Sports Gaming News Weekly Wrap-Up - NHL 23 Technical Test Impressions, Madden NFL 23 Patch & More

Every Sunday, we will get you caught up on the sports gaming news you might have missed, during the busy week. This week it’s all about NBA 2K23, NHL 23, Madden NFL 23 and more.

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NBA 2K22 MyTeam2K historically drops the ball at the end of MyTeam, giving us hardly anything of consequence to do. So when my favorite player finally got an endgame card tied to a Domination grind, I knew I should streeeeeeeetch out that task, as it would probably be my last of the year.

Unfortunately, I was right.

Seasons 8 and 9 were pretty much phoned in by 2K. Yes, they released all of the overpowered cards that everyone thought they wanted (I’ll join the chorus of people saying that copy/paste endgame cards were kind of boring), but there’s nothing to actually use these cards for. Particularly with Season 9, there was no final Spotlight Sim grind, plus all of the normal in-game rewards (Level 40, Limited, etc.) were recycled cards. And I’m certainly not going to hit the Unlimited streets where everyone’s lineup is exactly the same, and those folks all play the game exactly the same.

2nd Half Heroes Mickey MantleBreaking from the status quo, the Dog Days of Summer Program featured only three bosses to choose from this time around. For Diamond Dynasty veterans, this program probably looked all too familiar. This breaks from the standard fare so far in The Show 22 where players had a chance to add multiple new bosses to their squads. So while it might be a bit disappointing for those expecting multiple new cards from their grind, flashing back to the “old ways” was a bit of Diamond Dynasty nostalgia for me.

I think SDS did us some favors with the player choices in this pack as well. This is one of those packs where there’s a true standout card in terms of competitive viability while offering other players who might not play online a chance to add two massive names to their squad.

NBA 2K23 Gameplay reactionDa Czar, a long-time pal and one of the OGs here, has been peppering the forums during the last week with some responses to random OS questions/thoughts. I’m not trying to get him inundated with more questions or anything like that, but I did want to round up some of his responses in one place. I think it’s important to do this because Czar’s viewpoint encapsulates the “sim nation” mindset in many ways, and he’s also an NBA 2K23 developer (focused on AI and other gameplay elements).

nhl 23 gameplayThe first thing that was readily apparent from playing just one period was that the game hasn’t been drastically altered from its predecessor in NHL 22. The accompanying feeling of disappointment started to dissipate some though once I played a little more and realized that, while there may not have been any major upgrades or overhauls to the visuals, there have been some small yet meaningful tweaks to how the controls and player builds balance the game. Most of these changes would seem to indicate that the series wants to emphasize scoring this year and make defense harder to play than it was in NHL 22.

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Steve Noah
Steve is the Editor in Chief at Operation Sports. He's been here since the year 2000 posting news, features and interviews, along with keeping the hardcore sports gaming community alive and well for over two decades. He covers almost every game related to sports but enjoys basketball, football and baseball games the most.