Your Thoughts on Jay-Z’s Extensive Involvement with NBA 2K13

by pastapadre
Posted August 8th, 2012 at 10:30 am

Last week 2K Sports revealed that Jay-Z would be “executive producer” of NBA 2K13. What his role entails is selection of the soundtrack and influence on the general look of the game including elements such as menus and intro videos.

Immediate response to the announcement was notably mixed. Had 2K not declared it to be the biggest news in their history beforehand it probably would have generated a better response from fans of the series. As far as marketing goes Jay-Z has incredible reach – arguably putting him on par with the addition of Michael Jordan two years ago – but the impact on the actual game will only be marginal. Still just having Jay-Z’s name attached generated coverage of the game in places that normally wouldn’t have paid any attention and that is how 2K will capitalize on the exposure he brings.

Vote in the poll regarding the announcement of Jay-Z’s ties to NBA 2K13 and leave any additional thoughts in the comments!

Tags: latest news, polls

krill

couldnt care less about jayz. 2k needs to start talking about the actual game. guitar hero dunk contest, jayz, and kinect does not get me interested.
- Yoyohd
  
  Guitar hero dunk conterst made me laugh but i agree nothing new so far…Gameplay wise anyways.
- Crimson
  
  Agreed. “Someone” needs to make a phone call to the people over at 2K Sports and get an interesting “scoop”.
Jb

First
SBBR

How can you not be disappointed?
- daley7199
  
  Hmmmm. You all got raging hard ons and jizzed your pants when Jordan was on the cover of 2k11. I guess Jay-Z just doesn’t pack the same punch. Perhaps they should put Beyonce on the cover in a thong and have Jay-Z produce that.
  - Guest
    
    Lol I only see you on here when you want to rip on something about 2k. So how is NBA Live workin for ya?
  - Lil’ Floyd
    
    NBA 2K11- 5 million copies
    NBA Elite 11-R.I.P
    
    NBA LIve 13-Don’t count on it.
    
    Keep talking shit buddy, keep talking shit.
    - daley7199
      
      Thankyou, I think i will. Remind me again How YOU benefit from the success or failure of a video game…………Yeah… thought so.
http://twitter.com/MoultonHawk Sean

Brilliant to get Jay Z, with one HUGE exception, EDITED song list. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wink

Who is JayZ?
Steve

Very excited about it. Jay is an extremely creative guy, looking forward to seeing what else besides the soundtrack he contributes.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Iown-You/100000775565221 Iown You
  
  It looks like a lotta dudes are knocking the hustle….
  - Steve
    
    Yup looks like they got 99 problems haha
http://twitter.com/MoultonHawk Sean

Yeah that’s what some of you are missing. The one thing Live has on 2K is presentation. Jay Z producting the game can fix that hopefully by himself. The first good news about 2K13 to me. Terrible cover, don’t care about ASG as a prebonus preorder incentive.
- Crimson
  
  “The one thing Live has on 2K is presentation.”
  
  You just lost all credibility with that one erroneous statement, cause I’m sitting here in front of my computer like…..WHAT?!!!! This fool did not just write that NONSENSE on my screen.
  - You Suck
    
    it has presentation and better online servers and is 10 times more realistic. Talking about Live that is.
    - Crimson
      
      LOL…I’ll give you credit that the online servers may be better, but presentation?
      
      No Rob. Just…No.
- Steve
  
  Agree 100%, I think the game will look much more sharp and polished.
Crimson

My thoughts about it are…if you had never wrote an article about it, and we had found out about it by reading it on the back of the NBA 2K13 game case, it would have had about the same amount of impact on the game, as it does now. Maaaaaaybe…you Pastapadre, are choosing to focus writing articles on this silly announcement about the musical direction of the game, when there is some actual worthy gameplay news out there, to be dug up and report about? Maaaaaaybe…you are being very selective in your reporting on the game’s progress?

You know,…maybe you are just reporting the 2K news that keeps us NBA2k fans from totally taking another huge shit on your mass of daily EA Sports articles? You know, I think it’s called “selective reporting”? Like when NewsCorp was under investigation for wire tapping, you heard no mention of it on The Fox News Channel.

Where is your source over at 2KSports? Why don’t you know jackshit about anything other than the JayZ announcement? Are you, yourself, getting your NBA2k13 info from other sites around the net, like the rest of us, and filtering the news releases back to this site? Honestly, Pasta?….fuck the JayZ announcement. That shit wasn’t even newsworthy, and your trying to make more news of it, than it actually is. Now get your sorry ass out there and talk to the 2K people, just like you do the EA people, and get the gameplay news that you should have been reporting about, instead of that stupid fucking JayZ announcement. After all, what the fuck is this site called, “Entertainment Tonight” or is it “Pastapadre”????

Hmmmmm…..what are you feelings about that shit Pasta?
- Crimson
  
  Ok, so I did a Google search for more “news” about NBA2K13. I got nothing but “Jay Z” back in my search results. And yet and still I ask Pasta, why don’t you have people over at 2K? Where is the support system for information like the one you have with EA Sports? Is it because you have been so good to EA and not so good to 2K? I mean outside of Operation Sports, Pastapadre is supposed to be “the man” when it comes to info about sports gaming, right? You ain’t doing something right Pasta. You need to build a more positive relationship with 2K and get off of that sorry EA horse.
  - Crimson
    
    If anybody digs up any good NBA2k13 “gameplay” news, please come back and post it here and help Pastapadre out. Chances are that you will probably post some of the gameplay news we’ve all been craving, long before he does. Its about to be Madden 13 all day around here in a quick minute.
    - A friendly intervention
      
      You really should ask yourself how many people who know you think you’re a belligerent, self-centered asshole.
      - Crimson
        
        Why would I ask myself? Shouldn’t I be asking the people ‘who know me’? Do you think you know me? Do I know you? Are you someone special? Should I care what you think? You are a just some stranger on the internet. Do you have a “help intervention” number? Would you like to see my penis?
      - A friendly intervention
        
        They’re not going to waste their time telling you their real opinion. This requires self-awareness and maturity on your part.
      - Crimson
        
        Wow, another accredited psychologist on this site. Do you have a website? A help number maybe?
      - Crimson
        
        Listen….this is not “poll worthy” news. People want gameplay news at this point. I apologize for the beligerence and all that but, enough about JayZ. Where is the gameplay news?
      - Crimson
        
        If you read this site regularly, then you already know what’ll happen next is a follow up article about the Jay Z polling results, with like 85% saying that the Jay Z announcement WASN’T the “biggest announcement in 2k history”, and how 2K failed at garnering any positive interest for their upcoming NBA game by announcing a partnership with Jay Z, instead of sharing positive news about any significant changes to the gameplay of NBA2K13. Soooo….yeah, more Jay Z news to come folks. Stay tuned.
      - http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre
        
        Regardless of the poll results, something to keep in mind is the Jay-Z impact isn’t meant to really affect the people who already buy the game every year. Its more to reach those who typically wouldn’t buy the game. Like Jordan did with 2K11. Though many may not care about Jay-Z that follow developments around the game it’ll have strong promotional impact elsewhere.
      - Crimson
        
        I intend to buy it. But I definitely don’t see how Jay Z being the musical director, changes anything from a gameplay standpoint. Its just filler, background noise, maybe some stadium music. What’s the real deal on the game? Its certainly not Jay Z. He’s a rapper/producer. He ain’t no baller like Jordan. That news should have been handled with a response like “soooo”….”aaaaand”???
      - Skopin
        
        Who knows, maybe NBA 2k13 will be canceled, since they haven’t released any gameplay or features yet. I mean, that’s the speculation behind NBA Live, who has released the same amount of information about the actual game itself.
      - Skopin
        
        http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/65367/nba-2k12/news/
        
        There is your gameplay news. Sure, it’s 2k12, but no doubt it will almost the same thing this year but with music by Jay-Z.
      - http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre
        
        There is the Jay-Z news, something the VP of Marketing said would be the biggest announcement in the company’s history. There’s the Kinect info which was dug up, and my earlier article about Mike Wang discussing controls. That’s all there is to know about NBA 2K13 at this point.
        
        At least its more than there is to know about NBA Live 13.
      - Crimson
        
        Good point.
      - http://www.facebook.com/people/Troy-Coleman/100000337478170 Troy Coleman
        
        what part of 2k hasnt released any other news, do you not comprehend? personally, i feel like pasta did an excellent job covering and releasing news about 2k12, so i trust pasta’s judgement dealing with 2k13 news. When theres something new, pasta will share it with the rest of us.
  - http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre
    
    Not sure why you expect me to be able to get gameplay/feature info through sources. I get industry info that way, and some of which have to be kept off the record, but no one is going to blab about the entire plan for a game that PR so carefully keeps under wraps. People working on the games are not going to risk their jobs to give info like that out. Don’t get any of that from EA or other companies either.
- sf13
  
  This was touted asthe biggest announcement in 2Ksports history. It isn’t his fault that 2K overhyped a stupid song announcement.
  - Crimson
    
    I did a Google search on that claim too. Touted by who? Touted where?
    - http://twitter.com/ryanthelou Ryan Lewis
      
      Ronnie2K tweeted this right before it was announced ”
      Looking forward to this week. One of the most innovative and exciting time lies ahead #NBA2K13″ The marketing VP was interviewed saying ”
      I don’t know if anything this big has ever been done with a video game.” They are really pumping this up. I’m sure the game will have actual improvements that are meaningful, but who gives a shit about the Jay Z shit? Pure marketing bullshit.
      
      Pasta isn’t mentioning any other news on this game because there is none. Try and find other info anywhere. There isn’t any. They are going to start releasing developer insight videos soon, but until then, this is all anyone knows.
      - Crimson
        
        Thank you sir. I stopped following Ronnie2K awhile back.
      - Crimson has a small penis
        
        this is why you need to shut up with all those long ass bull shit post, and stop being a hardcore 2k dick rider faggot,
      - Crimson
        
        LOL…and then there is this guy. The “you’re a Faggot” guy.
        
        My day is now complete. I was hoping I would get to be called a “2k dickriding faggot” at least once today. Well, that’s it for me today as I have to work the night shift. Goodnight haters.
    - MY_WORD
      
      Great point……”Touted by who?”
    - Skopin
      
      Lol they said it at E3 with the first gameplay footage. Which Pasta had an article about speculating what it could be. But I guess with your head that far up 2k’s ass, you couldn’t hear anything.
- SmashMan
  
  Is there gameplay news to talk about? Jay-Z IS the news right now.
  
  “Wasn’t even newsworthy”? …tell that to 2K’s VP of Marketing. He said it was one of the, if not THE biggest announcements in 2K Sports history.
  
  So far, 2K has released the Jay-Z news and info on the Dynasty Edition. There was also the Beiber news a few months ago, and the short gameplay video that showed the Dunk Contest. 2K hasn’t put out any REAL gameplay to talk about yet – so jumping on Pasta Padre for talking about this other news is misguided.
  - Crimson
    
    Edit~Jumping on him for “continuing to talk about it” is NOT misguided. He already knows that people want to hear “gameplay” news.
    - Skopin
      
      Sure, people want to hear gameplay news. But if 2k doesn’t release any gameplay news, where is it going to come from? You think Pasta is biased because he is posting about the biggest news in NBA 2k history (according to 2k themselves). Why not go troll your ass over to the 2k forums and bitch at the mods there for not posting any gameplay news? Do you know why there’s no gameplay news? Because there will be very minimal, if any, changes to gameplay. Just like the last 3 years.
- http://pastapadre.com/ pastapadre
  
  I did write about the controls and Kinect. That’s all we have to go on right now really. When the marketing for a company touts an upcoming announcement as the biggest in their history it’s going to be talked about and it’s definitely worth talking about. Links below to some other info on the game if you haven’t been paying attention:
  
  http://www.pastapadre.com/2012/06/18/a-few-gameplay-enhancements-mentioned-for-nba-2k13
  
  http://www.pastapadre.com/2012/08/03/nba-2k13-to-feature-kinect-functionality
  - Crimson
    
    I read them, but I wish we could just get off of the “Jay Z” story, regardless of whatever 2K supposedly said about it. Thats just another excuse to go negative on 2K. And then you even put up a poll on it. You ALREADY know how your readers expressed their displeasure with the news about Jay Z overshadowing any updated gameplay news, Pasta. So the upcoming polling results are just more fodder. I don’t mean to try to speak for everybody but, at this point, the Jay Z news is just “fluff”.
    - Skopin
      
      Lol yes, the Jay-Z news is fluff. Much like NBA 2k every year. They don’t add anything that takes more than a few weeks to program in. Hell, I was playing My Player as Michael Jordan in 2k10. But because people didn’t have to create him or download him, it was the most amazing thing in the world. Which let them float by without making changes to gameplay or fixing their broken servers.
gt

well if we’re talking about just the soundtrack im pumped. i love the soundtrack. only thing i hate about the soundtrack is that every song will be stuck in my head. (still have those 3 songs from 2k10 draft combine in my head). its not like jay-z is working on gameplay. im waiting patiently for some game footage
Juukbox

Doesn’t mean anything to me. not gonna make me run out & get the game cuz of that.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Charles-P-Cross/727731123 Charles P. Cross
  
  Cover guys neither..
Kevin

I always get so bored with the soundtrack after a few days I just mute it anyway. Jay-Z is fine, but I can’t stand to listen to anybody’s songs over and over and over . . . It’s nothing special at all. I just hope we keep Kareem, Hakeem, Magic, Bird and get Barkley. To me that’s where the value lies after gameplay improvements.
http://www.facebook.com/drekelly100 Dre Kelly

short & simple i love the move with Jay-Z. yall will hear more about gameplay later, hold your horses.
- daley7199
  
  Just put in your 2k12 disc or even your 2k11 disc and you will have 2k13 in a nutshell. You clowns always think sports games are going to revolutionize the genre every year. When are you guys going to figure the industry out.
Rob

It would have been better news if Jay-Z had donated $1,000 to get 2K’s servers fixed.
- Crimson
  
  Hell yeah!!! Great comment.
  
  You just won a million dollars. Pay the man Pasta.
- daley7199
  
  1000$…..LOL LOL LOL LOL. Sorry son but its gonna take considerably more money than that to fix that ISH.
  - Bon
    
    How much Live 13 servers cost daley?
    - daley7199
      
      No idea but I’ll tell you one thing. When the game is up and running the online will actually work unlike every 2k sports game.
      - ball sucker 69
        
        live 13 not coming out
      - Idiot.
        
        Please tell me where you found this information, last time I checked they are saying it will be a all digital release.
      - ball sucker 69
        
        It’s a hunch
- aabbcc112233
  
  “2K’s servers are awesome!”
  
  -no one ever
VellicateAlgid

http://goo.gl/XXpCo
jz

Who cares about jayz. So 2K is trying to make NBA 2k more ghetto?
- NegroBasketballAssociation
  
  So what are you trying to say man?
Hamnter

Theres nothing mixed about the reaction. Go on the youtube video and read the thousands of comments. Its a punch line. Horrible.
- dlsf8607
  
  I shudder to think what the world would look like if we actually used youtube comments as a barometer for anything.
  - Lil’ Floyd
    
    It ain’t only youtube, it’s just about every video game site I’ve been on so far. Dude is right, there’s no “mixed” reaction to this, most people are extremely disappointed.
ptcommish2

No way this is even close to being “on par” with having MJ playable in the game. The greatest most popular basketball player of all time, and a chance to recreate is greatest career moments blows this announcement out of the water. Even last year’s game with classic teams/match-ups is far more intriguing as a basketball playing fan. Jay-Z producing the soundtrack and menus? Yawn. I was hoping for the 1992 Dream Team vs. 2012. That would have been way cooler.
- Lil’ Floyd
  
  I totally agree with you dude. If they announce that Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller are in NBA 2K13 that would be MUCH more exciting than finding out Jay-Z is doing the soundtrack and menus, I guarantee it.
flip334

Quite frankly, I couldnt care less. It is all about the gameplay for me.
Jwaan

I’m disappointed…not even because of how they hyped it up. Mainly…

Because I feel like this was (almost) done with Elite 11. That soundtrack was supposed to feature music exclusively by 9th Wonder and J Cole (who ironically, is signed by Jay-Z). I just feel like they generally took that idea and basically paid for Jay-Z’s name recognition.

But it isn’t really a big deal. If a soundtrack decides how you spend $60 (TBH, you can make an UNEDITED playlist of all these songs on YouTube or iTunes or whatever) then you need to rethink some things in your life…
clubsteve

not even close to when they announced jordan in the game…..don’t get me wrong, i like jay-z….but what can he bring to gameplay? no conflict of interest here since he is an nba owner? what can he bring other than a few songs on the soundtrack?
daley7199

I really don’t understand why 2k wastes money on crap that game doesn’t need. Its the only game in town and yet they continue to throw money away on useless fluff that brings nothing to the table. 3 cover athletes and now Jay Z. Really? Like a rapper being a producer of a video game is going to make me run out and buy it….WRONG!.

Once again, much like the Democratic party, 2k distracts its gamers with BS in order to mask a game that will offer very little in the way of any significant changes. This is standard fare for 2k but what really gets me is why they do it. Its completely unnecessary. 2k can sell a box of feces and the fan base will still flock to it and say its the greatest.

Perhaps 2k should invest that capital on some network people who actually have the talent and the knowlege to make the online component work. Perhaps they can poach them from EA since clearly EA knows how to do online sports games where as 2k doesn’t.

I never heard of a video game fan not buying a game or buying a game for that matter based upon what music tracks are in the game or what a game menu looks like. EPIC FAIL ON 2K’S PART FOR WASTING MONEY ON WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER USED ON FIXING THE BROKEN ASPECTS OF NBA2K THAT HAVE BEEN BROKEN FOR YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Lil’ Floyd
  
  If 2K starts selling boxes of feces then they become EA. EA fans flock to the same weak ass Madden year after year because EA knows Madden fans are retarded fools who’ll buy the same lame ass product, that’s why they don’t improve it.
  - daley7199
    
    to use your argument LIL floyd….How many copies of Madden get sold every year, and hows that new 2k football game coming, Oh yeah your still playing NFL2k5……LOL. Here’s the deal, you hate Madden and I like Live so remind me again who is going to be disappointed……..Yeah, that would be you
  - Skopin
    
    2k has already sold boxes of feces. I think they labeled it MLB 2k or something like that.
    - SCOPE for Skopin
      
      I can smell the shit on your breath. You musta bought 10 copies.
http://www.facebook.com/BigLeeBlkForezt Lee Ward

dont care about Jay Z i care about the game play.it cud have no music for all i care
Lil’ Floyd

“Notably mixed?” Are you fucking kidding me? For every 1 positive response about this there are 10 negative responses. Mixed my ass! Ain’t no way this is on par with Jordan being in 2K11! 2K made a HUGE mistake when they said this was the “biggest announcement in the history of 2K sports,” That’s where they fucked up at because people were expecting something like the 1992 Dream Team being in the game and this announcement was a big letdown so in a sense they cut their own throat with this.
- Crimson
  
  Preach brother, preach. .
Lil’ Floyd

Let’s start hearing about the new features, new classic teams, and show some gameplay. This game drops in 7 weeks, which ain’t that far away. Fuck a soundtrack and who’s doing it. Nobody gives a fuck about that.
- Crimson
  
  Pasta knows this. He ignores the data to suit the agenda, generating continued site traffic. He knows nobody gives a flying fuck about Jay Z. There will be another lame article tomorrow about the polling results. Mark my words.
- Skopin
  
  As soon as 2k releases info about “new features”, I’m sure Pasta will be on top of it. But what new features has 2k really released in the last 2 iterations of the game? You can answer a single question after games in My Player, with very limited responses. You can play as classic teams, which you could do with CAPs since forever. And…not much else. The game has been a rehash since 2k10.
forealdo

Fuck Jay Z
- Crimson
  
  If we had all said that after the first Jay Z announcement article, would it have prevented this follow up article, and the impending poll results article that’s coming next?
  
  Probably not. Pasta would still do it again. He’s gotta get site traffic, gotta continue to milk that cow, you know?
David

Personally, I’d be happier if Ozzy Osbourne picked the soundtrack.
King

I’ll just leave my custom soundtracks playing when I’m playing 2K13.
braum

this is just an idea….i thought nbas greatest in 2k12 sucked when are they gonna have dlc for wnba theres only 12 teams sheesh
Coach Johnson

Now if they had put a new feature with this collaboration such as an updating soundtrack that would be AWESOME.