NBA 2K23 brings back The Jordan Challenge, sparing no expense
It seems difficult to get authentically fired up over a superstar who is so well known and whose career highlights are so familiar as Michael Jordan. But I invite sports fans to watch this trailer for NBA 2K23 and not get a lump in their throats, even if they know what’s coming — The Shot over Craig Ehlo, The Shrug at Marv Albert, The Flu Game, staggering off the court in Scottie Pippen’s arms.
The Jordan Challenge, the centerpiece of a landmark work in sports video gaming 12 years ago, returns in NBA 2K23with a spared-no-expense level of detail and presentation that is, even from the preview slice shown to media on Monday, legitimately impressive. It’s not just the five additional moments that Visual Concepts’ designers have brought to the mode, for a total of 15. It’s also the testimonials from the figures so closely associated with Jordan and his career — from Dennis Rodman and Phil Jackson to Mike Fratello and Ahmad Rashad — and the genuine affection they rekindle for a player with no shortage of admirers.
“In the past 12 years, we have an entirely new generation of NBA fans to retell these incredible stories to,” said executive producer Erick Boenisch, who worked alongside gameplay director Mike Wang on the first Jordan Challenge in NBA 2K11, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. “This generation didn’t get the chance, necessarily, to see Michael play live, to see him play on TV, to see him play in person. So everything that they know about this person is from YouTube, from word of mouth, or their parents. This really is a chance for us to retell the story of Michael Jordan to a whole new generation of NBA fans.”
Not that the old generation of NBA fans won’t also swoon when they revisit Chicago Stadium, Madison Square
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