NBA 2K12 Message Board

Hey all! Several weeks after launch, everyone is still talking about the NBA’s Greatest Mode where we ask fans to play and debate the greatest NBA teams of all time. Some remarkable reviews have been pouring in, including a 9.5 out of 10 score from one IGN critic who said that NBA 2K12 “takes everything I love about last year and makes it better. Then it takes nearly all the parts I didn’t like and turns them awesome. Hey, other sports games, you just got schooled. Again.” For those of you who don’t have a copy of NBA 2K12, this is the perfect time to get in and take advantage of the all new DLC – Legends Showcase.

All the conversation about the greatest team of all time made us wonder about matching up the greatest players of all time, even taking that wonderfully fun My Player mode (which, as you can see from my stats, I can’t get enough of) and facing off against the likes of our NBA 2K12 cover athletes Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird along with current greats like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, and more. Wanting to give you guys more info, I got together with Producer Ben Bishop to discuss and asked him what we can look forward to in Legends Showcase.

Ben Bishop here, one of the producers for NBA 2K12. I’m going to get into some of the details regarding our latest addition to the game, the Legends Showcase DLC. This is a project we’ve been pretty excited about for quite some time. We felt like with all the great things we were doing with Legend players in NBA’s Greatest mode, there was still room for more. We really liked the idea of the NBA’s Greatest teams helping to end the debate about the greatest team of all-time. But that left open a pretty big follow-up question: who is the greatest player of all-time? And with that, the Legends Showcase was born.

As I’m sure many of you have already heard, there are over 150 Legends to choose from in the DLC. Obviously you’ve got the best of the best available, with players like our three NBA 2K12 cover athletes: Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird. And along with them come all of the biggest names that were a part of our NBA’s Greatest feature.

We also felt it was important to include as many of the other all-time greats as we could that weren’t a part of NBA’s Greatest for whatever reason, so that means players like George Mikan, Rick Barry, Elvin Hayes, and Alex English are a part of this experience too. Further, we wanted the Legends Showcase to include, not just Legends in the standard sense, but also players that were simply memorable or would be fun to play with. That means you’ll also see guys like Shawn Bradley, Dan Majerle, Craig Hodges, Gheorghe Muresan, and Kenny Walker there for you to do your best with (or against). While we couldn’t get every single player from NBA history that we would have liked, the available pool is quite extensive and offers a wide range of play styles and personalities that give Legends Showcase a lasting appeal simply due to the sheer amount of match-up possibilities. Oh, and as an extra nice touch, all of these players have the uniforms that go along with the team they were a part of in the peak year we assigned for them (you can see the full roster here). So you’ll see a ton of new uniforms (both home and away) in Legends Showcase, which was one of the bigger undertakings for our art team once development on the main game finished up.

Before talking specifically about each of the available modes, I wanted to single out some additional visual and presentation aspects that are a big part of the Legends Showcase. First, as you’ve probably seen, all the games are played on a fantasy court in New York City’s iconic Times Square. Since we are already stretching the boundaries of reality a bit by bringing together all of these Legends in their primes, we thought it was appropriate to give them a unique and exciting environment to compete in. Second, we created a special cel-shaded effect that gets applied to everything (from the environment, to the crowd, to the players themselves) to really help set the experience apart from anything else we’ve ever done. Presentation has always been a strength in our games, so we made sure to extend as much of that to the DLC as we could. Legends Showcase has completely new overlays, wipes, and replays, all designed to fit in with the cell-shaded Times Square atmosphere. There’s an emcee calling out the action as it happens, introducing players, pumping up the crowd, highlighting key plays, and even getting as specific as talking about the various unique shots in H-O-R-S-E. All in all, we took significant steps to make sure that the Legends Showcase had its own special visual and presentation package that not only fit in with the impetus behind the mode, but that also achieved the same level of quality people are used to seeing in the NBA 2K series.

And now for the available gameplay modes. We’ll take them in order:

2v2 Teammate Challenge

Find out who the greatest teammate pairing of all-time is. You choose from one of 15 preset duos and try to take out the rest in games to 11. From MJ-Pippen to Bird-McHale to Wilt-West, you can try your luck with some of the best individual players paired up or go with a team like Stockton-Malone that is best known for playing together. Or maybe you have a soft spot for one of the more recent pairs, like Kemp-Payton, LJ-Zo, or Hardaway-Mullin, all of whom are tons of fun to play with. And let’s not forget my personal favorite team of Shaq-Penny. With all the different styles of play and interesting strengths and weaknesses of the teammate pairs, there are so many ways you can challenge yourself when approaching this mode. And as an added bonus, once you’ve beaten the 2v2 Teammate Challenge, all of the players in the NBA’s Greatest mode become unlocked for use in NBA: Creating a Legend mode. Much like you were able to bring MJ into today’s NBA in NBA 2K11, you can now see how Bill Russell or Oscar Robertson would fare in the current game.

3v3 Era Challenge
The 3v3 Era Challenge is structured a lot like the 2v2 Teammate Challenge. Here, however, players are grouped by era, with two teams of three players from each decade of the NBA represented (1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s). Again, you choose from one of these teams and battle it out against the rest to see which era comes out on top. You can go old school with Russell-West-Oscar, well-rounded with Robinson-Pippen-Stockton, or stay a bit more current with Duncan-Dirk-Kobe. Once you’ve made it past each of those teams, you get one final test against the newest generation of NBA stars. Take those last two teams out, and you’ll unlock the ability to use the NBA’s current stars throughout the Legends Showcase.

H-O-R-S-E

H-O-R-S-E is one of my personal favorite parts of the DLC. It’s pretty much exactly what you would think – use the Legends players in a game of trick shots to see who can come out on top. What’s most exciting about this mode is that it’s something very different from anything we’ve done before. Not only did we motion capture a wide variety of trick shots (some of which are standard H-O-R-S-E shots and others which are a little more creative), we also allow you to move freely throughout the environment and shoot from pretty much anywhere. If you want to try a desperation heave from over 100 feet away, go for it. And to take it a step further, we even added several specific locations for shots where you are interacting directly with the environment, like on top of the basket stanchion or on top of the stage used intros. We leave it up to you to discover those spots as you’re exploring the environment.

Because of the nature of H-O-R-S-E shots being so different from regular jump shots, we wanted to use a completely new mechanic here that better reflected the difference between an easy shot and an extremely difficult one. First, you decide which shot you want to take and from what part of the environment. Then, determine the shot’s arc (anything from a flat beeline to a steep rainbow). And finally, as your shot is initiated, follow the power meter as it travels along the arc and stop it in the designated sweet spot. The general difficulty of the shot, the distance from the basket, and the players’ abilities all factor in to how fast the power meter is moving, so make sure you’re prepared to react quickly if you decide to do something like a drop kick from the other end of the court. And just like on the playground, you can call a bank shot or a swish (or the vaunted bank/swish combo) to add some additional flair to your shot. Bank shots will be more difficult to make, of course, and you better get your arc and timing just right if you want to hit nothing but net.

Of all the modes in the Legends Showcase DLC, H-O-R-S-E is probably the one where we stretch the limits of simulation basketball the most to have a little fun. While all of the shots you can take are generally physically possible, you’ll see them go in more than you would in real life. But hey, these are Legends after all, right? Think of it like the old Jordan vs. Bird McDonalds commercial come to life, only with a Times Square cell-shaded twist and way more competitors to choose from. All in all, it’s an interesting departure from everything else that’s available and more centered around standard basketball and it’s a mode we had a lot of fun putting together.

Game of 21
With all of the Legends available in an outdoor fantasy environment with a street sort of feel to things, we felt like it made a lot of sense to include 21 as one of the available options. With all of the standard rules from needing to hit 21, it’s a fun representation of the classic playground game we all remember playing as kids. And with the opportunity to pit MJ vs. Dr. J vs. Kobe vs. LeBron or whatever insane match-up you can think of, there are all sorts of possibilities. One of my favorite things to do is take a player like Kobe and go up against Russell, Olajuwon, and Mutombo. Just seeing those three guys lined up, knowing you’ll have to beat of them to get to the hole, is pretty intimidating.

Pick-Up Game
Pick-Up Game is pretty much what it sounds like. This is the mode where you have the most freedom to create whatever match-ups you want with plenty of customizable rules option to select from. You can play from 1-on-1 up to 5-on-5 with the ability to choose what you want for things like Difficulty, Game Style (Casual or Simulation), Winning Score (5-50), Clear Ball (On or Off), Win By 2 (On or Off), and Winners Outs (On or Off). This is the best place to really determine who is the best player of all-time. Once you’ve unlocked the current NBA players, you can do things like pit Kobe vs. Jordan, Howard vs. Wilt, or Oscar vs. LeBron. One of the other things I like to do here is play all-time franchise teams against each other. For example, you can run out a Lakers Five of Magic-Kobe-Worthy-Gasol-Kareem against a Bulls 5 of Rose-MJ-Pippen-Rodman-Gilmore. And if you really want to mix things up, try a trio of Shawn Bradley-Gheorghe Muresan-Mark Eaton against Muggsy Bogues-Spud Webb-Nate Robinson and see what happens.

It’s also important to note that, while the Legends Showcase takes place in more of a street environment in Times Square, it’s still a simulation at heart. While we captured some fancier passes, dribble moves, and dunks to make the Legends stand out and differentiate the gameplay, it’s all still grounded in reality. Think of it as a sort of a street simulation. We even made sure to spend a significant amount of time honing the AI for this type of game. We want 1v1, 2v2, and 3v3 games to feel special not just because of the Legends involved, but also because the game is being played the way you’d expect it to be.

And finally, don’t forget that with the Legends Showcase, you will open up a new option in the Online portion of the main game called Classic Quick Match. This gives you a chance to play online with all of the NBA’s Greatest teams in a standard simulation setting. This is completely outside of the Times Square, cell-shaded DLC environment and with only these all-time teams to choose from, it will hopefully help maintain an even playing field. Additionally, you’ll also now have full roster control over all those NBA’s Greatest teams, so if you want to bring them into Association mode, or edit, trade, and release players, you can do all that too.

With the debate about the greatest team of all-time hopefully being settled with NBA’s Greatest, one of the coolest elements about the Legends Showcase DLC is that it gives you the opportunity to answer a few more of those burning questions. Who is the greatest individual player of all-time? Who is the greatest teammate duo of all-time? Which era is the best of all-time? Who is the greatest trick shot artist of all-time? To put it simply, our main goal with Legends Showcase was to create an entirely new experience centered on the Legends. We feel like there’s a ton of content here that can be appreciated, whether you’re a hardcore basketball historian or just a casual fan.

Before I finish this up, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention one other key piece of the Legends Showcase: Where do YOU fit in against the greatest NBA players of all-time? That’s right, you can import your My Player (as Ronnie2K has done here) and see if you can compete with the best of the best. Want to find out if you can take MJ 1-on-1? How about teaming up with Bird and McHale to see if you can take out an Isiah Thomas-Joe Dumars-Bill Laimbeer or Magic Johnson-James Worthy-Kareem Abdul-Jabbar trio? Or what about trying your hand against Pete Maravich in H-O-R-S-E? Any match-up you can think of with almost all of the significant players in NBA history is right there at your fingertips.

I could keep going on about some of my other favorite things to try (Shaq vs. Mikan, Thompson vs. Gervin, Wilt vs. Russell, Chris Paul vs. Isiah, to name a few more – sorry, I couldn’t resist), but it’s probably about time I wrapped this up and left the rest of the fantasy scenarios to everyone else. Keep an eye out for the Legends Showcase on the PSN Store this week – it’ll be available on 11/29. — Ben Bishop

That’s a ton of content to look forward to, and for just $10 on the PlayStation Store this Tuesday! I want to thank Ben for his in-depth description of Legends Showcase and the people at PlayStation for giving me this time to tell you more about NBA 2K12’s hottest DLC. Let me remind you to follow us on Facebook to see the most new and exclusive info for the NBA 2K Franchise.

If you missed my last submission on the PlayStation.Blog where I discussed the all-new feature “On the Move” along with a background on all the great features 2K12 has to offer, you can catch it here. If you ever have feedback on a feature, don’t hesitate to hit me up Twitter and make sure to follow us on Facebook if you are a fan of the franchise.

This pre-Thanksgiving edition of PULSE jumps right into Assassin’s Creed Revelations and includes some insight from the PlayStation.Blog’s Jeff Rubenstein as he shares some smooth moves to power up Ezio’s earnings. There are also previews of the upcoming Wanted Corp. (for those looking to pursue alien criminals), and the NBA 2K12 Legends Showcase (for basketball fans needing something to cheer about) featuring over 150 of the greatest players competing in playground pick-up games set in New York City.

The Top 10 is all about favorite Thanksgiving-themed movies this week, while the new video releases Super 8 and Larry Crowne are ready for the upcoming holiday weekend.

Also, keep a lookout for the Invisimals: Shadow Zone character unlock shown at the end of this edition. Remember to watch PULSE right from the “What’s New” section on your PS3 later today with the PlayStation Store.

5 out of 5

Who needs real basketball? The NBA season is already delayed, games have been canceled, and in all likelihood, we won't even get a season this year. To that, I say to hell with it all. Real basketball, dramatic as it can be, is filled to the brim with egotistical players, coaches, and owners who bicker endlessly about the direction of a league that can best be compared to the Titanic. Top heavy with talent and encumbered with too many teams, the NBA as it currently exists feels more or less doomed, fated to crash into a David Stern-shaped iceberg the likes of which it cannot possibly recover. Even if it does come back this year, some big changes will have to happen to keep this boat afloat. Frankly, I think the league would be better off sinking, and dredged for salvage parts next year.

I say this with such reckless fervor because of NBA 2K12. Without context, that might sound insane, but understand what I mean. With NBA 2K12, a game I can say without even the slightest hint of doubt or discomfort is the best basketball simulation I've ever played, I am constantly reminded of the qualities of the sport of basketball that I fell in love with so many years ago. The athleticism, the flair, the sheer thrill of the game is on display in such tightly constructed, beautifully playable form, that in a weird way, I honestly don't care if there even is an NBA season. The sheer volume of content 2K Sports has included, alongside some of the best pure gameplay you're ever going to find in a sports title, make me forget about all the bitching and bickering of the real life NBA, and bring me back to the essence of what makes the sport so great at its core.

Granted, if you played last year's NBA 2K11, the gameplay side of things won't feel wildly different. 2K made huge strides in the last couple of iterations, and this year the tweaks are more subtle, albeit still fantastic. The biggest difference you'll notice is in the post game. Posting up in the paint was always a bit of an awkward situation in NBA 2K games, but here it's been improved drastically. Just tapping the Y/Triangle button puts your player into his post stance, and from there, you can choose from a variety of different, dynamic shots, as opposed to having the computer pick one for you. Defense in the post game is more dynamic now too, but you'll notice the changes more on offense. Whereas before you once felt governed by canned animations, now you can move with greater fluidity and control.

The opponent AI also feels different this time around. 2K11 had moments where you were quite certain the computer had simply decided it was going to win this game and began tossing up crazy alley oops and bizarre passes that seemed completely preordained. While 2K12 occasionally dabbles in this sort of thing, it's far less frequent. When opposing teams go on scoring runs, there isn't often the sense that the computer is suddenly unstoppable. If you lock down your D and play tight, you will be able to get the W.

Otherwise, this is very much the same amazing game of basketball you've played before. The big difference is that now there are many more ways in which to do it.

Chief among them is the newly upgraded My Player mode. Sports games have been flirting with this idea of creating a total, all-encompassing experience of following a player's career from draft day to retirement, with all the endorsements, controversies, and championships such a thing would (hopefully) entail. Among them, the NHL series has perhaps gotten closest to actually achieving this idea--at least until now. Without question, NBA 2K12's My Player mode creates the most engrossing version of a unique player identity anyone has attempted thus far. While character customization options are maybe a tad limited, the sheer breadth of events and actions around that character are anything but.

You begin with a quick pre-draft exhibition game with other top rookies, aiming to showcase your talents to prospective teams. That's followed up by some post-game interviews with interested teams, who gauge your interest in playing for them with insanely detailed questions. 2K knows the NBA, and knows the makeup of the league. When the Wizards interview your prospective point guard, they're frank about the fact that they already have their point guard of the future in John Wall, and are mainly looking at you as a depth player. How you answer these questions affects both your draft status, and your own persona.

That's the really interesting thing about My Player: you actually have a persona. The mode is far more than a series of sometimes incoherent menus that feed you statistical data and let you sim to the parts where your player actually gets on the court. The mode includes tons of great ways to keep you playing, from a teammate rating that goes up and down depending on how you perform on the court, to a series of drills designed to help you upgrade your stats (that must be performed in between paychecks), and even post-game press conferences, where your answers to reporters' questions will affect your chemistry with your teammates, as well as your standing throughout the league, and with your local fans.

You can also play a version of this mode using any player in the league, be he superstar or scrub. However, it's way more interesting to craft your own superstar and put him through the paces of the league. If you want to be a diva, demanding trades and generally invoking the wrath of the fans for financial gain, you can do so. If you're a total team player that doesn't mind giving up minutes for a solid sixth-man status, you can do that too. It's detailed in all the right ways, and feels far less sterile than nearly all other attempts to do anything like this.

Sterility is simply not something you could accuse NBA 2K12 of in any facet of its game. Unsurprisingly, it looks great, animates brilliantly, and with the broadcast camera turned on, looks as close to a real game of basketball as you could possibly hope for with polygonal players. Even better is the commentary, a feature so often treated as a cheap bullet point by other developers, is given an almost absurd amount of tender loving care here. The addition of Steve Kerr as a third commentator is a welcome one, as he adds a nice boost to the flow of the dialogue and actually offers up some informative tidbits as games go along. More impressive, however, is just how tight it all feels. When a player throws down a massive dunk, or hits an insane three-pointer, the commentary stops dead in its tracks to react, making a big point to highlight what has just transpired. Then, in most cases, the commentators will actively pick back up where they left off, transitioning naturally to their previous exchange. I don't know how 2K's editors managed to edit all this together without it sounding like a herky-jerky nightmare, but they did it.

The commentators are especially informative in the new NBA's Greatest mode. Building off the good feelings earned from the inclusion of Michael Jordan in last year's game, 2K went kinda nuts this year, including 30 classic teams (as well as a couple of pre-order bonus teams) from 15 noteworthy rivalries and feuds from the many years of NBA history. Bill Walton's Celtics, Michael Jordan's Bulls, Magic Johnson's Lakers, and Dr. J's 76ers are among the many options here. Even better, the full rosters for both teams are included, so when you take Larry Bird's Celtics into battle against the Atlanta Hawks, Dominique Wilkins and crew are all there to fight back as they should be.

During these match-ups, the commentary team delivers ample history as well as play-by-play, outlining the historical significance of the rivalries and the players involved. It's a great, dynamic history lesson for anyone whose basketball knowledge doesn't extend beyond the day Lebron James got drafted. These sequences are also presented with correct rulesets, and visual filters meant to represent classic broadcasts. '60s games are in straight up black and white, while each successive decade moves from washed-out color to increasingly crisp picture.

Regrettably, the legendary teams aren't available online, presumably because the '85-'86 Celtics would just destroy everyone. However, you can take the Association mode--NBA 2K's version of the franchise mode--online this year for the first time, with up to 29 other friends. It works functionally how you would expect it to, though that's not always a positive thing.

Let's be blunt: online in NBA 2K games has often sucked. Be it lag, connection drops, or whatever other manner of weird glitch, something in this game's netcode has been infected by angry, malicious goblins who hate basketball and/or you. NBA 2K12 is, at best, a slight improvement on this. Save for a couple of connection drops, I mostly found myself unblocked when attempting to get into games. However, in a game this focused on well-timed shots and ball-handling, any amount of lag is a real problem. And there is most definitely still any amount of lag. I played in one game that felt close to the offline experience, and that player ended up dropping halfway through. I don't know if it was on purpose, but I'm presuming not, since I was down 15 at the half.

Were it not for the online issues, NBA 2K12 would be the closest thing to a "perfect" video game basketball experience we have yet come to. In fact, it still probably is. This is one of those rare sports games where the offline content nearly made me forget about the online component. There is just so much to do, see, and mess around with, that I almost forgot playing online was even an option. NBA 2K12 is an easy game to lose one's self in, a perfect remedy for the NBA-lockout blues. Let the players and the owners haggle over profit splits and broken contract systems. With NBA 2K12 around, you'll hardly even miss the real thing.

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