The NBA 2K series is a series of basketball video games developed and released annually. Beginning in 1999, the NBA 2K series was an exclusive to the Sega Dreamcast. The series was originally published

Video game publisher

A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....

 by Sega

Sega

, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...

, under the label Sega Sports and is now published by 2K Sports

2K Sports

2K Sports is a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. It comprises a single development studio, Visual Concepts, which was purchased from Sega in the year 2005. 2K Sports mainly develops and publishes American sports video games such as NBA 2K series...

. All of the games in the franchise have been developed by Visual Concepts

Visual Concepts

Visual Concepts is a California-based video game developer best known for developing Sega Sports' 2K series of sports games. After the success of the series, they were picked up by Sega and became a wholly owned studio with Sega, usually termed a first-party developer...

.

History

The first four games of the series featured commentary from fictional announcers "Bob Steele" and "Rod West" (voiced by Bay Area sports radio personalities and Rod Brooks who's working at KNBR 680 San Francisco. They also host a radio show called "Fitz and Brooks"), but since NBA 2K3 the game's announcing team has been something of a revolving door, featuring commentary from the likes of Bill Walton

Bill Walton

William Theodore "Bill" Walton III is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while...

, Tom Tolbert

Tom Tolbert

Byron Thomas "Tom" Tolbert is an American retired professional basketball player and sports broadcaster. He played a total of seven seasons in the National Basketball Association...

, Kevin Frazier

Kevin Frazier

Kevin Timothy Frazier is currently host of The Insider. Formerly, Frazier worked as an anchor at Fox Sports Net, later ESPN, where he hosted SportsCenter as well as a multitude of NBA themed programming and from 2004–2011, was a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight as well as...

, Michele Tafoya

Michele Tafoya

Michele Tafoya is an American sportscaster.-Early life and career:Tafoya received a B.A...

, and Bob Fitzgerald

Bob Fitzgerald

Bob Fitzgerald is a TV play-by-play voice for the Golden State Warriors and San Jose SaberCats on CSN Bay Area, and is a co-host of the show Fitz and Brooks on KNBR with co-host Rod Brooks.-Education:...

. The color and play-by-play commentary in NBA 2K6, NBA 2K7, and NBA 2K8 is provided by Kevin Harlan

Kevin Harlan

Kevin Harlan is an American television sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he currently broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS. Harlan is also a play-by-play announcer for the NBA on TNT...

 and Kenny Smith

Kenny Smith

Kenneth "The Jet" Smith is a retired National Basketball Association player and current TV basketball analyst, primarily for Inside the NBA on TNT.-Early life:...

, with Craig Sager

Craig Sager

Craig Sager , is currently a sportscaster for TNT and TBS. Sager is a graduate of Northwestern University. He has previously covered sports for CBS and CNN. His nickname is "America's Sideline Reporter"....

 providing sideline reports. Peter Barto is the PA Announcer. NBA 2K9 features commentary from Kevin Harlan

Kevin Harlan

Kevin Harlan is an American television sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he currently broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS. Harlan is also a play-by-play announcer for the NBA on TNT...

 and Clark Kellogg

Clark Kellogg

Clark Clifton Kellogg, Jr. is the VP of player relations for the Indiana Pacers as well as the lead college basketball analyst for CBS Sports and former player in the National Basketball Association.-High School:...

, with Cheryl Miller as sideline reporter on most versions of NBA 2K9 and NBA 2K10. Starting with NBA 2K11, Doris Burke

Doris Burke

Doris Burke is a sideline reporter and color analyst for ESPN college basketball, as well as NBA on ESPN and NBA on ABC games. Burke handles both men's and women's basketball at the college and pro level. She is primarily an analyst on Big East games for men's college basketball, often teaming...

 is the sideline reporter on most versions of the game. On the PlayStation 2 versions beginning with NBA 2K9, there are no sideline reports.

In 2002 Sega implemented the American television network, ESPN

ESPN

Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....

's brand with their Sega Sports video games. The ESPN brand was used for 3 games until ESPN signed a 15-year deal with EA Sports

EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...

.

In 2005 Sega sold the NBA 2K series along with Visual Concepts to Take-Two Interactive

Take-Two Interactive

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...

. The series is currently published by 2K Sports

2K Sports

2K Sports is a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. It comprises a single development studio, Visual Concepts, which was purchased from Sega in the year 2005. 2K Sports mainly develops and publishes American sports video games such as NBA 2K series...

, a publishing label of Take-Two.

The PlayStation 3

PlayStation 3

The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 version of NBA 2K7 was the first version to support motion sensing controllers with a free throw

Free throw

In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court , and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team...

 shooting mechanic that has the player move the Sixaxis

Sixaxis

The Sixaxis Wireless Controller was the official gamepad for the Sony PlayStation 3 from launch until 2008 when it was succeeded by the DualShock 3....

 controller in a motion similar to a real free throw shot, but was discontinued for later games in the series.

The series has been present on the seventh-generation

History of video game consoles (seventh generation)

In the history of video games, the seventh generation of consoles is the current generation , and includes consoles released since late by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony...

 of consoles starting with the release of NBA 2K6 for the Xbox 360

Xbox 360

The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

 in November 2005.

NBA 2K11 was the first installment in the franchise to have support for stereoscopic 3D screens

3D display

A 3D display is any display device capable of conveying a stereoscopic perception of 3-D depth to the viewer. The basic requirement is to present offset images that are displayed separately to the left and right eye. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the...

, although this feature was made available via an update only for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. And NBA 2K12 became the first game in the series to have "built-in" support of 3D

Stereoscopy

Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...

 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, and the first to include motion controls using the PlayStation Move.

Installments

Title	Developer	Publisher	Platform(s)	Release date*	Cover athlete(s)
NBA 2K NBA 2K (video game) NBA 2K is the first installment of the NBA 2K series. It was published by Sega Sports and developed by Visual Concepts. The cover features Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers.-Gameplay:...	Visual Concepts Visual Concepts Visual Concepts is a California-based video game developer best known for developing Sega Sports' 2K series of sports games. After the success of the series, they were picked up by Sega and became a wholly owned studio with Sega, usually termed a first-party developer...	Sega Sega , usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...	Dreamcast	November 10, 1999	Allen Iverson Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season...
NBA 2K1 NBA 2K1 NBA 2K1 is the second installment of the NBA 2K series. It was developed by Visual Concepts and published by SEGA . It was the first NBA 2K game to feature online multiplayer and the first game to feature street courses instead of playing a game inside the stadium in the first game, famous street...	Visual Concepts	Sega	Dreamcast	November 1, 2000	Allen Iverson Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season...
NBA 2K2 NBA 2K2 NBA 2K2 is the third installment of the 2K series, it was still developed by Visual Concepts and published by Sega Sports. It was released for the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and the Xbox. It was released on October 24, 2001 on the Dreamcast and later ported with PlayStation 2,...	Visual Concepts	Sega	Dreamcast, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox	October 24, 2001	Allen Iverson Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season...
NBA 2K3 NBA 2K3 NBA 2K3 is a game released on October 7, 2002 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. It was published by Sega and developed by Visual Concepts. Again, like the previous games, Allen Iverson of the Philadelphia 76ers is the cover athlete....	Visual Concepts	Sega	GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox	October 7, 2002	Allen Iverson Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season...
NBA 2K4	Visual Concepts	Sega	PlayStation 2, Xbox	October 21, 2003	Allen Iverson Allen Iverson Allen Ezail Iverson is an American professional basketball point guard and shooting guard. He was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick in the 1996 NBA Draft. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season...
NBA 2K5	Visual Concepts	Sega	PlayStation 2, Xbox	September 28, 2004	Ben Wallace Ben Wallace Ben Camey Wallace is an American basketball center for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. A native of Alabama, Wallace attended Cuyahoga Community College and Virginia Union University and signed with the Washington Bullets as an undrafted free agent in 1996...
NBA 2K6	Visual Concepts	2K Sports 2K Sports 2K Sports is a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. It comprises a single development studio, Visual Concepts, which was purchased from Sega in the year 2005. 2K Sports mainly develops and publishes American sports video games such as NBA 2K series...	PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360	September 26, 2005	Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
NBA 2K7	Visual Concepts	2K Sports	PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox, Xbox 360	September 25, 2006	Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal , nicknamed "Shaq" , is a former American professional basketball player. Standing tall and weighing , he was one of the heaviest players ever to play in the NBA...
NBA 2K8	Visual Concepts	2K Sports	PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360	October 2, 2007	Chris Paul Chris Paul Christopher Emmanuel Paul is an American professional basketball point guard for the New Orleans Hornets.Paul was born and raised in North Carolina. Despite only playing two varsity basketball seasons in high school, he was a McDonald's All-American and accepted a scholarship with nearby Wake...
NBA 2K9	Visual Concepts	2K Sports	PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360	October 7, 2008	Kevin Garnett Kevin Garnett Kevin Maurice Garnett is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association . After a high school basketball career at Farragut Career Academy which included winning a national player of the year award, he...
NBA 2K10 NBA 2K10 NBA 2K10 is a basketball video game based on the National Basketball Association developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released on October 6, 2009 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP and on October 12, 2009 on PC. It was released on Wii on November 9, 2009 in...	Visual Concepts	2K Sports	PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360	October 6, 2009	Kobe Bryant Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school...
NBA 2K11 NBA 2K11 The game has received critical acclaim. Game review websites have praised NBA 2K11 for its developed controls, online multi-player, and Michael Jordan features...	Visual Concepts	2K Sports	PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360	October 5, 2010	Michael Jordan Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
NBA 2K12 NBA 2K12 NBA 2K12 is a basketball video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released on October 4, 2011 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Microsoft Windows, Wii and for the first time on iOS iPhone and iPad...	Visual Concepts	2K Sports	iPad, iPhone, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360	October 4, 2011	Larry Bird Larry Bird Larry Joe Bird is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish... Magic Johnson Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association . After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers... Michael Jordan Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...
* indicates the earliest release date.

External links