It's all about that Chaos Theory...

We don't always accept it, but what makes sports great is quite simply, the unscripted, unknown and the unexpected. There's certainly an expectation and anticipation of high level and amazing play when we watch, but we never know When it will happen, or even IF it will. Sports is made great by Jordan over Ehlo, Grant Hill to Laettner to beat Kentucky, Pats over Rams in 01', The Red Sox coming back from 0-3 to beat the Yankees in 2004, Iverson crossing up MJ (twice, for good measure) Reggie Miller's 8 points in 8.9 seconds to beat the Knicks in '95 and the Mavericks beating the favorited Miami Squad in 2011.


And as funny as it sounds, we WANT the unknown and unpredictable even in our sports games. Sure, there's always the twisted minority that enjoys winning four straight Super Bowls with their favorite team (even when its Cleveland) but there's an app for that--its called ROOKIE MODE. Mature players want the drama and the results that while staying within realistic boundaries (no Dwight Howard going 30 for 30 from the FT line, k?) keeps us on the edge of our seats...and while we can anticipate a certain thing, we never really know what to expect.

Let me repeat that: Never really know what to expect. Make no mistake, while many overlook it, the Chaos Theory aspect of sports gaming is by far its most appealing quality. Sure, Nowitzki might be 90% from the line, but there's still the ever-so-slight chance that he'll miss once in awhile. MJ's contested-game-winners-from-mid-range might be clutch and worthy of celebration, but why? Because so often they don't drop, that's why. I'll tell you a secret: I love those miscues when I pass it to someone and the ball goes off their hands out of bounds for a turnover. Pisses you off, right? Watch any NBA game, its easily the most frequent type of turnover there is.

And this is the reason we need more variable outcomes from similar situations. Because when we take away the unexpected, we allow players to place virtual bets they have no chance of losing. The other day while playing 2K I took Andre Iguodala (btw, we'll miss you Dre, thanks for 8 great years) and on the fastbreak went full-throttle because there was only one guy back...lol! Actually I even do that with a few guys back. Now good finishers are certainly at the advantage in transition but what happened is what ALWAYS happens, the defender backed up just right outside the restricted area and got posterized. I asked myself...why? I mean Dre is an outstanding dunker and finisher in transition, but at a basic level my mind has been trained that this is an almost automatic play. Sure, thankfully sometimes a blocking foul gets called or our players are thrown into a low percentage shot animation that misses, sometimes there's even a charge (about every 1,000 years or so) but its simply not at a high enough rate to make me consider doing anything but jamming on turbo and expecting poster #435. Here's number #436.

And its everywhere, i've got a friend who sits in zone all game and traps at the first sign of his opponent running a play. Why? Because the initial ball-handler will ALWAYS be thrown into an animation and usually delay or throw a bad pass that is stolen, bobbled or goes out of bounds. His defenders are never called for contact fouls, never reach or get out of position and never get tired from doing this. EVER. At a basic level he knows he can expect a single, overriding outcome in the vast majority of instances. I've even seen people pump fake every time a new player receives the ball. Why? To see if the defender will leap out of position so they can gain an advantage, of course. Gameplay needs more outcomes and risk/reward mechanics when it comes to tactics like these. Where are the instances where the pump fake gives the defender the opportunity to crowd the offensive player and take away his dribble? Where are the balls poked away when players pump fake? Why isn't there ever a tie ball situation? Come to think of it, how many defenders jump for pump fakes outside the post anyway? Don't they usually get frozen or caught leaning the wrong way? More outcomes and less guarantees, people.

The scary thing? NBA 2K is actually the best at varied outcomes. Other sports games are virtual testaments to "find the mechanics that work EVERYTIME and abuse them". Be it toss plays that are too high-percentage, slants with an 80% completion rate or user catching that's unbalanced *looks at Madden 13 and sighs* or a pitch thats unhittable. What we need are more outcomes and less results that are virtually guaranteed before we even attempt them. Nothing should be automatic, too high percentage or written in stone. We need a Defense Stick that draws charges and also cuts off driving offensive players, forcing them into contact animations and difficult shots--and even though it shouldn't be a foul in most instances, it should be every so often to prevent that nasty "player guarantee" we hate so much. Less spin dunks and hop-steps and more collisions that result in loose balls. More balls poked away wondering who touched it last. Let's see jab-steps that make defenders give us space for open shots AND those that result in collisions where we lose the ball. More deflections out of bounds and less steals. We need more blocking fouls when we make contact with guys, a way to draw fouls on airborne defenders, bad passes, more fouls when non shot-blockers go for blocks instead of contesting with the right stick, a balanced mechanic to intercept passes we anticipate, loose balls fouls when we try to rebound through people, a true risk /reward mechanic when we reach for steals, the return of a ball-denial balanced with fouls and fatigue, and we need them all to be varied by outcomes so numerous that we never have the ability to truly anticipate exactly what will happen.

Then, players everywhere will stand up and applaud. Why? Because while it will be chaos and the unknown...it will be just what we want. The recreation of the unknown, unpredictable, unscripted aspect of sports we all love so much.