14 DAY TRIAL // ESPN has reported that 2K Sports has landed the legendary Michael Jordan as the cover star of its upcoming NBA 2K11. ESPN also says that Air Jordan will be a playable character in-game along other retired basketball stars. Less solid speculation by ESPN states that the developer is in negotiations with former teammates of Jordan to help it recreate the biggest moments of his career in the title.
This may turn out to be true, as 2K Sports has some experience in negotiating with retired sports stars. For All-Pro Football 2K8, the company had to deal with 200 different ex-football players. This might mean that a game mode for NBA 2K11 that documents Jordan's career is a real and very alluring possibility. This is an interesting turn of events because, up until now, basketball video-game makers have had to negotiate deals with Jordan separately, as he had his own licensing deal that did not mix with NBA's license.
2K Sports' NBA series is one of the best basketball video-game franchises out there. Last year's Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 release, NBA 2K10, has seen success as critics agreed over its quality and it also sold over two million copies. Its graphical prowess and deep gameplay were cited by many reviewers, so sport fans can arguably be excited about the next installment. The Wii version, on the other hand, has not been handled as well as the others, being heavily criticized for its dated visuals and the unwieldiness of the motion controls. More details about NBA2K11 of the game will be made available at E3 2010.
Other 2K Sports games to come out this year are NHL 2K11 and Major League Baseball 2K10. NHL 2K11 will be launched only on the Nintendo Wii because the development team wants to take a year off to redesign the visuals of the next-gen version and rethink the gameplay. MLB 2K10 is a well-received baseball game that was launched on the 2nd of March, 2010, on all major platforms.