The Lakerhead

Basketball Video Game Goodness

When I was a kid, Double Dribble for the Nintendo Entertainment System was the best basketball game known to man.  Featuring 4 teams that sounded suspiciously close to their NBA counterparts (Boston Frogs, Chicago Ox, New York Eagles, and Los Angeles Breakers…are you kidding me?), the game was all about finding secret hot-spots where you can shoot 80% from 3-point land (hint, bottom right side of the screen).

When the player would go for a dunk, the game would initiate a cut scene.  The cut scene looked like the pixelated piece of beautiful art you see in the picture below.  Anytime this happened, I would think to myself I can’t wait til basketball games look this good!

Maybe I wasn’t thinking ambitiously enough for a 7-year old.  Because what the boys over at Visual Concepts are coming out with in their 10th Anniversary NBA 2K10 game would have blown my child mind up.

For the 10th installment, it’s worth mentioning that you can get a mini-locker room to store your games and a Kobe Bryant figurine.  Of course, because this will end up costing you much more money, I’m opting to buy the game only on the PS3 (it will be out for Xbox 360 as well). Call me a basketball purist.

The gameplay in this video down is classic Kobe Bryant.  First, he waves the triangle off to isolate a defender.  And before you can even complain that the offense just got stagnant, he pulls off an insane spin (still the best footwork in the league) to give you two points in jaw-dropping fashion.

I can’t wait to lock down opposing teams with Artest, Kobe, and Gasol.  Yes, after the work Gasol did all playoffs, especially guarding Dwight Howard, I’m using him and “lock down” in the same sentence.  Bring it online, Cavs, Celtics, and Spurs fans!  I’ll be waiting on the Playstation Network.  And if one of us gets called for double dribble, I won’t forget the greatness of the L.A. Breakers.