NBA 2k25: Gameplay News

We have just 2 weeks until the release of NBA 2K25, and we have some huge gameplay news from Mike Wang, the head developer himself. We have not heard from Mike Wings since the beginning of August, but he was dropping a lot of gems and some very important information about NBA 2K25 last night on Twitter.

Someone asked Mike Wang how the dunk meter works in 2K25, and Mike Wang responded, saying there are three meters in NBA 2K25: Arrow, which is the default meter; you want to release the button or stick the moment the little arrow meets the big one for dial and ring. The ideal time to release is the moment those meters disappear.

Now there's a lot to take away from this tweet alone from Mike Wang. I'm not even sure how many meters were in NBA 2K24, probably an outrageous amount, I know there's a lot, but Mike Wang just confirmed that they have reduced the amount of meters down to only three.

Now, I've said this in my last few videos: If you guys haven't heard, the reason I think they're reducing the amount of meters and the fact that they're making the meters transparent and clear is because they want to stop the cheaters in NBA 2K25.

If you guys didn't know, there was a program that you could download on your PC during 2K24 that would detect the green window in the meter, allowing you to green every single time, and this is a huge issue in the community. But it looks like 2K is doing their absolute best to limit the cheaters or if not just totally stop them.

But aside from the cheating, I feel like most of us don't even use the shot meter anyways. Let me know by dropping a like if you guys don't use the shot meter, and if you do, drop a comment.

Moving on to some more important gameplay news regarding the new dribble system in NBA 2K25, Mike Wang tweeted: "Random NBA 2K25 dribble tip: There's a new controller setting called passive dribble hand switches. It being enabled allows the dribbler to play ambient crosses while standing still waiting for the play to develop. Disable if you find yourself getting the wrong dribble moves to play."That's a lot, but me personally, I will be disabling this as soon as I can once I get on NBA 2K25. Let me know what you guys think about this. As you guys know, I mean, there's already a big input delay in 2K, and having my player do random dribble moves while I'm standing still after I do a combo is going to drive me absolutely insane. I do not like this, and I actually think that this feature should not be a default feature. I think you should have to turn it on if you want it on, but I do think this could be great for new players or people who just play offline modes.

But I can guarantee you that every competitive player will have this new dribbling feature disabled because if you don't, it's going to put you at a huge disadvantage on the court. But what are y'all's thoughts about this new feature? Let me know down below in the comment section.

Moving on, we have some new defense news about NBA 2K25 from Mike Wang. Someone asked Mike Wang, "Any more tips you can share about the new shot contest system or new defense cutoff system for NBA 2K25?" And Mike Wang responded, saying, "This year, you can hold the right stick in any direction to contest shots. Holding the right stick will also allow you to play vertical contest jumping contacts in the paint. It is much easier to put a body on the shooter this year. If you want to avoid fouls, let go of the right stick."

In previous years, you had to hold the right stick up to get a decent contest from the perimeter without actually clicking triangles for a block or anything like that. But now it's confirmed that you can hold the right stick in any direction. But I'm so used to holding the right stick up, and it's literally just muscle memory at this point, so I'll just be sticking with that. But in regards to paint defense, this is a brand new feature, and it's pretty interesting. While you're in the paint, if you hold the right stick in any direction, your player will jump and get vertical contest in the paint.

Now, you guys know how it goes. Every single year, they say that the paint defense is improved, but honestly, it isn't. But hopefully, they do prove me wrong going into 2K25. Drop a like if you guys want improved and great paint defense in 2K25. But Mike Wang also followed up with that tweet, saying, "There's obviously still a lot of value in using the block button. You'll need to use it if you actually want to send shots away, and it's essential to hit block if you're contesting from the help side or trying to close the gap on the shooter."

He continued to drop more info and followed up, saying, "Those collisions were blocker and on-ball defenders trying to drive around the defense after a successful pump fake have also been dialed way back.So it's important not to jump around aimlessly on defense unless you want to give up easy baskets. Guys, I'm all for new features, and I'm glad that he did confirm this: this year you can't just hold the right stick in any direction for a great contest every single time. The right stick defense will not get you consistent blocks, and using the button will. And who knows, maybe you'll be able to use the new right stick feature for body ups and then click triangle in the middle of the play to get a block in the same play. Now that would be pretty insane.

For all the lockdowns and centers out there, you guys got so much information from Mike Wang on Twitter last night, and it's important to know all these new defensive features before playing NBA 2K25. Mike Wang also tweeted one more note on controls for NBA 2K25: "By default, we made the right stick defense camera relative. That means if you're playing in the 2K camera angle and facing the camera, flicking the right stick to the right will steal with your left hand. We felt this was more intuitive for the new cut-off feature."

Again, this is huge for all my lockdowns out there going for Hall of Fame or even Legend. Glove right stick ripper is still in the game, but it's just combined with the glove badge.

There's a few things to take from this tweet: Number one, right stick defense on camera relative makes a lot of sense if you play on the 2K camera angle and you want to steal the ball with your left hand. Flicking the right stick to the right makes sense. Mike Wang also continued to confirm that this also applies to the new defensive cut-off feature as well.

Someone on Twitter also asked Mike Wang, "Can we still change our offensive stick to Absolute while having our defensive stick camera relative?" and Mike Wang responded saying, "Yes, you can change both independently." I think this is great because some people may want the offensive stick to be absolute, and some people may want the defensive stick on camera relative. But overall, I do like it, and it's going to be totally based on your preference. I cannot wait to try out all these new features, and I know all you lockdowns are too. What are you guys thinking about the new features so far on defense? Do you like it or not? Let me know down below in the comments section.

We also have some huge Play Now Online info if you guys are interested. It's going to be short and simple. In PlayStation's new blog, they said the biggest change to Play Now Online is the return of leagues, a five-level ranking system with bronze, silver, gold, platinum, and GOAT to determine your skill level. Every player will begin at the bronze level and have all 30 current NBA teams to choose from. But in order to gain access to expand the list, you'll need to level up. So you'll need to go from bronze to silver, from silver to gold, gold to platinum, and then platinum to GOAT. This is going to be pretty cool for all my Play Now Online viewers.

And for all my MyTeam heads out there, you guys should be receiving news for NBA 2K25 MyTeam on Thursday. 2K announced they're going to be revealing the MyTeam on the week of August 19th. And obviously, it's past the 19th, so typically they like to drop news on Thursday. So we will see if the auction house is back. Drop a like if you guys want the auction house back.

And what you guys are probably the most excited about is the new city on the week of August 26th. We will see what the new city looks like in NBA 2K25. Now remember, it says the week of August 26th, so that doesn't necessarily mean the 26th, but hopefully it is. This is going to be a make or break for the majority of the community, including myself. The environment we're going to be playing in is just as important as the gameplay to me. Hopefully, the city is extremely small and condensed and just looks super realistic. Leave a like if you guys agree.

Solo tweeted, "We are approaching the final 2 weeks before NBA 2K25 comes out. We should be getting a lot of Park news soon." And LD 2K responded with a GIF of a guy eating popcorn. We can only hope and pray that the rep system is going to be flooded with nothing but gameplay rewards, the city will be extremely small and realistic, and overall the gameplay is just fun for everyone.

So make sure you guys leave a like if you guys were informed on all the new info, and make sure you subscribe for all the best NBA 2K25 up-to-date news. Guys, we're only 2 weeks away from the launch of NBA 2K25, so make sure you're ready.