No rookies? No problem. NBA 2K12. will give basketball gamers all that they
need during the duration of the NBA lockout.
No Kyrie. No Derrick Williams. Nobody will be taught how to Jimmer for the better part of two months since the release of the game. The lockout has left a number of NBA fans depressed, and maybe even drove a larger number away from watching the pro game. However, if you are a basketball junkie like myself, then NBA 2K12 will give you more than you need to stay entertained before the 2011-12 NBA season begins (whenever that may be).
For the better part of an hour I navigated the menus, in absolute awe of a video game of all things. The 1964-65 Lakers vs the 1964-65 Celtics consumed the majority of my attention on October 4th. The black and white display, announcers' voices sounding 1960-ish, and no three point line were all among the amazing features that had my jaw dropped. Bill Russell, like he did in his playing days, changed the game like no one else. John Havlicek, with the ability to score from anywhere on the floor, bailed me out on numerous occasions. However, if the game came down to the closing minutes, Jerry West or high flying Elgin Baylor would stick a dagger in my heart with a spectacular play that they seemed to come up with on every single possession in the game's final quarter or overtime. Nonetheless, the NBA's Greatest Mode is extremely authentic, and even the casual basketball fan will be able to appreciate its accurate representation of the game in the "good ol' days."
The pregame pump up video is insane. Not only does the music coincidentally seem to fit whatever kind of game that you're playing, but one song even has a special effect when it is played during the pregame promo. If the song "Awesome" comes on, the word AWESOME will even pop up during the promo. After the short clip, the starting lineups look even more realistic than ever before. The back court players come up on the screen, dribbling the ball or even twirling it around their head while it displays their stats and percentages. The same happens with the three front court players. Like last year, the pregame rituals (such as Dwayne Wade's chin-ups on the rim, LeBron's Powder Toss, Tim Duncan's caressing the ball, etc.) all remain on one of the top selling franchises in sports video games.
I have not seen it for myself, but from what I've heard, shots at the buzzer are reviewed on this year's game. It has been told to me that the referees go to the monitor after the shot, and even review the play in slow motion, so that one can tell much easier whether or not the shot was released on time. While the celebrations for winning shots are still a bit generic, the atmosphere in the arena definitely gets magnified by 100 when the game is close in the final seconds. Another thing that had me constantly viewing to the replay was the animated first row of the crowd. If the ball is heading towards the people who paid Donald Trump like money for their floor seats, they sometimes actually flinch to get out of the way. Other times, it seems like they also gravitate towards the ball. Some fan will be going home with a lucky souvenir.
A thing that went remarkably unnoticed during Miami's 2006 Title run was the "White Out" by Heat fans. When you look around the crowd and see nothing but white, you know that the crowd is behind their team, and the stakes couldn't be higher. Now, when you play with certain teams on NBA 2K12, the local faithful will wear their battle colors. Whether it may be the blue for Oklahoma City, all red for the Windy City, or green in Beantown, you definitely know where you're playing during the postseason.
Now, unfortunately, come some of the negatives. Despite 2K's servers being a major issue the last few years, they still have not been fixed. On the game's release day, when I first played online, once I finally did find an opponent poor connection wouldn't even allow us to play. Also, there were a few instances when the game froze after a defensive three second violation. But, even with these few flaws found in this game, it without a doubt deserves the 9.5 rating that it received from IGN.com.
If you appreciate throwback basketball at its finest, do not hesitate to purchase the latest installment of 2K Basketball. If you're a graphics person, then you may want to take a trip to your local Wal-Mart and pick up this game. The faces look unbelievably real. All in all, the pros outweigh the cons by a long shot. Those who say "With no rookies, it's just like play NBA 2K11 all over again" couldn't be further from the truth. In my opinion, this is the biggest leap that i've ever seen a sports game make over the span of just one year.
At Ransom Notes, I'm talking to John Rector about his latest, Already Gone and... damn. That's three kick ass books in under a year and a half from his Nebraska hidey hole. Guys like him make me feel pathetic. You know somebody else who's getting shit done these days? Nik Korpon. Less than a year since his first book Stay God was released, he's published two novellas, the excellent Old Ghosts last spring and the brand new By the Nails of the Warpriest now-ish... In Print! I'm happy for authors who are getting exposure and making some money with eBooks and I'm pleased as hell that people are reading them, but it's still pretty special to have an object to read. Check out David Cranmer's interview with Nik over at the Gutter Books site.
The Nerd of Noir's crime double feature for this issue is Andrew Williams' London to Brighton which I haven't seen, but will very soon, believe it, and Ben Wheatley's Down Terrace which I have and need to see again. Really, really need to watch again. It was a most unusual experience and I'm eager to have another go. Based on the strength of Terrace, Wheatley's next Kill List is way up top of my anticipated films list. Incidentally, I first heard of Terrace from the Ray Banks, who has usually got a keen eye for quality, but take a gander at his counter-brilliance take on Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive over at the always worthwhile Norma Desmond's Monkey. How wrong he is. How wrong. Well, he's backed up his opinions with some words that are worth reading even if they're off the mark. 
So I came across the artwork for the Surreal South '11 anthology online the other day. Looks spooky nice. Really excited to be part of it. Could, at this point, launch into a long-winded 'you've come a long way, baby' back pat here, but that would be unseemly. You, on the other hand, are welcome to go on and on about me. Really, just being included in this collection is a big ol' sloppy smooch to my ego. The lineup is great - N@B alum like Laura Benedict, Pinckney Benedict, Anthony Neil Smith and John Hornor Jacobs, plus Sophie Littlefield, Nik Korpon, Brad Green, J.T. Ellison, Sheryl Monks, John McManus and and and... Yeah, a buncha goodness/badness. On October 28, I'll be headed out to Carbondale, Il for the Devil's Kitchen Literary Festival at SIUC where I'll join Laura, Pinckney and Josh Woods on a panel called The Anthology Pathology. Come say 'hi' if you're around.
