Not that there’s any pressure or anything. So every move you make on the training court, or wherever you’re playing, will influence how the rest of the league sees you and how your overall career pans out. If you’re not cutting it, you’ll hit training camp where other teams could make a bid on you to fit in their system. From there you’ll head to summer league, and if you perform well enough-following directions that ensure you’re moving on-court where you should-you’ll get to the training league on the path to the NBA roster. That boils down to the draft where you can see David Stern poised at the podium about to name your player making his big entrance. “So often, career modes add fluff, having extraneous events that don’t matter,” says Erick Boenisch, Lead Feature Designer, “but we want people to feel like what they are doing is real, that it matters, and has authenticity.” Making a career in the NBA requires talent, and the developers at Visual Concepts are determined that everything you do in this year’s installment contributes to your overall abilities. To be fair, after just a handful of games with a pre-release build, NBA 2K10 won’t need gimmicks to earn its plaudits the on-court detail should take care of that well enough.

2K Sports jumped on licensing this signature tune for its intro to ensure that you know that what you’re getting is authentic NBA. Like a little bit of Kanye? One tune from his 808s & Heartbreak album not only underscores the coming NBA season, it’s the soundtrack you won’t be able to avoid. It’s amazing, so amazing, so amazing, so amazing…