NBA 2K16 Release Date and Roster: Latest Trailer 'Livin' Da Dream, A Spike Lee Joint' Shows More Realism in Gameplay

Sep 16, 2015 01:12 PM EDT


Ever since 2K Sports introduced classic teams in NBA 2K11, it has created a new gaming franchise that can only be matched by the Madden football series as well as the FIFA franchise. This year's NBA 2K16 promises to be quite something thanks to its Roster. There will also be some interesting pre-order bonuses for those who purchase the NBA 2K16 before its release date. This is what is known about NBA 2K16 with its roster, trailer, and some of its very realistic gameplay.

According to Dime, 2K Games revealed the gameplay improvements for this year's NBA 2K16. Specifically, they wanted to show the realism with the players on the court, like ones based on real-life NBA counterparts. An example of one of the advancements that the developers have made is with Steph Curry (who is on one of the covers for the game) and how he moves. There are subtleties like how he will look for the ball that look like what the actual player would do on an NBA court.

One of the biggest problems with sports games is that they are based on real-life athletes, and their faces have to look realistic to immerse the player in a pro basketball environment. In the last incarnation of this game, only NBA players' faces were scanned. In NBA 2K16, the entire players' body is scanned.

The game has 30 different rosters, 30 different coaches, not to mention hundreds of individual players. The roster for NBA 2K16 is numerous, with 12 new classic teams such as

  •  1999-2000 Toronto Raptors (with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady)
  •  2000-2001 Los Angeles Lakers (with Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant)
  •  2002-2003 Dallas Mavericks (with Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki)
  •  2007-2008 Boston Celtics (with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen)

According to Gotta Be Mobile, the famed African-American director Spike Lee will be involved as a producer on NBA 2K16. Lee also wrote and directed the MyCareer mode that will be featured on this year's version of the game.

For those who are not familiar with MyCareer, it is one of many modes of the NBA 2K franchise offers outside its typical exhibitions. The purpose is to make you feel like a real NBA rookie, and 2K Game's Ryan Peters says that Spike Lee was brought in to "transform the narrative". Lee, who once directed Denzel Washington in a basketball film He Got Game, is a good choice for the 90 minutes of actual narrative in the game, and it will have its own plot, protagonist, and antagonist. There is a new trailer out showing what it will be like, complete with video game characters acting out what looks to be a serious dramatic sports story.

According to the International Business Times, You should expect the release date of NBA 2K16 for September 29, 2015 for the PS3, PS4, PC, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. It will be possible to pre-order the game and receive it four days earlier than the actual release date, and this pre-ordered version will have some in-game bonuses. The Michael Jordan special edition of the game can also be pre-ordered, and those that do will get the game on September 25th, four days prior to the general release date. This is interesting, as previous versions of NBA 2K have been released in usually the first week of October.