Sports don’t change that much, so neither do sports games. Yeah the sweat graphics get better, the rosters get updated, and the mechanics try new ways to replicate play that can only really happen in the real world with real people. But for non-fans like me, there are few game genres more stagnant that simulation sports games.
But they’re really successful. And flush with cash, publishers have been doing some interesting things to shake up these sports sims that have to release every year no matter what. EA added cinematic story modes to FIFA and Madden, but it was 2K that innovated this trend with NBA 2K’s story mode. And this trailer for NBA 2K20’s campaign is even more star-studded.
My colleague Jeff Wilson pointed out that this video game has a better cast than some movies. And I agree. As usual the MyCareer plot seems to revolve around some promising young athlete working his way to the big leagues. And along the way he’ll meet characters played by Rosario Dawson, Ernie Hudson, Thomas Middleditch, LeBron James, and everyone’s favorite black fancasting actor Idris Elba.
We didn’t get here overnight though. Previous NBA 2K story modes featured actors like Michael B. Jordan, Anthony Mackie, and Hannibal Buress. And most famously, the first one of these was basically an unproduced Spike Lee movie. It wasn’t Do The Right Thing, but it was pretty weird! So you don’t need to go the movie theater to watch the next great sports drama. Just check out NBA 2K20 when it launches on September 6.
