portability factor.

Wow! This article was quite the exaggeration. Besides the cutscene glitches, the rest looked fine to me. Plus, many of the glitches mentioned plague all versions of this game, not just the Switch version.

@90sRetroGaming These problems aren't unique to the Switch. They are a 2K issue on all systems.

@KryptoKrunch These problems are on all versions of the game (PS4, XBone, etc)

@nexxus6

Oh, I know. And I know some people here will act as though these problems are exclusive to the Switch version. I was just questioning why some folks believe pointing out the issues means that Nintendo fans are against 3rd parties.

@Damo I'll be joining MarioPhD in looking for other sites, and I'm sure based on our past interactions you'll really be sad to see me go. /s

As a site, your actions with this game over the past week have proven you to be bipolar at best; criticizing and making fun of the game at every turn, yet afraid to put a score on a review because you're worried about metacritic ratings and the internet's backlash. It's too much of a bad precedent, giving a company leniency for charging $60 for a broken product, and knowing how cocky you and some of your colleagues are, you're betting that the sheer amount of polarizing and controversial articles you come up with will outweigh those that are disgusted with your policies. I'd wish you good luck, but you clearly don't need it, you seem perfectly fine crossing whatever lines need crossing as long as it brings in those clicks and views.

All this terrible press is making me consider NBA Playgrounds. That sounded like a mediocre offering too though. Too bad that we can't have good sports games.

@MarioPhD “The doctor will see himself out now.”

So many tears on this thread

Switch needs basketball and european football (Soccer) games. I was sad NBA 2k wasnt on Vita.. Hope they advertise them well. I don't want the only sport games on the system to be Mario Lacrosse or whatever.

Gameplay > Everything else.

The guy in the thumbnail looks like Rick Astley mixed with Clay Aiken lol

@Kobeskillz yeah its not just the Switch it runs bad on all console. Its not an hardware issue but optimization issue. I was planning on buying it when i have the Switch because at first the impressions people had were good but after bad PS4/XB1 reviews people started to see the flaws of Switch too besides the storage issue also. Im a lot more interested in Doom now, not just for the game itself but also how Bethesda has ported it and what would be needed for storage.

Surprised at the rage quitting whiners. This game is only out for now digitally. The physical release, do we know if all these problems broken on it when it releases October 17th will be fixed on that one before it goes to the presses? If we knew they released it digitally too early and people got screw they deserve a complete blasting up and down the wall for it as we see now.

Now if the physical release drops and it's cleaned up and shows a real difference, a working package that wouldn't need a patch not to suck/be broken out of the gate — yes I'd withhold a review score too. What maybe a broken digital 5-6 may be a fairly solid 7-8+ with fixes on physical media.

To those who have read the above comments, I say this: Never burn your bridges with other people, unless they're absolutely heinous in nature. You never know when you're going to want to cross over an old bridge again.

@mariophd @redmagelanakyn

Curious about where you'll be residing instead. Nintendolife is my only Nintendo source nowadays, and while I keep reading here I'd really like a second opinion site with good non-populistic writers who are in it for their love of good games. Tips welcome.

As for NBA2k, another reviewer states that some of the issues don't appear if hard rebooting after installing. So NL might wanna try that. (Anyway, gameplay is paramount to me so can stand shoddy cutscenes )

@DarkmarkUnited Both @RedMageLanakyn and @MarioPhD represent opposite ends of the spectrum in opinion, where they think NL is far too forgiving, or not nearly forgiving enough, respectively. Funny, isn't it? They have such different perspectives, yet they came to the same nihilistic conclusion because they allowed themselves to give in to either deep end side of the perspective balance.

@PlywoodStick Logged back in to turn off notifications since I'm done here, but I'll at least reply to your comment. There's no bridge burning here. I have no personal connection to anyone or anything here. This account is in fact the first and only account I've ever made in my adult life, and I've only discussed here and at Push Square. My decision not to come here is because I think NL is going in a bad direction, and honestly some of the staff rub me the wrong way with their attitudes, work ethic, (or lack thereof, how hard is it to proofread and check your work before publishing it?) and willingness to do just about anything for clicks, ethically right or wrong. Mario PhD feels the same way, we're not on opposite sides in terms of that, and he's been here way longer than me and can see it. You can flourish it up with nihilism if you want, but the truth is, i don't like what i see, so i'm moving on, that's it. My notifications are turned off, and I will not be returning or responding, so respond if you'd like, I won't be reading it though.

@molkom Nintendoeverything is a very simplistic site that gives a lot of news, stats, and reviews. I don't know what their community is like because I'm not reading comments there. I'm happy just reading news and info without sorting through pages of controversy and clickbait.

@RedMageLanakyn Well, just in case you ever check back here for a reply if you're curious, I recommend Pure Nintendo. They have both modern and retro Nintendo content, and they even have their own magazine! (I contributed towards the Kickstarter which brought about the the first digital edition. )

@MarioPhD Nintendo Everything is the best for news - they're super immediate, complete iand to the point in their coverage. NL seems to have slowed a lot on that front.

@RedMageLanakyn @mariophd thanks both, I’ll start visiting there as well. I gave up on spamfest IGN a while back and am glad better alternatives exist. (And I used to write for them... though back at Matt C’s time... I’m old )

@molkom I really like IGN's weekly Nintendo Voice Chat podcast though! Brian Altano is great. IGN has a couple of really good people around - but most of their content is junk.

@MarioPhD See above for more Nintendo fix.

I refuse to buy console games with microtransactions. So I’ll never buy this game.