NBA 2K12 (covers revealed)

[ButterMPancakes]

If you're 2K Sports, how do you top Michael Jordan as your cover athlete? Easy. Simply bring MJ back, only this time reunite him with fellow Dream Teamers Larry Bird and Magic Johnson for three distinct and visually stunning covers.

That's right, 2K Sports is splitting the production run between three legendary boxes this year, as stores will actually receive an equal 33 percent share of Jordan, Magic and Bird covers from day one, enabling gamers to decide which superstar they want to stare at for the next 12 months between 2K cycles.

And with the NBA in full lockout mode, seems to be a great time for 2K Sports to go retro again, especially when you factor in the 5 million-plus copies "NBA 2K11" has already sold across all platforms, thanks to "His Airness."

I guess that's why 2K Sports has also reached a three-year extended partnership with Jordan to bring him back to the virtual hardwood in future games.

"Michael Jordan for us last year was a huge success from a fan standpoint and an in-game standpoint," says Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports. "But in 2K Sports fashion, we continue to improve, we continue to evolve, and this year we're taking it up a notch by having three covers of the game.

"And to take it up another notch, we're departing from our traditional brand look. We wanted to do something that was really dynamic and really different this year, so we talked with a bunch of sports artists and street artists, and we ended up teaming with a sports photographer named Adam Larson. He has done a ton of high-profile stuff, including an ESPN The Magazine cover, so we partnered with him to create all of the artwork for all three covers for us. All of the artwork is consistent between the covers in terms of look and feel and cover scheme. The only thing different, of course, is the athlete."

While Argent explains the differences in the covers, he's also quick to point out that the game will have the same features, no matter which version you buy. "The game under all three covers is the exact same," he explains. "Having Michael, having Magic and having Larry Bird involved will tie to the game and to some of the features that we'll be unveiling in a couple of weeks, but that's all I can say right now."

As long as my Larry Legend moments include a Dr. J choke-fight, I'm down.

Look for "NBA 2K12" to hit stores Oct. 4, 2011 (whether there's a real season or not), for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Wii, PSP and Windows PC.

http://espn.go.com/espn/thelife/vid...r/id/6789933/jordan-bird-magic-cover-nba-2k12

 

[Vlad]

All 3 look great

 

[ButterMPancakes]

Agreed, although I do think they should've made the background colors match that player's team jersey a bit more, so while Jordan's looks good Magic's and Bird's should be slightly more yellow/green. Just cunt picking though, I do like bringing all 3. I wonder if the next few releases they'll have an official cover sold in stores and exclusive ones for every single team in the league, but only available via online via pre order with only a few available. The Cavs could have an Irving one for 2013, Derrick Rose for the Bulls, and the Magic could have Justin Harper :chuckles:

 

[cdt]

Magic is sick but I'm still rollin with MJ.

 

[DonGilbert]

I think I'll role with Bird... White Power!

 

[Walter White]

Magic one is the best.

 

[Biw]

Going with Jordan for the simple fact that his jersey matches the rest of the cover. #ocd

 

[ButterMPancakes]

welp, someone in the Magic forums thought the exact same thing and went as far as showing what he meant:

 

[Typhoon]

Lockout Edition

 

[RaptorFan]

im getting me some larry bird, fuck the lakers and theres too many chicago fans out there

 

[Numbers Guy]

That Larry Bird cover with the green b/g is sick.. ill prolly go with Magic though.

 

[KIrving15]

I will still go with the MJ one...even though these are all SICK!

 

[blank964]

If I bought one of the covers with Bird or Magic I would print out the photoshopped covers and put them over the regular ones. Any word on NBA Elite this year :chuckles:

 

[ClevelandOwns]

They went a little crazy with the liquify tool on those lol

 

[Typhoon]

You guys remember this 2k commercial?

<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oB_J2PdO2qo&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oB_J2PdO2qo&rel=0&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object>