NBA 2K12 was released today, and it's a bittersweet moment for professional basketball fans everywhere. While this year's newest basketball game is out, it may be the only form of basketball outside of college that fans see this year.
As of Monday, the league and players are still at a virtual stalemate in their efforts to reach a new CBA that would allow them to begin the 2011 regular season on time. At this point, though, it seems very unlikely that it will.
But for now, we have the next best thing - virtual NBA. Because in the virtual world, there isn't any argument over contracts or work conditions. There's only basketball, and that's just dandy.
In this year's edition of the most popular basketball video game ever, the 2K team has expanded the game's capabilities. In one of the biggest upgrades, the NBA's Greatest Mode, fans will be able to play with more of the league's best players of yesteryear than ever before. Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets, really.
Why? Due to the lockout, NBA 2K12 is not allowed to have this year's rookies in the games, and the NBAPA won't allow them to market the players' likeness, which is why you haven't heard or seen much from the game in ads.
So, this is basically a glorified version of NBA 2K11, which was a good game to begin with. But since there aren't rookies, which are a big part of the game, it almost makes you wonder - why should I bother buying it?
Personally, as a fan of the game, I'm going to wait a little bit and hear what others have to say about the game. But if you're a fan of old time basketball, then go right ahead and buy it today. As for me, I'll wait. Fitting, isn't it?