NLSC Your source for basketball video games.
This is Wayback Wednesday, your midweek blast from the past! From retrospectives of basketball games and their interesting features, to republished articles and looking at NBA history through the lens of the virtual hardwood, Wednesdays at the NLSC are for going back in time. This week, I’m taking a look back at the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 version of NBA 2K10.
I’ve really enjoyed going back and developing more of an appreciation for the seventh generation NBA 2K titles prior to NBA 2K13. Well, most of them! NBA 2K6 is now one of my favourite basketball video games, and I also ended up getting hooked on NBA 2K7 after revisiting it. NBA 2K8 felt like a misstep – an opinion that you’ll find in contemporary reviews of the game – but the series quickly got back on track with NBA 2K9. That game immediately shot up my rankings after I spent some more time with it, which includes a co-op Chicago Bulls Association with Dee.
That brings me to NBA 2K10. Like its predecessor, I think it’s unfortunately come to be overshadowed by the admittedly fantastic releases that followed it. To that point though, it’s still an excellent game in its own right. There are definitely aspects that its successors improved upon, but NBA 2K10 is still comparable in terms of its overall quality and how fun it is on the sticks. And so, just as I warmed up to its counterpart from EA Sports after it entered my rotation in 2021, I’m now quite fond of NBA 2K10 as well! Let’s take a look back…way back…
I’ll start out with what has always been my biggest complaint about every NBA 2K game before NBA 2K13: the dribbling controls. Even as I’ve become more proficient with the original Isomotion controls, I still believe it’s an inferior mechanic to NBA Live’s various iterations of Freestyle Control. With that being said, NBA 2K10 has one of my favourite takes on Isomotion prior to the adoption of right stick controls in NBA 2K13. The controls in the PC version – which are similar to the Alternate A layout in the 360 and PS3 releases – provide crossover and spin move buttons. The similarity to pre-Freestyle Control NBA Live titles makes it very accessible to me.
Additionally, the full range of Isomotion moves can still be performed using the left stick in conjunction with the shoulder buttons. I find that I can get by fine using the face buttons though, and they’re much handier in a pinch. Contrary to what’s printed in the manual, the default control layout and other alternate layouts from the console versions don’t actually appear to be available in the PC version. That’s unfortunate as choice is important, and I expect some gamers would prefer the other configurations. Still, I personally think the PC port opted for the best one. However, it did sacrifice the pick and roll/call for slip screen button, so all picks must come via playcalling.
The Alternate B controller configuration on console actually features dribbling moves on the right stick, but it’s nowhere near as good as NBA Live’s Freestyle. Moreover, it also removes the Shot Stick controls, as well as the ability to contest shots with the right stick on defense, so I’d suggest that it isn’t preferable. As such, I’d recommend sticking with the default layout or Alternate A configuration on console. Again, aside from losing the pick control button, the PC version’s lone configuration option feels like a good choice. Between the two buttons and the full Isomotion controls using the modifier and left stick, the dribbling moves are accessible and satisfying to pull off.
Thanks to the Shot Stick, the shooting controls are deep. They’re mostly logical and straightforward: hold the right stick left or right of the basket to finish left or right, in the direction of a player’s movement to perform a drifter, away from the basket for a leaner, and so on. When sprinting to the basket, holding the Shot Stick in different directions will perform different styles of dunks accordingly. Post play feels a bit contrived to me, though. Hooks and jumpers are simple enough, but I’m not a fan of incorporating the shoulder buttons to perform a spin, up and under, or step through. It works, but it doesn’t feel intuitive, particularly as there’s no manual post-up control.
Still, for the most part I like the controls in NBA 2K10. Alley-oops involve an extra button – the modifier plus pass, rather than a single button for lobs as in NBA Live 10 – but they work much better! The lack of pick control in the PC version eliminates an easy way to set them up when playing solo, but when players are in the right position you can hit them with the lob for the throwdown. Defensively, you’ve got all the tools to make stops, though steals are perhaps slightly too hard to come by on the default slider settings. There’s a bit of “press steal to foul”, but the game does reward good timing. Blocks are fun, whether they’re big swats or more controlled deflections.
Rebounding is solid. As in NBA 2K9, sometimes battling on the boards will result in a cheap, canned goaltending or offensive interference call, but not as frequently. For the most part, the gameplay in NBA 2K10 is fairly well-balanced. Lower difficulty levels can end up being too easy for experienced gamers, while the higher levels will display some vicious comeback logic. Strong, sensible play will be rewarded though, and the CPU’s rallies don’t feel quite as phoney as they do in NBA 2K8. Shooting percentages and scores can sometimes be higher than normal, but generally speaking, NBA 2K10 was attempting to be as realistic as possible on the virtual hardwood.
To that end, you can expect the right players to be taking the most shots, and for the AI to be running plays and seeking to take advantage of mismatches and mistakes. The CPU does tilt the balance in its favour at times with the usual tricks, some of which are still issues even today. You can expect to rack up a few turnovers thanks to psychic steals, and the AI will rig the dice roll on some difficult shots that the user is more likely to miss. Jumpshots are viable, so you won’t necessarily have to pound it inside just to keep up with the CPU. Release points are tied to animations though, so timing jumpers and free throws can be tough without a meter or another visual cue.
While some of the advanced controls are complex compared to NBA Live 10, and the AI can be quite brutal in an effort to provide a challenge, I’ve come to really enjoy the gameplay in NBA 2K10. The controls are responsive, and the players feel a bit lighter than their NBA Live 10 counterparts. NBA 2K10 undoubtedly has the advantage in animation quality and variety. NBA Live 10 is one of the strongest seventh gen NBA Live titles in that regard, but NBA 2K10 has it beat as far as looking more lifelike in general, as well as providing deeper authenticity with the amount of signature player animations. The wider array of generic animations is also a strength of NBA 2K10.
As much as I love NBA Live 10, it has the same problem that many NBA Live titles have had. A majority of its dunks and layups are more suitable for driving finishes, but look awkward and are sometimes less effective from a standing start. The dunks in particular favour highlight plays, which is certainly fun but also tends to be riskier. Even during the seventh generation, NBA 2K was doing a better job of providing quick flushes and other simple driving dunks, as well as an array of shots in the paint and standing dunks under the rim. It makes the action look far more realistic, not to mention it feels like you’ve got a better arsenal of moves to throw at your opponents.
The atmosphere and presentation in NBA 2K10 is excellent, imitating a late 2000s NBA on TNT broadcast as closely as possible without the branding. Kevin Harlan and Clark Kellogg are on the call, and they’re great as always. Cheryl Miller is working the sidelines, and her reports add to the immersion. There are also pre-game rituals for players and teams alike, from LeBron James’ chalk toss to Dwyane Wade’s pull-ups on the rim. Notably, the rituals aren’t cutscenes, so you might see a player performing theirs in the background while the camera is focusing on another player of interest. The rituals each have their own frequency, so as to avoid becoming too repetitive.
NBA 2K10 also features the debut of the short-lived Pressbook as part of its game wrap-up menu. The Pressbook features a slideshow of moments from the game you just played, from angles that you’d expect to see from NBA photographers. These screenshots could be uploaded to 2K Share – while that was still available for NBA 2K10 – and downloaded for use elsewhere. The Pressbook only lasted until NBA 2K12, and while it may not seem necessary these days, I believe that it could still be useful. Not only could it save time by not having to pause to get the perfect screenshot in instant replay, but it could also generate some cool thumbnails for content creators!
I’m by no means a graphics snob – as is evident from my love of retro gaming – but I still appreciate good visuals. NBA 2K10’s graphics are great for the time, and I’d also deem them to be a slight improvement over NBA 2K9. Player faces are definitely hit and miss though, with some looking more like action figures compared to NBA Live 10’s realistic likenesses. Obviously gameplay is paramount and some bad faces won’t prevent me from enjoying the on-court experience, but it’s worth noting that it’s one area where NBA 2K lagged behind in 2009. Indeed, NBA Live 10 features a better face for Kobe Bryant than NBA 2K10, despite him being the latter’s cover player!
Once again though, gameplay is what matters the most. While NBA Live 10 is more accessible and still a blast on the virtual hardwood, NBA 2K10 offers more depth and authenticity. It’s also the superior release when it comes to modes. The Association in NBA 2K10 remains deeper than Dynasty in NBA Live 10, in just about every way. In addition to allowing up to 30 user-controlled teams, Association includes the option to play preseason and D-League games. Fictional players from the D-League can also be signed. Contracts include both player and team options, as well as no-trade clauses. Three team trades are possible, and picks from the next two Drafts can be swapped.
Draft Classes can now be customised, though you can still auto-generate them. On top of scheduling team practices to develop your roster, you can have individual players take part in drills to improve their ratings. The Academy in NBA Live 10 provides a similar function, but only once a month, and some of the drills don’t impact ratings as they’re supposed to. NBA 2K10’s Association also allows you to scrimmage whenever you like, rather than during a monthly training session. Head coaches can be hired and fired, and they also eventually retire. There’s a wealth of stats and information screens to keep up with the league, and simulated results are pleasingly realistic all around.
In short, while NBA Live’s more streamlined franchise experience could still be fun, NBA 2K’s mode continued to strive for more depth and authenticity. Had I been able to get into the gameplay all those years ago, I expect that I’d have had at least a few memorable Association games! Dynasty mode in NBA Live 10 is still a commendable effort, thanks in large part to the overhaul that was made in NBA Live 08. It’s missing the level of detail that can be found in The Association in NBA 2K10, though. Many of the basics were covered, but NBA 2K was just doing a much better job of catering to hardcore hoop heads who wanted an in-depth representation of being an NBA GM.
NBA 2K10 also features the debut of My Player, the series’ original take on a career mode. Gamers were able to get a taste of the new mode prior to launch, via the Draft Combine DLC. This paid add-on – available for $4.99 USD on PS3 or 400 Microsoft Points on 360 – allowed you to complete drills to improve your Draft stock. Indeed, it’s the only way to get drafted in NBA 2K10’s My Player. If you don’t have the add-on, you’ll instead be signed as an undrafted rookie by a random team. That’s the only path on PC, since it didn’t get the DLC. Drafted or undrafted however, you’ll play in the Summer Circuit: the game’s legally-friendly name for the NBA Summer League.
The Summer Circuit consists of six games, providing you with an opportunity to start levelling up your player before your rookie season. Each game has a set of objectives that will earn additional Skill Points to spend on upgrades, and help you to impress your team. The Summer Circuit is followed by Training Camp, which is basically your last chance to earn a spot in the rotation and avoid beginning your career in the D-League. It’s easier said than done given that you begin with an Overall Rating of 39! Even with the advice and support of the 2K Insider, you’re probably going to have to toil away for a few games in the D-League before finally making it to the big time.
It’s not a terrible approach, and considering your starting attributes, it’s considerably more realistic than being touted as a can’t-miss prospect like newer games do! Starting in the D-League can also result in more playing time much earlier, and against easier competition. The downside is that that makes the road to the NBA much longer. Six games of the Summer Circuit is probably three too many. Playing in the D-League alongside fictional players can lose its novelty quickly, and low ratings all around can make for some ugly basketball. I’d say that future games made the correct choice in getting us to the NBA sooner, even if it results in being rather underpowered at first.
Unsurprisingly, most of the bells and whistles from later iterations of My Player and subsequently MyCAREER are nowhere to be found, and teammate AI isn’t anywhere near as good. CPU teammates are much stingier when you call for passes, to the point where even if you’re wide open under the rim, they’ll refuse to get you the ball and instead just keep dribbling in place. Throw in the fact that you start out as a dismal 39 Overall and that Skill Points accumulate rather slowly – in fact, a poor performance can even earn you negative Skill Points, with the primitive grading logic being little help there – and it can be a chore. It’s far from an ideal retro gaming experience now!
Still, the mode had to start somewhere. The basic concepts are present, and I know there are long-time gamers that do miss a lengthier path to the NBA that involves a sojourn in the D-League. Face customisation is fairly good, though there is a limited amount of hairstyles to choose from. On the plus side, this was long before we had to buy accessories and shoes with in-game currency. Creating a player and outfitting him with everything I wanted right away made me very nostalgic for a far less greedy era! While it doesn’t hold up nearly as well as The Association, My Player in NBA 2K10 was a respectable first attempt at a career mode, and a solid foundation to build upon.
NBA Today is another of NBA 2K10’s major additions. As in newer titles, it allowed gamers to play the daily schedule throughout the 2010 season, with real-world data powering dynamic commentary and presentation. Other modes include single Season, standalone Playoffs, and Rookie Challenge. There’s a Situation mode for setting up scenarios, and a practice mode where we can shoot around, work on our free throws, and more. NBA Blacktop returns, with pick-up games (1-on-1 to 5-on-5), 21, a dunk contest, and a three-point shootout. There are a couple of randomly-chosen locations for the pick-up games, but the dunk contest and shootout take place at Rucker Park.
Bobbito Garcia is the emcee of the dunk contest, but that’s where the excitement ends. I’ve previously opined that no basketball game has done the dunk contest better than NBA Live did from 2005-09, and NBA 2K10 hasn’t changed my mind about that. It’s the same clunky stick-based controls that render the array of dunks and props a moot point. The three-point shootout is solid, utilising a shot meter. Unlike the dunk contest though, for some reason the players wear generic black and white jerseys instead of their team uniforms. It’d also be nice to be able to choose which park you play at for pick-up games – including Rucker Park – but they’re all great environments to ball in.
I’m sure that other people enjoy NBA 2K10’s approach to the dunk contest more than I do, and if I can ever master those controls, I might come to like it a lot more as well. The simple fact that NBA 2K10 offers a dunk contest and three-point shootout when NBA Live 10 dropped the All-Star Weekend is another mark in its favour. There are some cool features in NBA Live 10, from The Hangar to Dynamic Season, but NBA 2K10 has more modes on offer, not to mention a far superior take on the franchise experience. Both games featured online play including leagues, though obviously they’re no longer available in the wake of their servers being shut down years ago.
Speaking of online support, NBA 2K10 was the first PC release to feature it after NBA 2K9 debuted devoid of connectivity. On top of providing online matchups and leagues, it also meant that the PC version actually received the official roster updates throughout the season. In fact, those updates were easier to preserve than the ones for console, and I’ve been able to add them to our Downloads database for safekeeping. We’ve also been able to preserve the official patches for the DVD-ROM release, since they must be downloaded manually. While we had to wait longer for the PC patch, it ended up being a more comprehensive update that arguably made it the best version.
When it comes to bonus content, as is the case with modes, NBA 2K10 easily clears NBA Live 10. The mere inclusion of Legends – content that was missing from NBA Live for the entire seventh generation – makes its selection of extras more exciting. There are some notable absences, including the usual names such as Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and Reggie Miller, though of course MJ was coming in NBA 2K11. The All-Decade teams still represent their eras well though, with a 50s/60s squad and both East and West teams for the 70s, 80s, and 90s. There are also Draft Class teams, Team Jordan (without His Airness), the International All-Stars, and developer squads.
Nevertheless, in terms of critical and gamer reception, NBA 2K10 and NBA Live 10 was the closest battle since NBA Live’s rough start to the seventh generation. This led to the rivalry reaching a boiling point, and some pettiness on both sides. 2K reps had been taking pot shots at NBA Live for years, as there was bad blood between the two companies going back to their failed collaboration on a cancelled PlayStation version of Madden in 1995. In a forum post that was promptly deleted, Ronnie 2K scoffed at the idea that EA had been able to take community feedback into account with the first patch for NBA Live 10. True or not, it was still a case of “mind your own business”.
Of course, expecting professionalism and class from Ronnie 2K is a lot like expecting James Harden to show up in the Playoffs! Mind you, EA Sports weren’t looking to take the high road, either. Their community reps reached out to many of us, trying to coach us on a response that hit back at Ronnie and other people from 2K who were throwing fuel on the fire. While I understood their position and agreed that Ronnie’s remarks were petty, like other creators at the time, I wasn’t keen on being used as a mouthpiece for EA; especially since I’d been promised interviews that they didn’t deliver on after encouraging me to announce them, leaving me with egg on my face.
I was admittedly still more sympathetic towards the NBA Live developers despite that; partly out of brand loyalty, but also because 2K ultimately started it, and they were definitely punching down at that point. And so, even though both companies delivered very enjoyable games for the 2010 season, the bickering was a new low. It was the most brazenly arrogant that 2K had been up until then, and in hindsight, it foreshadowed how they’d go on to squander the goodwill they’d accumulated through releasing several fantastic games. To that point of course, they were undeniably in a position to boast and talk trash at the time, even if it wasn’t the classiest decision.
On a more positive note, the modding scene began to take off with NBA 2K10. The community had made some inroads into tinkering with NBA 2K9 PC, and with that experience and knowledge – and some better tools – NBA 2K10 saw many more mods being released. Not only were there some exceptional cyberfaces and other texture and model updates, but we started seeing in-depth roster projects. The 1992 and 1997 season roster mods for NBA 2K10 are both exceptional. Not only do they feature comprehensive art updates to roll the game back to those seasons, but the attention to detail and accuracy in all the players’ ratings puts NBA 2K26’s Eras rosters to shame!
While I’m on the subject of roster accuracy, NBA 2K10 admittedly demonstrates that the lack of care with Legends ratings goes back generations. Even with fewer Legends to maintain, so many ratings were lazy copy and paste jobs, with shooting attributes in particular being embarrassingly generic and inflated. It was one of the reasons why I decided to create a roster that not only added some missing Legends, but also fixed up the ratings for the original ones. Also, despite claims that the mysterious 2K Insider “and his team of NBA analysts” were expertly keeping NBA 2K10 updated, several of the current players in the official rosters also had some highly questionable ratings.
Getting to some odds and ends, NBA 2K10 features what may be my least favourite menus in the entire series. Instead of traditional fly-out menus, NBA 2K10’s interface displays a selection of tiles. To make a selection, you can’t just press a direction to navigate over to a tile; you need to keep the left stick or D-Pad pointing towards the one you want. Also, on PC, if your mouse happens to hover over one of the tiles, the selection will keep jumping back to it. It’s manageable, but I’ve always found it to be clumsy. Unfortunately the PC version of NBA 2K11 retained the same interface, but thankfully NBA 2K12 PC copied the console versions’ return to the fly-out menus.
The selection of customisation features is excellent. Both players and custom teams can be created, and while our choice of facial features and team branding are both a bit limited, those functions are useful for modding. About the only thing missing from player creation is draft info and date of birth, but on PC we can mod those in using REDitor II. We’re also able to modify player rotations, including minutes and teams’ situational lineups. As noted, the debut of Draft Class editing greatly enhanced The Association. There are plenty of retro and alternate uniforms to keep things fresh, though home and away designations are strictly enforced, which can be annoying.
Finally, I have to touch on the soundtrack. I get the feeling it’s a “love it or hate it” selection of songs, as admittedly not all of the tracks scream basketball or have “pump you up to play” energy. I personally enjoy how unique it is. Sure, “Electric Feel” by MGMT and “Falcon Jab” by Ratatat aren’t necessarily ideal songs for a basketball video game, but they kind of work for me. It’s an eclectic mix of head-nodding tracks, and songs that create more of a chill vibe. Once again, I’m not about to declare it the quintessential basketball video game soundtrack, but I’ve come to like many of the songs, and I appreciate the overall weirdness of some of the choices that they made.
As I said, NBA 2K10 is somewhat overshadowed. Like NBA Live 99, it’s a great game that unfortunately came right before a landmark release that’s often considered to be the pinnacle of its series. It exemplifies how aside from NBA 2K8, NBA 2K was going from strength to strength back then. Sadly that success inspired pettiness, and it did turn me off the game in 2009. I can’t hold that against NBA 2K10 now, though. It beats NBA Live 10 in terms of modes and features, and has some advantages on the court as well. I still love NBA Live 10, but NBA 2K10 has become a favourite, too. It’s the last time that the competition was close, and a high point for sim basketball.
