As I tuned in to the NBC/Peacock broadcast of the Portland Trail Blazers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves game last night, I got my first encounter with Peacock’s “Performance View”. For those who don’t know, the network explains it here. For those who do know, it’s a screen overlay that—for lack of a better description—makes a real, live NBA game look like a video game.
In Performance View, name labels appear above the heads of offensive players, complete with icons showing whether they’re an All-Star,
or shooting hot, or whatever. What’s next? Hit point bars? Fatigue meters? “OMG, after that dunk OG Anunoby is going to need a stamina potion! (Brought to you by Gatorade.)” White streaks follow the arc of the ball when a shot goes up. Green splashes erupt from the bucket if it goes in. And…and…ANNNNDDDD…
And I think I’m getting too old for this. Even as a long-time gamer—someone with a Steam list the length of an encyclopedia and shelves of console games from here to Pittsburgh—I can’t stand this evolution. Give me my unc card now. I could barely look at the screen.
The aesthetic gave me the ick almost immediately. The overlay seemed to make the action go “high def” in that artificial, uncanny valley way reminiscent of the early days of the medium. Everything looked too sharp, too contrasted. It didn’t feel like real human beings out there anymore. On a visual level, I was turned off. On a philosophical level, well, there’s already too much objectifying of athletes and sports in the world for my taste. Narrowing the distance between them and artificial, pixel-based counterparts that I control with a thumbstick left a bad taste in my mouth.
The clutter on the screen added to the impression. You could usually see the players, but in order to accommodate the labeling, it felt like a removed view—shrinking their size on the screen—was the preferred norm. The name bars occupied spaces between and around players, making it harder to see court space and off-ball movement. They also threatened to obscure defenders, who were not similarly labeled and who became almost an afterthought. You couldn’t see the release on the ball clearly, in part because of the size of the player’s hands in this removed mode and in part because their hands went up close to, or into, the name bars above their heads as they released. So, too, the initial arc of the ball…or any view of the ball, really. The viewer’s eye gets drawn to the bright, white arc illustrated behind the ball rather than the organic—and much darker—flight of the ball itself. And don’t even talk about those green splashes emanating from the hoop. Whee! Fireworks! Now where’s the play again? I’ve got to find it. No wait, it’s easy! Just look for the name labels going the other way! Such pretty icons!
I’m overdrawing a little bit, but seriously, these bells and whistles are causing me—an admittedly distractible person—to watch the bells and whistles themselves rather than the play. I can’t see what I need to see in order to process the game in any other way than that in which the broadcasters intend. This overlay became the game rather than conveying the game.
I like timely and available information during sports events. I truly admire cleverly-designed, compact displays that help viewers understand, at a glance, what has gone on and what the current situation is. For me, at least, this ain’t it. And this ain’t it in such an invasive, obtrusive way that it seriously impeded my ability to view the action, substituting for the experience instead of augmenting it.
Splashing. We need splashing graphics to show a ball went in instead of the organic “splash” of the net, the cheer of the crowd, or all the natural visual cues we’ve had for decades. Really? And I can’t track that ball in the air without a graphic too? Forget spin, curve, and all the other really sweet things about watching a professional shot go up. I need to treat a whole, properly-inflated basketball like a hockey puck that I can barely see on screen, except with a HUGE curve after it that slashes through my entire viewing surface on each shot?
Blargleblarglefarfleguhhhhhhhhhhhugggghhhh.
And yes, you can quote me on that.
OK, enough ranting. What do you think of Peacock’s new overlay, if you’ve seen it? Love it? Hate it? Big bucket of “meh”? Share your impressions in the comments section below!
