NBA 2K14 is one of the best sports games we have seen in recent history, but lately plenty of its flaws have been exposed.

First it was the problem with the internet servers around the holiday time and now publications such as Sports Illustrated are pointing out the dangerous trend that the game could be setting with microtransactions where you have to purchase items in order to improve your team or chances against others. This is heavily criticized, especially due to the fact that it would make more sense to provide incentives based on game play rather than money.

Austin Wood from Sports Illustrated explained this more in depth in an article calling for 2K Sports to ease up on the microtransactions.

"The fact remains that microtransactions-the purchasing of small (often cosmetic) items in a game using real money-are nothing more than a cash-grab and a crutch for subpar game design," he said. "Players will generally purchase items with real money if they decide that accumulating the required in-game resources or virtual money is too tedious a process-that the gameplay isn't rewarding enough to justify investing the time. It's a disturbing trend that the gaming industry has grown to embrace, with NBA 2K14 regrettably among the guilty parties."

It has been quite a rare occurance to hear bad reviews about NBA 2K14 but there is no game without a flaw. Wood did make sure to say that he was feeling optimistic because 2K Sports does do a good job of listening to customer feedback.

He continued, "Rather than propagating the Virtual Currency system by encouraging players to pay for the stats they want, why not reward players more thoroughly for winning against online opponents, raising their team ranking, or progressing through My Career? If items can be unlocked through enjoyable gameplay-which NBA 2K14 has in spades-the problem vanishes."