NBA 2K12 Is My First Sports Pre-Order In A Decade

The last time I pre-ordered, lined up, or just plain old impulse bought a sports game on launch day was NFL 2k1 back in 2000. Last year I saw the hype for NBA 2k11 and after a few minutes with the game, realized that while my beloved NFL 2k series may have died off long ago, Visual Concepts is still cranking away on making the best baskethoops games in the world.

Let me just get one thing clear; I love sports games. Having said that, Madden and the other EA Sports franchises have managed to completely turn me away from buying sports games for more than $20. I can see how people who play them competitively online or have leagues they compete in would be lining up for the yearly dole, but beyond that why pay $60 for something you get for $20 six weeks later. Unfortunately, this apathy has also spread to 2k Sports and their games until now.

NBA 2k11 was fun, pretty, and impressively connected to reality with quick roster update and real-time scoring of games going on while you played them virtually. The biggest win for 2k last year was the restoration of Michael Jordan to video game relevance. They did exactly what they should have done with MJ and revolved the entire game around his inclusion. Seeing the classic Chicago Bulls intro done in the NBA 2k engine was enthralling and gave me goosebumps the first few times I saw it. This hunger to deliver great experiences is something EA Sports seems to have lost over the last ten years, and much of that probably stems from lack of competition. Rest assured, NBA 2k11 put them on notice and got their attention in a big way.

NBA 2k12 features the return of Jordan and a couple dozen of the other greatest players ever to set foot on the hardwood. This isn’t all that exciting to me personally, but it’s a logical (and classy) step forward in trying to follow up one of the best selling and arguably one of the most popular sports games of all time. Considering the polish and effort put into NBA 2k11, I feel it only right to support 2k Sports with a day one purchase of NBA 2k12, complete with the limited Michael Jordan cover.