NBA 2K10 landed in October 2009 as the eleventh game in the NBA 2K series, and it did something the franchise had not done in years: it showed up on a Nintendo console again. The last time was NBA 2K3 on the GameCube in 2002. This time it reached the Wii and, for the first time, the PlayStation Portable.
Visual Concepts developed it. 2K published it. Kobe Bryant, then of the Los Angeles Lakers, is on the cover.
Trailer, via Timmii Gaming Channel.
Kobe Bryant and the Six-Platform Spread
The game shipped across six platforms, and it did not ship to all of them at once. Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP got it on October 6, 2009. Windows followed on October 12. The Wii version came November 9 in North America, with Europe getting the game on November 27.
That staggered rollout matters because the versions are not the same game. The Wii release is a port of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 builds, carrying the same modes, online and offline alike, plus its own controls. The PSP release is a port of the PlayStation 2 version, and it drops online play entirely.
So the “first PSP and Wii release of the NBA 2K series” headline hides a split. One of those ports is current-gen. The other is a trimmed-down build.
MyPlayer, Association, and the Summer League Grind
NBA 2K10 is a simulation, and it works to look like a televised NBA broadcast. Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg call the games. Cheryl Miller files sideline reports — the last time she held that role before Doris Burke took it. There are halftime shows, replays and adjustable camera angles.
The modes are where the game earns its keep. Quick play, online and street basketball are all here. Association mode hands you an entire NBA organization: you run personnel, simulate seasons, work the off-season. MyPlayer is the new one, and it is the reason to care.
In MyPlayer you build a basketball player from scratch — appearance, animations, attributes — and play out a career. You start in the Summer League. Then the D-League. Only then does an NBA team come calling. It is a slow climb by design, and it is the most interesting thing NBA 2K10 does.
Anniversary Edition and the 30,000 Copies
2K also shipped a limited Anniversary Edition alongside the standard game. It came with bonuses including a poster and a figurine. Only 30,000 copies were made.
That is a small number for a game on six platforms. The figurine and poster are the whole pitch. If you wanted one, you needed to move early.
How the Ports Compare
| Version | Release date | Based on | Online play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox 360 | October 6, 2009 | Original build | Yes |
| PlayStation 3 | October 6, 2009 | Original build | Yes |
| Wii | November 9, 2009 (NA) | Xbox 360/PS3 port | Yes |
| PSP | October 6, 2009 | PlayStation 2 port | No |
| PlayStation 2 | October 6, 2009 | Original build | Yes |
| Windows | October 12, 2009 | Original build | Yes |
The table is the story of this release. Wii owners got the full game with new controls. PSP owners got a port with a hole in it.
Kanye West, Twista, and the Soundtrack
The game put musicians in it. Kanye West, Twista, Pitbull, The Game, David Banner and Asher Roth all appeared in NBA 2K10.
That is a 2009 roster in a bottle — the year’s rap radio, dropped into a basketball sim. It dates the game instantly, and it also gives the presentation a jolt that the commentary alone would not. A basketball game does not need a soundtrack to work. It helps when the soundtrack is this specific to its moment.
The celebrity names are not the reason to play. They are the reason the game feels like 2009 and not like a generic sim.
What NBA 2K10 Gets Right, and What the PSP Port Loses
The broadcast presentation is the strongest part. Harlan and Kellogg, Miller on the sideline, the halftime shows, the replays — NBA 2K10 wants to look like a game you would flip past on cable, and it gets there. The camera angles let you pick your own view.
MyPlayer is the real addition. Building a player and dragging him through the Summer League and the D-League before an NBA team signs him is a career mode with actual stakes.
The PSP version is the problem. Losing online play in 2009 is not a minor cut. It turns a game built around modes into a solo experience on the weakest hardware in the lineup.
The Wii version is the better story. It keeps the modes, adds its own controls, and proves the series can live on a Nintendo console. The fact that it took until 2009 to get back there is the real surprise, not the port itself.
The staggered dates are also a nuisance. Windows players waited six days. Wii players waited over a month.
NBA 2K10 is a strong basketball sim with a genuine new idea in MyPlayer and a presentation package that holds up. The Anniversary Edition is a curiosity for collectors, and the celebrity cameos are period pieces more than features.
The score is 8.3 out of 10, matching the published critic aggregate from IGDB across five outlets. That is the right number. This is not a game that reinvented the genre. It is a game that executed well, added one mode that mattered, and got the series back onto Nintendo hardware.
The PSP port is the blemish. Everything else is a solid year for 2K.
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