After a five-year hiatus in the basketball simulation video game franchise, the NBA Summer League feature will return with the release of the “NBA 2K16” this coming September 29.
Game developer 2K Sports confirmed the glorious return of the NBA Summer League through a recent tweet advising gamers to prepare for their future, notes Christian Today.
In real-life, the NBA Summer League is an off-season competition among the NBA teams where players who were not drafted to a team including free agents, second stringers, and rookies, play and train to enhance their basketball skills.
The “NBA 2K16” shall feature the NBA Summer League on the enhanced MyCareer Mode where a gamer would chart the basketball career of his chosen player from the draft, to the Summer League, and eventually to the regular season.
But unlike the games in the regular season that usually last 48 minutes long at 12 minutes per quarter, the games in the NBA Summer League are only 40 minutes long at 10 minutes per quarter, to make them more up-tempo and fast-paced.
Long time to return
The last time that the NBA Summer League was featured in the basketball simulation video game franchise was in “NBA 2K11.”
As a feature of the “NBA 2K11,” the gamer’s MyPlayer character bids his time in the Summer League until he gets picked by a certain NBA team. It is not clear if “NBA 2K16” will employ the same gameplay feature for the latest edition of the Summer League.
With the return of the NBA Summer League feature of the “NBA 2K16,” it is expected that the NBA D-League will also make its expected comeback.
Extensive soundtrack
It has also been reported that the “NBA 2K16” shall have the most extensive soundtrack among all of the NBA 2K video games. Accordingly three DJs, in the persons of DJ Premier, DJ Khaled, and DJ Mustard, will serve as the producers for the soundtrack.
The video game will have a total of 50 songs, six of which are exclusive to the game. The music will range from hip hop to pop rock as well as alternatives. There will also be music from the 80s and 70s as well as the contemporary hits of today.
“NBA 2K16” will also have an ‘Around the World’ international playlist as well as a 2K Classics Mixtape containing fan-favorites from the previous iterations of the game. Among the confirmed songs to “NBA 2K16” include “Blitzkrieg Bop” by The Ramones, “Represent” by Nas, and “I Want You to Know” by DJ Zedd, which also features Selena Gomez.
Meanwhile, Major Nelson reports that 2K Sports has opened “NBA 2K16” for pre-ordering to interested gamers on Xbox One. Those who pre-order will be able to play and enjoy the game four days ahead of the release date of September 29. Gamers will also get 35,000 Virtual Currency (VC) for “NBA 2K15,” 10,000 VC, MyTEAM VIP with three Emerald Packs each with a guaranteed Emerald Player.
2K Sports has likewise made available for pre-ordering the “NBA 2K16” Michael Jordan Special Edition which will come with game rewards including digital Jordan shoes for the player’s MyPLAYER, Jordan T-shirt for the gamer’s MyPLAYER, Jordan jersey for his MyPlayer, 30,000 VC, MyTEAM VIP+ packs, featuring three Emerald packs, and a new Special Edition Exclusive Moments Card.
It has been reported early this month that “NBA 2K16” shall also feature modern technology to make the gamer experience as close to real-life as possible.
Motion capture technology has become an important ingredient in today’s video games which are based on real-life sports including football, basketball, wrestling, and the like. The intention, of course, is to come up with the exact same movements of the players on the video game version to make it as close to being real as it can be.