Xbox 360 PS3

NBA 2K13

SimulatorSportStrategy

Time to beat: about 64.8 hours

Overview

NBA 2K13 is a 2012 basketball video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It was released in October 2012 for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii and Xbox 360. A version for the Wii U was also released as a launch title in North America, and in December for the PAL region. Blake Griffin of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls are the cover athletes, and they are all shown in dunking positions. NBA 2K13 is the successor to NBA 2K12, succeeded by NBA 2K14 in the NBA 2K series and is the fourteenth installment in the 2K series.

Around mid-June 2012, 2K Sports announced a 'Uncover the Cover' where the more tweets #NBA2K13 got the more clues would be revealed about the cover athletes. 2K also announced NBA 2K13's compatibility with Kinect for the Xbox 360. Two of the legends from NBA 2K12 have been removed: Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. On May 3, 2012, 2K Sports announced that as a bonus for pre-ordering the game, buyers would receive downloadable content for an All Star Weekend, which would feature the Slam Dunk Contest, Three Point Contest, Rising Stars Challenge, and the NBA All Star Game. Also a shoe creator was developed, with Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Spalding, Reebok, Converse, Under Armour, and generic shoes available to create and edit.

Rapper Jay-Z serves as executive producer of the game. He has been credited with the idea of having both the 1992 and 2012 United States men's national basketball teams in the game. Additionally, he appeared in an introduction, picked songs for the game's soundtrack and contributed to the design of its in-game menus "and other visual elements".

However, Joystiq and GamesRadar gave the game mixed reviews. Both publications lauded the game's on-court experience, while criticizing the game modes. Joystiq called the My Career and My Team modes "uninspired and lazy" while GamesRadar lamented the absence of the Jordan and Greatest challenges modes from previous installments.