The latest commercial for NBA 2K16 has premiered on Game One of the NBA Finals. The trailer has no gameplay footage, but do you know what it does have? Story.
Or rather, as director Spike Lee claims, the sport of basketball has a lot of story. In fact, on the basketball court, the story is everything, or to put it another way, each NBA game weaves a compelling narrative, that also connects it to the bigger story of the annual championships.
Spike makes a teaser trailer for NBA 2K16 like only he can, by not pitching the graphics, AI, platforms, or gameplay mechanics. Spike strikes directly at the heart of basketball fans, reminding us of why we love the sport so much. If you’ve grown up watching his commercials for Nike as abrasive/endearing street smart character Mars Blackmon, you know how well he can connect to the people out in the street.
As I alluded to before,NBA 2K16 is set to be the first modern game with the direct involvement of a director at the caliber of Spike Lee, overtaking Del Toro’s attempt to get his horror projectsInsane and Silent Hills going. (As an aside, we have to necessarily discount George Lucas, as he only consulted on LucasArts games, nor Steven Spielberg, whose Boom Blox was more a light diversion than serious attempt at narrative).
ConsideringNBA 2K goes above and beyond the normal sports sim to create an RPG experience, Spike is positioned to teach game designers how an Oscar and Emmy Award winner writes a video game.
Are you a Spike Lee fan? Are you looking forward to his story for NBA 2K16? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
NBA 2K16 will be released on September 29, 2015, for PS3, PS4, Windows, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
