In forums and comments, PC gamers come off as implacably angry about a number of topics. The most vehement responses are in issues that treat PC gamers like second class citizens; for example, DRM, console ports, DRM, piracy, DRM, delayed releases and DRM.
Let me tell you, there is no citizen more second class than the sports PC gamer. Other than browser-based games, the genre has been utterly dead on that platform since EA Sports canceled Madden on the PC back in 2008. The hangers-on include the football titles (PES and FIFA) and management simulations, a sub-genre which NFL Head Coach and MLB Front Office Manager proved are doomed to fail on a console, sports' dominant platform by a mile.
NBA 2K is an absolute rarity—one of North America's Big Four team sports still publishing on the PC. It goes without saying that, if there's no MLB 2K13 coming on Xbox 360, then there's no MLB game on the PC next year, either (outside of management sims), but that's been totally lost in the conversation.
And PC sports video gamers are justifiably pissed off that 2K Sports has delayed the digital release of NBA 2K13 a second time. (The physical version came out on Oct. 2, same as the consoles.) Amazon just pushed the release date to Oct. 30. The title isn't supported on Steam, though NBA 2K10, 2K11 and 2K12 are.
Why? Who knows. It originally was due to release on Oct. 16, two weeks after the console versions—and physical PC version—hit the street. Commenters have pointed out that the physical media version costs $29.99, where the digital versions are usually listed for less. It'd be enormously cynical for Take-Two to push this thing back two weeks to milk another $3 or $4 out of PC sports gamers who just don't want to wait for the convenience (and replaceability) of digital media. But the appearance is there.
Kotaku emailed a 2K Sports representative to ask for an official explanation and didn't receive one as of publication time.
NBA 2K13 Digital Download Pushed to October 30th? [Operation Sports]
