Jay-Z is the headline. The rapper is credited as executive producer on NBA 2K13, and he did more than lend a name: he designed the game and curated its soundtrack. That is the pitch 2K Sports led with, and it is the thing that separates this installment from the ones before it.
Trailer, via NBA 2K.
Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose
The cover carries three athletes, all shown in dunking positions: Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. Behind them sits a full simulation. NBA 2K13 shipped in October 2012 for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360, with a Wii U version arriving as a launch title in North America and in December for the PAL region.
The feature list is where the game earns its keep:
- An enhanced MyCAREER mode
- All-new gameplay features
- A playable matchup between the 2012 U.S. Men’s National Team and the 1992 “Dream Team”
That last item carried the most argument. The game lets players pit the current dynasty against the old one, a marketing hook and the kind of thing this series does better than its rivals.
The Fourteenth Installment
NBA 2K13 follows NBA 2K12 and precedes NBA 2K14. It is the fourteenth entry in the 2K series. It is also the fourth and last NBA 2K game released on both the Wii and the PlayStation Portable, the only installment available on the Wii U, and the last to appear on pure handheld systems.
Read that list again. Three of those facts are endings, not features.
What Holds Up
The Jay-Z partnership is the part that got the attention, and it is the part that matters least. A curated soundtrack is a nice thing to have. An enhanced MyCAREER mode and the matchup between the 1992 “Dream Team” and the 2012 U.S. Men’s National Team are the reasons to keep playing past the first week.
The simulation itself was never in doubt. NBA 2K12 sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and won more than 25 Sports Game of the Year awards, and NBA 2K13 does not throw that away. It refines it.
What it does not do is transcend the genre, whatever the marketing said. The celebrity producer is a flourish on top of a very good basketball game, not a reinvention of one.
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