2K has released new trailer in anticipation of NBA 2K17, this time the trailer covers their improvements upon the commentary system for NBA 2K17. Commentary is usually a problem in sports games. Even now with the ability to use real life commentators, after playing the game enough you hear the same phrases repeated so often that you end up tuning out the commentary entirely. NBA 2K17 attempts to break the monotony by using 11 national broadcasters and over 400 hours of recorded commentary. The trailer can be viewed below.
The game still features the commentary stylings of Kevin Harlan and Greg Anthony but will also include many voices and personalities that should be familiar to any basketball fan. The other commentators include: Doris Burke, Steve Smith, Chris Webber, Clark Kellogg, and Brent Barry. Each commentator is displayed using their individual style of commentary and quips, here’s to hoping they include a couple of Bone’s very solid Seinfeld references. David Aldridge is also shown in the video, offering sideline commentary. The lack of a Craig Sager re-introduction into the franchise is disappointing but this cast is most definitely a who’s who of basketball commentary.
To even further build the realism in NBA 2K17, the voices of the actual coaches were used. This is definitely something that used to be jarring in previous versions of the game. It has always been comical that someone with a voice as distinct as Doc Rivers would sound the same as Kurt Rambis in the sideline cut scenes. This is of course not a major issue but the use of the actual coach’s voices only adds to the game’s realism and overall displays a good attention to detail. The coaches featured in the trailer include: Billy Donovan (OKC), Frank Vogel (Orlando), Brad Stevens (Celtics), Doc Rivers (LAC), Steve Kerr (Golden State), Jason Kidd (Bucks), Mike Budenholzer (Hawks), and David Joerger (SAC).
The 2K Sports studio show, which is essentially TNT’s NBA team with a gaping hole where Sir Charles Barkley used to be, is also making a return in NBA 2K17. The studio show now has an added feature where Shaq and Kenny can interview the MyPlayer in MyCareer. The player has the option to choose how they want to respond to their questions, where most of the responses boil down to whether they want to appear humble or arrogant.
NBA 2K17 is going to be released September 20th for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. NBA 2K17 is also currently available for pre-order with various bundles.