Have you ever wanted to be like Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra and order LeBron James to sub in for Shane Battier or call Dwight Howard up for a pick and roll?
Well 2K Sports is going to give you that chance in NBA 2K13. The company announced in a new trailer Tuesaday that its highly-successful NBA franchise will include voice recognition controls similar to EA Sports’ newest Madden and FIFA games through the Xbox 360’s Kinect. NBA 2K13, available Oct. 2, will not include any recognizable hand gestures and will be the company’s first game to utilize the Kinect.
Like in the Madden, where you can make changes at the line of scrimmage, you can control your team on the fly. Your options in 2K13 go from simple to more complex. They could remove much of the button mashing and menus navigating to create a smoother gaming experience.
Gamers will have the chance yell things like “Hey, hey Ronny set a pick for me,” and get Ronny Turiaff to put himself between the ball handler and your defender. Saying, “Bring in Kobe” will spark the Lakers star Kobe Bryant to get off the bench and enter the game. It is not specified who Bryant will be subbed in for or if you can make that determination with your voice.
Play calling can also be done via the Kinect. Yelling “pick and roll” and “clear out” will get your team into one of the quick hit sets. You can even set up a play for a specific player and change up defenses. The game even goes as far as allowing you to tell your players to “Gatorade dunk” your coach after a playoff win.
The Kinect compatibility, the addition of the complete 1992 and 2012 USA Dream Teams and Jay-Z as its executive producer gives NBA 2K13 the chance to be the best game the franchise has seen.