NBA 2k12: End the Debate

Posted on 09. Mar, 2012 by in News

NBA 2k12’s cover features three of the NBA’s most hallowed stars including Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson. Basketball fans, analysts, and even players are constantly arguing over who the greatest passer, scorer, or over overall player ever was. NBA 2k12 offers gamers the opportunity to essentially “end the debate” meaning that game modes allow these NBA legends to compete in their prime form. Developers at 2k sports captured the signature styles of these elite players from Bird’s fluid jump shot to Jordan dunking over the competition with his tongue hanging out.

Michael Jordan

Weather it was an inter squad practice or the last seconds of the 1995 NBA finals, Jordan could score at will. The 14-time NBA all star could shoot over or drive through any opponent. He was dominant on both defense and offense being second on the all time steals list and forth on the all time made field goals list. His technical skill paired with his physical talents allowed him to dominate every game he played in. He dominated every championship he played in winning a finals MVP for every one of his 6 championships.

Magic Johnson

Magic Johnson didn’t just dominate the game, he changed it as well. He was a 6 foot 9 inch point guard, making it nearly impossible for another player at his position capable of matching up with him. But more than scoring Johnson was able to make his teammates better with a pass first mentality. He leads the NBA in all time assists per game while being second on the overall assists lists. Johnson made the “pass first” style of basketball look cool to aspiring players. The 12-time all star led the “Show Time” Los Angeles Lakers to five NBA championships.

Larry Bird

Larry Bird may have had the greatest skill set of any NBA player. His lethal jump shot and relentless defense made him one of the most formidable competitors. The 12-time NBA All Star won three championships with the Boston Celtics and was named league MVP another three times. His clutch shooting performances are that of legend around the NBA becoming the first player to shoot 50 percent from the field and 90 percent from the foul line in consecutive seasons. His prolonged back problems finally ended his career after leading the original Olympic dream team to a gold medal in 1992.

The Debate

Part of the interest in constantly trying to rank athletes of different eras is the fact that there is no objective answer since there is no way for these players to compete at their prime physical form. There is also a lot of “what if’s” surrounding the three cover athletes that blemished their respected careers. What if Magic Johnson never contracted HIV and had to end his career early? What if Larry Bird didn’t have the nagging back injuries that dominated his career? Did Jordan leave basketball in his prime to pursue a baseball career?

So whether it be Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordon, or some other player, NBA 2k12 allows fans to end the debate.

Play With The Legends

Posted on 09. Mar, 2012 by in News, Reviews

It’s Your Turn To Play With The Legends

There’s a new basketball game that has everyone talking and it’s called NBA 2k12. This is the new basketball game made by 2K that once again has the video game world buzzing, just as its previous model 2K11 did. This new game has one feature that everyone seems to enjoy and that feature is the NBA greatest. This feature was so loved, because it allowed you to play as some of the greatest teams of all time. It gave you the ability to play as almost every great player and team to grace the court.

New Downloadable Pack
The only thing this game did not seem to have been the ability to pick the players you wanted to face off against each other. With the new legends showcase downloadable pack; you will get to chance to see your past stars vs. your current stars and vice versa. Everyone has wanted to pair certain players up against other players of their choice and now they can. This also will be no normal regulation court game like in the NBA games that you can already play. This will take place on the blacktop, you will not only be playing with your favorite players, but you will be playing “street ball” as most call it. You’re going to have a few different modes in this downloadable pack that you can choose from.

Different Gaming Options
You will have the option to play a one vs. one game, two vs. two games, three vs. three games, four vs. four games, and a five vs. five games. You will get to put your favorite players against each other in any game you can imagine. All the games mentioned besides the four vs. four games and five vs. five games will feature a half court game. The half court game, for everyone who doesn’t know is every game that is not a three pointer, counts for only one point. You also must take the ball back to the line to obtain possession of the ball before scoring.

Teammate Challenge

There are also four other options that most will love, the first is teammate challenge. The teammate challenge is where 15 of the NBA’s best teammate combos will have a chance to test their skill against one another. You will have the ability to play as any two of the greatest pairs to play the game.

Era Challenge
The second is the era challenge mode, which you will be able to pick 10 teams. Each team will feature 3 of the best players from that decade. You will have the chance to play as a team of one guard, one forward and one taller player. The teams are balanced out as far as players go.

Street Games
The last two modes that you can play are classic street basketball games. Firstly you have the chance to play 21, which is a game that up to four players can play and they compete for 21 points. Lastly, the final mode is horse, which is another great game that many have played at some point. This game will get the attention of gamers as you have the ability to show off your skill with your favorite players of all time.

With these new wonderful features and game modes, many are waiting to see how the face of NBA 2k sports, Michael Jordan, will face off against one of the youngest stars of today’s game, Lebron James. It is very hard to distinguish who was the better player, being that they are from two different eras, but playing this game will give you a chance to see who might possibly be better.

NBA’s Greatest Join the Roster

Posted on 09. Mar, 2012 by in News

What to do When NBA’s Greatest Join the Roster

Ever since gaming has come into the era of high definition there has been one major issue on the minds of sports gamers, to play as legends of old in their respective sports games. For basketball fans, that dream is finally becoming a reality in NBA 2K12 with the NBA’s Greatest feature. Age old personal questions like “How would I have played this legendary game?” or questions on everyone’s minds like “Who’s better, the old legend or the new one?” can finally be answered with the skills of the person holding the controller.

The Line-up

Originally, 2K Sports announced that the game would have a line-up of 15 legends of the NBA for NBA’s Greatest. Five of the roster slots had been set and announced rather quickly, bringing back superstars like Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Julius “Dr. J” Erving, but these players weren’t even the best part. To choose the other ten players, 2K Sports took the advice and suggestions of fans into account giving a final line-up that also included superstars like Bill Russell, Jerry West, Patrick Ewing and seven more legends to the table.

The Design Aspects

2K Sports is not just presenting a new or in this case, old set of line-up to play as for the NBA’s Greatest feature, they are also going out of their way to make the feature as realistic as possible. They are using era specific graphics to give players the feel of a classic game of legend that many players are too young to remember, if they were even alive. Aspects like the player uniform, the arena and even the announcement systems have been tweaked to help players get into it and have fun.

The Clash of the Legends

Now, we all know where the real fun begins is not in playing the legendary games, sure, they are legendary, but they do not answer the real questions on all of our minds. It is really a shame that you need to unlock the teams in classic mode by winning their NBA’s Greatest challenges, but it makes it even more rewarding when you can finally answer your real questions. The big question of “Who is better? Kobe or Michael?” is probably the biggest on every player’s mind, and after taking the time to perfect your skills playing as the old legend by playing and completing their challenges to unlock them in classic mode, you can finally put the two to the test in a match against each other. After unlocking them in classic mode, you can finally pit older legends against each other or pit old against new to see what would be considered a legendary game if it were possible to see it in real life.

With a few extra features like trivia and such, NBA’s Greatest is good fun and offers all sorts of challenges and knowledge that previous installments of the NBA 2K series have never given before. Players will be able to play in legendary line-ups as they go through games of legend the way they were supposed to be seen and then pit legend against legend in their own fanciful way to answer questions that they coul never have answered before. What will you do when NBA’s Greatest join the roster?

Will NBA 2k12 Bring it?

Posted on 09. Mar, 2012 by in News, Previews, Reviews

Will NBA 2k12 bring it? That’s the question many are asking these days, as to whether this NBA game will be a smart buy or not. NBA 2k11, with its poster boy as Michael Jordan was made with major advancements compared to the previous favorite, the NBA Live series. The NBA 2K series is currently the favorite of basketball games as there is not much competition. Last year NBA 2k11 was at a standalone of the shelves, so it sold nearly 4 million copies.

EA Sports vs. 2k Sports

Even right now EA Sports is still very below the mark of making a comeback, because there NBA Elite will not even be released until fall 2012. There are a few ideas of how this game will play out so to speak, 2K Sports can either make huge improvements, like they did in the NBA 2K11 game and stun everybody or they can wait until there is some Vidal competition to use what they have under their sleeve. Being the only big NBA game, consumers will buy this game anyway, whether there is big improvements or not, because there is no other option.

Will 2K Sports Wait on Selling a Much Improved Game
If 2K sports does decide to put everything they have into NBA 2K12, then there might be a very wide gap of quality in the 2K games vs. EA sports. There might be so many gaps, that EA sports will have to take years to catch up. By making NBA 2K12 just as good as its previous year, with tons of updates, then they might grab and keep fans even when EA sports decides to come to the table. Even though some fans and consumers will stay by 2K sports side, even when there is another option, not everyone will.

Consumers always want the next best thing, especially in sport games, where being realistic can have a huge impact. EA sports did have a very marketable game, in which was on top of the gaming world with NBA Live, but it did die out in the past few years. Being that EA sports had a good profitable game at one point, there will certainly be a ton of consumers who are looking to check out what EA sports has to bring to the table after being out of the game for a while. Having a big game by 2K sports next year, could be the only way to pull people away from EA Sports and show why they are the top game.

New Features
Well 2K sports did bring it, with NBA 2K12 it takes big to a new level. There is a new NBA’s greatest mode, which fans are very happy about. This feature basically lets you play as all the top notch players and teams of the past. You will find almost every great legend in this game, including the face of the game Michael Jordan. There is also new game play with new Total Shot Stick Control, what this does is give you even more control over your players than in the previous years. They also have a new post-game system that has never been seen before in any NBA game.

Jordan Challenge
NBA 2K12 also brings to the table, the favorite from last year, the Michael Jordan feature. This game allows you to take control of Michael Jordan’s career as you play with him at different ages with different teammates. This feature also allows you to play in the life as Michael Jordan and complete all different challenges along the way.

As you can see, 2K sports do hold the title as far as the most popular and highest quality basketball game. Unless EA Sports finds a way to up their status, it will stay that way.

Could NBA 2K12 Be Even Better than Last Year?

Posted on 09. Mar, 2012 by in News, Reviews

NBA 2K11 was an amazing game, so could 2K Sports keep pushing the envelope with the release of 2K12?

We’re all used to the yearly incremental improvements that get touted as must-have features that beg us to upgrade each time. Whether it’s slightly higher resolution graphics, more lifelike player animations and expressions, or – if we’re lucky – a new game mode, creators of yearly sports franchise games are past masters in getting us to part with our hard-earned cash.

Well, believe it or not, this year 2K Sports has done the near miraculous and produced a version that really does pull out all the stops. Yes, this year’s model is better in almost every respect than last year’s awesome offering! Below are two example that illustrate just how much has improved.

My Player Mode
The idea of getting yourself into the game and rising through the ranks to become an NBA all-time legend should be one of the great draws of this franchise. However, although showing signs of potential since its debut, the My Player mode has usually turned out to be one of the weakest areas of the game. That’s all changed this year.

This time around your player has a much better shot at quickly getting drafted. There’s also only one game before the draft to deal with, and that’s a much more intense, full-on experience. No more boring pick-up games with no crowds on hand to see your feeble efforts. Now you’re in the spotlight, with a full house on hand and a full commentary to boot. You also aren’t necessarily the weakest link on the team, either. Your stats are more on a par with your team-mates, allowing for a much better chance to impress. Ratings have been revised and you’ve now got a much better shot of seeing a decent grade right from the get-go.

The mode is way more fun, too. With the new goals and milestones being set, you’ve always got something new to aim for. Sponsorship deals and press interviews add to the immersion. Can you handle the ultimate challenge of getting into the NBA Hall of Fame?

NBA Greatest Mode
Two words sold many players on last year’s release: Michael Jordan. Getting through the series of challenges to unlock his career mode was high on the priority of most players. What could top playing as the greatest Bulls teams of all time? Well, how about being able to unlock 15 legendary players and the teams they led to glory? Want to play as Bill Russell and his mid-’60′s Celtics? How about Jerry West and the Lakers of the early ’70′s? John Stockton and Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz? Along with other household names like Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Hakeem Olajuwon, all these and more can be unlocked in NBA 2K12.

Getting to play as any of these icons of the game is just plain cool. What makes the experience even better is the thought that’s gone into the presentation of the NBA Greatest mode. Not only do you get the historically accurate teams, but also their arenas and team uniforms are right down to the last detail. Each of the legends also has their own Signature moves, as you’d expect. What you might not expect – and it’ll blow you away when you first see it – is the way the presentation shifts to black and white for the older games of the ’60′s and ’70′s. Whoever came up with that idea needs to be made lead designer of the next installment of the game!