NBA 2K16 is a 2015 basketball video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It is the 17th installment in the NBA 2K franchise and the successor to NBA 2K15, while also being the predecessor of NBA 2K17. It was released on September 29, 2015, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 3. A mobile version for Android and iOS was released on October 14, 2015. There are three different covers for the main game, one featuring Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans, another featuring Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and the last featuring James Harden of the Houston Rockets.Makuch, Eddie (June 5, 2015). "Don't Like Steph Curry? NBA 2K16 Comes With Swappable Covers". GameSpot. Retrieved June 6, 2015. A special edition version of the game was also released; it features Michael Jordan on the cover.Sarkar, Samit (June 24, 2015). "NBA 2K16 Special Edition brings back Michael Jordan on the cover". Polygon. Retrieved June 25, 2015.Campbell, Evan (June 24, 2015). "NBA 2K16 Special Edition Features Michael Jordan". IGN. Retrieved June 25, 2015.
NBA 2K16 simulates the experience of the National Basketball Association. Players play NBA games with real or created players and teams in various game modes, such as MyCareer, MyTeam, and standard games. Players may play regular season NBA games, playoff games, Summer League games, and others. Apart from the NBA, EuroLeague teams are also featured, thus simulating the EuroLeague. Players may create their own player and take them through a basketball career with the central goal of being the greatest basketball player of all time. The game offers many customization options for the player; the player may customize the physical appearance, attributes, and skill set of any player. Players may also create, build, and customize their own teams. The soundtrack was curated by DJ Premier, DJ Mustard, and DJ Khaled. It consists of 50 different songs.
Director Spike Lee was heavily involved in the development of the game's MyCareer mode. Lee's goal was to create a more story-focused MyCareer mode than previous installments. Lee worked with real world basketball players, following them and documenting their experience in high school and college competition, in an effort to more accurately depict the lifestyle of real professional basketball players. Several improvements and new additions were made to NBA 2K16, such as full body scanning, and overall aesthetic improvements. Several versions of the game were released, such as a special edition, which includes several physical and digital extras. If players pre-ordered the game, they received it on September 25, 2015. Players were also able to download a companion app called MyNBA2K16 which allows the player to earn in-game currency among other things.
NBA 2K16 was met with widespread acclaim upon release. Many critics praised the overall presentation and gameplay, as well as the large amount of content, the new features, and the developers' ability to still introduce positive changes after many previous installments. However, some critics still experienced online technical issues, while others heavily criticized the MyCareer mode for being far too restrictive. Some critics also felt that changing the controls was unnecessary and criticized the lack of tutorials and the presence of microtransactions. NBA 2K16 shipped over 4 million copies in its first week, making it the fastest selling game in the series.
Gameplay NBA 2K16 is a basketball simulation video game based on the National Basketball Association. Like past games in the series, NBA 2K16 simulates the experience of the NBA. Players play NBA games with any real life or custom team, and can customize many aspects, such as camera angles, the presentation of players, the sound levels, and the level of realism. Like other NBA 2K games, NBA 2K16 is marketed as being as realistic as the actual NBA, with all the things featured in NBA games, such as commentary, pre-game shows, halftime shows, post-game shows, replays, interviews, crowds, and real player movement, among many other things. The pre-game, halftime, and post-game shows are hosted by Ernie Johnson with punditry from Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith.Lelinwalla, Mark (September 10, 2015). "New 'NBA 2K16' Trailer Showcases TNT Broadcast Booth's Commentary With Shaq And Kenny Smith". Tech Times. Retrieved September 15, 2015.Pereira, Chris (September 10, 2015). "Check Out NBA 2K16's New Studio Show Starring Shaq (But Not Charles Barkley)". GameSpot. Retrieved September 12, 2015. Meanwhile, the game commentary is performed by Kevin Harlan with Clark Kellogg and Greg Anthony, while Doris Burke is the sideline reporter.Sarkar, Samit (September 10, 2015). "NBA 2K16's broadcast team gets bigger and a bit weirder". Polygon. Retrieved September 24, 2015. The game features several online and offline game modes where players can play alone against the CPU, or against other players online."HOW ONLINE GAMES MATTER IN NBA 2K16" (September 23, 2015). IGN. Retrieved September 24, 2015.
NBA 2K16, like past games in the series, was marketed as being 'better' than the predecessor, as many features were added and improved upon.Bertz, Matt (August 19, 2015). "NBA 2K16 — 50 Exciting Changes Coming To NBA 2K16's Franchise Modes". Game Informer. Retrieved September 27, 2015. One such improvement, is the tattoos; when creating a player, there are over 1500 different designs available, whereas past games only had a few dozen individual tattoos."NBA 2K16 Presents: Be the Canvas". NBA 2K on YouTube. Retrieved September 15, 2015.Mojica, Nicholas (August 29, 2015). "'NBA 2K16' To Feature Fully Customizable Tattoos: Over 1,500 Designs" . Design & Trend. Retrieved August 31, 2015. Other things that are touted as being improved are the visuals, the player customization (haircuts, accessories, etc.), several of the game modes (particularly MyCareer, which is marketed as a central feature), and the overall gameplay. Many aesthetical improvements are made as well, such as new animations, and redesigned menus. New animations include mouth guards, and photobombs.Harper, Zach (September 22, 2015). "WATCH: NBA 2K16 has captured the essence of Chris Bosh". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 23, 2015.Makuch, Eddie (August 24, 2015). "NBA 2K16's First Extended Gameplay Trailer Also Teases College Basketball". GameSpot. Retrieved August 25, 2015.
Along with the current real world teams, such as the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Brooklyn Nets, and the Classic teams (first introduced in NBA 2K11)Good, Owen S. (October 6, 2010). "Review: NBA 2K11". Kotaku. Retrieved September 24, 2015. that have been featured before, like the 1985–86 Boston Celtics and the 1995–96 Chicago Bulls, 12 new Classic teams are introduced in NBA 2K16.Lelinwalla, Mark (September 11, 2015). "'NBA 2K16': All The Classic Teams Announced". Tech Times. Retrieved September 24, 2015. The 1999–2000 Toronto Raptors, featuring Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady, the 2000–01 Los Angeles Lakers, featuring Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, the 2002–03 Dallas Mavericks, featuring Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, and the 2007–08 Boston Celtics, featuring Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen, are some of the new Classic teams.Bryan, Wiedey (June 1, 2015). "Three new classic teams revealed for NBA 2K16". Retrieved July 1, 2015.Lelinwalla, Mark (August 6, 2015). "'NBA 2K16' To Release New Throwback Teams Every Thursday". Tech Times. Retrieved August 7, 2015."The '02-'03 Mavericks & '99-'00 Trail Blazers are coming to #NBA2K16! We'll be unveiling NEW teams every Thur! #TBT" (August 6, 2015). NBA 2K on Twitter. Retrieved August 7, 2015. The EuroLeague teams, first featured in NBA 2K14,Liebl, Matt (July 2, 2013). "Top Euroleague basketball teams playable in NBA 2K14". GameZone. Retrieved September 28, 2015.Mejia, Ozzle (July 2, 2013). "NBA 2K14 debuts Euroleague Basketball teams". Shacknews. Retrieved September 28, 2015. return for the third time. Some of the 25 EuroLeague teams include Olympiacos Piraeus, Panathinaikos Athens, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Real Madrid, Alba Berlin, and CSKA Moscow."NBA 2K16 Euroleague Team List Revealed!" (September 15, 2015). EuroHoops.net. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
NBA 2K16, for the fourth time in the series, features MyTeam mode. MyTeam mode was first introduced in NBA 2K13,Good, Owen S. (September 21, 2012). "NBA 2K13's MyTeam Means All Team Sports Have an 'Ultimate Team' Mode Now". Kotaku. Retrieved September 24, 2015. and is based around the idea of building the ultimate basketball team, and maintaining a virtual trading card collection. Players build their own custom team, selecting the players, current and past, jerseys, coach, court, and other basketball related things, and play with their team in basketball tournament-style competitions against other players' teams. Players collect cards that unlock players, playbooks, and other items that can be used in their team or sold. Players purchase card packs with Virtual Currency (VC) which gives the player random items. Starting NBA 2K16, cards have different levels that are indicated by their overall rating including: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Amethyst, and Diamond. A player will commonly receive Bronze cards if they purchase cheaper card packs. However, if the player purchases high priced packs, the chances of getting Gold cards are higher. There are also rare cards, such as Amethyst and Diamond cards, that are rarer and better than other cards. The level of a card isn't always the most important factor as the abilities of the actual player, and their rating indicating how good they are, is most often more important. Players can freely customize their team on the fly; players may change the coach, players, jerseys, and anything else at any time. Customization aspects were touted as being the major improvements for the mode.MyTEAM Team (September 9, 2015). "NBA 2K16 Developer Blog - MyTEAM" . Operation Sports. Retrieved September 18, 2015.Mazique, Brian (September 3, 2015). "NBA 2K16: Breaking Down New MyTeam Customization Features". Bleacher Report. Retrieve September 18, 2015.
In addition to the MyTeam team customization, players may create their own brand new team from scratch and play 5-on-5 games against other players and their teams online, in the 2K Pro-Am game mode. Similar to previous games' Crew mode, players customize team logos, colour schemes, court designs, jersey styles, and certain other basketball related aspects. Players can create a variety of designs and themes; for example, the player has the ability to create the logos of past NBA teams, such as the Seattle SuperSonics, or create a team which features logos that consists of individual players. Unlike other game modes, Pro-Am teams consists exclusively of MyPlayers. Players may also play 5-on-5 games against other players using regular teams. Regular online games are played in a mode called Play Now. In Play Now, the player essentially levels up as they win games and move through the online ranks.Schwartz, Nick (September 25, 2015). "NBA 2K16 review: Return of the king". For The Win. Retrieved September, 2015.Pereira, Chris (July 30, 2015). "NBA 2K16 Lets You Fully Design a Team, Go Online for 5-on-5 Matches". GameSpot. Retrieved July 31, 2015."It's time to get the old band back together… Get ready. Today. #NBA2K16 #2KPROAM" (July 30, 2015). NBA 2K on Twitter. Retrieved August 12, 2015."#2KPROAM: Instant matchmaking, logo/uni/arena customization & your chance to PROVE you're the best team in #NBA2K16!" (July 30, 2015). NBA 2K on Twitter. Retrieved August 12, 2015.